Tales from the road: Ness' WA tour blog

Wednesday July 13th 

Today is a travel day and show day. Woo hoo! I am excited about going to Broome. Old Dolly needs a run so I drive her out to the airport. B-dog has the pleasure of accompanying me on the bench seat. Then I drive her nearly halfway back to Fremantle looking for a parking space in long term parking. I think she might like it though, hanging out with all the other cars for a day, showing off like she does. Anyway, we check our gear in, make our routine stop at the bar and then we are up, up and away to the warm weather. We are met at the airport by a lovely fellow called Mark, our trusty tour manager Bob, and some near on perfect weather. Mark and Bob take us straight to the venue, where we are fed delicious food and delightfully refreshing beverages. Yum. Then to the hotel. Chris and I share a room. We use the ceiling fan. B-dog and Kev share a room. They use the air conditioner. Nap time for B-dog. I stroll with Chris and Kev back to the venue. Nothing much for us to do just yet, so we head across the road to the beach. Sunset at Cable beach is unreal and we manage to scrape together enough change to buy some drinks from the surf club. Surf club man is super happy. I would be too if I had his job. After sound check we enjoy more delicious food at the venue and I stroll back to the hotel in an effort to try and walk off some of kilojoules. Even after another stroll back to the venue, I am still feeling quite weighed down by all the wonderful things I have consumed today. B-dog has also eaten too much. He is clearly struggling just before we are about to play. The rest of us laugh at him because he looks funny covered in sweat and trying to take deep breaths. The show is fun but it takes me a good half a dozen songs to feel my usual bounciness. B-dog plays like a demon (a big fat one!). I see a fellow get his tooth chipped by a wine glass. He shows me the liberated piece of tooth and then throws it over his shoulder. Some people are crazy when they’ve had a few drinks. Crazy man might have a bit of trouble eating tomorrow. We come off stage to find several platters of very appetising food waiting for us! Methinks someone is trying to fatten us up. We stroll back to our hotel with as much food and drink from the rider as we can possibly carry. What an awesome night in the beautiful weather, with the lovely people and awesome staff at the diver’s tavern. When do I get to come back here and do this again? Next week please!

Thursday 14th July

Today is a show day and travel day. I wake up in Broome and sit out on the porch with a cup of tea and some leftover food from last night. I am really not ready to go home. I think I want to live here. But today I must leave because we have a show tonight in Fremantle. Not any ordinary show. Tonight we play a private show for the winner of the online competition we ran (well someone ran it and I’m still not exactly sure how it worked but I think it’s probably a bit late to be getting into all that now anyway because the winner has been decided and tonight is the night). I am excited about this show. We will be playing in the basement of my local and quite favourite Norfolk hotel. But before we get there I will learn a lesson for the day which I share with Chris… ‘Don’t try and spray your perfume on when you’re standing under the ceiling fan’. Hmm, I bet the brothers Mitchell don’t have this problem in the arctic climes of their air-conditioned room. Today we will also have to deal with some flight delays and a 1-tonne van that actually ends up being a ute, which eventually ends up as a 3-tonne truck. We need to collect gear from a few different places before we can even load into the Nork, so we pair up to complete our assigned missions before meeting up at the venue. Kev and I are assigned the bass speaker pick up from my house. This is not much of a detour and as expected we arrive first at the pub. (Good assigning, Nessy!) We have enough time to sneak upstairs for a pint of my new favourite beer before the others arrive. I am home and feeling great! I feel even better when some pizzas, platters and snacks are bought out. Yum, the food here is great. We figure that since quite a few of the partygoers may have seen or would be coming to other shows on this tour, that we should take the opportunity to play some songs we haven’t played for a while. We write a set list with Jonathon (the winner). The process goes like this: we ask him what he wants to hear, he names a song, we say we can’t remember that one, and then he keeps picking songs until he picks ones we can play, we suggest a few songs we really want to play and the set list is done. I almost forget that we are about to play a show as we drink and snack with the guests before the show. Show starts and Kev is absolutely rocking his socks off. This excites and inspires me on this tiny stage. And so this turns out to be an old school, small pub, rocking performance for 100 truly lovely people. Thankyou Jonathon for bringing in such a beaut crowd for us to play to. Tonight Dolly will stay at the pub because I have had a little bit too much fun at the party to drive her home. She loves it down the Nork. She has had many sleepovers in this car park. 

Friday 15th July

Today is a show day (and my brother’s birthday). My day starts with a stroll into Freo to pick up Dolly. I soak up all the familiar sights and comforts of this wonderful town while I have the chance. Tonight we are playing up in Hillarys at Bar 120 which is very far from my home. I collect a hire car, B-dog, Kev and then Chris. I like the energy of just the 4 of us in a vehicle. It doesn’t really happen very often. Then it’s the usual routine at the venue. Loading, waiting, try and scam drinks from the rider early, waiting, sound checking, waiting, maybe some more waiting. Eventually we head to Little Caesar’s where Chris introduces us to the most kind and lovely Theo. We are shown to our table where we drink cold beers and feast on the most magnificent pizzas. Apparently the haloumi pizza is a new creation and it is an absolute hit with this haloumi-loving band. If we had have known about haloumi when we first started the band, I’m sure it would have been one of the things we would have bonded over in the early days. Many pizzas are eaten at the same time as we are saying things like ‘I shouldn’t have any more before we play’, ‘just one more piece should be ok by’, ‘uh oh, we’re on in 2 hours’ and ‘I’m fat’. We try and opt out of the dessert pizza but Theo won’t hear of it. The pizza comes out and looks so delicious that a few of us can’t help but tuck in. What an absolutely delightful experience, thanks Theo and everyone at Little Caesar’s. We roll, shuffle and waddle back to the venue. Unfortunately Violent Soho couldn’t do this WA leg of the tour with us. I am bummed, I really love those guys, and their blistering set has become an important part of my pre-gig routine. But I am also excited that we get to play some shows with local bands San Cisco and Trigger Jackets. Both bands are impressive tonight but I am a bit distracted by many things including the weight of too much pizza in my belly. The show is good tonight but I do accidentely spear a security guard with the headstock of my bass guitar whilst in mid twirl (me twirling, not him). I apologise because he is twice my size and also a very lovely man. I catch him after the show to apologise again and he just laughs and tells me that the stage isn’t big enough for me. He is a good sport. In the car on the way home Kev tells me a funny story of how him and Chris were waiting in the van and chatting to some drunk girls for about 15 minutes before telling the girls they wanted to close the car doors. Then the drunk girls started abusing them and telling them they’d got too big for their boots. Ha ha, I laugh, drunk people really are crazy sometimes. I make it back to Freo where I am greeted by Dolly in my driveway. I tell her she is lucky she spent the night at home away from drunk women as I breathe my whisky breath on her bonnet.

Saturday 16th July

Today is a travel day and show day (and B-dog and Kev’s brother’s birthday). The travel component of the day is a drive to Margaret River. I’m sure Dolly is keen to do the trip so she can visit old friends in the area but unfortunately she doesn’t quite have the speed or comforts required for the journey on this particular day. There is something very homely and cosy about the Settler’s Tavern. We are well looked after today and it is very much appreciated. We go through the same routine involving loading, waiting, etc, etc. We eat great food at the venue. This week certainly is good food week for the Jebs! Anyway, dinner is early tonight as we are keen to be light on our feet for the show. I swap my usual pre-gig whisky and soda for vodka and V’s tonight. I float between the beer garden and inside the venue for the opening bands. They are both great tonight and I am excited. It’s hard to know how good our show is tonight. I think we have some technical issues but I am drawn into the dynamite drumming of B-dog, sink myself into drum and bass land, and am oblivious to much else. After the show I stand under a heater in out in the beer garden. Some locals laugh at me because they think the bottle I have filled with whisky and soda looks like urine. I guess they are right but it forms a handy partnership with the heater to keep me warm on this very, very cold night. Long drive back to the accommodation, the bed here is most comfortable, and we have a late, late checkout tomorrow thanks to the lovely lady at reception. 

Sunday 17th July

Today is a travel day and show day. I wake up in my luxurious villa, fling open the curtains, and stare out at the blue ocean. The sun is pouring heat through the big glass doors and I stand there in my knicks pretending it is summer. That delusion is shattered the second I open the door. The lesson I learn today is ‘don’t go out in the icy wind wearing only your knicks’. Breakfast in Dunsborough. We reminisce about ‘schoolies’ (which I can’t ever remember being called ‘schoolies’ when we finished school). JB buys new sunnies. Chris and B-dog buy doughnuts, it’s a tradition in Dunsborough to go to the bakery. In fact, many years ago the bakery was the only place you could go. I think I see how this has become a tradition. Today we are off to Bunbury. Tonight we shall rename it Funbury. The Prince of Wales is familiar, cosy and has also had a facelift. This place has a reputation for treating bands extremely well and owner Mitch is very well known and loved by pretty much all the bands that have toured through here. What a lovely afternoon to sit out in the beer garden with the Trigger Jackets and friends. Same routine again, waiting, sound checking, etc. Tonight the show is early and the room is filling very slowly but surely as the Trigger Jackets play. I head back downstairs again when San Cisco play and find a spot near the mixing desk. The room is nearly full by now. San Cisco are great tonight and I don’t want them to finish. If anyone is keen to support local music, these are 2 of the many fantastic bands playing around Perth at the moment and are well worth checking out if you haven’t already. The show tonight is most enjoyable but my body is feeling it. Tonight is our 5th consecutive show. In years gone by that would be a standard week of any tour but at this stage it is the longest run of consecutive shows we have done for at least a few years. In the crowd I spy the lovely air hostess who couldn’t get tickets to the Astor and I am excited that she has finally managed to get to a show. Post gig is the traditional pizzas and beers at the bar with Mitch and the staff of this beaut place. What a great way to finish a super fun but busy week of shows. I am spent. Every venue we have played this week has been so accommodating and treated us so well we feel truly spoilt. Thankyou also to all the beaut folk who continue to come to our shows and create such a good atmosphere to play music in. I think I am living in a dream. Please don’t wake me up.