Saturday night I rushed home from the Brumbies, filed the story and hopped on my bike to rush to the ANU bar to see MEATBEE’s CD launch. The new CD is called The Chronicles of Sapphire Sundew which is at least as memorable as it is long.
On arrival I was shocked to find the door locked, only to discover the entrance had been moved to the back of the bar so it emptied out into the covered beer garden. Probably a really good move for the colder months and of some help to the smokers too. Things were kicking along by the time I got in with the main act just starting.
Up on the baroquely decorated stage they had a couch which they invited friends up onto during the performance, you can see them looking slightly bemused.
I’d seen the Cashews on the bill for the show. Did I miss the law saying the Cashews had to have a spot on every live music event in Canberra? By the time I’d got there they had sadly departed, The Santa Clauses of Canberra Music can’t stay in one place too long if they’re going to make it to every show in every location.
Ben excelled himself in the “whacky shirt” stakes with this little glowing number where the dots moved around in the grid.
Their were cameras literally everywhere. I counted six, not including my own. Mostly it was the ChannelVision guys, the things I could do with just one tenth of their resources. While the people recording the event didn’t actually outnumber the audience it felt like it at times. I have to wonder if the crowd keeping their distance from the stage wasn’t in part for fear of tangling up the hordes of camera folk.
[Hey look, a Cashews sticker on the keyboard, lousy Cashews never gave ME a sticker =( ]
The merch stand was certainly hard to miss.
I don’t know what it was but something felt slightly odd through the show.
A certain feeling of disconnect. It was one of those rare occasions when the only people I knew there were up on stage. In a way this was good as it meant I actually listened to the music. MEATBEE are getting a little quieter in their old age. The metal edges on the act have been worn away and, on Saturday night at least, they sounded like a blues-rock outfit. Positively radio friendly even.
The security guard was certainly getting into it.
And then my camera revealed the truth behind my strange feeling of disconnection.
ZOMBIES!!!! The ANU bar was infested with Zombies! That’s what happenned to the Cashews! They were eaten!
In all seriousness though it was polished night (so polished they made the crowd wait for the encore to hear Transformers) and they sounded great. A healthy crowd (in numbers, they might also have been healthy for zombies) really enjoyed the show. I think a lot of people are really going to enjoy the CD which transcends genre.
Thanks to the band for a free copy of the CD and DVD package which *just* squeaks together with the hefty booklet into one jewel case.
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