The Scene - Local Entertainment News

S Sense

The wind is dry, as always, and whips rubbish up in piles against building walls. It's quiet. There are no leafblowers.

I follow a faded centre line down a street which shimmers in the heat and permanent smoke haze. Dust from the new desertlands near Kyogle stings any exposed skin.

Hunched bodies walk quickly, heads cowled from the sun's rays, only thick eye-shields and respirators visible. A council bus with a solar array quietly runs up Magellan Street - the wrong way. No-one cares because there is no traffic - hasn't been a private car for years.

There's an old pool, unfinished, looking depressingly optimistic next to a dry river bed. The RSL club, owned by a US bank, is nearly empty. Not many soldiers return home any more.

I duck into a doorway, press a button and walk through two doors designed to keep the desiccating heat out. Inside the sushi bar, it's much cooler. I can take off my outside gear. There's a live magpie in a cage. Rare.

"A protein nori and a premium water, thanks cobber," I say to the old man behind the bar. He has rings through his eyebrow and tongue. I place AUD$1000 on the bar. He raises his eye at me. I add another $200. He smiles.

I like this place. It's licensed for air-conditioning four hours a day.

"Not so windy today," says the barman, placing the nori and the brownish looking fluid in front of me. I look at the water.

"Premium?" I ask.

"Yeah. Guatamalan. Came in yesterday."

On the wall behind the bar is an old faded picture of a river (with water in it!) and a boat on it. There's a bridge and people standing there without their outside gear on. Amazing. The hills in the background are freshly cleared and the timber lies on the wharf ready for transport.

"What's news?" I ask.

"The US is gonna sign the agreement. Apparently the president's home was washed away in one of those huge floods... He sails to Kyoto tomorrow."

Caldera celebration

Cloud 9 will perform for the cloud-catching mountain, Wollumbin, this weekend.

The Wollumbin Festival is on again this weekend, Friday to Sunday, October 22-24, in the epicentre of the Wollumbin (Mt Warning) caldera at the Tyalgum Showgrounds. This celebration of the human spirit has its emphasis on environment, reconciliation and the arts.

There will be workshops, speakers, exhibitions and, of course, music. Lots of music. Let's dance under the stars with over 30 acts, including Greg Sheehan, Cloud 9, Evolove and Fatter Than Nusrat.

This is a festival about participation so bring your musical instruments, camping gear, and camp for the weekend. The gates open 12pm this Friday, October 24. There will be chai tent food and drinks on site.

Entry prices are $10 per day for Friday and Sunday; $20 for Saturday and a $10 camping fee for adults. Children under 13 are free.

For more info call 66797034 or 66797039.

Milkmen on the whey out

The Milkmen: not pretty, but pretty bloody good.

The Milkmen have been one of the most popular covers band on the North Coast for years but their rounds are coming to an end. At the end of this year, the milkers will finish their long gig and retire the bucket to pursue other ventures. They did plenty of charity gigs in their time and put plenty a punter on his feet. Cheers lads.

Catch them at the Lismore Workers Club Saturday, October 23.

Country Brand of Rock

Adam Brand will get down and dirty despite the clean cut look.

Adam Brand will embark on his first North Coast tour in two and a half years and will perform at the Lismore Workers Club this Saturday, October 23. Adam is one of Australia's most popular and successful contemporary country music artists.

Since the release of his self-titled debut album in January 1998, he has received eight CMAA Golden Guitar Awards and three Mo Awards. That's a lot of trophies. Adam will be promoting his new album, Get Loud.

"I just love performing live - the shows are pretty cranked up and I really wanted to capture that with an album that was a bit harder edged, a bit more pumped. We really rock out live, and this album does exactly that," said Adam.

Supporting Adam will be this year's Best New Talent Golden Guitar winner, Dianna Corcoran.

Chilling Darren

Darren Hanlon, (pictured) an Australian musician who played with The Simpletons for four years as well as with other Aussie bands, struck out on his own a few years ago and now has an impressive list of albums to his name.

His most recent album, Little Chills, was recorded in Tuscon, Arizona and is full of the pop alchemy and lyrical smarts that feature in all his songwriting. And his songs reflect the considerable touring around the world that he has done since 2000.

Darren will perform songs from Little Chills and his other recordings when he plays at the Tatts Hotel in Lismore next Thursday, October 28. Tickets are $8.

Psycho Drama

Some of the weirdos in Rod Gibson's play, The Fine Art Of Kissing The Ground.

The Fine Art of Kissing the Ground is a politically incorrect mayhemic look at life in a large psychiatric hospital.

Produced by Peter Wadams and directed by Gayle Hultgren, this play concerns a schizophrenic story-teller, Ferdie, and how his three unpublished short stories become reality.

Be prepared to follow Ferdie (played by professional UK actor, Stephen Israel) and the many crazy characters in this intriguing, insightful, amusing and bizarre tale by award-winning playwright and performance poet, Rod Gibson, who wrote this play after his own personal journey with schizophrenia.

Don't miss this powerful drama, presented by Baywrite Theatre, at the A&I Hall in Bangalow, this Friday and Saturday, October 22-23 and at the Star Court Theatre in Lismore on Friday and Saturday, October 29-30. Shows start at 8pm. Tickets are $20/17.

Slam, bam, thank you Aunty

Poetry slams have long been a part of poetry life on the North Coast. This region is noted for its poets (ahem) and now the national scene is catching on.

ABC Radio National's daily arts and music program, The Deep End with Vicki Kerrigan, is currently seeking submissions from writers who want to perform their work in Australia's first national poetry slam. On Wednesday, November 24, the slam will be broadcast to radio audiences across Australia. One writer from each state and territory will perform a two minute poem live on The Deep End. Listeners will then vote for their favourite performance. The winner will have their work professionally recorded by Radio National and featured on The Deep End and its website.

This is your chance to be a national poetry icon!

Entries close on November 5, so just grab a tape, minidisc or CD and record a poem no longer than two minutes.

For more information on how to enter, visit The Deep End Poetry Slam website at www.abc.net.au/rn/slam.

Brides in Byron

Floyd Vincent and the Childbrides (pictured) have embarked on their Moderna Sound Tour along the east coast of Australia bringing them to the Beach Hotel in Byron this Sunday, October 24.

They have recently recorded six new tracks at Studio 301 in Sydney for their upcoming album Monkey Puzzle and hope to have the album finished by the end of the year.

You may have spotted Floyd's cameo appearance as the musician from outer space recently on The Footy Show. (Um, I don't watch it of course. A friend told me...)

Cool exam beats

The Lismore area boasts some of the most gifted musicians and artists in the country and this week sees the culmination of years of hard work for the graduates of Southern Cross University's Music and Audio Engineering departments as they get set to stage their end-of-year performance exams.

The series of concerts will run all week from Monday, October 25, at the Lismore's SCU Union auditorium.

Showtimes are - Mon 3-10pm; Wed 6-11pm; Thurs 6-11pm and Fri 1-5pm. (Friday's gig is at the concert space in D Block.)

Many of these students have already started to take their skills and creative expressions to the wider world with bands like Little Flame, Groove Dalley, Mishful Thinking and Bedlam.

For more information phone 6688 2418 or the SCU Union.

Arm yourself with Roll On

Roll On Wednesdays is right on cue for modern urban music.

Scurrypoint will present Roll On Wednesday Vol 2 at the Metrobar in Lismore next Wednesday (obviously), October 27.

After the success of the first Roll On Wednesday gig, Scurrypoint is pleased to present The Project, Box Monsters and the Frequency Tweekers in a night of aural titillation.

The Project is a three-person lineup with turntables, drum machines, live bass and live drumming.

Local post-punk rockers, The Box Monsters, will be applying the make-up, and turning on their energetic live show. Funky rhymers, the Frequency Tweekers, will be working the crowd with MCs, hand percussion and big beats from Morphonik.

The night kicks off at 8pm and entry is free.

NORPA presents

Hello Kitty
A Footscray Community Arts Centre/Beaker production
Star Court Theatre Lismore
Saturday 23 October, 8pm
Tickets: $22.20, $17.20
Bookings: 6621 5600 or www.norpa.org.au

"It was so funny, so clever and so wonderful...I laughed so much.."

Caro Llewellyn, Sydney Writers' Festival

Hello Kitty features four Asian-Australian writers performing their own brilliant spoken word and singing karaoke. A hilarious mix of literature and power ballads, this cabaret-style event explores identity in fresh and mischievous ways.

Initially conceived as a one-off event, the show debuted to a full house at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2000, winning the Fringe Award for Most Successful Spoken Word Show. It has since played to packed crowds at numerous festivals. The show has been successfully staged in theatres, restaurants and cafes, festival clubs and even a karaoke bar in the heart of Sydney's Chinatown. Audiences have laughed, sung along and been moved by its explorations into identity.

Featuring various line-ups from show to show, Hello Kitty has showcased the work of Australia's most well-known Asian-Australian writers, including William Yang (internationally-renowned photographer and performer of monologues) and Tony Ayres (award-winning film-maker). It has also featured the cream of Australia's young and emerging Asian-Australian writers. Each performance is hosted by an MC; recent performances have been hosted by prominent Asian-Australian stand-up comedian and political activist Happy Ho. Karaoke-style video footage is projected during the performance.

Hello Kitty presents new ways of examining identity within contemporary culture. The result is a dynamic event that is characterised by a sense of subversion, of using humour, of radically departing from perceived notions of Asian writing.

It's described as "a night in which stereotypes are subverted and literature becomes glamorous".

Coming soon

Fine Art of Kissing the Ground
Baywrite Theatre Inc
Star Court Theatre Lismore
29 October, 8pm

Baywrite Theatre Inc, presents a play by Rod Gibson who is a well-known local poet and playwright.

'Fine Art of Kissing the Ground' is a roller coaster ride of life in a large psychiatric hospital. It concerns a schizophrenic story teller, Ferdie, and how his three unpublished short stories become reality. Fantasy and reality often become entwined in this bizarre tale.

Tickets available at the door. $20/$17.

Telek with special guest, David Bridie
Star Court Theatre Lismore
18 November, 8pm

PNG musician George Telek will perform with his long-time collaborator David Bridie, and band, in Lismore next month.

Telek is a band, a man and, in some parts of the world, a legend.

Telek the man has been at the forefront of the Pacific music scene for the last 20 years. Touring Australia to promote his third album, Amette, Telek is joined by one of the country's most-acclaimed performers and songwriters, David Bridie (a real treat for Not Drowning Waving and My Friend the Chocolate Cake fans!). Tickets for this very special concert will be on sale soon. For more info call NORPA on 6622 0300.

Artsfest news

The Coraki Tea Tree Artsfest is all happening on the weekend of October 30-31. This annual event has over $5000 in in prizes. The closing date for entries has been extended to Thursday, October 21. Entry forms are available from artshops, galleries and photo shops.

The Artsfest, keen to include all the arts, not just the graphic, will also run a poetry competition on Saturday, October 31.

The oragnisers have just contacted The Echo and want more Koori art entries for the Aboringinal Art section. Bring your artwork and $6 entry fee to the Youth Hall in Bridge Street, Coraki, this Saturday, October 23.

For more info phone Sharon on 6683 2626 or Narelle on 6683 1617.

Jazz and Blues

Next Friday will be playing next Tuesday, October 26, at the Rous Hotel in Lismore at the weekly Jazz and Blues night. Next Friday is a new fusion band playing a mix of jazz and funk. Their set comprises some originals and some cool covers from the great jazz composers.

Entry is $5 and the grooves start at 8.30pm.

X-treme theatre

Twisted Wits returns to its regular fortnightly performances at the Tatts Hotel in Lismore every second Wednesday at 7pm in the back bar.

What is theatre sports, you may ask? Well, it is like musicians jamming, but with actors instead. The actors improvise gags, ads, skits and scenes for the audience's amusement and entertainment.

So strap in for a hilarious night of off-the-wall, on-the-wing, comedy next Wednesday, October 27. Entry is $3.

Funky Hoochers

Local band, The Hoochers, are back and are playing at The Rails in Byron Bay this Sunday, October 24, pushing their funk-filled blues out to the world.

The Hoochers have been playing with various line-ups for ten years now and their blend of jazz, funk, blues, swing, bop and jive culminates into what they call...Funkafide Blues.

The gig starts at 6.30pm.

Breastfeeding fun

The Lismore group of the Australian Breastfeeding Association is having a film fundraiser to continue the education, information and support of breastfeeding in the community.

The film is Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason, starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Jacinda Barrett and Jim Broadbent.

The film screens on Saturday, November 13, at 3:30pm at the Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinema, Lismore. Tickets are available from Caddies Bean Shop or from Jan 66242097.

For more info phone 66242097.