The Australian Connection

My last three gigs in Newcastle have had an antipodean theme running through the. There has been a Nick Cave night, Dave Swarbrick regaled us with tales of his time in New South Wales and tonight Pauline Murray was playing a warm up gig for her Australian tour.

The location was the Tyneside Bar and Cafe which is a great venue for intimate acoustic gigs.

Pauline Warms Up

I spoke to Pauline , before and after the gig , and she was lovely and engaging, signing CDs for many people and talking and finding time for everyone. Unfortunately I'd left my wallet at home so could n't buy a copy of the CD (which you can get here) but I will get myself a copy tomorrow, I owe her for an excellent gig.





To be on a stage with just you and an acoustic guitar must be daunting , but the guitar sound and her voice perfectly complemented each other and and sounded full and warm , making the hour she was onstage seem like five minutes to the appreciative audience. Australia is certainly in for a treat and hope she will treat the UK to some more solo outings.

It's funny , while Penetration were one of my favourite bands I never saw them in my youth but have seen them twice recently, so this was the third time I've got to see Pauline. Click here to see the other gigs I documented.

Tonight Pauline played a selection of new songs , Invisible Girl's songs and Penetration songs including Lovers of Outrage, Don't Dictate before finishing with a surprise excellent Australian standard. Although I knew the band versions of the songs the stripped down acoustic performances by Pauline showed how brilliant they are.

All in another great night at the Tyneside provide by my a wonderful singer, and the company of friends old and new. A great night.

Cave Night On Tyneside

To mark the release of the Nick Cave film "20,00 Days On Earth" last Friday the Tyneside Bar and Cafe hosted a night of Nick Cave music featuring the bands The Girl With The Replaceable Head, St James Infirmary and Stagerrin' Jon Lee and The Good Eggs featuring my friends Jon Lee, Sheena Revolta and Bethany Elen Coyle all looking the part and sounding wonderful.

Good Eggs

To a backdrop of Niclk Cave behind his deck The Good Eggs opened with "Where The Wild Roses Grow" with Jon taking Nick's part and Bethany being Kylie to excellent effect. Next guest was Sheena Revolta and the band entertained with another four songs as I drank fruit juice and had a blueberry muffin (my tea) , definitely not your average night out. Afterwards I chatted with Jon and Sheena (who gave me a big hug) and the crowd and performers were all having a great time.

Next up were the entertaining St James Infirmary , apparently from Ashington who were funny and treated us to for more songs after explaining about the contract they had with the Tyneside.

Finally The Girl With The Replaceable Head ghosted on to complete the night, at times sounding almost ethereal , although the bassist sported a beard you could hide a badger in.

All in all a great night, talked and chatted with some great people , and now just need to see the film. Ironically the song "Stagger Lee" has just come on the player so will have to have that as the post song.