Music Arts Food
HUGO RACE & THE TRUE SPIRIT By Lachlan Bryan
Whilst Nick Cave has slowly but surely become one of Australia’s most successful and highly influential international superstars, it’s easy to overlook the contributions made by members of his bands – namely The Birthday Party, The Boys Next Door, The Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Whilst long-time wingman Mick Harvey has established himself as a producer of note and current wingman Warren Ellis is an accomplished film composer and one third of instrumental The Dirty Three, other Cave cohorts such as Conway Savage and Hugo Race have quietly achieved respect and notoriety as artists in their own right.
record – his first in seven years. The album, itself titled Spirit, has received phenomenal press worldwide, indicative of the esteem in which the the singersongwriter-producer is held outside of his home country. UK publication Vive Le Rock gave the album 8/10, whilst the UK’s Q Magazine describe it as “one of the best records he’s ever made”. Thankfully for us locals, Race is back home with the band for a series of album launch shows, including a performance at Castlemaine’s The Bridge Hotel on Saturday 15 August and Elsternwick’s Flying Saucer Club on Friday 21 August.
Race, with his band The True Spirit, has just released a new
Tickets available at flyingsaucerclub.com.au
SPEND A HOT AUGUST NIGHT AT FAC Frankston Arts Centre Hear Neil Diamond’s legendary Hot August Night album in its entirety – one of the bestselling albums in Australian music history - 1 in 3 homes has a copy! The show also features interesting stories about how the songs were created, and of Diamond’s dark journey from being a struggling Brooklyn poet, to becoming one of the worlds most loved performers. As well as being a celebration of Diamond’s greatest hits, Hot August Night and Me, offers its audience so much more. Performer Dominic Finley is a former member of 80s chart toppers Cutting Crew (known for their number 1 hit I Just Died
in your Arms), and has a background worlds apart from Diamond’s New York upbringing in the ‘Tin Pan Alley’ days of Broadway. Finley’s is the world of cobbled streets, terrace houses, and a show business grounding won out of the gritty working men’s clubs in Lancashire, in the North of England. ‘Lost between two shores’ Finley’s story leads to his eventual emigration to Australia, a true Neil Diamond country! Hot August Night and Me will be at Frankston Arts Centre on Friday 7 August at 8pm. Tickets on 9784 1060 or at thefac.com.au Mornington News 4 August 2015
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