E N T E R T A I N M E N T
SOAP BOX!
See Mandy live at www.echonetdaily.net.au
THE BLAME GAME If something goes wrong in my life it’s your fault. Don’t take it personally, it’s just the way I roll. I refuse to take responsibility for anything. Even being overweight. That’s not my fault. I’m too busy to exercise. I blame my kids. I was a skinny girl whose body was demolished growing new humans. They stole my skinny white arse. And the breastfeeding thing really stuffed me up. My hormones changed my metabolism. It has nothing to do with the fact I drink too much red wine and eat chocolate. In fact even drinking red wine is not my fault. I find it relaxing and somehow the stuff just finds its way into my mouth. When you work for yourself it’s hard to clock off. There’s always something to do, that’s why I have to drink a bottle of red wine occasionally. It’s so I can just turn off. It’s not really wine. It’s an off button. And when I backed into the bin in the Woolies carpark, that wasn’t my fault either. Some dickhead put the bin there. Sure there was a big sign saying ‘NO STOPPING’ but I wasn’t stopping, I was reversing. It wasn’t my fault, all the disabled parks out the front of the shop were full. And I had a sore back, it’s not permanent but it was hurting to walk so I thought the disabled wouldn’t mind, but they were all out in force, all two of them, so I had no where to go, except the ANNE IN THE TREE Byron’s favourite folk/roots artist SueAnne Stewart is back in Byron! After releasing her much-anticipated album Gypsy Blood, Sue-Anne has been enjoying airplay Australiawide along with some pretty impressive supports. Her most recent was with Mat McHugh of The Beautiful Girls and Bobby Alu. Catch her on Saturday at the Treehouse.
no-stopping. And I wouldn’t have a sore back if someone else did the washing. I pulled a disk picking up the washing basket. I hit the bin and it’s my husband’s fault. It’s my kids’ fault! It feels so good to blame someone when things go wrong. Especially when they are out of your control. My mother’s a blamer. Her mother was a blamer. It only stands to reason that I should be a blamer as well. I like to think that I am providing some awesome role modelling for my kids. When you are a control freak it’s very hard to accept when things don’t go your way. Like the other morning when the kids missed the school bus and I had to drive them to Lismore. I wasn’t happy. I rang my husband. He blamed it on my daughter for having to wait while she retrieved her water bottle. She blamed me for making her get out of the car and get her water bottle. It was on, blame game in session. I mean, I didn’t want to get the blame for sending a kid to school without a water bottle. What if she dehydrated and I got the blame for failure to provide water? My husband is often impressed at how competent I am at blaming him for everything that goes wrong. In fact the other day he marvelled at how I managed to turn a completely unrelated event, which he had no involvement with, into something that he had inadvertently ruined. ‘I forgot to go to the doctor for my pap smear today – now if I hadn’t had to stop at the post office to post that letter that you said you were going to post a week ago I wouldn’t have become distracted by bumping into Sally, who then wouldn’t fricking shut up. I was bullied into having a coffee with her and I ate a cake, which I’m not
Read more of Mandy in her book, What I Would Do If I Were You, available at all good bookshops.
SUE-ANNE STEWART AT THE TREEHOUSE IN BELONGIL ON SATURDAY
SHARNY AT THE KAT Seasoned jazz diva Sharny Russell joins the resident trio Steve Russell, Thierry Fossemalle and Dave Sanders at ASH BELL OF THE Byron Bay’s new weekly jazz club – The STARBOARD CANNONS Blue Kat on Wednesday. ABC Jazz encouraged. Chargrill and pizza recording artist and APRA Australian FEATURES AT NO Song Writing Competition award from 5pm, strumming 7–9pm. Entry DEPRESSION AT THE winner Sharny Russell’s vocal and $10 adults; kids under 15 FREE. GOLLAN HOTEL IN pianistic talents are well recognised LISMORE ON THURSDAY Songbook available for download at throughout the Australian jazz music www.ukenight.com. community including being dubbed one DUSTIN GOES MOUNTAIN HUGH of Australia’s best scat singers. Also appearing will be highly acclaimed flugelhorn player John Hoffman join After wowing Australian crowds last October, both the trio for the night. Doors open at 7pm, 8pm start. $12 with powerful solo performances and as bass player of on the door. www.facebook.com/TheBlueKatByron NAHKO and Medicine for the People on their national tour with Xavier Rudd, USA’s singer/songwriter/ SKA LEGENDS author/activist Dustin Thomas returns to Australia Thirty-two years on, as their legendary status has to launch his recent debut album, Mountain High, grown, most people are aware that Strange Tenants with an appearance at the Brewery this were the pre-eminent Australian ska and reggae band week. Thomas sings about everything of the 1980s. Thousands of fans swarmed to their gigs from Fukushima to the ocean and beyond. up and down the east coast of Australia. Founded ‘I’ve gone so many ways with songs; some by the ‘Ska brothers’, Ian and Bruce Hearn, Strange spiritual, some prayerful, some reflective Tenants played their first gig at the Lygon Street Festa and political, some full of longing and in Melbourne on 7 November 1981. They became heartache, some joyful, triumphant, ecstatic, overnight sensations on the Melbourne inner-city live and adoring.’ Combining meditations on scene and received rave reviews upon the release of social justice and contemporary spirituality their self-titled debut mini-album, recorded only weeks with hymns both beautiful and striking, after their first gig. Their record success on alternative Thomas invites his audience to join him on radio stations gave the band a national profile and a universal quest for truth – asking honest almost immediately they started touring nationally. questions of love, loss, worship and war, In the two-tone tradition, but long before it became through songs that channel joy, bravery and fashionable in Australia, Strange Tenants have always grace. Friday at The Byron Brewery. infused their music with social commentary, evidenced by their anti-war songs Soldier Boy, Cannon Fodder BEACH PILOTS and Ground Point Zero, their anti-fascist anthem Two Dreamed up on under the shade of Byron Steps Back and their classic song about poverty, Hard Bay’s pandanus trees, Pilots are the newest Times. After a long lay-off they recently begun playing prospects to emerge from our Rainbow again, becoming a featured act at the 2013 Melbourne Region. Formed in late 2012 by good friends International Festival, and toward the end of 2013 Kit Bray, Byron Carney and Harry Deacon, released a new single, Who mines the riches?, a tribute to the dignity of labour and a comment on the greed of Pilots make the kind of ceremoniously mining tycoons. Byron Brewery on Saturday. Tickets: uplifting indie surf rock that sounds like something for which you’ve inadvertently $20 pre-paid / $25 door / venue or via www.facebook. been searching but never dreamed that you com/events/1514946485396257. could find. UKE AND FRIENDS Friday 9pm at Beach Hotel. Come on down to Tumbulgum Tavern for Uke Night FI’S DREAM ALBUM with Stukulele and friends this Thursday and sing Li’l Fi didn’t get her Pozible campaign and strum along to the new songbook – this month pledge target, but that’s not stopping her. full of songs with no more than four chords. We will She’s going to forge ahead with the album be getting in early for Paddys Day with a few Irish ditties and, as always, audience participation is heartily anyway.
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
supposed to because I’m doing low carb. And then I came home and I realised I posted the wrong fricking letter’. I can’t always do it straightaway. Sometimes it takes a few hours to really plan a good blame, to work out the long sequence of events that has led to your downfall, to find the thread that snakes back to your husband’s leg. But it’s always his fault. Somehow, he has done, or usually not done, something that has led to my downfall. Or my annoyance. When a glass breaks in the dishwasher. That’s his fault. When the rubbish bag explodes onto the floor because it’s been over-filled. That’s his fault too. When I put on another kilo, that’s his fault. Because he’s skinny. And it’s depressing when your husband weighs 10 kilos less than you. I’m an emotional eater. I go straight to the fridge. And he did the shopping so there’s too much food to choose from. If he’d left the shopping to me I would have bought different food. I would have bought the right food. I wouldn’t have forgotten the tea bags. I can’t believe you forgot the tea bags. I can only drink that particular tea. When I drink the other tea it makes me sick. You know I can’t tolerate caffeine. Now I’m having heart palpitations. I sit down and pick up the paper. I should ease up on blaming my husband. I know that’s what men are for, but I guess they need a break every now and then. I think instead I’ll blame Tony Abbott.
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This week TUES 11 FROM 7:30PM
OPEN MIC NIGHT WED 12 FROM 8:30PM
LUKE & SEBASTIAN THUR 13 FROM 9PM
NITESTAR FRI 14 FROM 5PM
SCOTT DAY_V DUO 9PM
PILOTS SAT 15 FROM 8:30PM
DOLLHOUSE
If you made a pledge online and are still keen to support the glorious Li’l Fi – then email her at lilfi@lilfi.com and she’ll step you through the donation process.
UNDERSCORING GREAT MUSIC Balkan Klezmer Gypsy Jazz Swing and Belly Dance both original and traditional. Syncopated rhythms and original dance vignettes. Guaranteed to get you up and dancing. Guaranteed to boost your bravado and perk your package, tempt your temptress with The Underscore Orkestra. Sheoak Shack on Saturday at 7pm.
TRIO LETS RIP AT THE RAILS The Soren Carlbergg Trio will be frothing and ripping at their favourite gig, The Rails, on Saturday. A bold, brash and blue approach to the music is the idea – a collection of original and blues covers gets a fair wolloping from the boys, worked over, ripped apart, rebuilt and delivered with gusto to the ever-appreciative Rails crowd. ‘Nothing under the sun is truly original,’ explains Carlbergg, ‘but we sure do our darndest to make it sound that way’. The fun begins at 7pm and reaches climatic fury about 10. THE FERAMONES Dubbed as the northern rivers’ very own supergroup, The Feramones are composed of myriad internationally acclaimed musicians. Rick Fenn is lead
SUN 16 FROM 4:30PM
LISA HUNT 8PM
SUNDAY SAFARI MON 17 FROM 8PM
‘HIT THAT HIT’ MUSICAL BINGO FREE ENTRY, GREAT PRIZES TUES 18 FROM 7:30PM
OPEN MIC NIGHT WED 19 FROM 8:30PM
RAY RED
Coming Up THUR 20
A LITTLE PROVINCE
MY RADIO HEART
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FRI 21
PLAYWRITE SAT 22
RHYTHM & CUTLOOSE SUN 23
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YACHT CLUB DJS, CLOUD CONTROL, STONEFIELD BAY STREET, BYRON BAY
6685 6402 beachhotel.com.au The Byron Shire Echo March 11, 2014 15