Full Circle live in Adelaide
Adelaide was bright and warm when we landed at the airport, and Bruce our bass player was there to greet us and take us to our accommodation, then to the venue. I was disappointed to see my fiddle arrive, not at the ‘fragile items’ section, but on the baggage conveyor with all the suitcases – not a good look for Virgin Blue Airlines. At least the small crack should be easily repaired. To their credit they allowed me to take the fiddle as a carry-on bag for the return journey – this should be the norm for hand-held musical instruments.
The RSL hall in Norfolk Street off Marion Road was well appointed and served the Royal Artillery Reserve well – and it was time for their Christmas dinner dance. We used a local sound engineer and sound system so we could just bring the essentials, and spent about an hour on a sound check – this being the first time my new pickup was being used in earnest. I quickly dispensed with the pedal as the sound was great going straight into the mixing desk. I highly recommend “The Band” made by Headway – really good acoustic sound from the fiddle and without the breathy bowing sounds. And Rob the sound engineer was excellent at pulling the sound together in just the right way.
The crowd had a great time and there were presentations from their unit commander. And we sang “Only nineteen” and “Band played Waltzing Matilda” and the audience really got into the mood for the evening
After the dinner was cleared away the audience really got into the music and we took it from mood to mood, building to a fast tempo at the end
And that was just the beginning… After the show we unwound with a session back at the unit commander”s house where we were staying, and then Saturday saw us head out to see the city. It had changed a lot since I was last there.
The following night at the Sergeant’s Mess at Keswick Barracks it was like the first night had just been a rehearsal by comparison. A much bigger crowd turned up and as soon as the dinner servery was cleared away they were ready to dance – we called several dances – and sang songs and we finished up about 1.00AM – we had a great time and the audience loved every minute.
A couple of people had video cameras and we’re hopeful that soon we’ll be able to bring you some of the footage – so watch this space!
Cheers
Jerry
