Well, for a few days at least, we are home – resting our bones before heading back north – this time to Queensland on Friday night.
The second leg of the Sue-Ellen tour began, as mentioned previously, last Wednesday – at the lovely Lizottes in Kincumber – where jus Mat and I played an acoustic show to a pretty full house and enjoyed the hospitality of Brian and Jo and the very welcoming Lizottes staff. Vegetarian pasta was on the menu (almost as good as the recipe below…) and Coronas were at Taco Bill prices. Staying in Terrigal for the evening, we attempted to savour the local night life but were left a little high and dry by early closing hours and watered down vodka at the big white nightclub overlooking the beach.
The next morning we were able to get a better feel for Terrigal – bathed in sunshine but battered by an icy breeze. Still, the coastline was rather lovely and we felt like we’d escaped to Devon or Cornwall or maybe even Brighton Beach. With sea air in our gils we headed north to Newcastle airport to collect our comrades and head for the Newcastle show.
The Wicko gig proved to be a great night out for all who made it along. Opening act (and former golden guitar winner) Flash Sheedy and his band of good ol’ boys set hearts racing with some damned fine Shadows-inspired surf rock – and we were pleased to take the stage in front of a well-warmed-up crowd.
We spent the night ‘in Jamaica’ (anyone who’s been upstairs at the wicko will know what we mean) and got a good 4 hours sleep before rising at the crack of dawn for radio spots in tamworth and armidale before the evening’s surprisingly raucous show at the tiny Armidale Club.
At this point in time I will send a shout out to our new friend from Croatia (she bought a disk so may well find her way to this blog) who kindly bought me a wine (after I complained on stage about losing my drink cards) and then proceeded to stumble and fall on the glass as she slipped onto the stage while dancing during the encore! She (and we) escaped relatively unharmed and we (but not she) headed back to our ‘salubrious’ digs at the Royal Hotel.
End of Part 1.
