Live music in Sydney and Byron

Today, I got some tickets to see The Police. I've been playing Roxanne badly at parties for more than a decade, and I've waited to see a Sting tour I might be able to catch for several years now. And I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to see the three of them in the same place, playing the songs they last played before I even knew what an electric guitar was. I'm almost ashamed of how excited I am about this show. And it's three days after my birthday too.

On Saturday we went to see Gotye, doing what looked like a warmup show for this weekend. He's a very earnest singer-songwriter-drummer chap who does funky electronic stuff, and he puts on a good show. There were some lovely moments where a guy next to us tried to sing along in the same octave, and sounded really bad for the high notes. A few minutes later he said to his companion "He's a good singer, isn't he?". And he is.

This weekend we're off to Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay, one of the most eagerly followed festivals on the Australian calendar. Highlights include Lily Allen (sadly) Powderfinger, Damien Rice, Bloc Party, Artic Monkeys, The Cat Empire and Hot Chip. Should be good. We're staying somewhere very cool too.

A couple of days after The Police is Big Day Out in Sydney. It'll have lots of international names, lots of rock, lots of singing and hanging out in the park. But it's still all about that eighties band I'm seeing just before that. Woohoo!

Fiery death in La Perouse

It works! And it's a danger to me and to other people! but a few design changes should fix that. By the time the next one comes down, it will be well out of sight, and may have gone out with any luck. Watch this space!

Il Trovatore

Last night we saw Il Trovatore. Babies on fires, inappropriate nudity, and everyone dies at the end - that's what an opera should be like. Lots of threatening to kill people, at least one poisoning, pop-up nuns hiding in a slowly advancing wall, hatred and jealousy simmering for two decades between two people who turn out to be brothers, lust, abuse of power, revenge, insanity. The Anvil Chorus was a cracker too. The singers and orchestra were, if anything, tighter and more polished than the previous evening. If only I hadn't been so tired, it would have been a really incredible evening - as it was it was still pretty special. I think we got the two operas the wrong way round, on reflection, but I definitely don't regret seeing either.

Sydney Opera House is, unsurprisingly, a fantastic place to see fantastic opera, as well as all the other excellent shows I've been fortunate enough to see.

James Morrison plays Schifrin

Last Thursday I went to see James Morrison. Not the British singer-songwriter (who I always took as being a bit polished and pop, perhaps unfairly) but the Australian jazz trumpet legend. He and Ambre Hammond, a pianist of high standing, were playing a double symphony written specially for them, by Lalo Schifrin, a world-renowned composer, conductor, pianist, but who is perhaps best known for the theme to Mission:Impossible! Before the symphony we were treated to the Australian debut of two suites of Schifrin's orchestral music, played by the Sydney symphony, all excellent stuff (though as someone with a limited experience of orchestral music I don't have much to say on it). Then the soloists came out, and showed some incredible skills on their instruments, and the music was at times energetic and compelling, at times gentle and emotional, and swung from the classical to the jazz to, well, all sorts of stuff. Again, it was great to see people perform who are really, really good at what they do. But my favourite bit was the encores.



James Morrison and Ambre Hammond came back on to play an unaccompanied version of Basin Street Blues. Morrison played part of the theme with one finger, towards the end, and Hammond played a jazz improv-style solo, interspersed with some big Romantic piano chord runs. As if that wasn't enough, Morrison and Schifrin came on afterwards and played Theme from Mission:Impossible to us, Schifrin on the piano (a little shaky and out of time but pretty solid for a 75 year old) and Morrison playing the melody on the trumpet. The orchestra seemed pretty ready for it.



I really like these free Opera House tickets.

The Barber of Seville

Last night, Elissa managed to arrange for us to see The Barber of Seville, through her network of contacts. This was my first Opera at arguably the world's most famous Opera House, so I was really looking forward to it. We dropped into City Extra for a bite to eat and headed up to pick up our tickets, both for that evening and for tonight's trip to Il Trovatore. Sitting down in the Circle we saw the set, an impressive, colourful, almost garish affair (Elissa said it was very Gaudi-esque, and I agree), with a few folk already wandering around it, keeping the gathering audience entertained. The orchestra fired up and the whole show began. By the time the interval arrived, we were already pretty blown away, and I'd remembered how much I enjoyed the last opera I actually paid attention to (I tend to go to open air screenings with a bottle of wine, and ignore everything but the last act). Figaro was played magnificently, and the whole cast were very impressive - not only singing impeccably but looking like they were enjoying it. There's a moment where one of the characters was playing piano for another's music lesson (I won't ruin the plot, but it's several hundred years old, so if you haven't seen it by now...) and he plays the first note on a piano onstage. The orchestra strikes up and the singer/actor looks confused and glances under the piano. Several moments where the Doctor impersonates his daughter's whining tone by adopting her range, falsetto. That sort of thing. It was all so fluid, you barely noticed they were singing in a language that I, certainly, didn't understand a word of.

I sometimes get a bit snobby with things like this being dumbed down. I think it's possible, though, to keep something as serious as it should be, as polished and as slick as it should be, and inject some fun into it. This was one of the times when it added something to the show, rather than taking it away. I had an incredible time. I can't wait to see what they come up with this evening.

Sky lanterns part 2

We had another go at the Sky Lantern thing last night, with mixed success. Well, no success really. The 140l bags were a massive improvement on the 36l ones we'd used previously. The frame we used would, in principle, be liftable by that sort of volume of hot air, but could be lighter - lighter is always better. At one point I got brave and let go to see what would happen. The thing went sideways for a bit, but never really went upwards. I'm hoping that the next time there's a flat calm we can give it another go with a bit more success, but I'm keeping an eye out for alternative frame materials in the meantime. Here's a few photos.





And here's a video:

Next stop - Turkey Broadway

I really like this version of the London Tube map. Particularly "Mornington Croissant". Found on B3ta, can't remember who put it there though.

Flying a kite, flying a balloon

This evening I tried two forms of aviation. When I went out to fly the kite earlier there was no wind, but there had been a low-wind activity I was looking to try for a few days, so I gave Elissa a call. "Let's go down to the beach and make sky-lanterns!" I said. "You're on" she answered.

So we did. And the bin liners I'd chosen were worse than useless, so it didn't work, but the results were very pretty anyway, and I'm having another go next week.

Aberdeen is Brigadeen!

Following the major piping festival that is Bundanoon Is Brigadoon (which I sadly missed) Ben took us to Aberdeen for the highland games for the weekend. We drove to a cottage in a small fishing resort just outside Aberdeen, which took about 5 hours (a short trip by Australian standards). We pulled out wine and whisky and chatted til bedtime, pretty early as the Saturday was a busy day.

Ben was up at 7.30, and Elissa and I left the house at 9ish, ready to watch the opening parade. It was great to hear the pipe bands coming down the road, and the games were impressive too. Five guys tried to lift the five stones onto the barrels, including one at 165kg, but five guys only managed the four stones. That last one is a killer for most people I think, even the pros. We watched the tug of war, with a pretty dodgy Army side (all their best rope-tuggers are in Iraq). And the three legged race was an open affair. So Ben and I entered. Here's how I remember it.

To our left were two pipers. To our right, two children. We'd been rehearsing beforehand, so not only were we honed and ready, but we'd put the fear into our opponents. When the whistle went, the pipers took off at tremendous speed, and we and they left the kids for dead. Ben and I were having none of this, so we picked up the pace and at the line, we'd just caught them. Our leg tie snapped at the last moment, but the tie fell just over the line, so it was called a dead heat. We'd won! And we were handed $10 to prove it!

The ceilidh in the evening was a splendid affair, frequented by Dawn Fraser (who I hadn't heard of but who is something of a national treasure apparently), and with excellent food, music and dancing. Breakfast on the barbecue the following morning was a perfect end to the weekend, and we drove back to Sydney exhausted but satisfied. Elissa even managed to pick up some olive soap, so she can now wash in her favourite foodstuff!

My cousin comes to visit

My cousin Jabez (Jabe, Jay) has been visiting us for the last couple of weeks. He arrived one Sunday and we toured the CBD, taking in the Opera House and the bridge, the botanical gardens, the art gallery, and a walk round Darling Harbour - just getting his bearings really. The following weekend we went to the zoo for a bit, which was good fun. I saw the bird show again, one of the highlights of the zoo, I have to say. And Elissa and I rode an elephant! We also went to see FourPlay, a string quartet who play rock songs. Recommended listening (though there's only so much a viola can sounds like AdRock).

Jabe is now in Brisbane with friends, and is in Australia for a few more weeks. He's hoping to take in more of Queensland too. I'll be following in his travelling footsteps in a few months, but I haven't planned it much yet. More here as it happens, of course.

Bowling in Randwick

A few weeks ago, Elissa, Clint, Ursh, Ben, Lisa and I went bowling. It was lots of fun, and we took Kermit, who at least tried a couple of bowls himself. It was more of a photo opportunity than anything else though. See?