June 2003

Just a quick note before embarking on the tour... To anyone in Melbourne -- I reckon it could be well worth your while making the trip up the western highway to Daylesford to the beautiful old Palais Theatre for our opening gig of the tour on Saturday the 21st of June. I have a feeling in my bones that it will be a great gig... The nervous energy that always accompanies the first show. Not only that, but this will probably be the best venue for the display of visuals as the Palais is an old picture theatre... Great sight lines, large screen, great atmosphere in the old hall. I've never played a gig in central Victoria apart from a gig in Ballarat in 1983 with the band that Tim Cole fronted, Easter. The area is a haven for artistic endeavour between Castlemaine, Bendigo, Trentham, etc. So I'm looking forward to seeing what the audience might be up there... I've ventured there quite a few times for creative purposes over the years... The pre-production for Brood was done in an old hall in Yandoit, Act of Free Choice was recorded in Guidinski's Manor at Mt. Macedon and of course recently I worked up songs with Shane Nicholson in a beautiful house in Blackwood on the edge of the Wombat State Forest. I spent a wild New Years Eve at the pub in Daylesford watching a country and western quasi religious piss take band that Ian Sephen fronted... Mmm... 'The Slaughtermen' they were called if my memory serves me correctly. So come up... Book accommodations at a B&B or in the local pub and make a night of it... I predict it will be one of the gigs of the tour?

Of the other shows on the tour, I'm definitely looking forward to Newcastle again because I enjoy the passion of my dedicated fans there and for some reason have never played a bad gig in Newcastle in the half a dozen times I've been there with NDW and my solo band. Canberra is the same, love playing Canberra... Tis on a State of Origin night breaking one of the first rules of booking dates for a tour... luckily its at Tilleys, so it'll be sold out due to it not being a huge venue... Wouldn't want to be relying on a large walk up on State of Origin night... I reckon the Metro is one of the best venues in the country... Has a good balance between being a rock venue with theatre proportions... Also good for visuals, and the sound is great there? The visuals are coming up well... There's been some great work that has gone into developing this part of the show... Watch for Rolf de Heer's film for 'Wires' amongst others.

Next Wednesday our first performance will be the RRR broadcast from the Laundry which can be picked up in Melbourne on 102.7 and can also be heard around the world on their webcast... It's on from 6.30pm til 7pm Melbourne time. For more exact details keep an eye on the website... Phil Wales will post more exact info about how it all works.

Also looking forward to playing with Machine Translations, Sea Life Park... There may be a surprise very, very special guest in Sydney if the gods smile politely... Much to look forward to... and for me... new band, new people, new songs, new energy... Woo Hoo! Anyway... Look forward to seeing you at the shows... And for those not in Australia, I'm hoping like hell that we'll be able to take this show to the States and to Europe over the next 12 months...

Cheerio, DB