off the hip bbq

I had to go printer shopping with my Dad on Sunday, so I arrived at the Off the Hip BBQ at the Tote kinda late. It had been going all day but we only arrived at the demise of the Cheats set, in time to catch Russian Roulettes.

Russian Roulettes completely slayed it, and I'd defs go see them again. The drummer had a super cute lisp, and some real tight hairdo. Midnight Wolf and Johnnie Casino followed. Then Spencer P. Jones secretly took o the stage and it was really exciting 'cos he's amazing. I've never seen him without a cowboy hat before, so I guess that made it all the more special! He played a few songs on his lonesome on a cool transparent guitar, then a couple with backing from Los Chicos- at this point there was four guitars on stage- but too many cooks didn't spoil the broth.


I love Los Chicos, I saw them twice while they were in Australia, and I wish they were here forever and ever so that they could be my boyfriends (especially the singer). They were super trashy and did an appauling cover of My Pal, but it had so much heart and fun in it, you couldn't help but smile.

Buried Horses were last, weirdly. It kind of seemed as though it should have ended on the Los Chicos high. I'm still not keen on the new songs- I like the music, but the vocals are just too RAAAAH, and make me feel like I'm getting creeped on in the outback by John Jarrat in Wolf Creek.

i think you're cute

I saw the Johnny's at the Tote last night with Dad, and I was close to the youngest one there. Nice to see that that hasn't changed like the carpet (which was quite nice to walk on).

The first band was Vice Grip Pussies, and they said the word cock a lot. They were kinda New York Dolls-ish, and all had long hair, and the bass player had really lovely hair, and I can't wait 'til my hair grows that long, and after their set they all donned leather jackets with 'pussies' splashed across the back. And, and, and.

Archer was next. It was just a countryman and his small guitar thing. He sung country music, like he had hitched a ride on a freight train in the '20s (don't quote me if I'm wrong, my dad said that). He was pretty cute and funny.

Finally the Johnny's played, dressed up in shirts and cowboy hats. They were really, really, really good, and all the old folk in the audience loved it and were dancing.

The bass player, Hoody, kept smashing down beers between songs, and he also gave a minor shout-out to Shepp 'cos his mum came all the way to see him (could of hitched a ride with my dad).

If I had to pick one to fall in love with I would say Spencer for his voice, but Slim was real good lookin' for someone his age, kind of like George Clooney.

bands, books and fireplaces.

Tuesday was Sabrina's birthday, and after eating the hugest meal I had ever eaten in my life, we decided to visit some pubs to escape the cold. Firstly we saw Peter Ewing at Labour in Vain, he sang quite pretty and was accompanied by a man with a violin who was amazing. He played with Spencer P Jones and James McCann in previous weeks which would have been cool to see (especially ol' Spencer Jones, because he plays all the time, but I never get to see him!).

On the way home, we stopped by the Old Bar to stand infront of the fireplace, and the band there wasn't too bad. They played a cover of 'Dirty Old Town', which was fitting, as that seems to be played by a band every time we go out for someones birthday.

We continued our weekday band freebies on Wednesday and went out to the Old Bar upon recommendation from a friend. Loveless Marriage played first, and it was the strangest act I have seen. It started off with some poetry reading, then an instrumental with a guitar, violin and double bass (maybe? i don't know my string instruments), then magic tricks. It was amazing, and they had a smoke machine.

Mass Cult Suicide played next. They played quite a short set, and weren't as good looking as I remembered them to be, but they were still quite good. Last, but not least, was Plague Doctor. It was their last night of residency, so the bar was relatively full for a Wednesday. They were lots of fun, and during their last song one of the girls dancing ripped up a Star Wars novel and threw all the pages around like book snow.

It was pretty.