ENTERTAINMENT
ARIES: Mars in adventurous Sagittarius is often the time
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s r a t S with Lilith Midweek new moon/solar eclipse in Pisces marks an astrocycle of endings and fresh starts, highlighting the need to finish something in order to move forward…
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when Aries learn, sometimes via uncomfortable results, the wisdom of saying less rather than more. Patience and restraint are your greatest allies this week, especially if you feel deals going down behind your back. Playing the waiting game definitely pays off.
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TAURUS: While sudden, challenging changes of mind and mood could cause alienating misunderstandings this week, there’s also plenty of goodwill for talking things through to workable agreements. Midweek new moon eclipse combines a best-and-worst scenario of rollercoasting emotions, ranging from compassionate understanding to over-reactive dummy spits. Hang in there… GEMINI: With your mentor planet Mercury’s move to fluid Pisces, this week’s emotional ocean won’t respond easily to logic, common sense or linear thinking. When instinct’s operating, reason recedes. Listening’s the key: to what’s said, what’s not being said, and to your own inner whispers so they don’t need to scream.
CANCER: If reshuffles, cancellations or no-shows make more work for you this week, use your spiritual/self-help practice of choice to get first-world annoyances into perspective. Midweek’s celestial agents of change suggest opening the crab claws and letting go of something to make room for what you really want.
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SAGITTARIUS: Motivator Mars marching into your feisty, fiery sign lays out a smorgasbord of adventurous prospects. That’s the good news. Conditions, as always, apply: and they require focusing and channelling your vibrant assertiveness away from snappy irritation at this week’s conflicting information towards constructive problem solving of its mysterious logistics.
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CAPRICORN: A great week for stimulating conversations with creative-ideas people, but avoid getting caught in divisive debates. Do your best for clear, concise, nonconfrontational communication, but don’t expect too many straight answers. Be aware that commitments and situations entered into now are likely to linger for the next six months.
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LEO: Obsessing over problems won’t help this week. Work on controlling your own emotional surges instead, because venting could have costly consequences, especially if information you’re operating on is defective, deceptive or incorrect. Whatever you set up now will play out over the coming six months, so make sure it’s what you want.
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VIRGO: Your ruling planet Mercury diving into deepwater Pisces could scramble ordered Virgo routines this week. Somewhat disorienting, but sometimes a shakeup’s as tonic as a holiday, and a change of pace a timely wake-up call. Set some old obsessions to rest and watch alternative doors of opportunity open invitingly… LIBRA: Yes, it’s refreshing to experience the unusual and enjoy the delightfully different, but don’t let this week’s lax, anything-goes attitude distract you from the radical opportunities on offer for enormous change and forward progress – specifically some big shifts waiting to be activated during late week’s energetic, fresh-start moon.
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SCORPIO: While imaginative flights of fancy ripple this week’s winds, the best ideas to fly with are achievable plans and aspirations with a practical chance of succeeding. You’re in a profoundly creative, powerfully expressive phase, which may require dialling back a little to avoid alienating oversensitive others in this week’s reactive climate.
CULTURE
AQUARIUS: Mars joining Venus in your sign boots up Aqua charisma to dangerous levels, adding so much planetary razzle dazzle that your inventive ideas get wide coverage, your unusual solutions succeed and your wicked wit hits its mark. The caution is, as you know only too well, overdoing it, overreaching or going too far.
PISCES: This week’s planetary party in Pisces – Neptune, Mercury, Chiron, south node, sun and your annual new moon – positively explodes with growth potential. Which defines your life direction for the coming twelve months, so be discerning with the decisions you make – especially the people you choose to associate and align with.
RAW AT THE BYRON BREWERY ON MONDAY
THE ORIGINAL
BLUES BROTHERS BAND
No-one forgets the Blues Brothers. It’s one of those musical films that stays with you, and for Blue Lou Marini (he’s the one in the pic, holding the sax) it’s stayed with him for six decades.
The original Blues Brother, Marini has been there since the beginning, and it’s something that continues to surprise him. ‘If you had told me in 1987 that I’d be getting ready to tour Australia with the Blues Brothers Band I’d say you’d be out of your mind! ‘Sure we have lost members along the way but all the band members there now have been there for minimum of 10 years.’ Marini has made a name for himself as a sideman in various high-profile groups. ‘It’s a real harmonious band,’ says Marini, ‘and it’s been together so long we know where to lead each other along. We have the luxury now of having three of our former lead singers together all at once, and we decided what the hell – let’s try it with all three guys, and everyone loved it so much it’s been such a gas…’
RAW GETS SHORT AND SWEET
The band flew to London, had a three-hour layover; Madrid with a two-hour layover, and then Lacurunia, and then we went onstage and played one of the best gigs of our life.
‘That was a sublime moment, to get onstage when everyone was so tired, and play so well… and then there are moments when you are travelling when you go to somewhere like Albania and they lose everyone’s luggage and not a single guy has a thing – but not just our plane but the plane before it and it takes two hours to put in a report and no-one speaks English and we think we will never see our bags again. At 2pm our luggage arrived in the foyer of our hotel – just when we are ready to go back to New York!’ So what should we expect to hear in a Blues Brothers Band set?
‘We have to play Soulman – and people flip over that. Everyone Needs Someone to Love, personal favourites of band like Music Box Car Blues; there is something about that tune that we all love. And then we are looking forward Getting the band back together to April, and to getting a new CD out, and we are going to for something as simple as a add a new repertoire to the rehearsal is a challenge, but has always added to the band’s band… the original Blues Brothers Band still has the immense onstage energy. fire and energy of a bunch of ‘In August we started the teenagers. It’s like a freight European tour at Ronnie Scotts train: there ain’t no stopping it!’ in London but we got an offer The Original Blues Brothers to play Spain the day before Band plays Bluesfest, and the only way we could 24–28 March. For tickets and make it work was to fly direct programming information go to Lacurunia. to bluesfest.com.au.
netdaily.net.au READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ONLINE AT
echo.net.au/the-original-blues-brothers-band North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
This Friday at the Byron Brewery RAW Byron Bay bring together 30 plus local emerging artists from fashion, music, visual and performing arts, music, all for a one night extravaganza.
URSULA KELLY’S ARTWORK – ON SHOW AT THE LONE GOAT GALLERY IN BYRON FROM FRIDAY UNTIL 23 MARCH
WHO WILL BE OUR LOCAL COMEDY HERO? RAW Comedy is Australia’s biggest open-mic competition, and Melbourne International Comedy Festival is looking for the country’s best new comedian. For the past 15 years Byron has had its own RAW heat, proving that for a regional area we are producing some very interesting and enthusiastic new comics! The Byron heat will see 16 comedy hopefuls showcase their finest five minutes in the hope that they will be the chosen one who makes it to the QLD final. If they make it through that, then they are on at the RAW Grand Final at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April, and the winner will pocket the much sought-after prize of a trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Judges include past winners Paul McMahon and Ellen Briggs. Almost a decade ago Briggs was a national finalist herself. This year’s guest special judge is performer Mark Swivel who, later in the month, takes his one-man show How Deep is Your Love to the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Comedian, mentor and humour coach
Mandy Nolan is the MC – so don’t miss this wild and wondrous event at the Byron Services Club on Monday at 8pm. Tix are $10 at the door.
KNITTING NANNAS AGAINST GAS FILM EVENT Knitting Nannas Against Gas are fundraising to go farther afield now that the northern rivers is gasfield free and to organise their second KNAG Conference. Nannas are driving, flying, travelling by train and by bus all over the countryside to save the land, air and water for the kiddies… and their pensions are dwindling. It costs a small fortune to do the job that the Nannas say we all pay our politicians to do. Join the Nannas for a fabulous film night at the Star Court Theatre on Friday and help them to stock up on wool and needles and fund their quest to support regions in Australia that are threatened or affected by coal seam gas and coal mining. Featuring the stunning new Aussie film The Dressmaker and award-winning shorts: Citizen to Activist, Ocean Music and Seymour the Cross-Dressing Wolf. Friday at Star Court Theatre in Lismore at 7pm. Tix are $20. Viva la Nannalution!
Called Signature, this is the first of two emerging arts showcase to be run in Byron.Doors at 7.30pm with tix $20 online rawartists.org/byronbay/ signature or $25 on the door.
ETHAN HAWKE LEARNS TO SEYMOUR For anyone involved in music, whether as performer, student or teacher, or simply as devotee, Seymour Bernstein is especially interesting. Now in his 80s, he has had brushes with fame and adventure. Lavishly praised as a young pianist when he toured Europe and the US as a young man, and serving in Korea in the
1950s where he played for the troops on the front lines, he nevertheless walked away from a solo career, giving his last public performance at 50. Since then, he has devoted himself to teaching, writing and composing although, it must be said, he still plays the piano superbly. Ethan Hawke is a veteran of more than 50 appearances on screen and he’s had a career as a writer and director as well. But he has never made a documentary. He met Seymour Bernstein at a dinner party and was bowled over by the older man’s enthusiasm and love of life. The film is the result of his curiosity. What is Seymour’s secret? What wisdom informs his teaching and his life? Seymour is screening at Pighouse Flicks on Wednesday 16 March at 12.30pm and again on Sunday 27 March at 1pm. The tickets are $15, at pighouseflicks.com.au/ buy-tickets-online or at the door. The money will cover the hire of the film and the theatre, and any surplus will be donated to the Byron Music Society.
Dynasty8 Chamber Choir directed by Elizabeth Swain presents
devotional music approaching Easter music for voice and organ from Bach to Mozart medieval to modern with Soprano Organist
Katie Rutledge
Hamsa Arnold
Saturday 12th March 5pm St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Ballina Sunday 13th March, 2pm St. Martin’s Anglican Church, Mullumbimby Admission: $20/15 Tickets available at www.trybooking.com/KIUR or Art Piece Gallery, Mullumbimby Ph. 0438 965 397 or janet@songdynastymusic.com
The Byron Shire Echo March 9, 2016 33