You're never too old to Rock'n'Roll

[Grumpy John]

This post could go in Music or Photography, but it's going here .

I took a drive to Portsea today to see Ash Grunwald play at the Portsea Hotel. The whole day was a bit of a disaster, the show was supposed to start at 3:00 PM, and it did........ with a very average 50's rock and roll/rockabilly band, and they played for 2 hours . Things didn't get much better as the roadies were not having much luck setting up Ash's equipment. For those of you that don't know of Ash's music he often performs solo and relies heavily of backing tracks. To cut a long story short about 40 minutes into his set half his PA went down and he lost the audio to his backing tracks which supply the back beat usually coming from the bass player and drums.

However the highlight of the day was this guy who obviously left his wife at home . Why do I say that.............. he's having fun .


you're never too old to rock'n'roll.jpg

you're never too old to rock'n'roll 1.jpg

you're never too old to rock'n'roll 2.jpg


I think if I had have been 40 years younger I too could have got lucky, but that's another story .



Ash Grunwald
Ash Grunwald.jpg

[Bushmiller]

Grumpy

I had to laugh when I saw the reference to Ash Grunwald. I have been to one of Ash's gigs and it was memorable for a couple of reasons. Actually what the hell were you doing at one of Ash's gigs? I think you might be a bit hip or at the very least a latter day rocker yourself.

Anyhow before you state the obvious and ask me how I know about Ash or what the hell I was doing there myself, I have to say that I got in with the wrong crowd and I was misled .

No not really. In reality, Micah, lead singer of the band my son was playing in at the time (Patcha Mamma), was doing a solo support act for Ash at the Irish club in Toowoomba. SWMBO and I went along for some moral support.

Actually SWMBO blends in quite easily, sways her hips seductively and men one third her age start dancing with her. (At least she has the good grace to be slightly embarrassed, but doesn't exactly blush .) Whereas when I wiggled my hips in my best seductive fashion a young lady in our company, who was herself very seductive, prised a chair from someone completely unknown to us and insisted I sit down before I hurt myself . Now that was embarassing!

I seem to be digressing here, so back to the point: Amidst all this embarrassment why did I laugh?

Firstly Ash's equipment broke down or rather he put a hole in his flare drum and the proceedings were held up while a piece of duct tape was taped over the offending aperture, because as he siad he really like his drum and he wanted to play it. I do recall his roadies took an inordinatel amount of time setting up. Perhaps it is all part of his act .

Secondly, despite have worked at timber milling with chainsaws and other associated machinery, despite having noisy thicknessers, belt sanders and other irritating machinery, despite working in industry with high pressure steam ( around 240bar or 24,000Kpa) I can honestly say I have never been subjected to such a loud noise in a confined space.

They say that the island of Krakatoa when it blew up in the 1880s (ratification required) was and is the loudest noise the modern world has experienced, but Ash was a blo*dy close second! In fact if he could have conjured up a Tsunami as well he might have been accredited first.

I should have twigged as to what was coming when I saw a local journalist squeeze some foam ear plugs into his ears. Not habitually following such music scenes I thought perhaps he was cold. Toowoomba can get a bit fresh.

I was so wrong. I thought my ears would never recover. Even my ar*e was sore. I think some explanation is required there in that the vibration was so extreme I began to realise why the chair had been given up so easily. Anything that could host harmonics wasn't safe to be close to and certainly was a mistake to sit on unless you were in a state of arousal that can't be accomplished without recourse to banned substances.

I did ponder as to whether any of the die-hard Irish club patrons would wonder if it was a second coming .

All in all I am impressed that you should be a follower. I suspect that as you get older "luck" has a bigger part to play .

Regards
Paul

[Bushmiller]

PS.

Grumpy

The pictures are classics. Has FenceFurniture seen this? I reckon they are great. I'll have to show you the ones I took with my Brownie 127 .

Actually I am suffering from PWD (photographic withdrawal syndrome) as I'm afraid to post pix for how they will be received and the inevitable ridicule and consequent humiliation. (Thanks a bundle FF )

Grumpy yours look really good to me. Good subject too .

Regards
Paul

[Grumpy John]

Ash Grunwald, Xavier Rudd, John Butler, Jeff Lang love my blues/roots music,

[Bushmiller]

Ash Grunwald, Xavier Rudd, John Butler, Jeff Lang love my blues/roots music,

Grumpy

That's fantastic.

My son in the past has been mistaken for Xavier Rudd. I have never seen XR in the flesh, but there are from the pictures of him some vague similarities. Same eyes, similar beards both play didgeridoos, both young and ugly.....

I don't think it happens so often now as son has dreads.

Regards
Paul