22 April 29, 2008 Byron Shire Echo
www.echo.net.au
The Halls Aren’t Alive with the Sound of Music
T
his week I received an email informing the media that all the gigs scheduled for Coorabell Hall have been cancelled. It would appear that those close to the hall have decided to assert their right to a silent night. Great, just what we need. More wealthy wowsers moving into the area killing off what little cultural integrity we still have. Frankly, I'm tired of it. I have some advice for those who want a peaceful rural setting. Move to Grafton. Or Casino. Or Toowoomba. Or Maclean. In fact, nearly every regional area on the map will be characterised by one thing. At night nothing happens. People get pissed in their homes and beat up their families. Or swear at the telly. Then they go to bed. Apart from the quiet moans of loneliness and desolation and the occasional farmer shooting himself in sheer drought ridden despair, the only pin you'll hear drop is by the local ladies patchworking team as
LIVE
MUSIC IN ALL YOUR SPLENDOUR The first weekend in August belongs to Splendour in the Grass. The festival that
they perfect their John Laws Memorial retirement blanket. The tribal spirit that compels one to drum, or to dance naked under a full moon, will have been medicated right out of them. What has made the Northern Rivers unique is our vibrant creative culture. We are ratbags. We don't like to work. We are self focused. We smoke pot. We have Tibetan prayer flags. We don't make any major decisions without a tarot reading. We are spiritually gullible. We are optimistic. We believe that affirmations and our spiritual enlightenment will change the world. Rightly or wrongly, it's what makes us, us. There has been much concern about GM crops infecting our organic stock, and destroying the integrity of our seedbanks forever. That's just what is happening here. Every time a conservative middle class seachanger floats in with their giant Range Rovers, plasma tellies and suburban values, they infect our fragile community with the blight of their pervasive and powerful mediocrity. Once our culture is infected with mediocrity, then it's hello Noosa. Thirty years ago, the halls were responsible for the infamous Moondances – a signature event that bought world class musicians and seekers
has been heralded as 'the two best days in any music lover's calendar year' has just released its first batch of artists piping hot and ready to eat. First cab off the rank is Devo. Yep. Devo. I was a bit surprised at first. I only know the pot plants on the heads and Whip It. I can't imagine what happens after that. Do they have other
garden equipment. Other sado-masochistic songs? But then as I reflected back I remembered Girl You Want, and Beautiful World and the mainstream success they had with Freedom of Choice. Christ. I was gorgeous then. I can't wait to be with the other oldies as we reminisce the 80's amongst a sea of beauty. Devo are Saturday's
of the utopian dream to our valleys, ridges and hillsides. This alternative culture, as spectacular and magical as the mushrooms that grew in shit after a good rain and a burst of sun, became the magnet that made this place special. In marketing terms, one would say that our creativity and our hippy history is our point of difference. It's an integral part of our identity and our branding. It is that indefinable X factor that fired the most extraordinary metamorphosis; where a working class whaling town blossomed into a billionaire's bohemian retreat.
the pub. It means that families can bring their children, who curl up on blankets by the fire while their parents dance, or talk about their last meaningful hug with Amma. It means that musicians can play outside of an environment focused on the sale of alcohol, all the while creating a rich social capital of culture, creativity and connectedness. We have some of the best music festivals in the world here. We have some of the best musicians and performers. It's the one thing that stands between an area being cosmopolitan or parochial.
It's getting ridiculous. No drumming at the markets. No festivals. No music in the hills. It's too noisy. I can't hear my motivational tapes. I can't count my money. Personally I can't stand drumming. It's irritating. I have never felt the urge to dance undieless at a 10am community market in a healing circle. But it's a cultural expression of people coming together. I find groups of people singing hymns at Sunday morning church just as annoying – and those frigging bells. But I'm not about to complain. Halls have played a vital role in fostering a music scene outside of
In saying this, it is with regret that I inform you that The Coorabell Hall Association are unable to have any more bands playing there. I hope the wowsers responsible are happy with themselves. They have managed to eradicate 30 years of hall music. It's the cultural equivalent to chicken pox blankets. We all know the moniker of the privileged: If you don't want to join em, beat em. And before you start whingeing that I wouldn't know what it's like to live next to a hall full of music, stick a Country Road sock in it because I live across the road from one.
headline, and Sunday welcome Wolfmother. They bring their freaked out jamming delicate melodies and gallant rock riffage to the stage. My mate Jen reckons they're just like T Rex. But that's because the guy’s got curly hair. As those polar caps melt, bands like Sigur Ros are drifting south. Ethereal Icelandic sensation, Sigur Ros make their debut appearance at Splendour this year. The band are currently putting the finishing touches to their fifth studio album in New York. Rockabilly favourites The Living End are always good for a bit of rough and tumble, they're mucking in as are The Presets, and the whimsical soft hearted romantic, Ben Lee. He's only a feather and a red string bracelet away from enlightenment. The act that I'd be chomping to see is Tricky. Renaissance man
and recognised as one of the vanguards of a new musical revolution. Influenced as much by torchlight jazz as the beats of hip hop, his style has literally opened the door to numerous artists that fill the electronica landscape. Mercurial and enigmatic. He's like listening to music with a plush red velvet ear. Other acts are Vampire Weekend, Cold War Kids, The Fratellis, The Wombats, Pnau, Laura Marling, The Vines, Operator Please, The Grates and Band of Horses. Tickets for this 2 & 3 August event go on sale on Thursday 22 May at 9am. Good luck. They're gone in minutes. www. splendourinthegrass.com
BERRY BERRY GOOD MUSIC New York master musician Chris Berry and Brisbane percussion ensemble
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Spankinhide join forces to bring the power of N’Jinji to communities across Australia. Throughout Africa Chris Berry is recognised as a master musician and spirit caller. In the West, he is hailed as one of the world’s leading practitioners of African music and dance. Californian born Berry’s study of African music began at the age of 13. This became an obsession which would soon take him to Africa and see him immersed in the rich musical and cultural traditions surviving upon its shores. Today, 23 years on, Berry is a master of mbira (thumb piano) and the ngoma drum, and has earned the title of gwenyambira (‘one whose music calls the spirits’), a distinction reserved only for those who have achieved the highest fusion of the technical and the magical in Shona music. He is not only the first white person, but also the first non-Shona person to receive this distinction. Berry returned to America after over a decade in Africa to follow the edict given to him by the ancestor spirits to convey the ancient knowledge of N’Jinji to the world. The hope is that people around the globe will become practitioners of this healing artform and use it as a means of strengthening themselves and their communities. Berry has invited Spankinhide to join him on this N’Jinji tour after having developed a decade-long friendship and musical relationship with Spankinhide’s leader Elliott Orr. With 17 years drumming under his belt, Elliott is respected as the leading proponent of African drumming in Queensland. He has been teaching and performing rhythms extensively, including original compositions by Berry. In many ways Spankinhide’s style is a blending of Berry’s sound and traditional West