Issue 739

The Scene - Local Entertainment News

By George

Brisbane five-piece George first came together as a jazz/rock group to tackle the university band competition. They won, but it has taken another five years, and their evolution into a groove-based angelic pop rock group, before the imminent release their debut album. In the meantime, you can listen to their six-track EP Bastard Son/Holiday or the single ‘Special Ones'. Led by classically-trained siblings Katie and Tyrone Noonan, you can also get a live sneak preview of the album when George support Alex Lloyd, who's about to release his second album, Watching Angels Mend, at what should be a cracker of a concert at Lismore Workers Club next Friday, October 12. Tickets are on sale at the Workers Club now.

Frock Up and Funk Out for the Con

Local three-piece Frock will perform at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium's Showcase and Benefit Night next Wednesday.

To raise much-needed funds and present some of the students' work, the Northern Rivers Conservatorium is holding a Showcase and Benefit Night next Wednesday, October 10 at the Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay.

The gig will feature a huge variety of performances, including a student dance performance and compositions from the Con's music students. The gig will also feature local bands including funk/groove outfit Hudibrastic Funk, three-piece all-girl band Frock, Velvet Groove, Cheshire Cat, Spree and many more.

The gig starts at 9pm. Entry is $5 at the door.

Musical Terrains Covered

Launching their CD Terrains next Thursday as part of SCU's Sound and Vision series is Mic Deacon (left) and Michael Hannan.

Comtemporary music students from Southern Cross University's will launch a new CD, Terrains, next Thursday, October 11 at the Uni's Art Museum (R Block) from 5.30-6.30pm.

The CD was created by Michael Hannan (performer, composer and co-producer) and Mic Deacon (engineer and co-producer).

ýt features experimental composition by Michael and his mentor, the renowned Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. The compositions use sounds created from the interior of a piano by unconventional means, such as plucking and scraping the strings and bouncing objects on the frame. The sounds were then assembled into multi-track compositions by Mic.

To launch the CD a selection of the tracks will be combined with images that inspired much of the music, including central Australian terrains and Michael's own garden in Nimbin. These images are then projected in an installation designed and created by local artist, Sue Boardman.

Michael Hannan will also give a talk about the CD and its creation at the launch.

Entry is by gold coin donation.

Choir Sings for Red Cross

Some of the members of the Sydney Male Choir, which will perform at the Ballina RSL Club next Monday to raise money for the Red Cross.

To raise funds for the Australian Red Cross the 40-piece Sydney Male Choir will perform next Monday, October 8 at the Ballina RSL Club from 7.30pm.

The choir, originally formed in 1913, took time out this week to visit Lismore Base Hospital and sing for patients.

Promoter Horace Bevan decided to turn it into a fundraising show after hearing about an Australian Red Cross worker who died on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon in the recent terrorist attacks.

'It's about thinking globally and acting locally. Not only will it be an fun and entertaining show, but it will raise badly needed funds for a great Australian cause.'

Tickets are $10 at the door.

A Mixed Patter

Back by popular demand after a hugely successful show last month, Jim Kelly's Funkadelicatessen will perform next Wednesday, October 10 at Maggie Moores.

The group performed their debut gig to a huge crowd at last month's Herb Festival before featuring at Concerts at Maggies. The band consists of Jim Kelly on electric guitar, Steve Russell on keys, Greg Lyon on electric bass, Scott Hills on drums and James Cox on percussion.

The group will perform their unique brand of funky electric jazz music and due to their popularity, people are encouraged to turn up early for a good seat.

The gig starts at 8.30pm. Entry is $5 at the door.

Coraki Art

A reminder for artists keen to enter Coraki's Tea Tree Festival Art Prize – you have a week left to enter.

The show, which features more than $5000 in cash prizes, including the $1000 Best in Show prize, runs October 27-28, at the community hall. This year The Echo is sponsoring the photography section with a $250 first prize.

Entries close next Friday, October 12. Entry forms are available from art supply shops, the Lismore, Casino and Ballina tourist info centres. For details, phone Sharon on 6683 2626.

Multimedia Undercurrents

Byron's community radio station Bay FM is presenting a wild and fascinating group of multimedia performance artists from Taiwan, the Toy Satellite Collective, at the Great Northern this Saturday, October 6.

Collaborators Jimi Chen, Vince Chung and guest DJ Ty join video artists 2Loops for their performance piece Undercurrents, which explores the shared concerns of Taiwanese and Australian artists about cultural identity and the ecology.

They blend Goa, Psy Trance, Jazzy DrumNBass together with visuals inspired by the rapid changes in the Taiwanese environment and culture.

It all sounds so intellectual, but it's also bloody good fun.

The show, which is a benefit for Bay FM, kicks off around 9pm. Tickets are $10/7 at the door.

A Choired Taste

Two of the regions most accomplished acapella choirs will join forces on Friday October 12, at the Bangalow Catholic Hall, to present an evening of delicious harmonies. You'll savour the zesty gourmet rhythms of Gregarious Chance from Lismore, plus the luscious creamy chords of Byron's Allegro Gone Troppo. Both are currently recording their next CD.

A Choired Taste kicks off at 7.30pm; Admission is $10/8 conc.(kids free).

Who Belongs

Belongings is described by its creator, Casino performer and writer Cherie Imlah, as a performance piece of memories, music and poetry.

Cherie is a descendant of the local Bundjalung people and her two act, one woman play is about her mother, grandmother and the hidden Aboriginal side of her family.

The play deals with Cherie's relationships with the matriarchs of her family and her ‘homecoming' when she returned to the North Coast to seek out Aboriginal relatives who were part of her missing, secret past.

Belongings will be performed at the Cave Café in Nimbin next Thursday and Friday, October 11-12, at 7pm. Tickets are $8/5 conc. at the door.

Dancers Wanted

Contemporary dance artists either working in a group or individually around the region are invited to present their work at the Byron Contemporary Dance School's annual production in early November.

Students at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium in Lismore are encouraged to take part.

The annual production will be held on November 10 – 11 at the Byron Bay High School auditorium.

Rehearsals will be held the weekend before the performance, November 3 and 4 but the program will need to be finalised in the next two weeks.

To get involved, phone Danielle on 0428 876 346 or email pintosh@mullum.com.au.

Sculptured sounds

An inspiring concert of multi-cultural harmony happens at Thursday Plantation in Ballina this Saturday, with musicians from around the globe performing original songs to open the heart and get you dancing.

The line-up includes a newly formed group called Satori‚ featuring Kamal Engels, from Germany on keyboards; local legend Tarshito, a blend of South African and South American on guitar and vocals; Ariel Kalma from France on flute, sax and vocals; Peter Davidian from Armenia, on sitar and percussion; and Adi, from Indonesia, on percussion.

Throw in Didge Si and Matt Goodwin, the dance wizards on didge and drums, plus Natalie and Carlo, two young and promising drummers, and Cheze performing the beautiful Bird Dance with African Drums and you have an diverse afternoon of music.

The musicians feature on a new music label from Mullumbimby, Music Mosaic, and the concert also its arrival. The label focuses on World and New Age music.

The concert is this Saturday, October 6, from 4 to 6.30pm, and is part of the Thursday Plantation East Coast Sculpture Show.

Tickets are $20/$15 conc. at the gate and includes entry to the sculpture show.

The Thursday Plantation East Coast Sculpture Show runs until January 31.

MCA Director Speaks

Tartan buff and Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth MacGregor visits Lismore next Thursday as the special guest for Lismore Regional Art Gallery's annual corporate patrons dinner (phone: 6622 2209 to book). But if you're not flash with the cash, you can still hear what she has to say about the state contemporary art on Friday, October 12, with a lunchtime talk from 12.30pm. The talk is free.

Kyogle's Karma on Show

A new exhibition by Tibetan-born and now locally-based artist, Karma Phuntsok, is currently on show at the Roxy Gallery in Kyogle 'Mani Chenrezig' by Karma Phuntsok, one of the many paintings featured in the exhibition Karma Phuntsok Retrospective, on show at the Roxy Gallery.

A new exhibition by Tibetan-born and now locally-based artist, Karma Phuntsok, is currently on show at the Roxy Gallery in Kyogle.

The Karma Phuntsok Retrospective includes a diverse array of his paintings spanning the last 13 years, many of which have been lent to gallery from friends and admirers.

Karma was born in Tibet, however – after the 1959 Chinese takeover – Karma and his family fled to India. Educated in Tibetan refugee schools, Karma showed great artistic promise and was subsequently formally trained as a traditional thangka painter by a Master in Nepal.

Karma has lived in the Northern Rivers for the last 20 years and his current work predominantly features depictions of Buddhas and Tibetan imagery floating across a myriad of backdrops, including Uluru and other Australian landscapes.

From large painted canvases to smaller works on paper, the Karma Phuntsok Retrospective is an unique and interesting look at Buddhist art influenced by the western world.

The exhibition is on show until October 10.

New Gallery for Nimbin

Artist Shirley Miller, left, and gallery director Margaret McLaren in front of two of Shirley's works, Moon Rise – Bungle Bungles and Hidden Valley, at the Nimbin Regional Gallery.

Not content with hosting the inaugural Bunjalung Collaborative Art Awards at the local central school, and the bi-annual Spring and Autumn Art Show in the town hall (see this week's back page) the Nimbin arts community has just launched a new gallery in the village's community centre.

Called the Nimbin Regional Gallery, the new space aims to provide a formal space for local and touring exhibitions, according to gallery director Margaret McLaren.

'It's an idea that grew out of the Nimbin School of Arts Gallery that has been operating in the annex of the Nimbin Town Hall for the past four years,' Ms McLaren said.

'When we opened it felt like a gallery space, but since then, and with the works of more than 50 local artists for sale there, it has taken on the feel of a retail outlet.

'We felt it was time to develop another space for individuals and groups to exhibit their work in a place of their own.'

The gallery's inaugural exhibition, which opened on Saturday, features the work of artist Shirley Miller.

Shirley reckons she's been painting for around 50 years and the works in this exhibition represent the past 14 spent in places like the Kimberleys, Kakadu, Alice Springs, Fraser Island, Stradbroke Island and, most recently, Nimbin.

The exhibition, which is open between 10am and 4pm daily until October 21, features 16 paintings as well as etchings and prints.

Silly Billies

The Silly Billies are an entertaining and suitably silly entertainers for kids. Their 45 minute live comedy and variety show comes to Lismore RSL next Tuesday, October 9, for a morning show at 10.30am. The show features dance-along fun with human-size puppet characters for children aged 2-6, though the show will also keep kids up to 10 amused.

Tickets are $6.60 at the door or phone 6621 2701 to book.