Aussie Rock
Random evening: I was about to leave the office when a secondee from our Brisbane office came along and offered me a free ticket to go with her to see classic Aussie rocker, Jimmy Barnes. No, I'd not heard of him either - but apparently if you mention his name to an aussie it has the same kind of nostalgic resonance as, say, an 80s Tom Jones.
Apart from the decidedly dubious pleasures of spending an evening in an enclosed space with 250 beered up Aussies, it was an unexpectedly entertaining evening. I spent most of it standing behind a guy who could double as a sight screen at Lords for the next Ashes, but fortunately he was only about 5'6", so I could comfortably look over his (ham-like) shoulder.
Jimmy Barnes looked (from my vantage point, at least) a bit like a sweaty William Shatner. Apparently he has a thing for wearing skin-tight leather trousers, but I could only see him torso up and was spared that particular trauma. His band seemed to comprise a number of minor celebrities: Vernon Kay, sporting a 118-style 'tache, on guitar; the Karate Kid (now tragically gone to seed) on drums; and Colm Meany (Irish actor, veteran of most Roddy Doyle films. Think "Elvis wasn't no fockin' Cajun: that's blasphemy!" from The Commitments), in a breton fishing sweater, on bass. Also there was a guest appearance from Roachford (yes, the real 80s one) so they could duet on a cover of I put a spell on you. My tip: Jimmy, stick to the original material.
To get a handle on the original material, think about that bit in the Lost Boys film when a man in purple spandex trousers is caterwauling away during the bonfire party. But with no saxophone. When pressed, one of the guys I went with described him as the bastard offspring of AC/DC and Joe Cocker.
Bizarrely, all of the music seemed vaguely familiar, without actually being so. Good old Jimmy belted it out with lungs of leather, and the audience joined in with the big radio hits ("Working class man" anybody?). I can't say I'll be rushing out and buying his latest CD (I suspect it would be a greatest hits, given his vintage), but it was a big shouty fun night out. And free. Can't say fairer than that. Students of the entertainment/economy matrix will be aware that this scores very highly.
Apart from the decidedly dubious pleasures of spending an evening in an enclosed space with 250 beered up Aussies, it was an unexpectedly entertaining evening. I spent most of it standing behind a guy who could double as a sight screen at Lords for the next Ashes, but fortunately he was only about 5'6", so I could comfortably look over his (ham-like) shoulder.
Jimmy Barnes looked (from my vantage point, at least) a bit like a sweaty William Shatner. Apparently he has a thing for wearing skin-tight leather trousers, but I could only see him torso up and was spared that particular trauma. His band seemed to comprise a number of minor celebrities: Vernon Kay, sporting a 118-style 'tache, on guitar; the Karate Kid (now tragically gone to seed) on drums; and Colm Meany (Irish actor, veteran of most Roddy Doyle films. Think "Elvis wasn't no fockin' Cajun: that's blasphemy!" from The Commitments), in a breton fishing sweater, on bass. Also there was a guest appearance from Roachford (yes, the real 80s one) so they could duet on a cover of I put a spell on you. My tip: Jimmy, stick to the original material.
To get a handle on the original material, think about that bit in the Lost Boys film when a man in purple spandex trousers is caterwauling away during the bonfire party. But with no saxophone. When pressed, one of the guys I went with described him as the bastard offspring of AC/DC and Joe Cocker.
Bizarrely, all of the music seemed vaguely familiar, without actually being so. Good old Jimmy belted it out with lungs of leather, and the audience joined in with the big radio hits ("Working class man" anybody?). I can't say I'll be rushing out and buying his latest CD (I suspect it would be a greatest hits, given his vintage), but it was a big shouty fun night out. And free. Can't say fairer than that. Students of the entertainment/economy matrix will be aware that this scores very highly.
posted by OboeJane at 8:27 am
1 Comments:
Nicki and I have a germ of a plan to turn the EE scale into a money making web-site.
We will be consulting you in due course
Post a Comment
<< Home