The Scene - Local Entertainment News

S Sense

There are many wonderful things in the world - like preservative free beer and mute buttons, but I cannot for the life of me appreciate the mechanical leaf blower.

These machines, designed to blow leaves away from the user towards, um... I don't know, someone else I guess, are incredibly noisy (and they have no mute button) and triggered in me the world's first ever case of leaf blower rage.

Apparently, this is a timesaving device. It's leaves that are keeping you from achieving your goals. No, really.

Blow those leaves away. Great. Not my problem. Maybe the neighbours will blow them back. Oh no. Leaf wars.

Is your lifestyle enhanced by holding onto an expensive bit of noise and blowing all the leaves (repugnant things, leaves) off the pebblecreek driveway while inhaling a bluish mix of fumes?

Is this so much better than raking in a pleasant silence (except for the gentle rasp of the rake and perhaps the odd bird or two feeding on the disturbed grubs) and breathing air?

The leaf blower is an example of technology with nothing to do. There was never a need, but the need was created. And the result? A noisy, smoky appliance that you really can't do without - like telephones that take pictures or fridges that have internet access or a television for the car or a...

Sorry. Apparently they don't just blow. They suck.

Laughing Lizard is Back!

The stand up Willey.

After a two-month break due to the abrupt closure of Maggie Moores Pub, the Laughing Lizard Comedy Lounge is back with a new venue and is rearin' to go next Tuesday, June 1.

For the many Lizard fans the wait for mirth is over. The Laughing Lizard now resides in the One Bar & Niteclub at Mary Gilhooleys Irish Pub & Restaurant in Lismore. This newly renovated room has inspired the Lizard, which was looking for a room that created an even more comfortable and sophisticated venue for comedy and other Lizard entertainments.

The Laughing Lizard Comedy Lounge is a North Coast institution with a five-year history of bringing the best of Australian (and overseas) stand up comedians to Lismore. The Lizard has featured comics like Greg Fleet, Denise Scott, Akmal Saleh and Sue Ann Post, with the headline act for this comeback show the hilarious Peter Willey.

Peter has been clowning around the Australian comedy circuit for 10 years and is now one of the country's funniest stand ups. Peter is a hot guitarist as well - just to add variety to his show and to vent some of his humour through song. There are many, like myself, who think that his song, Outside Thongs, should be the Australian national anthem. Well, at least it doesn't have the word "girt" in it.

He has performed with S Sorrensen many times and describes those gigs as the low points of his career but is fascinated with alternative culture and free love (well, cheap, at least).

Supporting Peter is Sandy Gandhi. Sandy was a state finalist for Triple J's Raw Comedy competition in 2003 and will soon feature on ABC's Stand Up comedy series. Recently she won the elections in India. Her Indian approach to the North Coast lifestyle is as funny as it is weird - she is known for staying abreast of topical issues and creams.

For some musical comedy, enter Doug & Biskit. These two combine beautiful harmonies with some of the funniest songs you'll hear. And talking about weird music - what about the hurdy gurdy? You can hear world-travelling exponents of hurdy gurdy music, Barb Dwyer and Jeff Turpin, take the audience on a musical journey around the planet. (Barb even plays Jimi Hendrix!)

Of course there are some five-minute comics including Miranda Donnelley and the $50 joke comp. That host with the boast, S Sorrensen, the Lizard captain, will steer the comedy ship on this new voyage to an even better comedy lounge.

Tickets are $15/10 with a $25 show and meal deal. It's a good idea to book for dinner on 6622 2924. The show starts at 8pm.

Freebie: The Echo has two double passes to giveaway to the Laughing Lizard Comedy Lounge. To go in the draw to win phone 6622 2888 between 11 and 11.15am on Monday, May 31, and tell us what year the Laughing Lizard Comedy Lounge started.

New CD - and you can get it

Skylarks' Lisa Yeates does Nice Work...

The Skylarks' launch of their debut CD, Nice Work - if you can get it!, at the Aussie Tavern in Murwillumbah last month proved so successful they've decided to give their audience another chance to celebrate the CD release.

They will be having a mini CD launch this Sunday, May 30, at the Nimbin Hotel, providing an opportunity for fans to get their copy of Nice Work - if you can get it! at the special CD launch price as well as hear the songs from the album.

The album comprises 10 songs recorded and mixed by the award winning Bush Traks studio in Nimbin, plus another three bonus tracks from an earlier live mix of the band.

The café jazz styling of the band has been a hit with audiences throughout the North Coast and Gold Coast regions since its formation 18 months ago. Processed electric guitar sounds combine with the more typical upright bass and brushes rhythm section to produce a sparse and poignant platform for the passionate lead vocals of singer Lisa Yeates.

Nice Work - if you can get it! reflects the band's easy swinging approach with songs like Michael Frank's Popsicle Toes, Irving Berlin's The Best Thing for You (would be me), and Nat King Cole's Straighten Up and Fly Right.

The one original track on the album is U Don't Have to Be - a boppy, Latin swing number written and sung by the band's guitarist, Ian Rowe.

Catch The Skylarks from 2-5pm this Sunday - it's a nice drive, if you can make it!

Nights of Bourbon

No coke...

Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, local band Bourbon Street were regarded by the Australian music industry as one of the hottest acts in the country, selling out venues wherever they went.

After three successful albums, two hit-singles and extensive tours of Australia and the east coast of America, the Bourbon boys called it quits in 1993. Now, eleven years on, it's time for another shot of Bourbon.

Heavily influenced by the works of classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Stones, CCR, Neil Young and AC/DC, Bourbon Street attract a large following with their classic, good time rock and roll.

Bourbon Street have teamed with popular North Coast band Smart Artists to revisit some of the old stomping grounds with both bands pumping out 70s style rock.

Some dates of the Bourbon Street tour were amended because of the lead singer's temporary illness recently, but if you're looking for a great night of rock and roll, don't miss the chance to catch Bourbon Street's Grass Roots Tour at the Pacific Hotel, Yamba, this Friday, May 28, and at the Ballina RSL Club this Saturday, May 29.

The secret of success

Chris Cane, Layla Guiet and Luke Hoy succeed without trying in a new St John's College production.

St John's College Woodlawn will stage the popular musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as their annual major production next week.

The musical, based on the book by Abe Burrows with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, focuses on J Pierrepont, a young window cleaner who starts to climb the corporate ladder.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was written at the height of the American corporate boom of the 1960s. It is a farcical look at the machinations of the cold corporate world through a very 60s perspective - men were the only ones in charge (not much changes, eh?) and women worked in the hope of finding a suitable husband.

This musical is a satirical comment on the times, highlighting the bizarre workings of the office world.

Woodlawn has produced some fine productions in past years and this year's effort, directed by Murray Smith, is no exception.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying will be performed in the St John's College Woodlawn School Hall next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 3-5, at 7.30pm, with two matinee performances on Wednesday and Thursday, June 2 and 3, at 10.15am.

Tickets are $15/10 and can be purchased from Caddies in Lismore or Bangalow. Phone 6621 7709 or 6687 2883.

Heavy Metal winners

Facelift faces heavy future

Ben Kelly's new band, Facelift, won the first heat of SCU's Band Comp recently and are performing at the Canberra Hotel in Lismore next Thursday, June 3.

Facelift are heavy metal at it's fattest with a wall of sound thicker than the Great Wall of China.

All members come from well-established bands across the North Coast and southern Queensland and among them are some surprising musical roots - with one member being an award winner for jazz! Their debut EP is expected for release in July.

Catch them from 10pm.

Frock off

Gabrielle Smith and Emma Newman from The Frocks. Photo by Christabelle Baranay

The local dance community is alive and healthy! Big Feet Little Feet is collection of short dance works by local dance artists that will performed next Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, at the Byron Bay Community Centre.

Local dance performance makers have, for the last few years, presented their new short works and given the area the chance to see a whole new array of dance in a full production setting. Many of these originally local artists are now working elsewhere, some in other countries, but this event re-unites the talent for two days.

Go along to see a variety of dance including contemporary, hip hop, cabaret, physical theatre, salsa, mime and physical character.

The line up for the show includes performing artists Eva Brown, Lee Purdie with Yogadance, men's group Strappon, Daniella Finkenauer with Sassy Salsa, Flotsam Factory, Mia Cuyler and Christy Kilkeary, Conservatorium dance students led by Michael Hennessy and Virginia Norrie, Kate Histon with Dance Dynamics, Sue Whiteman, Pen Dale, The Frocks and Atmo.

Big Feet Little Feet performances start at 8pm. Tickets are $16/13 and are available from Caddies in Lismore and Bangalow, or at Soundwaves in Byron.

Go Romaniacs

This band has its own sound that swings and rocks from a dynamic trio of mandolin, guitar and percussion (I love the bodhran).

They are the featured band at this week's Thursdays at the Civic gig on June 3.

They filled the house last time so be early. Leo Glass and Phil Levy formed the Romaniacs with Guy Madigan, a founding member of the band Sirocco and Julie Metcalfe on violin. The resulting CD, Wanted, received a Dolphin Award for best instrumental in 2001. Julie has since left the band, but the trio has continued to perform. The second CD, Rainbow Town, recorded with several guest musicians of renown, will be released in the spring. A song from this CD was also recently nominated for best folk song at the Dolphin Awards. The Romaniacs will be joined this gig by Doug kelly from Sirocco.

You can also catch the boys in action at the Norhern Rivers Echo Irish Night next Friday, June 4, at Mary Gilhooleys from 5pm. Thursday's gig starts at 8.30pm.

Jazz goes soul

The regular jazz night at Mary Gilhooleys will have a slightly different flavour next Wednesday, June 2, when Souled Out perform. These eight students from the Contemporary Music Department at SCU wrap their soulful sound in rhythm 'n blues, bits of reggae and a dollop of Motown. The show starts at 8.30pm and costs a cool $5.

Last Joke Off

Winter nights are on their way and comedians, like bears, will be curling up in their cerebral cave until spring.

Mandy Nolan's Joke Off Competition at the Brunswick Hotel finishes with a bang next Thursday, June 3, with the last performance until the frosts subside again. Eight competitive comics will shake the money tree for a shot at the $100 as they search for the audience g-spot (that's giggle spot - and it can be hard to find...).

Byron based comedian Mandy Nolan is MC, with Sydney comic Peter Willey (who is everywhere this week) doing the feature spot. The gig starts at 6.30pm and is free.

Be there or be sad.

Hick-Ups burn Byron

The long tall storyteller is at it again. Yes, that's right, Jimmy Willing will whoop it up this Saturday, May 29, at The Rails in Byron Bay with his band The Real Gone Hick-Ups.

Jimmy will unveil his latest tale, a true story (well, sort of true... ish) of two diabolical, cheeky women who set an outhouse on fire in a desperate bid to attract the attentions of the local firemen.

It's hilarious, bawdy and thoroughly entertaining. Bring your own extinguisher.

The Hick-Ups are a grass roots country band who play country swing, rock-a-billy, waltzes and heel 'n' toe polkas. So you can get up and shake a leg or simply sit back and soak up the culture as Willing fires up. The gig starts at 6.30pm and is free.

Cranky and laughing

Cranky Hank, a laid back, hillbilly-inspired local band, will team up with comedian Robert Grayson and another local band, Black Train, for a combined gig this Friday, May 28, at the Gollan Hotel in Lismore.

The Gollan is establishing a reputation for providing cabaret style entertainment and this evening of roots music and comedy is following that tradition.

Cranky Hank blend original songs with covers of the hillbilly greats like Hank Williams, Warren Smith and Ethena Cletus Rhodes (yeah, everybody knows him...).

Black Train is about the only train that will visit Lismore since the demise of the train service. They played at the XPT farewell gig with songs from a time when the word "depression" meant something different.

As well as the comic antics of Robert Grayson there'll be a joke competition to add to the night's delicious contrast of hillbilly and comedy. The show starts at 9pm and is free.

Dance, belly, dance

Nimbin goes Middle Eastern this Saturday, May 29, with the Nomad Dance Troupe in the Nimbin Town Hall. Apart from the fabulous dancing (Nimbin belly dancers are the best outside of Yemen), be ready for special guests and surprise performances.

There will be snacks and drinks to keep your dancing energies topped up - and this will certainly be a night of dancing.

Tickets for the Middle Eastern Night are $12/8 and are available at Perceptio's Bookshop or at the door. The dancing starts at 7.30pm.

Be on television!

North Coast CAMERA is calling for expressions of interest from anyone keen to participate in the production of a 30-minute weekly television program called North Coast Camera Presents, which will screen on LINC TV.

They need presenters, interviewers, actors and production crew. This is your chance to be on TV!

There will be a brainstorming of ideas to form a committed production team next Wednesday, June 2, at the North Coast CAMERA office, upstairs at 70 Molesworth Street, Lismore, from 12-4pm.

Anyone interested in being involved in a television production can just turn up on the day. For more information call CAMERA on 6621 5444 between 10am-3pm.

Hey Hey it's rock 'n' roll

Take two stalwarts of the Oz music scene, Frankie J Holden and Wilbur Wilde, who also happen to be famous faces from television shows like In Melbourne Tonight and Hey Hey It's Saturday, put them on stage with their old friend Rockpile Jones, add one great band, On the Prowl, and you have the recipe for a great night of rock 'n roll.

You can taste the results next Thursday, June 3, at the Ballina RSL Club from 8pm.

Back doing what they do best, Frankie, Wilbur and Rockpile will have you dancing and singing along to all the hit songs they made famous with OL'55, the multi-platinum band regarded by many as the most successful 50s and 60s rock 'n roll band Australia ever produced.

The success of OL'55 launched them into television and into the lounges of Australian audiences for the next four decades.

The show features all the classic hits like Looking For an Echo, Diana, Ruby, The Wanderer, Get A Job and On The Prowl.

See Frankie, Wilbur and Rockpile return to where it all began - live on stage and together again after 25 years!

Tickets are $22 from the Ballina RSL Bottle Shop or phone 6686 2544.

You can draw for sure

Everyone is welcome to Lismore's Dynamic Drawing sessions each Thursday at the church in Keen Street (opposite Woolies).

What is Dynamic Drawing?

"If you can walk, sign your name, shout or swear, you can draw," says dynamic drawer, Ron Curran. "Drawing is owned by nobody."

This radical denial of "properness" is liberating and asserts that drawing, by its nature, has always been wayward and has refused to be straight-jacketed.

Experience life drawing at its refreshing best with Dynamic Drawing. All are welcome, from beginners to the experienced, to enjoy these relaxed, non-judgmental and explorative sessions weekly from 9.30am to 12pm. Entry is $20/15.

Here comes the Raw Prawn

With the re-opening of the Laughing Lizard Comedy Lounge in Lismore next Tuesday and the emerging comedy club in Ballina, everyone on the North Coast can get chuckling.

Paddy McGinty's night of stand up comedy, aptly titled The Raw Prawn Comedy Club, has been up and running now for almost six months. Previously held on Thursday, the comedy night will now happen on the first Wednesday of every month - next Wednesday, June 2, at Paddy McGinty's from 8pm.

The feature comic is one of the circuit's shining stars, Peter Willey.

By day, mild mannered geologist, by night, sharp-tongued veteran entertainer, Peter has been plying his stories, jokes, poems and musical parodies since he launched his four-man comedy band, Door Sausage, back in 1991. Peter is an accomplished guitarist who lets loose with his keenly perceived insights into suburban culture and relationships in his stand up and in his songs.

Appearing as support comedian for the night is the fabulously funny Raw Comedy 2003 finalist, Sandy Gandhi, Australia's legendary most easterly Indian. Sandy Gandhi is the Indian grandmother that everyone needs to have, a whip tongued, eagled eyed prophet who has some handy hints on how to find yourself, maintain erection and tie a sari in the forest when you're stoned.

There will also be two fabulous open mikers this week - Sikim Wan, a comedian whose half Chinese, half Welsh heritage gives her a whole new take on Amazing Grace. She will be joined by recent Joke Off competition winner, Michael Malloy.

This week there will be a joke competition for the audience, with prizes for the best gag. Mandy Nolan pulls on the boots and straddles that prawn as the MC to take the crowd on a shrimp-raising ride.

Tickets are $10 at the door, from Paddy McGinty's or you can book on 6686 2135.

Pop goes the Tonik

Tonik Trance is on again at the Campus Central UniBar next Thursday, June 3.

The last Tonik Trance night was one of the highlights of the dance year when 400 people turned up to groove the night away.

This time the night feature the icon of psytrance in this region and one of the world's truly great barbers - Pop. A well-loved personality in the area, Pop is one of the grassroots founders of trance on the North Coast, having played at hundreds of parties in the region for the past 10 years. His music creates a sort of euphoria that always has the dance floor brimming with smiles.

He has developed a huge following in the local area due to his ability to give such a positive energy to the crowd when he plays.

Playing alongside Pop will be progressive trance act, Gelspun.

Gelspun, formally known as Psyatica, changed his name to suit the new style of music he has moved into, which focuses more on the uplifting side of trance music than the dark.

Supporting Pop and Gelspun is Gilly, who will warm up the room early. Scurrypoint Media will provide the visuals.

Doors open at 8pm and tickets are free for students and only $5 for guests. All are welcome (if you're over 18).

Funding your film

Recent award winner and local filmmaker, Cathy Henkel, will present a seminar called Catching That Elusive Funding Dollar this Friday, May 28, at the Lismore Neighbourhood Centre in Carrington Street, Lismore.

Cathy's success in filmmaking demands funding skills - and now you can have them too!

Convened by North Coast CAMERA and Screenworks, the seminar will start at 10am. To book phone 6680 9220.

Fun and games

LINC TV and Lismore Theatre Company are hosting a free theatre games night next Wednesday, June 2, at the Rochdale Theatre in Goonellabah from 6pm. The night will include traditional theatre sport games and no acting experience is required - you just need to be there. Just turn up or phone Jamie Grant on 0423 658 242 for info.