Annandale Neighbourhood Centre
79 Johnston Street Annandale NSW
BYO - supper available

reviews...

October 2004

The Loaded Dog was something to look forward to for relief from the depression of the election result and it proved a real antidote. The program was a double bill of John Warner and Touchwood - the usual floor spot entrees contributed into more time for the excellent main courses, and a fine repast it was.

John Warner started the night with the premiere of his new collection of songs (plus a couple of poems) "Millennium of the Child". Other than "Pack O' Pirates" and the well-known "Llewelyn Walking", which I reckon is close to being the perfect folk song, there are 8 new songs on the broad theme of children and childcare.

Drawing on his experience as a childcare worker, John covers the expected areas of learning and play, and the joy of small triumphs through to the big picture issues of market fundamentalism, the pay and conditions of childcare workers, paedophilia and even the burden that children bear in war and its aftermath.

John's great songwriting talent shone through on every song. His "Children of War" is a scarifying account of the effect of war on children with an impassioned plea for a new and better millennium of the child. He followed that with a companion piece to Llewelyn called "Emily Jumping" where a toddler finds the courage to jump for the first time.

The next three songs touched on the workplace, "Leaving" tells of the reasons so many carers give up with "only their comrades know what is lost" when they go. "Paedophilia Panic" asks if the pendulum of concern has swung too far to the detriment of male carers and kids, while "More Blokes" is a call to arms for more men in the job. By using the universal form of a work song John linked the childcare burden to the hard and menial work of sailors and prisoners made easier by a song.

Then he linked the work and play themes with consumate skill with "Dignity of Play". The chorus line says it all - "play is childrens' working day" - and yet another great chorus to sing. After a quieter interlude on separation with the delightful "Mum's Got To Go" he gave a rousing and tub-thumping John Warner finish with "Sandpit Picket". If he had led the way the Dog audience would have been off down Johnston St "waving our bears and our buckets and our spades until this battle's won"! The volume of the chorus was a sure sign that John has a deservedly special place in the hearts of the Dog audience.

Then it was Touchwood's turn with a superbly warmed up crowd. Christina, Kate and Terry were just back from a European excursion still all fired up and with a brace of new songs.

If you've never experienced Touchwood, it would be hard to explain just what an unusual assortment of material they can assemble into a performance. With 18 songs, introductions, asides and explanations we had a real treat. The harmonies were, as always, brilliant and worked well with an audience happy to join in when they could. Cellist Louise Watson also added her magic to several songs.

The first set ranged from "Flow My Tears" of 1601 to Kate's 2003 song "Cold" - performed in Leeds on the coldest summer day on record. The stand out item from the set was Christina's new arrangement of "Weevils in the Flour" with excellent use of vocal colour and with strong backing from the audience in the choruses. Apparently she put this one together as a song to trade at UK festivals, but they liked it so much they decided to keep it for themselves.

The second set ranged between Italy, England the USA and Australia over almost as broad a set of years and emotions. Besides the innovation of bluegrass cello on "Old Blevins" (yes, really), the other new item was the first performance of Christina's arrangement of Judith Wright's "Eroded Hills" which laments the destruction of her family's land.

The encore finale was Sandra's request of "Waltzing With Bears" with Touchwood accompanied by John Warner on bouzouki, a real high point of the evening to end on.

- Chris Maltby

PS There were also two fine floor spots - Bill Scott played a fine little concertina polka between John Warner and Touchwood's first set, and John kicked off the second Touchwood set with the great choice of "Bring Out the Banners".

July 2004

The July Loaded Dog featured those masters of the sideways bureaushuffle, the redoubtable Shiny Bums, and as well the outstanding singer songwriter Paul Hemphill.

Floor spots were taken by various combinations of the Bums (job sharing, so to speak) as they showed their individual talents. David Meyers sang a number of pieces including a particularly moving lullaby that he wrote for his children ("GO TO SLEEP!"). Tim Keeble and Annette Selwood performed some bluesy numbers, Jim Street delivered a loving spoonerism of a poem, and Chris Clarke performed a remarkable orchestral
piece from north England inspired by Danish sheep counting. They had the Dog audience eating out of the pockets of their grey flannel trousers.

Tom Hanson of the Roaring 40s showed that he's one of the naturals when it comes to bush poetry - the man has style. His deep voice is rich and full of character, his timing perfect, the delivery punchy.

The Department of Finance has obviously been setting some new targets for the Shiny Bums - they wowed us with an all new hilarious act. The best of the Ministry of Silly Walks, all the way from Canberra, was delivered in a stunning performance of Morris dancing, complete with bells and computer keyboard clapsticks. Only the true Morris dancer knows the significance of these arcane rituals, but they were performed with artistry and daring not seen since the Whitlam government. The Bums even have their very own very timely song about the Secret File - all the way from the mysterious Department of Eternity Generals. Sing on, Shiny Bums, and let's hope that a few more public servants sing too, before they get carted off by the Officious Secrets Act.

One of the great things about the Shiny Bums is the wonderful songs that they get from the back of the filing cabinet and restructure: Peggy Sue (Daggy Suit); Rawhide (Pollin' Pollin' Pollin!) and the Client Sleeps Tonight... As usual the walls were shaking as the audience was screamed with laughter - we gobbled up the nouveau cui-sing and begged for more.

Paul Hemphill (renowned of Huldre Folk) is an extremely talented singer and songwriter - famous for "I Still Call Mongolia Home", "Samson & Delightful" and "Torquemada's Blues". His songs are full of character and humour, political insight and passion. Paul is a totally Out There performer who sings with a biting potency. His powerful voice echoed around the room, melodic and soaring. One song, the Watchers on the Shore, is an account of the slaughter of the Anzacs from the Turkish point of view. Bob Bolton remembered this song as winning a BMC song writing contest in the early 80s - and when the BMC published it in their newsletter, they found a poem by Henry Lawson that also told the story from the same Turkish view.

Paul has produced the albums "True Believers" and "The Drovers Dog". He is a multi-award winning songwriter, praised by greats from Bernard Bolan to (yes!) Charlton Heston. Jenny O'Reilly commented, "I hope you have good stuff to say about Paul Hemphill. I think he is so clever, and his act is very carefully crafted and funny. I wish he had been on for longer." You can play tracks of Paul's live and studio recordings at the Audiostream Playlist.

- Amalina Wallace

 February 2004

February's Loaded Dog was a great night of harmonies, laughter and wafting songs.

John Warner sang a new song he has written called "The Women and the Whales". This song was performed with powerful drumming on John's bodhran. It is an extremely evocative song of the sea, a story about three women in a boat who appeared mysteriously out of the mist one night when whalers were trying to drive the whales to shore where they could be slaughtered. The women created a lot of noise and commotion and drove the whales safely back to deep water, thus saving them. The feeling from the song was that the three women were symbolic, they were in the spirit of the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother and Crone), and were there to guard the whales. I particularly enjoyed this song of female triumph over dark forces.

The gentle and gifted Jenny Richards made our hearts bleed with a couple of devastating bodice-rippers - "Jock of Hazeldean" and "Little Rosewood Casket". Do not be beguiled by Jenny's demure nature, her long sunrise locks or linen robes - Jenny's beautiful singing enchanted, her passionate subjects were spine tingling, and her wry touch of humour kept us grinning as we listened and sang along. Here is a fine traditional singer with a beautiful voice and a quirky, enjoyable repertoire!

Margaret Walters sang My Bonnie Lad and the haunting "Dreams Came to me Where I lay" by Jez Lowe. Margaret's earthy and powerful songs echoed around the room, with the song lovers at the Dog singing along.
Margaret has a powerful presence as a singer. Her beautiful voice harmonised in and around the Dog audience, as people joined her in song. Margaret will be touring the UK for a couple of months, later in the year, singing around the clubs, festivals and venues.

We were lucky to hear Mel Green, visiting from Boston, USA. A lovely tenor singer, singing traditional and contemporary songs with clever, melodic arrangements and delicate guitar accompaniments. Mel is very a talented and highly professional singer and musician who performed in Johannesburg for many years. He now works from Boston, but may visit Australia again. If so, we would love to hear him back again.

This Saturday night introduced a singer who has sung around for decades, including in the Tinshed Rattler at Wagga a couple of decades ago. Don Brian has one of the finest baritone singing voices in the folk scene in
Australia. Don has an interesting repertoire of traditional Australian folk songs and stories, and sang a number of songs that are not well known. He sang an early version of the Catalpa, told a truly corny joke about a
bush pig, and sang one song that was so quick and dextrous that it sounded like a vocal version of tapdancing. Don tells his audience about the history and background of the songs he sings, and sings with humour, in a rich deep voice that is truly beautiful to listen to. Don is a singer who should be singing around the festivals and clubs of Australia - he is a traditional singer whose dry, straightforward singing style is truly Australian.

The main act for the night was the stunning performance from Carole Garland (formerly Carole Fyfe) and her musical buddy Adrian Hill (there was something strangely similar about them). Singing a range of material
including hearty traditional songs from the north east of England, some very feisty vaudevillian songs, and a few on the theme of women and alcohol, Carole and Adrian made a fantastic team. Their delivery was relaxed, free, and frisky, their voices weaving fluidly in and around each other. It was great to see Carole in such fine form, socking it to the audience with some feisty, funny songs, and then moving the audience with some very dark and moving songs (I'm thinking of the beautiful song about Hannah). Carole's haunting accompaniments on the English harmonica supplement her work beautifully. Adrian Hill sang along with power, humour, and grace - it was good to see a mother and son team singing so effortlessly together, and with such comradeship and good humour. Adrian's songs showed a fine singer in his own right, and what a great finish they both gave to a good night.

- Amalina Wallace

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