ENTERTAINMENT
BYRON PLAYS
PUPPET ARRIVAL
GUITAR
TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO NICK SERGI MOVED TO BYRON AND BECAME THE PROPRIETOR OF ONE OF BYRON’S MOST ICONIC BUSINESSES, BYRON MUSIC. A former high school music teacher, and sometime player, Sergi also admits he loves guitars. He loves them so much in fact that he’s initiated the first Byron Bay Guitar Festival. ‘I love the sonic beauty of the guitar,’ says Nick. ‘That’s the best way I can describe it. I was always drawn to it. I have always aspired to be a good player. I learned the guitar boogie from Tommy Emmanuel…’ The Byron Bay Guitar Festival grew out of an idea Nick had in order to give his business an edge. ‘Byron Music is more than 30 years old. It’s a very competitive landscape online and now with Amazon. As a music shop we have to have a point of difference. At Bluesfest I put up a stage and a drum kit and a guitar and let people jam. It worked. I wanted to have a guitar show at my shop and it turned into something enormous!’ Sergi got in contact with the Byron Brewery, who were keen to come on board as the venue for the event. As the birthplace of Bluesfest, this venue provides a good omen for this new festival, along with lots of funky spaces for festival events. ‘We are using the whole carpark; it will have a market setup. Pighouse Flicks will host all our seminars and workshops and streaming a couple of independent guitar-style films. And then main stage in the big newly refurbished room in the Brewery and the beergarden will be the main gigs.’ Nick is excited about the lineup, something he’s fine-tuning and adapting every day. ‘We have added Jeff Lang on the Saturday with Kevin Borich. Steve Edmonds is back by popular demand after the Bluesfest show this year. Black Rabbit George, and we have some great girls; it was the hardest thing I tried to get – couple of really strong chicks.’ To play the festival you have to be an Australian guitarist, but it can be across genres – blues, rock, flamenco, classical, country. ‘Fiona Boyes is playing. She is a veteran, she has been around for quite a while. She is very blues, southern Californian influence, a very hard-working girl, grandmother of eight kids. And Tash Wolf is the golden girl, only 19, a beautiful player and she is really well known for her Instragram and as a model. She needs to be pushed in her guitar though. I am also trying to find some young developing talents to bring them through.’ Byron Bay Guitar Festival at the Byron Brewery. 11 and 12 November. For tickets and program info go to byronbayguitarfestival.com.
NORPA and the Macadamia Castle are thrilled to present Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s adaptation of acclaimed illustrator/author Shaun Tan’s story The Arrival – a truly warm and magical theatre experience. Built on the animation of the awesome images from Shaun Tan’s stunning new book The Arrival, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre is full of the exquisite puppetry and exceptional acting that you would expect from Australia’s leading puppet company.
GET YOUR JOKE ON
DEADLY FUNNY
Comedy at the Court House make its quarterly return to Mullumbimby when Mandy Nolan brings a full house of new and emerging comedy talent to the stage. Nolan has been busy touring her smash hit comedy Women Like Us around the country, but hasn’t lost her passion for mentoring new talent. Nolan also welcomes the opportunity to try some of her new material in front of her home crowd. Be at the Court House Hotel in Mullumbimby on Thursday for a big, big night of laughs. 8pm. Free. Come early and try the delicious food. Best fun with your pants on.
Local comedian Mandy Nolan presents two of her favourite comedians at the Mullum Ex-Services this Monday night. ‘Sean Choolburra and Andy Saunders present fresh voices in standup comedy,’ she says. ‘Humour is a huge part of Indigenous community and I think a huge part of their resilience as a culture.
CALL FOR LITTLE MERMAIDS Ballina Players is presenting The Little Mermaid over 12–21 January 2018. Auditions for this production are occurring on Saturday 16 September at the Ballina Players Theatre, 24 Swift St, Ballina, 9am–5pm. Bookings are essential. Contact Mike on 0402 491 036.
LEARNING TO HEAL In the moving documentary A Quest to Heal – Beyond the Physical, Michelle follows the journey of two of her friends – Lya Shaked from Melbourne, who has terminal cancer, and Fred Porter from USA, who has HIV – on a healing odyssey to Brazil to see controversial spiritual healer Joao Texeira de Faria. Also known as John of God, he has been attributed many unexplained miracles over the past 30 years. Thousands of people from all over the world have been flocking to his remote village in Brazil in search of cures for illnesses for which western medicine offers little hope. The film follows Lya and Fred through the various healing processes at the healing centre consisting of meditation, prayer and procedures known as invisible spiritual operations. The filmmaker asks the question, ‘Is John of God another faith healer exploiting vulnerable people or can something be happening here beyond the western medical model? Are there some people like John of God and other healers like him such as indigenous shamans, Jesus, or even the Buddha who have access to a greater healing energy, and can we tap into this ourselves?’ The film will screen at Brunswick Picture House on Wednesday 13 September at 7pm. Tickets from www.aquesttohealbeyondthephysical.com
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
We just don’t get to hear enough of the stories, the voices and the perspectives. Most of the standup you hear is always very white and middle class.’ Nolan also believes that these two should be starring on their own TV shows. ‘These guys are so funny. They do a lot of comedy on NITV, but they need to be on mainstream TV. They’re at the top of their game.’ Sean Choolburra and Andy Saunders perform at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services on Monday at 7.30pm. Tickets on mandynolan. com.au or at the door. $25/30
Shaun Tan’s fantastical world comes to life in a strange and wonderful metropolis full of floating ships, mysterious lights, alien symbols and weird animals. It is in this new place that our hero Aki makes his home. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre will be conducting a free Paper Puppetry and Play workshop at Lismore City Hall for 7–12-year-olds on Tuesday 19 September at 12 midday.
Bookings are essential. NORPA is also conducting a series of Puppetry and Visual Theatre workshops in local schools. The theatre foyer will be decorated with a paper-bird installation created by workshop students. For more information about NORPA workshops please contact Valley Lipcer: creativeprograms@norpa.org.au. The Arrival at Lismore City Hall on Tuesday 19 September (11am and 6pm) and Wednesday 20 September (11am).Tickets: $20–47. Bookings: www.norpa.org.au or 1300 066 722
CARNIVAL CINEMA Australia’s first and foremost documentarian for circus, local boy Hamish McCormick, returns for a second evening in an ongoing regular series of his films. Presenting Carnival Cinema, the Mullum Circus Festival Edition, on Friday from 8pm. at the Brunswick Picture House. Tickets from the website brunswickpicturehouse.com.
A QUEST TO HEAL BEYOND THE PHYSICAL An Odyssey of the Heart
BYRON FILM PREMIERE
13 September, 7pm + Q & A with director Michelle Mahrer Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads BUY TIX: www.aquesttohealmovie.com
Mullumbimby SDA Op Shop Is Celebrating
20 Years Serving our Community
We Invite you to join us for morning tea on…
Monday 11th September 18 Argyle Street (church hall) There will be balloons for the kids, gift vouchers given away instore every hour! In order to thank our community for their support ZH ZLOO EH Rσ HULQJ D VWRUHZLGHü
Huge 50% Sale The Byron Shire Echo September 6, 2017 49