BMA Magazine #529 - Nov/Dec 2022

BANDS / MUSIC / ARTS

ISSUE #529 NOV/DEC 2022

BMAMAG.COM

FREE

ALAN CARR

ROB BECKETT

IT’S HIGH TIME

SKELETAL REMAINS

REVS UP CANBERRA HEMP HEALTH & INNOVATION EXPO

PACKS A WALLOP EXPLOSIVE OLD SCHOOL METAL

INDAWIDE WOXRCLLUSIVE! E

The f o y r o t S Corey • POSE MANOEUVRABLE. • BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED • FOR AGES 80S AND UP

*ACCESSCOREYS SOLD SEPARATELY

INSIDE

OVER

Who Are You: Australian Portraiture • Paco Lara - harbinger of the Jerez • Sionnach Rua’s Great Irish Songbook • House Of Sand’s That Was Friday - madcap, visceral performance art • CBR’s jazzy-pop rock folkster Koebi Faumi gives us Something New

200 EVENTS LISTED

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[CONTENTS]

[Canberra’s

#529

Entertainment Guide] nov/dec 2022

If God is feeling low on self-esteem one day, could they be called an aetheist because they don’t believe in themselves?

CELLBLOCK 69

p. 18

Mail: 36/97 Eastern Valley Way Belconnen, ACT 2617 Publisher ABN 76 097 301 730 Pty Ltd General Manager Allan Sko E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Allan Sko E: allan@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi E: accounts@bmamag.com Cover Design Paul Rebec

KOEBI FAUMUI

p. 16

HHI EXPO

p. 20

Article Design Juliette Dudley & Allan Sko Entertainment Guide Editor Allan Sko Social Media Managers Ruth O’Brien Columnists Ruth O’Brien, Josh Nixon, Chris Marlton, Allan Sko Contributors Vince Leigh, Sammy Moynihan, Tatjana Clancy, Chris Marlton, Allan Sko, Mike De La O, Tamsin Temp, Anthony Plevey, Buddy Waters, Koebi Faumui, John P Harvey, Michele E Hawkins

ALAN CARR

p. 28

ROB BECKETT

p. 29

NEXT ISSUE #530 OUT Thursday, 15 December EDITORIAL DEADLINE Friday, 28 November ADVERTISING DEADLINE Wednesday, 7 December ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA Magazine is independently owned and published. Opinions expressed in BMA Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

WHO ARE YOU?

p. 30

THAT WAS FRIDAY

p. 32

GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK p. 34

TIM FERGUSON

ES 199 T 2 PAGE 10

PACO LARA

p. 35

SKELETAL REMAINS

p. 23

GIG/EVENTS GUIDE @bmamagp. 42

FROM THE BOSSMAN

BY ALLAN SKO [ALLAN@BMAMAG.COM]

As I keenly struggle through this deadline with an eager eye firmly on the oasis that is the new God Of War PS5 game, my work-addled brain is cast back to simpler times of technology, and how far we’ve come.

The misty scene: I had finally bought BMA HQ a new microwave, and ooo-boy what a thrill.

My excitement was two-fold. Firstly, it was the long-awaited end to the previous microwave’s reign of meek terror.

Our old microwave did exactly what its title suggests, in that it emphasised the ‘micro’ when it came to power, and ‘waved’ goodbye to the concept of heat.

It was as slow as a turtle with a limp; you could heat up last night’s scraps faster by flapping your arms rapidly over the plate to generate kinetic energy.

It had two heat settings - Off, and Really? - and instead of providing a range of intricate meat defrost options, it simply had a crank labelled Misc.

The final straw came one day late the previous year when a very hungry Ad Manager had to wait half an hour to defrost some soup. I could see him grow pale and wan before my eyes.

In the end, he conceded defeat and stabbed a fork into that icy husk, creating a rudimentary broccoli flavoured icypole.

Further to this, despite a staunch refusal to generate heat on the inside, the Tepidator 100 tended to burn an eerie incandescent purple shadow against the kitchen wall when dispiritedly attempting to warm something.

Now, we had a nuclear powered Zap-o-tron Three Billion with 87 heat settings (the weakest of which was Supernova) and not only did it make a sound akin to a lightsabre when you pressed Fire!, it turned a Titanic-sized iceberg of soup into liquid magma within five seconds. It’s was so pleasing to see the lips of our Ad Man curl into a contented, blister-pocked smile.

You wouldn’t think an appliance costing a mere $300 should summon so much joy, but this brings me onto the second reason for my excitement; the symbolism it carried with it.

Where the public service can hoof out a fleet of new computers every half year to keep up to date, and order new stationary cupboards with the same frequency we’d order a new pencil, the tightly fiscal nature of small business means that you often rag daily essentials into the ground before you concede on buying a replacement.

So the ability to make the humble yet long overdue purchase of a microwave was a minor fistpump for the very lower end of the corporate world.

Nowadays, of course, you can simply heat anything up via an app. But it’s nice to glance back to what us 40-somethings used to contend with in the tech space.

ALLAN SKO facebook.com/bmamagazine

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[HOT TIX]

UPCOMING LIVE MUSIC EVENTS

Jackie Marshall / Alt-folk treasure launching new single / Fri, 11 Nov / Smith’s Alternative

Mikeangelo & The National Capital Allstars / A lifetime of work / Sat, 12 Nov / Transit Bar

Bursting back on the alt-folk scene with her new single Chop Wood, Carry Water, Jackie Marshall hits the road with both her guitar, and her longtime pal, MC, and tour manager to the Stones & Grateful Dead, Sam Cutler for a whistle-stop East Coast Australia jaunt this November. Be prepared for weird anecdotes, wild melodies, and warm humour from this self-styled Australian treasure-of-a-chanteuse, delivering her take on what it takes to show up for modern life in uncertain times. Also appearing, her old pal Adam Bell, he of the King Hits and the rock ‘n’ roll hips. 7pm - 9pm, $15/$20 via venue

As Pilerats says about the Jervis Bay duo, and exciting next generation of Australian rock, Debbies: “While only three tracks deep, you can really get the sense that Debbies are a band realising an exciting vision and an accompanying future to match, crafting this captivating pop-punk-rock blend that feels like the unique step out of the crowd needed to ensure their success. And with the time since their finalplacing for Unearthed High being full of tick-off achievements and big wins, we can only see this band getting bigger and bigger.” With supports SPOUSE and Lily Of The Valley. 7:30pm, $25 via Trybooking

Regurgitator / Drivetime tour with Party Dozen & Sketch Method / Sun, 27 Nov / The Basement As the band themselves say: “From the recently announced east coast Good Things festival tour to Wave Rock on WA Noongar country, and that most coveted slot playing with luminaries Midnight Oil, now across country we torque the direct current! Joining some of this drivin’ reverie will be Sydney’s Party Dozen featuring Kirsty Tickle (saxophone) and Jonathan Boulet (percussion and sampler). Doom.

Jazz. Hardcore. Psychedelic. No-wave. Industrial. Just the way we like it. IT’S DRIVETIME!” Also appearing; CBR’s Sketch Method! 7pm, $56.10 via Oztix PAGE 12

Image by Reza Darwin

Debbies / With SPOUSE & Lily Of The Valley / Sat, 19 Nov / Live at the Polo

It’s new material + beloved songs from projects P. Harness, The Black Sea Gentlemen, The Tin Star, Balkan Elvis, plus solo work and collabs, via super band The NCA ft. James Luke (The Fringe Of Squaredom) on bass; Phil Moriarty (The Gadflys) on clarinet, percussion; Ben Willson (Way Hip Antelopes) on drums; Gregor Murray (The Fuelers) on guitar, lap steel; Victor Simic (Kill City, Hell Yes) on guitar; Steve Maher (Nick Munnings Band) on keyboard. Plus Anna Simic (Anushka), Jerikye Williams, Mandy Newman, and Braidwood roots rockers the Nick Munnings Band. 7:30pm - 11:30pm, $30 + bf via Trybooking.

Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels / Mini-festival melting pot of music / 23 - 26 Nov / Ainslie Arts Centre A mini festival tripping over four nights will feature some of the most exciting live acts from the ACT region and beyond. A melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop, and post-rock styles, the Salon is transformed into a good times dancehall with the volume turned way up. Come witness: Wednesday, 23 November - Moody Beaches, Dog Name, Pictures with Yuki; Thursday, 24 November - e4444e, Sesame Girl, s.wells; Friday, 25 November - Senyawa, Lost Coast, Lynden Bassett; Saturday, 26 November - Ajak Kwai, Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Ike(from)Pluto. 6pm - 9pm, $29 - $39 + bf via Humanitix

VOXNEON / Live iconic ‘80s anthems / Sat, 17 Dec / The Basement Synth rockers VOXNEON return to perform iconic ‘80s anthems from electro pioneers like New Order, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, Underworld, Kraftwerk, Eurythmics, Gary Numan, and more. With vintage hardware synthesizers, guitars, and live drums, the band deliver a dynamic and polished show filled with dramatic vocals, pumping basslines, gated snares, and sizzling keytar solos. A must-see for fans of the decade.

Supported by Long Way South, playing the best of Brit pop/rock, and Canberra’s own DJ Tacherie. 7pm, $29.60 via Oztix @bmamag

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mini-festival is bound to introduce you to some new sounds, promising a melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop and post-rock styles. The music will transform the Ainslie Arts Centre into a full blown dancehall.

LOCALITY

Across four days between 23-26 Nov, many Canberra acts (and some interstate ones) will feature on this very eclectic line-up. These include Moody Beaches, Sesame Girl, Ajak Kwai, Brass Knuckle Brass Band, plus many more!

[RUTH@BMAMAG.COM]

For tickets and more info, head to the Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres website at ainslieandgorman.com.au

[THE WORD ON LOCAL MUSIC] WITH RUTH O’BRIEN. SEND GIGS AND INFO TO:

What’s up, wonderful readers? We meet again! Thanks so much for pickin’ up the mag and for flicking over to this page to read my words. It’s truly appreciated!

Nick Delatovic and the Empty Lake Singers will be taking over Live at the Polo on Friday, 25 November.

I love this time of year, yet always feel slightly anxious as well - there’s such a buzz with the lead up to Christmas and loads of things happening, but it can be quite overwhelming.

So make sure to pace yourself and take it slowly (telling myself these words as much as anyone!) and definitely take care on the roads with all this wet weather and monstrous sinkholes that are gobbling up cars all over the place.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the second-last local column for the 2022!

On Sunday, 13 November, Belco Arts and Music For Canberra bring to Summer Sounds: Canberra Youth Orchestra.

Nick is a veteran of the Canberra arts and music scene, having graced stages as part of creative projects and bands alike. The lead singer of Babyfreeze and one half of the beyond-excellent arts org, You Are Here, will lead this new music ensemble from 9:30pm.

From what I can research about this event, it sounds…both interesting and mysterious, which is very Nick. So, I can’t really tell you much more than that but if you’re curious to find out what “Glam Country” is, I suggest you go along! It’s undoubtedly going to be a fun time.

More info can be found at smithsalternative.com Summer Sounds is a series of free musical events for patrons to enjoy as they move through the Belco Arts Centre galleries.

Saturday, 26 November at 7:30pm sees the launch of Lisa Richards’ eighth album, Waiting To Fly.

Led by Cait Greenup, CYO’s small ensembles and individuals will perform a number of pieces from various classical composers. Music starts from 1:30pm and you can just rock up, no booking required. For more info head to belcoarts.com. au/summer-sounds Over at Live at the Polo on Friday, 18 November, there’ll be some serious party vibes a-happenin’.

Brazilian Party! will feature music from Forall Forró Band, Choro Do Capital, DJ Allan Dantas, and Raio De Sol. There’ll also be a delicious Brazilian BBQ provided

by Brazbacue and a free Forró dance lesson. It’s all kicking off at 6pm and wraps up around midnight. Tickets are $20/$25 and can be purchased from trybooking.com In the spirit of keeping the variety of this musical city ticking along, Ainslie Salon is back for another instalment. This PAGE 14

Lisa is a truly phenomenal artist with an amazing life story.

Having grown up in Australia’s top-end, Lisa spent a large part of her adult life in Austin, Texas and New York.

She’s now based in Canberra and performs regularly around town. The album was born out of repeated lockdowns and isolation over the last two years and reflects on the absurdity of it all.

Now ready to release it into the big wide world, Lisa and the rest of us are very much ready for the album to take flight.

To find out more about the launch and to book, head to the street.org.au @bmamag

MusicACT’s last Music Chats for the year is happening at Blackbird Bar on Tuesday, 29 November. Music-industry heavyweights Millie Millgate, Esti Zilber, Dom Alessio, and Glenn Dickie discuss both how the international music export landscape has changed, and how to approach this heading into 2023. These events are a must for all music industry professionals in Canberra,and they’re free! To register, head to musicact.com.au Slight deviation into the visual arts now, ‘cause why not!

of Canberry Communications, has brought together a powerful exhibition called, Pictures of You. The collection takes a unique and creative approach to portray people with lived experience of physical disability and mental illness. Photographer, Hilary Wardhaugh, and various subjects have collaborated on this project to produce portraits that reflect them honestly, and tell parts of their story in a meaningful way.

The exhibition opens at Belco Arts on Friday, 2 December at 6pm and continues through until February 5, 2023.

And finally, beloved singer-songwriter, Kim Yang has announced her farewell show! **extremely sad face** The Taiwanese-Australian songstress has gone from busking to massive stages and has become known as one of Canberra’s most active and hardworking musicians. Kim is moving overseas for a few years so this may well be her last show in Canberra for quite a while.

The lunchtime show is happening at 12-2pm on Saturday, 3 December at Smith’s Alternative. To book, head to smithsalternative.com

Saturday, 3 December is International Day of People with Disability. As part of this, John Brookes, Exhibition Manager

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Alrighty, that’s it from me y’all! Stay dry in all this November rain and enjoy the lead up to the silly season!

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BMA BAND PROFILE

Born into a family of musicians, Koebi Faumui began composing and recording at age seven. Over the past decade, he has taken his music from hobby to career, performing with his two older siblings Kashia and Salale (with 15 albums to their name), and now, he’s unleashing his own Something New EP with a launch on Saturday, 3 December at Kambri @ ANU to boot.

He’s a fascinating ball of talent with a tale or two to tell, so let’s get right to it! Over to you, Koebi...

Describe your sound: I would describe my current sound as jazz influenced pop-rock with some folk textures.

What key tracks should people immediately check out?

Definitely Good People as it’s going to be a primary feature on my new EP. I would also say that my double sided single I Know Better is worth checking out, which delves into a more folkier sound.

Salale all my life and stepping out on my own was an unusual but exciting feeling.

I wrote the song during lockdown and it describes how I was feeling at the time. Even though it was important to stay positive through this time, I wanted to acknowledge that the experience was difficult and challenging for many people, including myself.

Having my first solo gig in May 2021 at Gang Gang where I launched my third single, Song about nothing, was pretty special as it was the first time I’d performed with my band.

It was a fun night and I enjoyed the experience very much.

Since then I’ve had a few more gigs supporting awesome artists like ARCHIE and Lucy Sugerman and a few more single launches.

What is it that you love about the scene? Your genre’s scene?

Who/What are your influences, musical or otherwise?

I love heaps of things about the Canberra music scene.

My main influences come from my early childhood where I grew up singing in church and having daily singalongs with my older siblings where I learnt to harmonise. I had piano lessons for a couple of years and always had music playing around the house and in the car.

As it’s considerably smaller than other cities in Australia, it comes with a super supportive community, and although there are a blend of different genres, people are very encouraging and supportive of each other’s music.

In my early teens I began listening to artists like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Joel, along with the ‘90s RnB sound like Boys2Men, Babyface, and NSYNC. I also listen to contemporary music with more modern influences including Bruno Mars, Coldplay, and John Mayer.

From my chats with visiting interstate artists I get the sense that the scene is quite competitive in Melbourne and Sydney, but Canberra seems to be firmly rooted in a lovely collaborative spirit.

What are some of the most memorable experiences?

I can’t comment too much on my genre’s scene as I feel that there’s not too many people doing the exact same thing as me which I think is a good thing.

Releasing my first single I feel like shit in May 2020 was a big step for me. I’d been performing with my older siblings Kashia and

One thing I can say about the general pop scene in Canberra is that they’re all very driven and focused on their craft. They

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also make an effort to incorporate other skilled instrumentalists from different genres which makes for some tasty music.

Tell us about one of your proudest moments?

Releasing Good People and celebrating the single at my launch back in July.

It was a shift in genre for me, and although I plan to make many different styles of music in the future, the songs I’ve written for the EP are some of my favourites over the past year.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work on some community projects from which I’ve learnt a lot.

I produced, and helped write, a song about mental health with eight talented hip-hop rappers from Canberra (The Okay Project) and I produced a track with a group of Indigenous Year 5 students (The Biri Gunanggu Aboriginal Boys Project).

What are your plans for the future?

After I release my Something New EP I want to play more shows in and outside Canberra, and focus on writing more songs for my upcoming projects.

I also plan to release a few collaborative songs with some very talented artists that I’ve been lucky enough to work with over the past two years.

I’ve got one more year of study at ANU next year and I intend to keep focusing on my producing work to balance out my performance gigs.

I ultimately want to make a living from my music and, as my Dad keeps reminding me, there’s no better time to be a musician with the advancement of recording technology.

I’m pretty excited for what the future holds.

What makes you laugh?

My Dad’s jokes.

What pisses you off?

When people don’t use their indicators while merging or turning!

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m very excited about my Something New EP launch on the 3rd of Dec at Kambri. The EP is a culmination of originals written by me over the past year. The songs are a culmination of experimentation with various sounds and tones but still maintaining the musical foundations of my roots.

I’ll be joined throughout the evening by some of Canberra’s most talented and gifted artists from a broad range of diverse genres. Special Guests will include: Citizen Kay, Lucy Sugerman, Seanzsound, Eshan Dean, Grant Simpson, Groovy Daughter, Sophie Maurice, Olivia Faletoese, Sam Sly, and Hayds.

I’ll also be supported by a group of extremely talented musicians on the night: ​ ndrew Mitchell: Drums/Percussion A Dylan Slater: Guitar Olivia Faletoese: Bass Sophie Maurice: Vocals Kashia Faumui: Vocals Please buy tickets to my EP launch on the 3rd of December at Kambri, you can buy them at: moshtix.com.au/v2/event/koebifaumui-something-new-ep-launch-canberra/142183 If you’re not able to pay for tickets we have a number of complimentary tickets available, just send me a message at booyahmusic@gmail.com facebook.com/bmamagazine

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Cellblock 69 The Story of Corey

By Tatjana Clancy If you’ve ever thought that time is passing you by, and that your soul is trapped in the decade of your youth, spare a thought for some poor folk who are ACTUALLY stuck in the past, in arguably the greatest and most decadent musical period of all – the ‘80s.

Sambori admits that as well as taking legal action, he sharpens the ends of his guitar for the possibility of altercations with other acts.

Extrapolating further, he feels the problem with music today is even more sinister than stealing songs.

“Few people realise that Belconnen can hold a 100,000 capacity stadium rock arena. We of course assemble it every year exclusively for the band and have to pack it down afterwards as no one else can fill it. They would just be a speck on stage compared to us.”

International superstars Cellblock 69 are heading our way in December and I had the great pleasure of chatting to three of its incredibly humble members: frontman Duanne Le Corey Michaels, Guitarist Corey Sambori, and promoter/drummer Corey Rok SiXXXxxXXX.

“I believe it all comes down to cancel culture,” he reveals. “I see it in young people, the woke musicians of today shit on ‘80s culture, but where would we be without it? Without physical culture we wouldn’t be able to do our aerobic dance moves on stage. Olivia Newton John would be nowhere without it.

So what exactly can punters expect from this show of shows?

Speaking from his modest castle in “generic Europe”, Le Corey Michaels admits he’d known early on he was destined for greatness.

“And if you’re cancelling culture, you’re cancelling Cellblock 69.”

“I saw myself in the mirror and thought, ‘Duanne Le Corey Michaels… you are an absolute inspiration to myself’” he recalls.

“I remember people like Elvis and other luminaries like Lennon passing, and I recall thinking that the only man who ever came close to my own reflection was Liberace.”

It was that very understated elegance and masculine energy that further fuelled Le Corey Michaels’ pursuit of excellence. Few are aware that the band penned some of the most enduring pop hits ever written, and inspired countless fashion choices and hairstyles.

“I was sailing around the Corey Islands in the generic Caribbean writing songs, and even the Flock of Seagulls haircut was inspired by the wet look I sported off the boat,” he says.

“I think Narcissism has become a dirty word.

It’s actually from Greek mythology and there are a lot of ancient references to ancient Greece in my music, such as ‘shoot that poison arrow through my heart’ referring to cupid.”

Other bands plagiarising their hits meant that Cellblock 69 had to call in the big guns – ‘80s lawyers in power suits, lacking the techniques of 2022 but, as Corey Sambori reflects, at least the drugs were better back then.

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The palpable virility this modest group displays comes at a price. Many lovers have been left in the wake of these titans of pop including, in Le Corey Michaels’ case, Yasmin Le Bon (who sadly reunited with Simon) and then Jerry Hall (who later paired up with Rupert Murdoch). He does not appear to suffer from heartache, however.

“There’s a certain person who is made to love and there’s a certain person who is made to be loved. I am the latter, and that’s the way it seems to have gone for most of my life.”

Sambori, of course, had a well-publicised dalliance with Heather Locklear, later romanced by a Bon Jovi member with a similar name. He is wistful, recalling their brief union.

“Let’s just say she will always have a Melrose Place in my heart.”

Le Corey Michaels hinted at another nod to the late ONJ in the setlist.

“I wrote a movie and song called Xanadu and there has been some controversy over whether it sounds like another song of the same name.”

Rok SiXXXxxXXX let slip another possible new inclusion.

“In retaliation to David Byrne stealing Duanne’s big suit look, we may play one of those songs that were, of course, stolen.”

Is there a dress code to attend? Le Corey Michaels just assumes that Canberrans will have a puffy leather jacket in the wardrobe “like a normal person” and simply wear whatever brightly coloured clothing to hand.

“No need to dress up! You want to look like you’re heading into the future; that’s what the ‘80s is all about! That’s the inspiration that the band gives to all of us.”

Strangely, C69 have been promising that every tour is their last, much like their contemporary John Farnham (who Sambori cites as one of the biggest bullies in rock and roll).

Whilst most of the band reside in heavily secured overseas compounds to prevent obsessive fans gaining access to them, one member lives locally and is responsible for the Canberra tour.

But this year they say they really mean it, so it’s advisable to buy tickets as soon as humanly possible.

Corey Rok SiXXXxxXXX is the talented promoter behind the band (literally behind them; he is also their drummer) and shares the unique requirements of bringing such a massive act to our fair capital.

“Again.”

‘It’s extra rare this year, as we will be doing two last shows,”Rok SiXXXxxXXX acknowledges.

Cellblock 69 will be rocking The Basement stadium across 22 & 23 December. Tix are $43.45 via Oztix. @bmamag

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IT’S HIGH TIME FOR THIS EXPO The HHI Expo (Hemp Health & Innovation) is almost upon unsuspecting Ken Behrens and it was high time the BMA got wind of the event and its motivations.

By Buddy Waters Resident BMA marijuana culture expert Buddy Waters talked tight with the event’s Co-Director Evan Alexander and discovered that the expo has lofty goals that go far beyond red-eyed recreational frivolity, considering the immense health, investment, and economic benefits of one the world’s most maligned and misrepresented plants.

For a start, this isn’t the first event the team has put together. It’s the only event in Australia of its kind for ANYONE seeking information and greater awareness around all the crucial benefits the hemp and cannabis plant has already unlocked. Not to mention its sustainable solutions for the future. Previous events have been running over the past five years and has seen attendance of well over 50,000 interested Australians.

Medicinal use of Cannabis is still a recent development for many Australians. I asked Evan Alexander to identify some of the key areas in which people are gaining therapeutic benefits, areas that perhaps aren’t well appreciated in the community?

“I think that’s just the thing,” Evan states.

“Due to the stigma, prohibition, and associated legislation around cannabis in Australia, and indeed the world up until the PAGE 20

last 10-20 years, we haven’t quite had the time and funding invested to know yet.

“Obviously clear results have come back as pertains to things like anticonvulsant properties, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, cancer (chemotherapy), IBS, chronic pain, Parkinsons, and more, but medical research into cannabis and its ability to treat illnesses is still in its infancy.”

And there’s more, as Evan explains.

“Therapeutic uses of cannabis date back to antiquity, of course, particularly in China, India, and the Middle East. They treated everything from constipation and paralytic infectious diseases to pain and nausea, but it’s really only been since the ‘90s that the effects observed for centuries have begun to be investigated scientifically.

“But that’s one of the many reasons we hold the expo. If it’s happening, it’s here.”

An increasing number of economies are benefiting from cannabis investment. The US has exploded and Thailand - where I recently visited - has embraced it as a tourist and health industry. How do we compare in Australia, and is Evan seeing similar investment, albeit on a more conservative scale?

“The short answer is slowly, yes,” Evan says.

“And NOW is the time to get involved.

Though a somewhat fledgling industry in Australia, what that means is we have the opportunity to influence how it develops.

“Which is not only extremely exciting but absolutely crucial.

“Hemp seeds were only cleared for human consumption in Australia in 2017,” he continues. “Legislation to allow for prescribed ‘medicinal’ use arrived in 2016, but of the 260,000-odd prescriptions since then, half of them were in the last 12 months.

So in many ways, we’re just getting started.”

Evan is able to spot what will further help this culture grow.

“Legislation is one thing but logistics, culture, and education are another entirely.

They all need to be nurtured at a number of levels in order for the ‘industry’ to develop.

“For example, hemp is a brilliant sustainable building material, but if you’re going to build ‘at scale’ with hemp, then ultimately you need a mill to process it, farmers to grow it, tradies to work with it, and so on.

“It’s an extremely multi-functional plant, which is why it’s so intensely revered and holds the magical position for health, culture, creativity, humanity, and planet earth as a whole that it does. @bmamag

“So as an expo, what we do is bring ALL of those facets together for everyone to experience and learn about – in one place.”

The Expo also promises to have pathways and networking opportunities for visitors to explore cannabis industry investment.

5 -10 years, particularly around the subject of changing laws in regards to recreational use of cannabis; even the prospect if it being sold commercially through a retailer.

“If I knew the possibility of that, I would tell you,” Evan says.

“For that, we have the VIP networking party on the Saturday night for our exhibitors, speakers, and all of our VIP ticket holders,” Evan details. “So you get the cream of the industry all coming together with anybody who is interested in doing the same.

“The short answer, again, is that’s one of the many reasons we hold the expo. Obviously various countries and territories around the world have a range of different legal and cultural parameters in place so part of that also includes learning from them.

“Throw in dinner, a bar tab, our headliner bands, DJs, and a set of weekend tickets and it’s one hell of a party to boot.”

“Many people are familiar with the situation in the US, the Netherlands, Canada, and recently Thailand, but there’s many others like Israel, Portugal, and Germany through to Uruguay and South Africa.

Of course, key to the growth of the industry lies in the relaxation of laws. Given his position, does Evan advocate for, or have any influence over, legislative change?

“Yes, but our role as an expo is more to bring together everyone who does or wants to,” he explains. “From Legalise Cannabis Australia to a wide range of advocates, political parties, doctors, allied health professionals, industry experts, academics, scientists, authors, filmmakers, patients, and others.

You name it, they’re here.”

The talk of here and now leads to the subject of looking to the future, and the next facebook.com/bmamagazine

“For us it’s about bringing everyone together to look at what Australia’s own distinctive set of circumstances should look like.”

With events in Sydney and Brisbane, the ACT’s more liberal laws for cannabis earmark Canberra as a natural choice for the expo. Does the Canberra expo offer opportunities the other states don’t?

“Indeed, our very first Canberra HHI, we’re thrilled to be here,” Evan enthuses. “The obvious difference is yes, the ACT has a more progressive approach to cannabis

legislation than the rest of the country in that adults can possess up to 50 grams of dried cannabis, up to 150 grams of fresh cannabis, grow up to two cannabis plants per person, four per household, and use cannabis in their own home.

“But the main difference for this event is that given the 19 & 20 November dates fall at the end of spring, for our Canberra event we’re upping the festival vibe. We’ve got a two-day program chock full of bands, artists, DJs, food trucks, indoor and outdoor exhibitors, as well as camping tickets for the first time ever. It’s a good excuse for road trippers and/ or folks that want to make a weekend of it.”

For interested parties, online single day tickets are $20 and weekend passes are $36. VIP ticket packages are also available, giving you a weekend pass plus entry to the Saturday night industry networking party, dinner, as well as a starter bar tab, bar and headliner entertainment.

For more, head to www.hhiexpo.com.au. The event is held at Epic on 19 & 20 November, whilst the VIP party is round the corner @ Thoroughbred Park. Shuttle buses will run 5pm to 10.30pm between EPIC (EXPO & Carpark), Thoroughbred Park (The VIP Party), the light rail station (City) and EPIC campgrounds.

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HHI Expo page 2

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WITCHSKULL

METALISE [THE WORD ON METAL] WITH JOSH NIXON [DOOMTILDEATH@HOTMAIL.COM] Storms are metal. I like storms. Thunder and lightning are very metal. But I could do with less rain to make it easier getting from the house to the car, and from the carpark into all these venues for them summer riffs! There are many in the immediate and near future to prepare for...

FACECUTTER

Locals Facecutter celebrate the release of their excellent grindviolence record Die Slow on Friday, 11 November at The Basement with mates from Sydney Cherish, killer new local band Loose Cannon, and Thantu Thikha. The album is a rager, hopefully you can pick up a physical copy in the backroom of The Basement at the show and tickets are available via Oztix.

Speaking of locals releasing new music, Ploughshare, in their impenetrable savagery, popped a new single out through Brilliant Emperor in the last couple of weeks entitled Divulging Bees, Spiders and Scorpions. It should come as no surprise that the listen is absolutely harrowing in the most delicious and uncomfortable way. This is taken from their forthcoming full length Ingested Burial Ground which will drop on Thursday, 8 December and the power of Christ compels thee to prepare for demonic possession when your ears are assaulted by it.

A slice of international death metal delights in the form of Californians Skeletal Remains. The band brings their old school DM mentality to the national capital as a part of a 10-date antipodean tour taking in Australia and New Zealand. Devouring Mortality from 2018 is still a brutal listen, and your chance to capture tunes from that and their other two full lengths comes on Sunday, 13 November at The Basement. Joined by an all star local cast of Wretch, Deiformity, Point 17, and Anoxia. Tickets available via Oztix.

Northlane had a number 1 album with the excellent Obsidian and are touring it within an inch of its life. They sold out their last Canberra show and I’m sure if you don’t grab a ticket to The Basement for their Friday, 18 November show with Melbourne’s Windwaker and Deathbeds you will be kicking yourself. Oztix, you say? Oztix it is.

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Witchskull have been busy putting album number 4 in the can down in Melbourne and have had a couple of great shows in Melbourne and Sydney ahead of their Friday, 25 November appearance at The Basement. You know it’s gonna be a good time when you have Melbourne punk thrash giants Reaper as a main support, and the one man monolith with the diabolically hard to spell band name Schkeuditzer Kreuz opening proceedings.

Marcus has been very busy in Q3 2022 as Hekate have also recorded a full length. The snippets I’ve heard from both records are just killer. Get your ticket to the ‘skull from Oztix.

Keeping the big doom vibes going is the Canberra leg of the national tour from Wormrot side project Marijannah. Joined by Sydney doom royalty Potion for the whole run, every show has a simply killer line-up of local supports. Canberra is no exception.

Y’see, it just so happens that the same day the new aforementioned Ploughshare record comes out, the band will be offering a starkly bleak and blasting contrast to the doom on this very bill. The ever vicious Blight Worms are also along for the ride. Thursday, 8 December is the date, and it’s in the city at Transit Bar to make it all the more accessible for all. Tickets on sale through Moshtix.

Line-ups for Canberra Metal Fest and Sunburn were released since last publish, and it’s just stupidly all the bands ever. Here’s the rub.

Canberra Metal Fest - The Basement - 17-18 Feb Misery, Psycroptic, Abramelin, Werewolves, Alarum, Black Rheno, Hidden Intent, Remains, Pod People, Wretch, 100 Years War, 12 Gauge Rampage, Anoxia, Arkane, Burst, Carnal Viscera, Dying Sun, Flaming Wreckage, Forakt, Gape, Goat Shaman, Gosika, Laceration Mantram, Lucifungus, Munitions, Mytile Vey Lorth, Naugrim, Nembutolik, Neptune Power Federation, Outcest, Pizza Death, Point 17, The Plague, Post Truth, Reign of Terror, Religious Observance, Shockwave, and Womb To Tomb.

Sunburn - The Basement - 28-29 April Amammoth, Astrodeath, Atolah, Bongcoffin, Burn the Hostages, Dirty Pagans, Droid, Dr Colossus, Earth Omen, Elephant Orgy, Emu, Fumerole, Full Tone Generator, Giant, Goat Shaman, Golem, Hekate, Holy Serpent, Hydranaut, Khan, Kitchen Witch, Kvll, Lucifungus, Master Leonard, MWOC, Mourners, Pistonfist, Planet of the 8s, Pod People, Robot God, Smoke Witch, Sundowner, Yanomamo, and Vvarp.

Tickets for these events going onsale soon; put them on your Christmas card list.

BMA METAL PROFILE

Californian 4-piece old schoolers Skeletal Remains will be blasting The Basement on Sunday, 13 November with Wretch, Deiformity, Point 17, and Anoxia (tix via Oztix).

We caught up with guitarist Mike De La O who let us know who they are, what they stand for, and what’s in store for the Canberra show.

Group members: Chris Munroy (guitars/vocals), Pierce Williams (drums), Brain Rush (bass), and myself Mike De La O (guitars).

Where did the band name come from?

So we’ve actually had three different band names all coming from Demolition Hammer songs.

We started with Necrotized, then to Anthropophagy, and finally Skeletal Remains.

Demolition Hammer has been one of our biggest influences from the very beginning, especially lyrically. A lot of our earlier lyrics and song titles are pretty on the nose with Demolition influence!

How did you form?

Chris and I go way back; about 17 years now. His house was always the jam spot after school or on the weekends so we’d meet regularly to practise covers of some of our favourite bands.

Eventually we decided to try writing some material of our own with Traumatic Existence being the very first SR song. The rest followed shortly after that. Things happened pretty quick towards our favour in the beginning and we’ve been so grateful.

Describe your sound: Definitely more in the old school way for sure. We’ve always worn our influences on our sleeves, never denying it. Our earlier stuff was more in the Death/Pestilence style with our latest being more Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse driven.

Some of the new music we’re working on is also taking a direction towards Suffocation, Hate Eternal, and Deeds of Flesh with Doug Cerrito playing a huge role.

What is it that you love about your scene?

I just love the total support we get from so many across the globe. We truly appreciate all that they’ve given us throughout the years. Even something as simple as buying a sticker is more than we could ever really ask for in support. We do what we do because of the fans. They give us the power and privilege to travel the world and perform for every single one of them.

Tell us about one of your proudest moments?

Getting to meet and share the stage with Erik Rutan when we played Costa Rica with Cannibal Corpse. The dude is my biggest influence. So much of my playing style came from his music.

There are many others as well; really hard to pick just one!

What are your plans for the future?

Our main focus is to finish this next record. We’ve also got an announcement that I’m stoked to share when we can! Aside from that, we’re going to continue on doing what we do best by playing shows and touring the world! We’re not letting up any time soon, that’s for sure.

What makes you laugh?

What key tracks should people immediately check out?

Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, and Pablo Francisco are our go-to playlists when hitting the road. You’ll always catch us quoting some of their best material!

Tombs of Chaos, Devouring Mortality, and Beyond Cremation.

Weed helps too!

Who/What are your influences?

What pisses you off?

For me personally, my biggest musical influences are Gorguts (Erosion of Sanity era), Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, and Deeds of Flesh (Reduced to Ashes era).

“Rockstars” who believe they’re superior to all, and a lack of common sense. Had an experience with a pretty big name who couldn’t care less about anyone but himself. I was pretty bummed because I was a fan of his and his band but after this experience it left a bitter taste in my mouth. DON’T BE A DICK. It’s not that difficult!

For my lyrics, I take influence from negative life experiences, science-fiction, world history, and current events such as major catastrophes/war/disease etc.

What are some of the most memorable experiences you’ve had as a band?

So far this year alone has been one for the books. Almost a world tour with us hitting the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, and soon Australia! Some stand out shows were those with Cannibal Corpse, Maryland DeathFest, Hellfest, and most recently sharing the stage with Cavalera. Honoured and grateful for sure.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Let’s keep this momentum in the underground going! The scene is the strongest it’s been since the heyday of the early ‘90s!

Where can people check you out?

The Basement on Sunday, 13 November.

Skeletal-remains.com Facebook.com/skeletalremainsdeathmetal/ instagram.com/skeletalremainsofficial/

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Sense & Sensibility/ New play, old classic, directed

by Cate Clelland / 18 Nov - 3 Dec / Canberra Rep A playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters, shortly after their father’s sudden death. Set in gossipy 18th-century England, with a fresh female voice, the play is full of humour, emotional depth, and bold theatricality. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart? Directed by Cate Clelland, with a cast of over 20 including Karina Hudson as Elinor Dashwood, Annabelle Segler as Marianne Dashwood, John Whinfield as Edward Ferrars, and Sean Warren as Colonel Brandon. Preview Thu, 17 Nov; season: 18 Nov - 3 Dec 2022 Wed - Sat, 8pm + matinees on 26, 27 Nov, 3 Dec, 2pm. Tix via venue

God Of Carnage/ A comedy of manners... without the manners / 23 - 26 Nov / The Q, Queanbeyan What happens when two sets of parents meet up to deal with an incident between their children? A calm and rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a gloves off, hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums, and tears before bedtime? It starts as a civilised discussion with espresso, homemade clafouti, and small talk, but remove the middle class veneer of respectability and there’s no hiding the mess beneath. An absolute hoot, showcasing Yasmina Reza’s astute observations of social relationships. 8pm + 2pm matinee, $30 - $70 via venue

Pictures of You / An exhibition with a difference / 2 Dec - 5 Feb / Belconnen Arts Centre An innovative new exhibition, Pictures of You explores the approach of linking people with lived experience of physical and mental disabilities with experienced pro photographer Hilary Wardhaugh; working in equal collaboration to produce an honest portrait, reflecting the whole person and not just the ‘consumer with a disability’. Exhibition Manager John Brookes of Canberry Communications explains: “The goal is one of equal balance in working with the artist to vocalise their experiences and feelings, a true collaboration of equals; a telling of people’s untold stories through art.” Opening 6pm, Thursday, 2 December PAGE 24

UPCOMING ARTS EVENTS

Photo by Tom Bowles

[SPOTLIGHT]

CSO Llewellyn Four: Infinite Possibilities / with Jessica Cottis / 23 & 24 Nov / Llewellyn Hall The Canberra Symphony Orchestra are thrilled to welcome Jessica Cottis back to Canberra, her first performance here since May 2021, to premiere a new commission from Canberra-bred, LA-based composer Leah Curtis. Also featured is Ukrainian-Australian composer Markiyan Melnychenko making his CSO debut with Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, which he describes as both technically challenging and powerfully evocative of the composer’s homeland. The program closes with Stravinsky’s inventive 1947 Petrushka ballet suite. 7:30pm, tickets $30 – $101 via cso.org.au/possibilities

The Australian Rugby Choir/ World In Union concert / Sun, 26 Nov / The B, Queanbeyan The ARC is a male voice community choir that promotes fellowship through song, regularly performing at community, ceremonial, and charitable events across the Canberra region and in NSW. Established in Canberra in 1996, the choir has delighted audiences with its ever popular series of annual concerts since 2005. The choir will perform a mix of traditional and contemporary songs from its wide repertoire including many that have become favourites of supporters and audiences over the years. 2pm, $10 for U18, $30 conc., $35 standard via theq.net.au

A Stellar Lineup / A collab of CBR’s community dance companies / 2 & 3 Dec / Belco Arts Centre “It’s the launch of The Stellar Company as a new and wholly inclusive voice in community arts in the ACT. Unique in the performing arts in Canberra, we champion quality, inclusive performing arts. Join us for a deeply joyful, moving, and uplifting experience. Our performing companies work across generations, abilities, cultures, and distance.

They include ZEST Dance for Wellbeing, Deaf Butterflies, Subsdance, Canberra Dance Theatre’s GOLD company, Project Dust, and introducing The Chamaeleon Collective, Canberra’s first inclusive dance company. 7pm, $25/$35 via belcoarts.com.au/stellar-lineup/

Exhibitionist | Comedy in the ACT

Surgeon’s Revenge Sends Shivers

Venting Inventor

Doctors get divorced. But surgeons don’t.

Oliver Thorpe Junior finished his private surgery primary school education by age 12. Instead of following in his father’s footsteps and attending Surgery High School in East Berlin (before the fall of the wall), Oliver Junior chose to come home to Australia where he attended Parkes High School in country New South Wales, famously the alma mater of legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel and his less famous older brother Phil.

Or do they?

Chris Marlton takes the time to investigate the life of Australia’s leading surgeon.

Born With A Silver Scalpel When Oliver Thorpe Junior was born into the second richest family in the Australian medical world there was a lot of pressure on his little shoulders.

It was 1972, and Olivia Thorpe and Oliver Thorpe Senior brought their first and only child, Oliver Junior, into the world.

Olivia was a paediatric podiatrist, specialising in small-foot surgery, and Oliver Sr was a Oculoplastic surgeon and Radical Gynaecologist (R.G). Hopes for young Oliver Junior to become a surgeon were sky-high.

He attended a private medical teaching hospital primary school, based in an undisclosed country in Eastern Europe, where he was able to observe, and then eventually perform practise surgeries from the age of seven.

During his time in Primary School he won several Junior International Speed Surgery Championships, for both neurosurgery and ankle surgery.

PAGE 26

Junior was kindly paying for to take them to the local hospital quickly ducked into a KFC drive-thru on the outskirts of town. Oliver Junior ordered two large buckets of chicken.

This simple decision was to change the face, or indeed the foot, of surgery.

When he was halfway through the first bucket, a brave new idea occurred to Oliver Junior, and he immediately went to work.

It was during his time in Parkes that Oliver Junior started his own underground surgery club, where he made several ground-breaking medical discoveries.

He had noticed, such was his genius, that the bones in the human foot were identical to the bones found in the body of a chicken.

He severely undercut the local hospital with his cut-price angiograms and eyereplacement procedures.

He pulled out his trusty pocketscalpel, and before they even arrived at the hospital, Julieta-Elena’s foot had all the original human bones removed, replaced with leftover chicken bones from Oliver Junior’s KFC.

KFSee What I Mean It was at a late Wednesday night surgery party that his first and second major surgical inventions occurred.

A friend of Oliver Junior obliterated her ankle attempting to jump between a Citroen and a Skoda that were travelling in opposite directions at 80km/h on a highway 50km outside of Parkes.

As Oliver Junior was escorting his injured friend, the Basque Separatist surgeon Julieta-Elena Garcia-Hernandez, he got very hungry. The maxi-taxi which Oliver

And so, Chicken to Foot bone replacement surgery was born, as was Taxi-Surgery. The benefits of operating (literally) from the back of a maxi-taxi is that it’s impossible to find or trace; a mobile operating theatre doubling as a very convenient transportation device.

Unfortunately, the strength of the chicken-bones was not at the level required, and the new bones needed replacing every 6-8 weeks for the rest of Julieta-Elena’s life.

But the principles were sound., and Oliver Junior later perfected the treatment by only using chickens who drank a lot of milk (drank being used in the hyperbolic sense here, as the chickens had to be placed on machines that pumped high-calcium milk into their stomachs 24/7).

Marriage and Love When Oliver Junior finally moved away from Parkes, and Australia, he decided to base himself in Glasgow, Scotland, where he could perform as much unlicenced surgery as his research required.

It was on the outskirts of Glasgow, poaching cattle for surgery replacement parts, that he met fellow surgeon poacher, Lady Amelia Gothenburg.

Lady Amelia had been out hunting humans, but when she saw Oliver Junior in her scope, she decided she could use him for more romantic purposes.

She put a bullet in his left knee, showed up to save the day, and they were married in her father’s castle three months later.

The pirate-surgery power-couple of Thorpe and Gothenburg resulted in four strong children, three weak children, and a barrage of miscarriages… of justice, as they performed more than six-thousand illegal, experimental surgeries on homeless and destitute Glaswegians.

Divvy-Divvy-Vorce-Force Just this year, after 20 years of top-shelf matrimony, Oliver Junior and Amelia decided to call it a day.

Publicly it was amicable, but privately, Amelia was making all the decisions. She had been cheating on Oliver Junior for over

ten years with her second-cousin, Quincy Bathwater the Earl of Sussex. When Quincy’s parachute didn’t open on his seventh skydive of the year and he bounced 15 metres in the air, Amelia decided she needed a change.

She divorced Oliver Junior and shortly after enlisted in the Scottish National Guard.

Re-Venn-ge Diagram The international surgical world was thrown into disarray only six-weeks after the split of Oliver Thorpe Junior and Lady Amelia Gothenburg. Oliver Junior made his intentions clear, when he posted a scandalous photo on his Instagram last week.

In the photo he is wearing a nice, green, wide-brimmed hat. The photo was simply captioned #revengehat. The image has been re-shared over seven million times across Facebook, twitter and TikTok as the concept of wearing a nice hat to get revenge on your ex-wife went viral in a big way.

Oliver Junior and his seven children, all of whom he has custody over, have moved back in with his parents, Oliver Senior and Olivia. He has made an appointment to see a psychologist to work through some issues.

He is on a cancellation list, but the earliest appointment he could get is in April 2023.

Chris Marlton is a comedian, writer, painter, and film-maker.

His latest comedy special, Mephisto Waltz, is available to watch for free on YouTube. All other upcoming comedy shows are available at www.linktree/ChrisMarlton. Follow @chris.marlton & @laserfirecomedy on Instagram and @ ChrisMarltonComedy on Facebook.

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Carr Maintenance Leads to Better Performance

By Allan Sko When I catch up with beloved UK comic, host, and all-round chatty man Alan Carr, it is at the end of the official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II.

“It’s like those comedians that go, ‘God I was in Poundland the other day.’ Oh really? I didn’t know you could get a Mercedes in Poundland, because that’s what you pulled up in.

“It’s been a long nine days,” Carr says, in that instantly recognisable voice. “I just don’t know how you’re supposed to mourn. There was a really funny meme going around where a gay sauna said they would still be open during the Queen’s funeral, but out of respect there would be no porn and no music.

“I didn’t want to be like that, so I had to be honest.”

“So someone said, ‘Oh, good. You can get buggered in stoic silence, then.’”

Indeed, it’s been a year of upheaval for Carr, with a very public, lockdown-induced break up of his marriage which has completely reshaped his latest comedy show Regional Trinket, which he is bringing to Canberra. In true style, he doesn’t shy away from the topic.

“A week before the show was to start Boris Johnson put us all into lockdown,” Carr says.

“And then started the heavy self-analysis, many were doing: ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I in this relationship? Why am I living here?’

“So the marriage fell apart, and I came out the other end. Looking at the show again, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this doesn’t even make sense, this stuff’. So I rewrote it on the hoof, and now it’s very personal and very raw.

“And I think it’s better for it.”

This frank approach is essential for authenticity, Carr explains.

“Comedy is tragedy plus time,” Carr says. “I’ve been doing stand up now for over 20 years, and I’ve always found that the audience can sniff out a rat. Obviously we all embroider, us comedians, but the audience can tell if something rings untrue.

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Such a turbulent time has certainly provided Carr with plenty of raw material.

“What was happening, for the first time in my life… I mean, no one’s ever given a shit about my personal life,” he says. “And of course when the shit hits the fan, I had paps (paparazzi) following me, I had journalists knocking on the door. And foolishly, I thought ‘no one cares’.

“And then I was in South End, in Essex; it’s got the longest pier in the UK. And the woman at the reception desk said, ‘Oh, there’s a lovely seal at the end of it.’ So I went to the end of the pier to look at it.

“And of course, I didn’t know I was being papped all the way there, so suddenly I’m in the papers with the caption: “Sad Alan At End of Pier” and made it look like I was going to throw myself off! I didn’t know I was being fucking filmed; I was just looking at a seal!”

Tumultuous though the last year or two may have been for Carr, the lockdown allowed for an ultimately positive reshuffling in his life, both personal and professional.

“Honestly, before Covid I thought about quitting comedy,” he reveals. “I was overworked, stressed. I was sick of it, and found myself thinking, ‘how can I get myself cancelled?’” he laughs.

“And then one little weekend of doing nothing, I realised I’m gonna be that Vegas act performing to four people in a theatre at 99 years old!

“Now I’m on stage again and I’m so thankful, and the audiences are up for it like never before. I did the Royal Variety Performance last year, which I’ve done a few times, but never as a host. It’s normally a bit of a stuffy affair, but wow, it was crazy! They were so up for it. People just wanted to have some fun.

“So I know I need it, and I think people realise how much comedy is needed in life, especially at this time.”

Art in its various forms has often been a cathartic enterprise, and for some comedy is no different. But much like a popular, heartrending breakup ballad reluctantly played night after night, long after the grief has been processed, can the same be said for such a stand up show for its creator? Not so much, for the gregarious gag merchant.

“I see what you’re saying. But the bottom line is, it’s a comedy show, not a TED talk,” Carr states. “It’s a performance. Between you and me… me Dad’s me biggest fan now. He’s 78 and watches everything I do. But in my act he still this <puts on an older, north England accent> ‘Bloody ‘ell, Alan, why haven’t you got a girlfriend, like?’ You embroider it a little bit.

“Paul [Carr’s ex-husband] comes around and drops the dogs off, and I’m not like, ‘Yoooou piece of shit!’ Feelings are still there.

“Life goes on. I’ll be writing some new stuff for Australia, because clearly some things don’t fit, and there’s stuff at the beginning about Covid just because the show has been postponed so many times. But I’m writing things all the time. A good joke is a good joke” Alan Carr brings his new show Regional Trinket to the Canberra Theatre on Sunday, 11 December. The show starts at 7:30pm, tix are $84.90–$94.90 + bf via the venue. @bmamag

Beckett’s End Game?

Pure Comedy

By Allan Sko There are three immediate aspects that mark UK comedian, host, podcaster, and author Rob Beckett; proudly sporting his working class background, authenticity, and being one of the most beloved comics in the industry.

You can add to that, of course, a genuine desire to make people laugh; something he very much intends to do with his upcoming Australia tour, and Canberra stopover. Hardly a surprise for a comedian, you may ponder, but Beckett’s singular focus is to be admired.

“I’ve never really been a big fan of a narrative show,” Beckett reveals via Zoom post gig, proving that he is rarely off the clock. “I find it quite unnecessarily clunky and boring. And I used to think that’s because I’m not a proper writer, and couldn’t do that.

“But actually, I realised that a lot of those people can’t be funny all the way through, and my strength is that I’m good in-the-moment.

It’s really authentic, and honest. It’s something I’ve made a virtue of rather than beat myself up for not having that narrative or structure. It suits my style.”

Authenticity is important to Beckett, spurning a ghostwriter for his autobiography A Class Act to instead take on the weighty task of penning it himself.

“That was something I wanted to do for myself, to prove that I could do it,” he says.

“I fought with impostor syndrome, and the poverty mindset, and having these negative anxiety faults. A lot of the time, they’re not real, they’re not true; you create this narrative yourself, like ‘I am not an academic.’

“If you don’t label yourself, there’s more freedom to find out what you can be. I can spend too long saying I’m not able to do this. facebook.com/bmamagazine

That’s why I forced myself to do it. It was hard.

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But it felt really good when I did it, because it was out of my comfort zone.”

Operating outside of a comfort zone has led to some of Beckett’s greatest achievements to date, pivoting the financial crisis of 2008 into a stand-up career, and lockdown into a hugely successful comedy-parenting podcast with fellow comic and friend Josh Widdicombe, Parenting Hell. Not to mention a much needed life and mental health check.

“I was approaching burnout from gigging non stop for ten years,” Beckett reveals. “Five gigs a week; I was working like a maniac. So it was good to put stuff in perspective and find that bit of balance. It’s one of those things where most good things come out of a bad situation.

“During the 2008 recession, I got made redundant, and I started doing stand-up. And then, in lockdown, we started the podcast, and that’s become a really popular thing that me and Josh both love to do.

“I don’t think anyone has their best ideas when they’re sat in a hot tub with a cigar. You have them when you’re under the cosh of it.”

Yes, about that podcast. What started as a “What’s App group gotten out of hand”, as well as a sanity break from being housebound with children, has grown into a chart-topper. And the podcast’s benefits don’t stop there for Beckett as it, once again, feeds back into his core principle to simply make people laugh.

“I couldn’t believe how popular it got,” he says of the podcast. “But looking back, of course, there needs to be a comedy podcast about kids. Especially with the amount of time parents are listening to podcasts when they’re

walking the baby in a pram or are up all night, or driving their kids around and stuff.

“It’s great, coz I never wanted to be a stand-up that just banged on about their kids on stage.

So we’ve got a podcast to do those jokes.

Because no one in the crowd really has kids; they’re normally younger and got more energy and money to go out and book tickets.

“It’s really good, actually, because I get it out my system every week,” Beckett continues.

“And then it can free up my brain to think about other routines or other stuff I want to talk about. Kids just consume every waking moment as is, and they don’t stop talking at you - dadadadada. We’ve just had half term over here. I love them to pieces, but you just need a little break from them after a while.”

And on this occasion, an extended break from the kids means some time with us lucky Australian audiences. Beckett’s modus operandi remains true.

“My job is to be as funny as possible, not deliver a special narrative show about that time I missed a train,” he says. “And if that means dropping a routine and talking to that person in the audience more, I’ll do that. That’s why I try to create shows that are a bit more fluid, so that’s possible, rather than setting myself up like, ‘Oh my God, tonight, I’ve got to do that three minute monologue that has to hit those points.’

“It’s a show called Wallop; I come out, and I’m going to make you laugh as much as I can for 90 minutes.”

Rob Beckett will be performing his new show Wallop at The Playhouse on Friday, 25 November at 8pm. Tix are $79.90 + bf via Canberra Theatre Centre.

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WHO ARE YOU:

Australian Portraiture BMA Mag’s TAMSIN TEMP took a tour of the National Portrait Gallery’s latest epic exhibition with curator JOANNA GILMOUR to learn anew the old adages that a picture is worth a thousand words, and the eyes are the windows to the soul (plus so much more).

By Tamsin Temp Australians tend to associate portraiture with prime ministers and the Queen, and once a year the theatre of the Archibald. Be prepared to cast aside any such notions, as this one hits different, inviting you to place thinking caps firmly on.

Who Are You: Australian Portraiture describes itself as ‘a comprehensive study of portraiture in Australia’ and so it is: inclusive, complex, and diverse. Like a concertina, it expands to embrace thousands of years of First Nations connection to Country as well as our recent colonial sprint.

“This one’s been a few years in the making,” Joanna Gilmour, National Portrait Gallery curator tells me.

She is referring to the interruptions of Covid-19, but I can’t help thinking of the enormity of time captured in these images.

The untouchable nature of it expressed immediately as you enter the space and find yourself suspended in the gazes of Vernon Ah Kee and Nora Heysen, hung opposite, perusing each other across decades and cultures.

This juxtaposition sets the tone for much of the exhibition.

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Co-curation from the National Gallery of Victoria and NPG is seamless, cannily choosing five themes to structure the collection. In the push and pull of the chronology, the subject areas of Person and Place, Meet the Artist, Inner Worlds Outer Selves, Intimacy and Alienation, and Icons and Identities help us to access the history and intentions of the works.

Person and Place recognises individuals in their relationships with the living earth.

The kinship of land and people is present all around; Kunmanara Burton’s mapping of self in Country, and Lloyd Rees’s some rocks are worlds removed culturally, and yet not, because the land is at the centre of it all. The delicate fingers and toes on Yvonne Koolmatries’ Magic Weaver are like roots or tubers reaching for their place in the earth.

Aren’t we all.

Meet the Artist is a cavalcade of peek-a-boo.

Self-portraiture gifts us only what we are allowed by the artist to see.

John Brack’s 1955 self-portrait suggests a sense of loss, exhibiting a stark composition and colour palette that could easily be from a war painting.

You can have this much of me, he seems to tell us, but no more.

This full wall also gives us Trevor Turbo Brown’s celebratory Dingo Spirit, and the curious small portrait of Napier Waller from 1925. Gilmour tells me he had only one arm when this was completed, yet he depicts himself with both.

We see the imagined self with the real.

Another one-armed man waits around the corner; you hear him before you see him. On my second visit to the show, a young girl with her mum stands before the Mike Parr video, watching hard as he sucks drawings of him, by him, to his face one by one. The sound of his breath against the paper makes a queer whistling sound, almost like a wild cat.

The girl asks, “Why is he doing that?”. Good question kid. Give yourself the time to wonder.

I tell her the artist has the one arm and this seems to make her stick around. I, too, stay for the delightful cabinet nearby where the Schaffer and Co belt buckle from 1900, with the dual miniature dog portrait, has made me wish I were a wealthy collector. @bmamag

Clockwise from top left: Seven sisters song by Kaylene Whiskey, The surfers, 1989 by Anne Zahalka, Anna Josepha King, c. 1826-1832 (etched) by Unknown artist, Maria, 1986 (printed 2013) by Michael Riley, Self portrait, 1934 by Nora Heysen AM. Coincidentally (maybe), Parr faces his sister, Julie Rrap, on the other side of a panel.

There are multiple instances where I feel connections between works, like there is whispered conversation back and forth.

Take David Moore’s iconic 1966 photo of immigrants arriving by ship. They look to the Australian shore, and here, they look toward Peter Drew’s blunt photo of Monga Khan, with his stately moustache and turban. We know Drew’s AUSSIE (oi oi oi) label carries a heavy sarcasm, because we know the discomforting history of race relations in this country. We want Moore’s immigrants to have been treated with kindness, but we know, as Mr Khan knew, the common experience of exclusion.

The works that comprise Inner Worlds and Outer Selves are full of disquiet. Psyches, bodies, and relationships in turmoil. A standout piece for me is Brook Andrew’s large scale black and white photo, I split your gaze.

His face, divided and disconnected, is defiantly whole. A strong First Nations man.

Andrews references, as other First Nations artists have, the historic power relationship of being photographed ethnographically and having personal agency stolen. facebook.com/bmamagazine

In this powerful image he is, as Gilmour describes it, reclaiming both agency, and the photographic process.

Relationships underpin everything in this collection, especially the works chosen for Intimacy and Alienation, which articulate complex relationships with self, family, friends, and culture.

Some of the gentlest pieces in the exhibition join us here. Hugh Ramsay’s portrait of his sister Jessie, and John Longstaff’s mother and child, both from the 1890s, side by side on the wall, in time (and in style, to an extent) but mostly in love. There is a tangible intimacy in these family pieces.

Icons and Identities, perhaps more than any theme, brings us moments of difficult pleasure. The curation slides us into a seductive wall of women, all (as Gilmour points out) with necklaces. The beauty of the compositions and of the women themselves makes you smile, until you realise the multifaceted nature of the narratives.

Adut, one of a series from Atong Atem, references again the ethnographic practices of colonial photography, with brief reference, maybe, to Manet’s Olympia – the flowers

– surfaces the long history of slavery and oppression that informs the African diaspora.

This final theme of identities brings us familiar faces and the plain facts of life. Joy and grief co-exist in life; so too, here.

Rona Panangka Rubuntja’s vessel from (Ntaria) Hermannsburg, depicts the famous moment when Nicky Winmar lifted his jersey in an AFL match to point with unwavering pride at his skin. He is perfect. Our country is imperfect. Adam Goodes looks out from atop Vincent Namatjira’s series of portraits on the adjacent wall. I suspect he agrees.

I stood for a long time before Brenda Croft’s 2020 portrait of Matilda. Thinking about what 2020 brought us, about Waltzing Matilda, and wondering what this Matilda would think of that song, and the echoes of 60,000 years of culture and spiritual connection I feel in this face. Trying to pin down my thoughts on the exhibition overall, I realise Matilda says it all: “I know who I am. Do you?”

Who Are You: Australian Portraiture runs daily from Saturday, 1 October 2022 until Sunday, 29 January 2023 at the National Portrait Gallery.

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House of Sand presents

That Was Friday

By Anthony Plevey That Was Friday is a new contemporary performance work about distance and connectedness, familiarity and strangeness.

An Australian family has become geographically dispersed. Whilst each have created their own communities in their adopted homes and global networks, as a family they have drifted apart. Something has happened to the bonds that once held them close. In order to reconnect, they must relearn how they fit together.

Contemporary social history is marked by a diversity of diversities pivoting on global trends in health, sexuality, gender, race, economics, and politics. This is accompanied by shifts in social norms, and strange juxtapositions in philosophy across society.

House of Sand’s new work That Was Friday, which opens onto the nature of distance, connectedness, familiarity and strangeness, embraces the allegory of family reunion and reconnection to delve into the new cultures and communities that are being created and inhabited. It is a look at the increasing number

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of ways in which family and communities identify and relate.

House of Sand’s Co-Directors, Charley and Eliza Sanders, have conceived That Was Friday as a multi-discipline contemporary work, layered with drama, dance, film, and music. Charley and Eliza have drawn together an internationally based team comprising playwright Jack Sullivan, composer Mario Spate, and storyteller Amrit Tohari Agamemnoian, supported by video designer Laura Turner.

In conversation with Co-Director Charley and composer Mario to discuss the work, its intent, and its development trajectory, Charley related that the title was sparked by Canberra native Ruby Dixon’s poem That Was Friday.

“It’s an Odyssean story about journeying outward and a return home; principally the return home element,” Charley says. “It’s a coming-of-age for a group of millennial characters, coming home in their late 20s early 30s. Coming to understand their parents as individual humans and the trials and

tribulations that they have gone through, and how the parents are also coming to understand their children as independent, adult beings.

“Re-threading family and intimate community connections and learning from each other across generations about what those patterns of society are, is a major theme of the work,” Charley continues. “The play is essentially kicked off by a key life event that draws the fictional family back together and challenges them to adapt to patterns of diverse society.

They come to understand the beauty of the cultures of the alternative families being created in queer and diverse communities.

“The drama is post-dramatum and postverbatim,” Charley explains. “Sculpted from chunks of material which we have really said, into something more poetic, more theatrical. It doesn’t have that slightly dry vernacular that a lot of verbatim text has. There’s movement.

“The film has a documentary edge to it,” Charley continues. “Laura Turner, the video designer, is the caretaker of Amrit’s story, capturing in

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real time where she is out in the world, and the process of immigration. Applying to come here to Australia, that failing, immigrating to Canada, living there on a refugee visa, and moving on to applying for permanent residency.”

Acknowledging the four year development of That Was Friday, which intersected with the Black Summer bushfires and then Covid, Charley commented on the impact of this period on the way the work has evolved.

“It’s one of the questions that the work poses; in this day and age, in an increasingly globalising and digitising world, how do we create and maintain communities? Where the tyranny of distance isn’t gone, but it means something different. We can connect over Zoom and see each other, we can be on the line with our collaborators in New York, Montréal, wherever, in a matter of seconds, at any point we choose.

“But what are its limits?” Charley muses.

“It’s not the same as being in a physical room together, to give each other a hug and hear each other breathe. That’s why it’s really important that the work happens in space, to be there in the room breathing the same air and feeling the same ebb and flow of sound vibrations.

“It’s so central to the work.”

Composer Mario Spate saw this challenge in creating That Was Friday slightly differently.

“Being forced to be apart whilst you’re creating fed into the idea of the work beautifully,” Mario muses. “I was able to draw on the feeling of being separated from my own family. That disconnected longing for your family and a sense of ‘this is where I come from’ really played into the music I composed for what Charley and Eliza are creating.

“The logistical issues have tied everyone’s hands,” Mario continues. “However, those restrictions helped to streamline the essence of the thing. In less than ideal circumstances, you have to make bold choices because you don’t have the luxury of seeing how it works in the room.”

As for the music itself… facebook.com/bmamagazine

“The score is very textural with themes that come in and out of focus as your sense of home changes, going in and out of focus during your life,” Mario says.

“Invoking in the music how, over time, as you become separated from home, the idea of home, those feelings and memories change and morph into your own version of them.”

Expanding on his vision, Mario continued.

“I see the score as something that provides the audience with a flooring in the world that they’re walking through. Supporting them to feel and yet not distracting them.

“The first thing I did was to try and find the themes of the family and weave these across the different disciplines and worlds within the show, providing a connecting through line with slightly different flavours so that the dance, drama, and film connect.

“Composing for these three elements has been much more like scoring a film than a more linear theatre production,” Mario reveals.

“Evoking recurring and intertwining themes to provide the audience with anchor points and connections to lead them through That Was Friday’s purposefully disjointed worlds.

“I’ve played a lot with space and density as opposites, and how these two connect, trying to be as subtle as possible so that the audience questions their sense of uncomfortableness, when the music has swelled and grown to distort and break apart and there is a realisation of the intensity of the moment.”

Mario has sought material from many places to create such a compelling soundscape.

“Working in a studio environment, I’ve drawn inspiration from being in the world outside the studio, using field recordings as source material,” Mario says of his technical approach. “The work is a good 50-50 blend of orchestrated studio/computer work and stuff

that brings in the world around you to become a texture, or a voice as an instrument.

“I’ve tried to find the musical language that leaves room for the text,” Mario says. “The score creates a mood, a coloured and melodic base, less focused on the percussive, so where there is text, it doesn’t distract.

“But for the dance sections it is more percussive and more noticeable.”

On the dance element, Charley continues: “The idea of reaching out to touch across restrictions is central to the physical movement of the work. There is that kind of grief of coming together but not quite being able to come together as you would wish.

“Eliza, in choreographing the movement of the dance, definitely followed this thread of reaching out - a yearning to touch, that I think people will find quite potent in this particular time in which we live.”

Expressing the creative team’s enthusiasm for That Was Friday, Charley concluded: “The body experiences and the emotions that under gird the work are actually similar, and commonly human.

“My hope and my belief is that anyone who has a family, anyone who has a community, will be able to come to this work and have an experience that maybe isn’t their life, but they feel how it resonates with their life.

“It’s different, but it feels familiar.”

House of Sand’s That Was Friday is on at the Belconnen Arts Centre from 23 - 26 November. Tickets are $40/$45 via belcoarts. com.au/friday PAGE 33

Pluck Of The Irish

Sionnach Rua takes The Street Theatre into the belly of Ireland

By Sammy Moynihan As the world begins to wake up and people are heading back to see gigs, what better way to celebrate the energetic and soul-soothing nature of music than with the Irish?

On 18 November, Sionnach Rua’s Irish Songbook will fill The Street Theatre with the sounds and spirit of Ireland via an evening of Celtic passion. The band consists of front man Gallie; Ruth Wise on fiddle; Paddy Montgomery on mandolin, guitar and bouzouki; and Sam Davies on uilleann pipes.

While the show features many generations of songs, for Gallie, the Irish tradition of storytelling will enliven the performance.

“We’re an oral tradition,” he says. “We have all these stories, and all these songs are passed down through the generations. We used to have things called a seanchaí, which is like a band that would travel from valley to valley bringing news. They might bring the news from over the valley where Donald Flaherty’s cow had triplets or something.

“But they’d also bring songs and stories. We’d learn the valley. Across the valley, you’d learn their songs.”

Of course, a love of stories continues to this day in Ireland.

“Because it’s raining every day, everybody’s indoors around the fire having a nice glass of whatever. That’s where the poetry, the stories, the craic, and the music happens.”

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The band is named after the legend of an Irish witch who would transform into a fox and wreak havoc in Irish villages.

“Irish music is like that,” says Gallie. “Some of it is so primeval and really fast that you just can’t help but tap your feet and clap along.

Then some of it is so sad and haunting.

“You can really feel everything. You can feel the wind and the rain coming down from the mountains; you can hear the rivers.”

“

The sound coming from these pipes, you can just hear the years and the weather, and you can feel the wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean…

”

As well as the mountains, forests, and rich greenery, there’s nothing that captures the culture like the energy of a cosy pub.

“We also love the craic, we love drinking and having a party. So, there’s also the happy, to-hell-with-all-this-misery, let’s just have the craic. It’s all about fun and heart and passion.

We’re just standing under the beauty that is Irish culture.”

All members of the band are acclaimed in their field, and the show features a wide range of different instruments such as fiddles, mandolins, tin whistles, and bouzouki. Gallie

describes the uilleann pipes as the secret sauce in the musical stew.

“It just sounds like the belly of Ireland, you know?” he enthuses. “The sound coming from these pipes, you can just hear the years and years and the weather and the atmosphere, and you can feel the wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean when you hear these pipes playing. It’s a beautiful instrument.”

The show features the best of Irish music, with songs ranging from the traditional through to Van Morrison. Canberra audiences are in for a treat, with Gallie also feeling the excitement of live performance after years of disruption.

“It’s just great to be back out on the road and it’s great to see people back out and enjoying music. It’s great just to be alive again.

We’ve had floods, we’ve had fire, we’ve had pestilence, now all we’re waiting for is death.”

Waiting for death doesn’t seem too sombre a prospect, though, if the time is spent surrounded by the songs and stories of Sionnach Rua’s Irish Songbook.

“As long as the audience brings their dancing boots, their laughing bellies, their clapping hands, their roaring hearts, we’ll all have a fecking great night.”

Sionnach Rua’s Irish Songbook will be playing at The Street Theatre on Friday, 18 November at 8pm. Tickets are $49 via thestreet.org.au

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Paco Lara: If it’s not romantic, it’s not possible Acclaimed Flamenco artist brings an evening of passion to The Street Theatre.

By Sammy Moynihan Audiences are in for a crackling infusion of guitar, song, and dance when acclaimed Flamenco artist Paco Lara comes to The Street Theatre on 10 December.

Known for his stunning yet soothing music, the Spanish native has created an ambitious evening that also features energetic Flamenco dancing, multiple instruments, and original lyrical songs.

Paco describes Flamenco as more than just the music: “It’s a culture. It’s a language. It’s a tradition.

The main thing is the music, of course, but it’s a very rich music about rhythm more than about harmony or about technical skill. It is full of expression and drama.”

Flamenco has deep historical roots in Spain, of course, but it also grew out of a fusion of different cultures.

“It’s very related to the gypsies, and now it’s mixed with a Spanish culture as well,” Paco explains. “It’s become very much a big mix now. It’s [energy is] found in almost any culture that’s suffered in the past. It all comes from that suffering, and the coming together to make happiness.”

The show will launch Paco’s latest album Duende, which refers to a heightened sense of passion that is revealed when an artist is completely immersed in their work.

“The word ‘duende’ has different meanings in Spanish language,” says Paco. “One of facebook.com/bmamagazine

these is ‘goblin’. When you see a person in the audience crying, the duende has appeared in this moment. The performer is not only extraordinarily skilled, but his soul has come out too. The goblin has come out. It’s the second skin; emerging when you’re totally mesmerised.”

“I have 40 years playing guitar and surviving playing guitar. I’ve learned that if you’re not romantic, it’s impossible,” Paco enthuses. “You have to be a little bit romantic to dedicate your life to music. You put your feelings in there, and then you are a complete artist, a complete guitarist.”

This feeling of duende informs all of Paco’s work. As one of Spain’s most acclaimed and respected Flamenco guitarists, Paco has released over 20 albums and collaborated with some of the world’s greatest Flamenco artists in his fruitful career.

The inclusion of song and dance adds to this sense of completion. Paco is joined by his wife Deya who also has an illustrious career in Flamenco, though her form is dance.

“

The guitar has seven strings. Six physical strings, and your heart is the seventh.

”

He recognises the importance of feeling duende in both the creation and performance of his work.

“The guitar has seven strings. Six physical strings, and your heart is the seventh,” Paco says. “You don’t only play with your mind and your fingers. You have to put in your heart, your love, your suffering, all your experience in life.”

Indeed, Flamenco is an incredibly passionate artform and relies on a keen sense of romanticism to pull the audience in.

“It enhances the showiness in a way that it’s more complete because you’ve got the singing, you’ve got the guitar, and you’ve got the voice,” says Deya. “For a dancer, for me, I find it a lot more sentimental; I find it much more real. I’ve got the singing behind me.

“I’m doing some modern and some traditional Flamenco dancing.”

Paco and Deya are joined by vocalist Angela Rosero and Byron Mark on both piano and percussion. As well as experiencing the flair and energy found in Flamenco, audiences can also expect an emotional experience.

“They will be surprised, and their souls will be very moved,” says Paco.

This will be a fantastic evening for performers and audiences alike, as both reveal their duende, and the goblin comes out to play.

Paco Lara’s Duende album launch happens at The Street Theatre on Saturday, 10 December at 8pm. Tickets are $30 - $50 via thestreet.org.au PAGE 35

[BEST OF CANBERRA MUSIC] RILEY CATHERALL RUNNING [

]

Riley Catherall’s new single is the first release for the former Canberran now Melbournebased singer-songwriter since 2021. Bark At The Moon follows the alt-country music artist’s debut album When I Go (2021) and a long list of single releases, including Vacant Lot and Leave Me Out To Dry.

Tracks from his debut have attracted national airplay, garnered healthy streaming numbers, and generated international attention with radio play across Europe and the UK. He has toured alongside Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show) and Hannah Aldridge.

Bark At The Moon’s most salient aspect is Riley’s vocal. It is measured yet casually evocative, coating the track’s surface with good-natured allure. The song utilises a three-chord progression, sustaining this with a few considered surprise textural additions. To whit, the background vocal work and slow-crawl build-up of energy culminates in a stripped verse that segues into a chorus outro.

The structure works, allowing the listener an opportunity to dwell on the lyric, the easy-going swell of the performances, and entry into a barebones folk country world.

What’s not to like?

An earthiness is expected, which is reflected in the organic nature of the instrumentation and Riley’s semiconversational style.

Despite the peaks and valleys of the parts, one is transported along its felicitous and surprisingly dream-like flight path without a hitch, subsumed by the narrative and Riley’s subtle manipulation of it. The song doesn’t reveal its prime ‘pop-like’ hook of the chorus, the refrain, ‘like you wanted me to’ until the second cycle. Well, at least not the full-blown version of it, going on to repeat it, with emphatic doublings in the chorus outro.

This aids the overall dynamic of the track but also creates a modest kind of tension, seasoned and scrupulous yet one that outlines the real pulse at work here; restraint.

Restraint piloted by a singer-songwriter whose control of nuance and tone is as subtly effective as it is incantational.

VINCE LEIGH

NICHOLAS COSTELLO LIGHTNING WITH YOU

The latest for Nicholas Costello is another taster from [ ] sophomore album Chronos (set for release later in 2022), recorded with producer Tim McArtney (Gang of Youths, LANKS, Jarryd James, James Vincent McMorrow, Hoodoo Gurus).

Lightning With You utilises a slow burn groove with just enough exuberance to propel the reflective mood and composure forward.

a conclusive, seamless outcome but certainly a more impressionistic one.

If we were to search for a hook to bind the impressionistic to something less abstract, we find it in the second half of the chorus, where the default intimacy of deeper tonal variances gives way to a falsetto landing on the final word. The listener’s amenability is rewarded with a ripple of sweetness and surprise.

The folk-rock subtleties of Nicholas’ previous tracks are still here, perhaps even more pronounced, and this seems to serve his writing and performance style well. Lightning With You’s strength is its appeal to the senses, its circuitous layering, and its suggestion of elusiveness. As the airy and textural vocal additions at the song’s end reveal, with Jeff Buckley-like affectations, yearning is a kind of haunting.

Consisting of two main melodic parts, a verse and an unassuming chorus, the song drifts through a haze of supporting textures, chord strikes, and reverbs, with Nicholas’ vocal leading the light charge.

The approach to the instrumentation here—dimmed, unobtrusive, jangly yet restrained guitar work, muted drums— highlights the importance of the vocal performance. Nicholas slides from the low tones in the verses to the higher registers of the chorus with enough solemnity for us to believe the governing sentiment.

And despite the face-value smoothness of it all, vocal included, some inexact undulations add to the whole, creating not so much PAGE 36

Despite its more obvious characteristics, the song’s potency resides in effectively communicating an inscrutable emotional state.

VINCE LEIGH @bmamag

ALBUM IN

FOCUS

CHAIN TOMBSTONE & THE DEAD MEN REALM OF PAIN

signature to set the parameters.

The guitar phrases are fastened to this groove, giving the vocal, that is, the melody, plenty of room, making use of some relieving and effective space. As the track rumbles on, one is assured by what’s on offer and goes along with the triplet guitar and drum interplay, the grunts and growls and some sporadic backing chants. But once the chorus arrives, one realises things are not so erratic.

it depth and ambiguity. There are some 90s, emo rock touches here, and these do not detract but invigorate. Chain Tombstone & The Deadmen have exposed another aspect of its brand of metal, and this is a rewarding progression.

VINCE LEIGH

Beerpocalypse features a series of hooks that may seem at odds with what surrounds it, the organised bludgeoning designed to sound disorganised, unveiling a distinctly ordered series of melodic choices that transform the track and give

Canberra’s Chain Tombstone & The Deadmen have released Beerpocalypse, the first single since the band’s 2021 album Realm of Pain. That album was a fusion of speed and death metal, unyielding and aggressive and featuring all the tropes of the genre one would expect. And yes, the performances were just as you’d also expect, revealing technique and know-how required for blasting out warp-speed phrases, licks, fills and twin kick drum delights.

Of course, a curious juxtaposition exists here. Judging by the grinding, distortion led surface, one can immediately and unthinkingly conclude the anti-establishment angle, the raucous transposed as rebellious, the thunderous aligned to anti-social sentiment. And no doubt, for some, this is the style’s appeal. Yet, to be proficient enough to pull off such a musical language, some backbreaking, finger-furrowing labour would have been required. I’m alluding to discipline, and there is a tonne of it on show here.

That being said, Chain Tombstone & The Deadmen, now, no doubt, wishing to extend its capabilities beyond acceleration and ferocity, have indeed done just that and more on this new one. Kicking off with a spoken vocal bite, one embellished to become a slice of amusing dialogue in the bridge, Beerpocalypse utilises a swinging, albeit heavily undulating six-eight time facebook.com/bmamagazine

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SINGLE IN

FOCUS BAD LUNAR SEE YA NEVER

Boy, oh boy, what is going on in Canberra? The place is undoubtedly the new breeding ground for rock’s undaunted flag-wavers. Who said the genre spat out its last breath in the early ’90s?

Bad Lunar’s debut takes its cues from heavyweights of the style, but all that is sure to be ironed out in due time if this simmering record is anything to go by.

Barrelling straight out of the foothold, the band are all in with chugging guitars and bass aided by a classic drum pattern. One is immediately on edge, reminded of the subtle power of such a simplistic configuration.

It sounds, of course, like grunge or post-grunge, or whatever you want to call it. But it’s an adhesive that works, pitting the emotional pull

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of a two-chord buzz against what one hopes is a deeper, more tantalising spread of power hook display.

And yes, it arrives.

The verses are adorned with just the right serve of delicacy and quiet, leading into a surprise pre-chorus (surprise in that there are some intelligent chord positions to put you off the scent), into a convulsive half-bar of muted distortion until the chorus carries us off.

Now, this is not sugared by obvious hooks, but rests mainly on the long notes utilised to hammer the song’s title home, intercut by a nifty, melodic guitar run that forms part of the chorus’ seductive arsenal.

next, with a gorgeous, yes, gorgeous spiralling alternate guitar line; utterly chant worthy and justifiably repeated at a higher register during the tail end of the part.

What we expect, another repeat of what we’ve just heard, arrives, once again hinting at the euphoric without acceding to the melodramatic. A twin-faced bridge section comes

See Ya Never is a track with sweet grit, a super-charged debut that previews promise in all its audacious heart-thumping glory.

VINCE LEIGH

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FILM REVIEWS

JOYRIDE

SEE HOW THEY RUN

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[

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Joyride pits an 11-year-old boy, Mully (Charlie Reid), against a desperate new mother, Joy (Olivia Colman), for immediate use of a stolen vehicle.

It’s 1953 London, and theatre’s rich and glamorous have come out to celebrate the 100th performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

The title, though it may suggest a car theft for a lighthearted romp, is really just a play on Joy’s name and the role of travel in the film. Rather than something frivolous, Joyride is a kind of road trip along the highway of characters coming to terms with their family relationships.

Amongst the beautifully turned out, and making his unpleasant presence felt, is American director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody), bent on persuading the producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith) to allow him to direct the play’s film adaptation.

Joy, a new mother, is asleep in the back of a taxi with her baby when Mully borrows it in a hurry. Upon awaking, Joy insists that Mully drive her to her sister’s place, but Mully has a different delivery to make.

Köpernick’s bad behaviour raises tensions in the assembled polite society and, in particular, leads to a showdown with rising star Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson), after which Köpernick weaves his drunken way out of the party.

We soon discover that Mully is trying to retain his integrity even as his father, James (Lochlann O’Mearáin), is pushing him into theft. James justifies theft from a charity on the basis that easy money has come their way by the grace of Mully’s recently deceased mother.

Things are just starting to calm down when murder most foul is discovered backstage.

Joy, too, is struggling. We soon realise that her desperation to reach her sister, Mags (Aisling O’Sullivan), arises from her sense of failure as a mother.

We learn that Mully himself knows a thing or two about babies and the difficulties of new motherhood. And we discover the surprising intimacy that can result from acts of kindness between strangers.

Through consummate acting, Colman arouses and maintains our sympathy for Joy, even as Reid, in his film debut, portrays with surprising veracity the quiet heroism of a boy determined to do what’s right.

Enter Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and his dedicated offsider, Police Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), both determined to find out whodunit. With no one involved above suspicion, they delve into every possible angle to winkle out motives and secrets, the owners of which are strongly disinclined to have them laid bare.

Most urgently, can Stoppard and Stalker find the murderer before he or she strikes again?

Fabulously gorgeous costumes, fabulously luscious sets, fabulously moody cinematography creating a 1950s feel, nods to old favourites, a terrific cast, and a plot full of delightful surprises make See How They Run a wonderfully quirky, tongue-in-cheek murder mystery with never a dull moment to be had.

Deftly handling the gamut of emotions from anguish to elation, Joyride treats human frailties with the tenderness and the dismissal they may warrant, with many humorous moments along the way.

Audiences will love the ride.

It’s a beautiful film with a soundtrack of gorgeous songs, and is all the more remarkable in being both Emer Reynolds’ debut feature film as director and Ailbhe Keogan’s as writer.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy a little time in the lavish, if murderous, world of See How They Run.

— JOHN P. HARVEY Screening at Palace cinema.

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Whether or not Agatha Christie would approve is another question… but anyone with a funnybone is sure to applaud this refreshing tale.

— MICHELE E. HAWKINS Screening at Palace, Dendy, Hoyts, and Limelight cinemas.

@bmamag

facebook.com/bmamagazine

PAGE 41

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

THUR 10 NOVEMBER Design Revisited

This Design Revisited event celebrates the work of Marita Leuver, Principal and Creative Director of Sydney-based studio Leuver Design. Marita Leuver has been at the top of her profession for more than 25 years. 5:30pm

THE SHINE DOME, GORDON STREET, ACTON The Tryouts

Newcastle’s indie pop sensation are celebrating the release of their latest single Washing Machine ahead of the release of their EP Nothing Bad is Ever Going to Happen. With supports Tristan Davies, Sorrento, and MOG. 7pm, $10 via Trybooking

TRANSIT BAR

Noiseworks - Take Me Back Tour

‘80s rock legends Noiseworks are back after 30 years with the original members, in honour of their guitarist Stuart “Chet” Fraser who passed away in 2019. 7:30pm, $79–$89 + bf via venue

CANBERRA THEATRE Sly Withers

Perth indie emo outfit Sly Withers have announced a brand-new album - Overgrown - and their largest ever national headline tour. The new record follows on from the release of their 2021 ARIA Top 10 and triple j Feature Album - Gardens - which saw them launched into a new echelon of Oz artists. 8pm, $57.48 via Moshtix

UC HUB

FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER Crowded House

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see live icons Crowded House.

5pm, $122.20 - $162.98 via Ticketmaster

STAGE 88

Jebediah w/ Dallas Crane

23 years, six albums, and piles of awards and acclaim later, the Jebs continue to captivate their devout fan base with their infectious energy and enthusiasm.

Dallas Crane have become not only a lauded constituent of the Australian rock ‘n roll scene, but a trend-proof mainstay that continues to exhilarate audiences wherever they bloody well set foot. 7pm, $61.20 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

Jackie Marshall

Be prepared for weird anecdotes, wild melodies, and warm humour from this self-styled Australian treasure-of-a-chanteuse. 7pm, $15/$20 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Facecutter Die Slow Album Launch

Canberra’s grindviolence heavyweights celebrate the release of their debut album with friends Cherish (NSW), Loose Cannon, and Thantu Thikha. 7pm, $18.40 via Oztix

ABYSS BAR, THE BASEMENT Pat Martino – A Celebration of His Life In Music

Dewhurst/Johnstone/Clarke/ Sutton explore the tunes Pat Martino was known to play across his long career. 7:30pm, $29 - $35 via venue

THE STREET THEATRE Escapado Sol

Escapado Sol can be described as rockin’ soul, but draws on funk, blues, jazz, pop, and folk. The band delivers an entertaining high energy live show, very suited to fun times and dancing! 8pm, free

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB Sneaky Jeremiah Live

With kick-ass solid drum lines; smooth, velvety bass vibes; nimble, evocative lead licks; and a willing chanteuse, Sneaky Jeremiah truly enjoy making great music together and sharing it with friends and fans. 8pm, free entry

DICKSON TAPHOUSE

An Inconvenient Groove + Mr Industry

Funksters Inconvenient Groove will be joined by experimental rockers Mr Industry in what is sure to be a battle between corporate interests and the future of the planet. 10pm, $15/$20 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

SAT 12 NOVEMBER Ministry Of Sound Classical

Ministry of Sound Classical is finally coming to Canberra with their biggest show yet! Feat.

Groove Terminator + The Ministry of Sound Orchestra, Sneaky Sound System (Live), legendary DJ John Course, Discovery (Live), Micci (Live) + many more! 2pm - 10pm, $122.22 - $193.59 via Ticketmaster

STAGE 88

Mikelangelo & The National Capital All Stars

A showcase of new material and beloved songs from projects P. Harness, The Black Sea Gentlemen, The Tin Star, Balkan Elvis, plus solo work and collabs.

Playing them is super band The National Capital Allstars ft. James Luke, Phil Moriarty, Ben Willson, Gregor Murray, Victor Simic, Steve Maher, plus special guests Anna Simic (Anushka), Jerikye Williams, and Mandy Newman. 7:30pm 11:30pm, $30 + bf via Trybooking

TRANSIT BAR

Dean Edgecombe and the Seventh Sons Live

Playing a great mix of classic and original R&B, blues, and roots.

2pm, free entry

OLD CANBERRA INN Canberra Men’s Choir Year-End Concert

The Choir has its origins in the Harmonie German Club of Canberra in 1986. It aims to encourage men to get involved in singing and to enjoy themselves.

2:30pm, $15 on the door

THE ZEPPELIN ROOM Smith & Jones

A Bathurst based duo, made up of keyboard player/vocalist Abby Smith, and guitarist/vocalist Sophie Jones. Their work is centred around the intersection of womanhood and identity within regional areas. 4pm, $15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Twisted Horizon present: The Road To Revival Tour

Coming off a strong debut that saw Australian Lux Rock band Twisted Horizon top the Australian iTunes charts, the lads are now celebrating their debut album Road To Revival. 7pm, $12 via Eventbrite

POT BELLY BAR Jeff Martin

Jeff will deliver two ‘all new’ setlists each night – the evenings first set will showcase songs from Jeff’s now legendary debut solo record Exile and The Kingdom.

The second delves across other releases. 7pm, $61.20 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

The Celebration of Swing

A concert spectacular honouring the famous American Big Band leaders and their Orchestras from the 1940s, the golden era of swing.

7:30pm, tix $74.90–$84.90 + bf via venue

CANBERRA THEATRE PAGE 42

SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER CBS November Blues Jam hosted by The Groove Kings

The Groove Kings host CBS November Blues Jam. The host band will be followed by some of the finest musicians in the Canberra Region, jamming together for a great afternoon of live blues music. 1pm, $10 + bf via Humanitix

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB Medium Density Housing

Symposium with Tony Fry The DESIGN Canberra Festival presents this symposium with Tony Fry, which seeks to consider several medium-density developments dating back from the 1970s. 1pm

THE SHINE DOME, GORDON STREET, ACTON

The Queen Bee Sessions Live Bringing you three outstanding performances every Sunday afternoon from a very exciting line-up of fantastic artists! 2pm

QUEENIES

Skeletal Remains

The Californian death metal aggressors have succeeded in building up a loyal following worldwide and will now excite their supporters once again with a strong sonic statement.

Supported by Wretch, Deiformity, Point 17, and Anoxia. 3pm, $37.25 $40.30 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT Karlo Paasonen

Songs and reflections on climate protest. 3pm, $10 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Workshop: Create a Therianthrope with Teffany Thiedeman

Join DESIGN Canberra and ceramic artist Teffany Thiedeman in her studio and make your own fantastical being – a Therianthrope from clay. The Therianthrope is a person who can transform into an animal. 3pm

67 SCHLICH STREET, YARRALUMLA

Mad Kelpie Play Date Sunday Session on the Deck

MKPD combines smallpipes, uilleann pipes, flute, guitar, and percussion to provide a lively modern take on traditional Celtic music, with influences from bluegrass and pipe bands. 4pm, free entry

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB @bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sister C. & The Bad Habits Live

Sitting at the funky end of the blues and soul spectrum, Sister C (Claudia Tetreault-Percy) fronts a group of well-seasoned musicians (The Bad Habits) with her unique mix of gospel singer and highly experienced stage actor. Sister C’s versions of classics range from Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Etta James, and even Steely Dan. 4pm

OLD CANBERRA INN Phoenix 5 Live

Highly in demand ‘60s to ‘80s covers band, blending multi generation talents for a dynamic live sound.

4pm, free entry

DICKSON TAPHOUSE Mike McClellan

Legendary singer-songwriter Mike McClellan comes to Smith’s Alternative for an unforgettable show that will include all his hits plus songs from his brand new album Behind Every Mask. 7pm, $30/$35 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Coal Miner’s Daughter

Multi-awarded, look-alike songstress Amber Joy Poulton brings Coal Miner’s Daughter – the mega-hits and stories of inspirational pioneer and superstar Loretta Lynn – to Australia, following a sold-out national tour run in 2017.

7:30pm, $79.90 + bf via venue

CANBERRA THEATRE

TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER Trashfuture Podcast Live

A frank look at start-up insanity, all the grasping moronic politicians, serenely evil tech zillionaires, and garbled nonsense culture. 7pm, $25 $30 via venue

THE STREET THEATRE

WED 16 NOVEMBER Colin Hay

Considered by critics as one of the most revered storytellers on the live music scene, Colin Hay is set to grace Australia in November with a highly anticipated solo jaunt (the first solo tour Down Under in years) to promote his new album. 8pm, $95 + bf via venue

CANBERRA THEATRE

THUR 17 NOVEMBER Fundamentals feat. Julia Wilson

A night of comedy with Chris Ryan, Sam Silla, and MC Jeffrey Charles. 7pm, $15/$20 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Euan Hillis

Euan writes story-songs about cheerful topics such as bushfires, shipwrecks, murder mysteries and more. Come along to hear some tales! 9:30pm, $10/$15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER Northlane w/ Windwaker & Deathbeds Australian heavy trailblazers Northlane are taking their #1 album, Obsidian, on tour. 7pm, $48.45 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT We Mavericks

They pack punches but bring songs to heal your scars. Lindsay Martin’s masterful strings and vocals meet Victoria Vigenser’s magnificent voice via driving rhythms, with a connection you have to hear to believe. 7pm, $20/$25 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Kopasetic

Kopasetic’s original music is sprinkled with soundscapes from around the world and has created a “deep, heavy dialect of folk music”. 8pm, free entry

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

The Age of the Pinedemic The Musical

An original musical created by Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Mr. Tim Enterprises. From secret deals and power battles to eternal life and pineapples! What could possibly go wrong? 7pm, $15 - $25 via Trybooking

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Sionnach Rua’s Great Irish Songbook

Ireland’s rich, unique culture comes to town, with a romantic passion that runs deep in Celtic veins. 8pm, $49 + bf via venue

THE STREET THEATRE The Prannies Live

The Prannies are an upbeat five-piece Celtic, western swing, bluegrass, and roots band. 8pm, free entry

DICKSON TAPHOUSE facebook.com/bmamagazine

PAGE 43

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

SAT 19 NOVEMBER Beerfest

Gourmet street eats and the best craft beers around. 12pm, $12.97 via Eventbrite

Thyme + Josie Dunham Sunday Session on the Deck

The always energetic Thyme will be joined by the amazing singer/ songwriter Josie Dunham for a day on the Deck to remember. 4pm, free

JOHN DUNMORE LANG PLACE

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

The Prannies Live

Inez Hargaden is an Irish singersongwriter from County Cavan. She draws from folk, pop, rock, and jazz to commonly reflect on the joys and tribulations of life. 4pm, free entry

The Prannies are an upbeat five-piece Celtic, western swing, bluegrass, and roots band. 2pm, free entry

Inez Hargaden Live

OLD CANBERRA INN

OLD CANBERRA INN

Canberra Big Band Collective No. 3

Ben Drysdale Live

THE ZEPPELIN ROOM

DICKSON TAPHOUSE

Capital Samba Encontro: Drumming & Dance Festival

Jack Phemister

This is the final concert in the successful Canberra Big Band Collective series for 2022. 6pm

A huge afternoon + night of live samba drumming featuring local and interstate baterias (massed percussion groups) and samba dance + cultural performances.

Hosted by Raio de Sol Canberra Community Samba Band. 6:30pm, $20/$25 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT Debbies

Burntout Bookings presents Jervis Bay duo Debbies, described as “definitely amongst this exciting next generation of Australian rock”. Supported by SPOUSE & Lily Of The Valley 7:30pm, $25 via Trybooking

LIVE AT THE POLO

SUN 20 NOVEMBER Hinterlandt + Sebastian Field Hinterlandt is a Sydney-based quintet playing original music written by German-Australian composer/songwriter, Jochen Gutsch. 1pm, $15/$20 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Low Carbon Stroll Around Blackburn House

Join Jenny Edwards and take a stroll around low carbon Blackburn House. This project is a rejection of the ‘disposable’ mindset and breathes new life into a home that many would have demolished. 2pm - 3pm, $20 - $25 + bf via Humanitix

TO BE ANNOUNCED TO TICKET HOLDERS The Queen Bee Sessions

Bringing you three outstanding performances every Sunday afternoon. 2pm

QUEENIES, KINGSTON PAGE 44

Ben Drysdale colours heartfelt lyrics with musical shades of contemporary indie folk, soul, and blues. 4pm, free entry

The Canberra launch of Jack’s debut album, Death of the Close Minded.

Support from Evan Buckley. 4pm, $15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Music in the Mountains: The Gadflys

The Gadflys return to their hometown for an exciting night of live music in the mountains. With woodfired pizzas, local brews, and Corin Forest’s 1.2km Alpine Slide, there’s something for the whole family. 5pm

CORIN FOREST

MONDAY 21 NOVEMBER Recent Works Readings: Bronwyn Lovell and Dominic Symes

As part of the That Poetry Thing, join us for readings by two Recent Work Poets, debuting two new collections.

7pm, free entry

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER Django Jam

A monthly Django Reinhardt jazz jam hosted by The Gypsy Project. 5pm, free entry

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Dean Lewis Sad Boi Winter Summer Tour

One of Australia’s most accomplished singer/songwriters – the multiple-award-winning, multiple-Platinum-certified global superstar Dean Lewis – will embark on an Australian and New Zealand tour, landing in Canberra this November. 8pm, sold out at time of print, check venue for spare tix

WED 23 NOVEMBER Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels - Moody Beaches, Dog Name, Pictures with Yuki

A mini festival tripping over four nights will feature some of the most exciting live acts from the ACT region and beyond, playing a melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop and postrock style. 6pm - 9pm, $29 - $39 + bf via Humanitix

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Ben Salter

Accomplished raconteur troubadour Ben Salter is visiting Smith’s on his first national tour in over three years. 9:30pm, $20/$25 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels e4444e, Sesame Girl, s.wells

Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels Senyawa, Lost Coast, Lynden Bassett

A mini festival tripping over four nights will feature some of the most exciting live acts from the ACT region and beyond, playing a melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop and postrock style. 6pm - 9pm, $29 - $39 + bf via Humanitix

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Witchskull w/ Reaper & Schkeuditzer Kreuz

Witchskull return with Melbourne’s finest exponents of brutal, primitive, thrash metalpunk Reaper, and Sydney’s one-man, master of electro industrial punk and synth crust, Schkeuditzer Kreuz. With album number 4 in the can, Witchskull will be road testing new material before the album’s release in the first half of 2023. 7pm, $29.60 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

A mini festival tripping over four nights will feature some of the most exciting live acts from the ACT region and beyond, playing a melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop and postrock style. 6pm - 9pm, $29 - $39 + bf via Humanitix

Willie and The Correspondents

Matt Schofield Trio (UK/USA)

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

The three-time British Blues Guitarist of the Year, British Blues Album of the Year, and the first guitarist inducted into the British Blues Awards Hall of Fame. Matt’s trio is going to rock the Zeppelin.

Guest support Chris Harland Blues Band. 7pm, $45 + bf via Humanitix

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB Sabin Rai & The Pharaoh Band Sabin Rai is a Nepali Singer and lyricist who is called the Bryan Adams of Nepal because of his voice. 7pm, $45.40 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT Jazz Singers’ Jam

A space for jazz singers to jam with an experienced band, and for Canberra to hear and celebrate its home-grown talent. 7pm, tickets $15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER Rob Beckett - Wallop!

It’s been a busy few years for the Mouth of the South and he’s keen to make you laugh. 8pm, $79.90 + bf via venue

The country/folk/roots band return to Smith’s with their delightful mix of original songs covering the struggles and strength of Indigenous Australians and country town people, family ties, lost love, political posturing, and times gone by. 7pm, $15 via venue

Pet Trivia Night

Get your thinking cats on for a hissterically fun pet-themed trivia night!

Prizes, games, giveaways; you’ll be barking mad to miss out! 100% of funds raised will help pets in need at Canberra Pet Rescue. 7pm, tix from $10 from their website

RAIDERS CLUB KIPPAX Blues Piano Night

Five fabulous blues piano players playing a smorgasbord for one of Canberra’s annual blues highlights.

Featuring well-known local maestro Wayne Kelly, Carolyn Packer (Central Coast), Ali Penney, John Black, and Leo Joseph. 8pm, $20 + bf via Humanitix

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB The Bobby James Band + Evan Buckley

A night of folk/pop/rock featuring two absolute craftsmen of lyric & song. 8pm, free entry

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB Dean Edgecombe and the Seventh Sons Live

The Seventh Sons play a great mix of classic and original R&B, blues, and roots. 8pm, free entry

THE PLAYHOUSE, CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE DICKSON TAPHOUSE

CANBERRA THEATRE

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER World In Union Concert

The Australian Rugby Choir presents its World In Union Concert 2022.

The latest production in an ever popular concert series features a varied selection of traditional and contemporary songs from the choir’s wide repertoire. 2pm

QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

The Chris Harland Blues Band Live Every CHBB set remains a memorable musical event, revisiting the best of the blues standards: B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters et al.

2pm, free entry

OLD CANBERRA INN

Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels - Ajak Kwai, Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Ike(from)Pluto

East Row Rabble

East Row Rabble delivers a slick mix of funk, reggae, blues, and soul with upbeat party horn lines that will get your booty shakin’ and your feet shuffling. 9pm, $15/$25 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER The Queen Bee Sessions

Bringing you three outstanding performances every Sunday afternoon from a very exciting line-up of fantastic artists. 2pm

QUEENIES, KINGSTON

Paris After Dark A French International Cabaret

Paris After Dark brings to your seat the enchanting spirit of a real Parisian party. 4pm, $40/$45 via venue

A mini festival tripping over four nights will feature some of the most exciting live acts from the ACT region and beyond, playing a melting pot of indie, soul, hip hop and postrock style. 6pm - 9pm, $29 - $39 + bf via Humanitix

THE STREET THEATRE

Leigh Barker Band feat. Heather Stewart

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

For the first time in over six years, due to constant touring in Europe and the United States, bassist and jazz musician Leigh Barker is bringing his group around Australia.

Originally from Canberra, spending his formative years in Melbourne, and a resident of Paris since 2016, Barker has always had his group out on the road, playing their unique mix of swing, blues, hot jazz and contemp Australian compositions.

6pm, $25/$35 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE ‘90s Music Festival

Featuring 10 acts performing tributes to some of the biggest bands to come out of the ‘90s. 6pm, $35.20 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

Lisa Richards Waiting to Fly Album Launch

With a voice described as both ferocious and sweet, and a percussive guitar style, Lisa Richards writes songs of longing, loss, love, and hope, borrowing from the traditions of folk, blues, and jazz. Richards is launching her eighth album Waiting To Fly with an ensemble performance. 7:30pm, $25/$30 via venue

THE STREET THEATRE

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The Fuelers Sunday Session on the Deck

The Fuelers take their name from nitro-fuelled drag cars. Once these things get going, the only thing that’ll stop them is a parachute. 4pm, free entry

Craig Sinclair Live

Craig Sinclair is a singer songwriter and finger-style acoustic guitarist and slide player. From WA, his earthy blues-folk songs about miners, road wanderers, and fools in love have shades of influences like Jeff Lang and Kelly Joe Phelps. 4pm, free entry

OLD CANBERRA INN Josh Veneris Live 4pm, free entry

DICKSON TAPHOUSE Regurgitator w/ Party Dozen & Sketch Method

“It’s Drivetime! We is hybrid!

Formless, shapeless… like water.

Noumena musically ablaze with uncertainty and spontaneous pace.

Get your solenoids humming - we are takin’ you to the road!” 7pm, $56.10 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

Musical Singalong

Like Karaoke, but (loosely) confined to songs from musicals. 7pm, $10/$15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Guy Sebastian T.R.U.T.H. On the East Side Tour 7:30pm, sold out at time of print.

Check venue for spares

CANBERRA THEATRE

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

TUESDAY 29 NOVEMBER Bang!! Beng!! Bing!! Bong!! Bung!!

Smith’s version of the open-mic.

BBBBB is 5 songs from singersongwriters. 7pm, $5 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

WED 30 NOVEMBER Finucane & Smith’s Dance Hall

Australia’s globetrotting legends of cabaret, variety, and burlesque, Finucane & Smith, are chasing COVID cobwebs away with a national tour of their smash-hit, sell-out celebration Finucane & Smith’s Travelling Dance Hall.

7:30pm, $25/$30 via Trybooking

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Elena Gabrielle: Addickted

Comedian & Storyteller Elena Gabrielle is back with her new show Addickted. 8pm, $35 + bf via venue

Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission

Lachy Doley Group

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THE ZEPPELIN ROOM

Mick Thomas returns to Smith’s for his annual Xmas show, with support Full Power Happy Hour across two shows at 7pm & 9:30pm. Tickets $30/$35 per show via venue

FRIDAY 2 DECEMBER

SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER

Kim Churchill

The Tuesday Weld Experience

Returning from his bustling shows across Canada and Europe, Kim Churchill is hitting the road in celebration of his upcoming album Dawn Sounds due for release in 2023. 7pm, $35 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Violent Night - Immorium, Claret Ash, Arkanae and Besomora

A slaughter fest for blood thirsty metal heads. 7pm, $25 via Oztix

THE STREET THEATRE

THE BASEMENT

THURSDAY 1 DECEMBER

Alan’s back on the road with a brand-new stand-up show. 7:30pm, $84.90–$94.90 + bf via venue

Friendlyjordies presents: A Tale As Old As Rome

Jordan Shanks is a controversial political satirist, investigative journalist, and podcast creator.

Jordan hopes he will foster some sort of interest in socio-political discourse, maybe even stir positive change. 7pm, $51 via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

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Most often a power trio of bass, drums and, of course, Doley firing on the Hammond, his vocal screaming from the heart and the incredibly rare Hohner D6 Whammy Clavinet. 8pm, $35 + bf via Humanitix

Alan Carr - Regional Trinket

CANBERRA THEATRE

Sorrento Hateful Honey Single Release Party

Sorrento’s debut single launch is an all ages gig. Supported by Never Speak Her Name, Hilda, and Tori Nikias. 7:30pm, $10/$15 via Trybooking

Three bands, three hours, on the third, at three - with Vespertine Lounge and Z-Z-G. 3pm, $10/$15 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE CJ Shaw: All Sorts

This performance draws on his latest family album All Sorts that takes you on a musical journey.

4pm, $15/$20 via venue

THE STREET THEATRE Music in the Mountains: Black Cypress

The dark, melodic folk & blues of Black Cypress are coming to the mountains. With woodfired pizzas, local brews, and Corin Forest’s 1.2km Alpine Slide, there’s something for the whole family.

5pm - 7pm, $10 per person, children 12 & under free

CORIN FOREST

Dan Muggleton: White & Wrong Comedy Tour

One of Australia’s most exciting stand-up comedians is on his first national tour - and he’s coming back to Smith’s Alternative in Canberra for an encore after a sold-out show in April. 7pm, $25 $30 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Koebi Faumui Something New EP Launch

Something New is an EP of originals written by Koebi this past year. He’ll be joined onstage by ten artists from a broad range of diverse genres including gospel, rap, soul, reggae, folk, rock, R&B, and hip hop. 7pm, $34.66 via Moshtix

KAMBRI @ ANU Yours Truly

“We’re excited to be putting on our very first full Australian headline tour that reaches this many cities!“ Supported by Banks Arcade & Yen Strange. 8pm, $23.18 via Moshtix

UC HUB

Moss Girl - I’m A Barbie Bitch Album Launch

Moss Girl routinely finds herself perched on a nest of pink synths at the summit of mount Ainslie screaming like a banshee. 9:30pm, $15/$20

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

LIVE AT THE POLO, TURNER

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

SUNDAY 5 DECEMBER

SAT 10 DECEMBER

The Queen Bee Sessions

GLITORIS with Bad Lunar

Bringing you three outstanding performances every Sunday afternoon from a very exciting line-up of fantastic artists. 2pm

QUEENIES, KINGSTON

TUESDAY 6 DECEMBER Comedy @ The Basement

Featuring Julia Wilson (“the toughest woman in comedy”), Michael Vincent, Phill Carruthers, Suma Iyer, Callum Doherty, and your MC Marky Worthington. 7pm, $20 via Oztix

The Glitz are back! Fresh out of the studio recording their sophomore album, expect a whole new bunch of bangers. Heavier, louder, weirder, a hint of the Politically Absurd, it’s all there supercharged and ready to go.

7:30pm, $20 via Trybooking

TRANSIT BAR

Ben Drysdale with Niall Howe

THE BASEMENT

Ben Drysdale colours heartfelt lyrics with musical shades of contemporary indie folk, soul, and blues taking audiences on a journey of reflection and hope.

4pm, $10/$20 via venue

THURSDAY 8 DECEMBER

Kim Salmon & the Surrealists

Midland

The Grammy-nominated trio bring their The Last Resort: Greetings From Tour to Australia. The country music superstars will kick off their tour in Canberra. 7:30pm, $71.37 via Moshtix

UC REFECTORY

Winging It: The Musical

Canberra’s premier unscripted comedy troupe is back to combine the mischief of improvisation with the magic of musical theatre!

Runs 8 - 10 Dec, 7:30pm, $39 + bf

CANBERRA THEATRE

FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER Nashville Pussy

Hardline Media proudly presents the band King Lemmy himself dubbed, “America’s last great rock ’n’ roll band”. 7pm, $55.80 or $117 VIP via Oztix

THE BASEMENT

Muesli & The Decideds’ Holiday House Party

Muesli & The Decideds bring you one Hell of a Holiday House Party at Smith’s Alternative giving you two of Canberra’s hottest bands in a double header. There will be prizes for best dressed and holiday songs by Now & Then. Plus Santa! $20/$25 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Ya Gotta Let Me Swamp My Rantings National Tour. 7pm, $35/$40 via venue

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE Paco Lara: Duende Album Launch

Lara’s original compositions and fusion of cultures are inspired by his hometown, Jerez, in the South of Spain. 8pm, $30 - $50 + bf via venue

THE STREET THEATRE

SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER Bec Taylor School Christmas Gig at Haig Park Markets

“Join us for a coffee and croissant at the Haig Park Christmas Markets to see a showcase of our Bandmates bands (both kids and adults) perform some original songs.” 9:30am

HAIG PARK MARKETS

The Queen Bee Sessions

Bringing you three outstanding performances every Sunday afternoon from a very exciting line-up of fantastic artists. 2pm

QUEENIES, KINGSTON

WED 14 DECEMBER Human Nature A Christmas Celebration

Australia’s superstar vocal group Human Nature are back with an exclusive festive show. Human Nature’s A Christmas Celebration will have you embracing your inner festive spirit, singing and dancing into the 2022 holiday season. 7:30pm, tix from $98 $580 via venue

CANBERRA THEATRE

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