I love life!
Happy New Year everyone, & though the raging tide of 2002 was difficult & full of extremes I'm a little sad to see it finally recede. So here we are - already neck deep into 2003 & the water's fine...
A lot has passed since Port Douglas but some things spring immediately to mind. Like the time we were forced by bushfires to spend the night on thefloor of Gosford RSL club, all snug on foam mattresses & wrapped in blankets courtesy of the Salvos. (I would have killed for some clean undies though...)
Our Christmas show at Rozelle Neighbourhood centre has become a Jigzag tradition; along with the air competition which was won ably by Viktor Radnai (it's hard to beat a heavy metal fan with long dark hair who knows all the moves!) It was also a chance for people to learn some useless info about the band in our inaugural Jigzag Trivia Quiz. Now, who was the only member of Jigzag to appear in a love scene on stage???
New Year was once again spent at Woodford & it was my best New Years yet. No, I didn't get to any of the lantern building workshops, didn't see half of the bands I wanted to see but instead we played onstage with James Keelaghan, Tony McManus, Kavisha Mazella & were even joined onstage by Josh Cunningham from the Waifs in one concert. It was just in time for a beautiful rendition of 'Between the Darkness & the Deep' which disappeared naturally into a candlelit 3 minute silence for world peace, shared across the huge festival site. Jigzag were involved in a few theme concerts: Greg displayed some serious rock action with a cover of AC/DC's 'TNT' for the'Long Way to the Shop' Aussie rock session. He later reprised the role with an electric guitar for the New Years Eve Rock'n'Roll concert. My favourite cover experience was singing 'Natural Woman' in a pair of angels wings with Chris While & Julie Matthews as my Doo-Wop girls. Here's a piccy thanks to Rusty Stewart.
The Beatles concert with Peter Willey was a blast, though I have to apologise to David Hyams for forcing him to replicate the 'Back in the USSR' guitar solo in a ridiculous key.
Moving right along (though I could write about Woodford all day!) we said goodbye to Brisbane with an appearance alongside Canada's Ember Swift, Totally Gourdgeous & Women in Docs at the Zoo & then somehow found ourselves in the little valley town of Cygnet, Tasmania, less than a week later. Friday's town hall concert was pulsing with movement as people flung themselves around the makeshift dance floor. Sunday's concert was a more relaxed, reflective mood, influenced no doubt by the soaring temperatures. My fondest memories are of the singing session 'Misery loves Company' organised by a friend who was dealing with a painful break-up. A bunch of us sat around a symbolic box of tissues in a pub & celebrated the pain of human relationships by singing poignant songs of heartbreak along with some more tongue in cheek contributions (Rebecca Wright's version of the Bastard Song springs immediately to mind!). The final concert at Tassie was incredible. It was supposed to be an informal fund-raiser for the refugee cause, but it turned into a marathon four hour spectacular, & Jigzag landed the final spot which ended up with a communal 'Misirlou' with all of Akasa, Fred Smith & those Bloody McKennas on the floor with legs in the air. Soon the whole hall had become this pulsing, celebratory organism - what a night! Who would want to sleep after that? (especially considering I had to be up again at 4am in order to catch my plane, why bother trying to get sleep for only a couple of hours?) So I joined a gradually dwindling throng of performers at the 'middle' pub (as opposed to the 'top' or 'bottom' pubs, Cygnet doesn't beat around the bush when they name a pub!) & I had the dubious honour of being part of the last band standing. I ended up huddled under a borrowed doona with a bunch of crazy Victorian Bluegrass pickers including Steve Gilchrist & this amazing tenor singing guitarist by the name of Peter. We saw the sun come up as I blistered my fingers playing an acoustic with gut strings & a ridiculously high action.
Now Jigzag have retreated to our respective corners 'til February & I'm deep into recording an album with Fred Smith. Check out the gig guide & come & say hi sometime soon & remember handy hint No.5: When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
~liz