26 Reasons - Sydney Launch Tour

Fri 3rd June...

HMV IN-STORE, PITT ST, SYDNEY -
The first "gig" of the 26 Reasons Launch tour. Arrived at HMV around 2 hours prior to start time. Greeted by an odd little stage up the back corner of the store - this was our first in-store gig as a band. I am thinking as we arrive - how are we all going to fit on that..?? Somehow we manged.
Funny sort of thing an in-store show. Standing on the stage, you look out over the various aisles of CD racks to see a room full of people browsing through what's on offer. I guess the band for the main part basically replaces the CD player for around 30mins. Having said that, a big thanks to those of you who came along to the show and formed a little audience of sorts. And despite my ramblings - yes HMV we did appreciate the opportunity to play and sell some of the new CD's , so thanks to you too! Not helped a great deal in this show by our tired old little PA system, but not to worry - 1st show negotiated safely enough - good warm up for the Vanguard...

THE VANGUARD, NEWTOWN
Crowd was rolling in nice and early for this one - our first ever sold-out show!! I had a last minute call up to go and do a quick interview with Fbi radio in the afternoon which threw a bit of a spanner into the works for the sound-check, but over the years I have become quite accustomed to running round lie a mad-man, so this wasn't unexpected. If it wasn't a radio interview, it would have been a problem with the Tarago...
The Vanguard is a superb venue - and this was the first time the band had been able to do our own show there. Steve "Gramophone Man" Griffiths warmed the crowd up as I tried to figure out what was wrong with my guitar and finalise some sort of set-list (very out of the ordinary for the Renny Field Band...). Sarah Griesser came out and played a fantastic set as she always does - myself and my brother Matt really love her stuff - go and see her if you get the chance.
5 minutes before we were due to hit the stage I realised that I had left my guitar in the car... Nice work, but again not entirely out of the ordinary. Standard gig for the Renny Field band usually involves the following just prior to starting:
Renny: Looking for a guitar Pick or other related item.
Jeff Stanley: Gone to the toilet
Matt Field: Missing
Andrew Fisher: Standing ready to play next to the stage with hands on hips wondering if we'll ever get on in time...
Set-List: erm...

So anyway, we played and played, and to be honest it was all a bit of a blur. Someone told me we lasted for nearly 2 hours! From what I can remember, we all had such a great time up there! My thanks to our guest Cello player - Caddie - for coming on board for the launch shows at late notice - you legend!

What's the worst part about doing a launch TOUR?? Unlike the 1st CD launch 18months ago, we weren't able to hit the town till 6am, because management had organised another in-store for 1pm the next day (In the shire!). What's that all about...??!! Not to mention the 3 other full shows that were still to be played over the weekend - including a Double on Sunday, but more on that later.. Home to bed...


Sat 4th June

My head hurts.... The aforementioned in-store performance seems likely to be more difficult than expected...

HMV IN-STORE, MIRANDA
On the road for this one far too early for my liking. Detour via Shire music to pick up a new PA system - more expenses... Credit Card buckling under the immense strain... Must sell CD's...

Never mind my complaining - the residents of the Shire can take their hats of for their appreciation of fine music! (Or fine music according to us!). HMV Miranda proved to be our best in-store gig in the CD sales department. The new PA was cranked up a treat which pretty much meant that anyone passing by was going to cop a dose of "26 Reasons", whether they liked it or not. Probably worked in our favour the whole "Passer-by" thing, something which was not possible at HMV in the city because we were up the back of the store. Anyways, got through the set, quick photo of "26 Reasons" in the no. 1 spot on the chart rack (well it was for that 30 mins - OK so maybe Coldplay might just sneak past us for the month, but it will be close...) had some food, headed off to the brass monkey...

BRASS MONKEY, CRONULLA
Wow - another one of these sound-check things! Starting to lose my nerve a little here. A bit out of my comfort zone when I'm not racing to a gig in the Tarago trying to warm up the voice by singing along to Casey Donovan on the Today FM hot 30 as that's the only station I can pick up.... Anyway, had a few hours to kill for a change, which was nice.

Arrived to the Brass Monkey to be greeted by the news that the night had SOLD OUT! You people of the Shire have really outdone yourselves... A great night followed with some cool tunes by Brian Howson and and impressive act from Brisbane - The Andrew Morris band. I'm looking forward to checking them out when they are back down this way. Also got to play "One More Song" (My song about the Brass Monkey) to a full house a the Brass Monkey - a nice treat indeed!

End of the night - pack up..... Damn... Sleep..... 2 Shows tomorrow!


Sun 5th June

A real test today - the Vanguard had given us an extra show on the Sunday night, which was real nice of them. Only problem is we already had an Album Launch (and DVD filming) booked in for the Heritage Hotel in Bulli that afternoon. Van making funny noises...

Got to Bulli on time and the film crew were in . A big thanks to Pat from musicOZ for setting the whole thing up at fairly late notice. Set seemed to go pretty well, although despite playing "One More Song" about 5 THOUSAND times before without any trouble, sure enough the moment the tape was rolling I managed to forget a couple of lines in the second verse.... Typical...
The set will also be featured on Foxtel digital, as well as a short interview i had with Charlie (host of the show) aterwards.

Mad dash back up to the vanguard in Newtown for our last show of the weekend. Brother Matt set off pretty quickly to get the gear back up there in time. Sadly the old Tarago had other ideas - it seemed that the "Funny Noises" i had heard earlier in the day were in fact something to do with the radiator, and Matt sensibly pulled over somewhere near the airport with the temp. gague disappearing into the stratosphere well beyond the dangerous "Red" section...
Nothing that a few bottles of Mt franklin couldn't fix... well at least it got us to the Vanguard, i have since discovered the van has a blown head gasket... Solong to a dear friend...

Vanguard show was our best i would say - A big thanks to everyone who came along on the Sunday. Thanks also to Eugene Wulf and Brian Campeau for their impressive sets to open up. Sunday night wasn't sold out, but it was approaching the mark, so nice to get some flow-on interest for a second night. Time for a few drinks after the show - but not too many - one more HMV in-store to go the next day....

Mon 6th June

The last Sydney show! - HMV Mid-city - we had come full circle. 7 gigs in 3 days, and it was all we could do to get through our allotted 30mins! PA was cranked, voice died whilst singing the last note, band fell off the stage at completion. (Alright so it wasn't that bad - i'll stop whinging).


At the risk of repeating myself, THANKS TO EVERYONE who came to see us at one of the Sydney launches - your support was amazing and nincredibly encouraging for the entire band!!! thanks also to the Venues and the other bands we played with.

Melbourne tour diary soon to be posted...