This weekend has been very busy. First, Lady Agatha and I nipped into town to catch Melanie Zedd‘s fabbo ‘Crowded Blouse‘ music and stories hour with the excellent Deborah Brennan accompanying Mel on piano. Mel took us through her school and uni years, encouraging us to sing along with classic songs she skilfully altered the lyrics to, turning them into comedic pieces.
This was the first time that Lady Agatha had been to Mel’s show and sat right at the front in the audience while I stood at the back of the room and took some photos. I could see Agatha’s head jiggle when she laughed (which was often), and sway side to side when she sang along to the songs.
Mel’s is a show full of emotion, personal history and plenty of laughter. It’s finished its run this year, but I really hope Mel brings back her stories, her emotions, her singing, her guitar and the excellent Deborah back next Fringe.
When I first re-entered the dating scene, some male friends asked me if I had considered a Russian or Thai woman, because they are young and some are heartstoppingly beautiful. But, as Mel pointed out in her show, none of them would know the words to Australia’s national anthem, ‘Khe Sanh’. And that’s a deal breaker for me. Anyone who can’t sing along to Chisel, The Angels (and sing the correct response to “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again“), the Oils, The Church, INXS, Men at Work, and more, can’t sit next to me on a road trip.
Then the next day we met some friends for lunch at the Robin Hood Hotel in Norwood, making sure we had a prime table to catch the always-brilliant band Acoustic Fix.
Our friends asked what sort of music they played. ‘Beethoven, Brahms, and Lizst,’ I replied. I’ve been Brahms and Liszt quite a few times over the decades. I asked the band if they would play ‘Fleur De Lis’, especially if the drummer played like early-Police Stewart Copeland (man of brilliant syncopation). The band said, ‘Sure.’
Playing monster hits from the 60s, 70s and occasionally the 80s, the acoustic guitar, electric guitar and drums of this three-piece band rocked and funked and boogied through three sets. The only times the dance floor was less than fully packed was either when the band were taking a break, or when the band played all three parts of Stevie Wright’s ‘Evie’ from the 70s.
Part One is a floor-filler, but Parts Two and Three less so. It could be viewed as a mistake to deliberately play music that you know will empty the dance floor. But I applaud the band’s decision. As much as Part One is a big hit tune, Parts Two and Three complete the whole story arc of the song. Part One (when Stevie and Evie meet) is a guitar driven, hard rocking and bluesy, swaggering song. Part Two (the marriage) is more piano and string based, a much softer emotional ballad style. Part Three (the death of Evie in childbirth) is more of a disco-rock style, being quicker, relatively urgent and guitar driven track with a strong vocal. It is such a powerful trilogy written by Harry Vanda and George Young (the producers and songwriters behind The Easybeats and AC/DC amongst many other Aussie acts) that it deserves to be played more than it is.
Something not band-related, but the Robin Hood Hotel shocked us all. Firstly, a bottle of wine that you could pick up at Dan’s for $22 is $85 at the Hood. All the bottles at the Hood are sickeningly marked-up. If you should choose to do a Dan’s run, you’ll be up for a $25 per bottle corkage fee. Gobsmacked. Lady Agatha, my friends and I obviously haven’t been out much since the 1930s.
As a teenager, I spent a lot of my time at Hood; a friend of mine from school lived there because his parents owned it. Me and my gang of friends still have very happy memories of the Hood. We’ve farewelled loved ones with food and drink at the Hood on many occasions after funeral services. Sadly, the hotel’s apparent greed has cheapened those memories.
‘Your mama don’t dance
And your daddy don’t rock’n’roll’
‘Take those old records off the shelf’
‘Lay down the boogie
And play that funky music ’til you die’
Recognise any of these lyrics? If so, ‘Acoustic Fix’ is the band for you. Guaranteed.
Our friends have been following the Facebook groups and the websites for Adelaide bands for many years, and on many weekends they will venture out and check out said bands. Unbelievably, Lady Agatha and my friends had never before heard of ‘Acoustic ‘Fix’ but now that they have experienced the band I’d been raving to them about, I’ll leave it to Lady Agatha to sum up the gig:
‘We HAVE to do this again!”