Lazy Day Today

Having a lazy day, making up for a bit of a slightly rough night's sleep and waking early. The Lovely Linda's away in her homeland across the Tasman Sea, taking a little of her late mum back home. Today, she's had a catch-up with her biological dad. I've been watch Great Australian Walks on SBS.

Season 2, episode 6 is the Bay Trail from St Kilda to Brighton, in many ways more "Australian Beach Culture" than Sydney or The Gold Coast. One of the inner suburban strips of Narm/Melbourne I love like it's home. It kinda is, I live a few kilometres in from Brighton. I adopted Melbourne as home in 2009, after spending just about my entire life in Tasmania, Launceston as a kid, Hobart as an adult. I married the Lovely Linda in 2010 and 2 of my daighters moved here to live and work, shortly after.

I've played in 3 bands here, my old Tassy band, The Breed, did our last gig with me in the band at our drummer's sister's wedding. Then with a cover band that I was a poor fit with, but we had fun while I lasted. Then I played in Alex Capelli's The Collectables. We were the mark II line up and that felt as much like home as The Breed had for almost 20 years of my life. Sadly, The Collectables ended when Alex had to move to Tasmania in late 2012.

Two of the gigs in that last band were at a Melbourne icon, The Esplanade Hotel, "The Espy," one in The Basement, the pub's "dive bar," another, a band competition where we came last because success was measured by punters in the room in the legendary Gershwin Room, the grand ballroom made famous by the even more famous TV, popular music, quiz show, "Rockwiz."

We threw our set AT. THE. WALL!!! Despite only 3 friends in the room. All the other bands cleared out their friends for other competitors' shows, and we hadn't built a following yet, so we lost. Best gig I've ever been proud to play, despite almost nobody hearing it, and extra special for being in the home of "Rockwiz." It's not how many people there, it's how you strut the boards.

That moment, that night, sums up rock'n'roll. Seeing "The Espy" always brings a tear to my eye. If I'd moved to Melbourne in the 80s, you might have known me, even though you don't know me, anywhere in the world. I moved here in my late 40s for work and love. I don't regret that, especially the second point. And I still got to play "The Espy." In "The Gersh." The Basement was pretty cool, too, but "The Gersh" was, as Springsteen called it, glory day!

And I've had a few gigs that could earn that title in my time.