Exactly one year to the day of the very first Band Broke Up nights the Canberra Musicians Club presents a sequel of Hollywood proportions. This time around the concept is being expanded slightly to incorporate a much wider spectrum of Canberra artists including musicians, actors and poets. What remains the same is the format – an intimate and honest acoustic setting with all the artists on stage at once trading instruments, tunes, poems, performances and stories that lie behind them.
This concept of solo performances from key members from some of the Capital’s most respected line-ups is being brought to The Street Theatre over four nights in October in a residency hosted by The Ellis Collective’s own front man Matty Ellis. Each night in a quiet lamp-lit room will be four individual members from acts including The Trivs, Mr Fibby, The Cashews, Super Best Friends, The Wedded Bliss and Flint Winter alongside solo artists Cathy Petocz, Sanji DaSilva, Sean Smeaton and Chanel Cole in addition to actor James Michael O’Connell and Comedian Jay Sullivan.
The premise is simple – outside of all of their current bands, acts, troupes and clique’s they were previously – or invariably will be in the future – artists that create by themselves and for themselves in a very simple and unpretentious environment. To hear these talents expressed in solitude will be a fundamentally different experience to an arranged setting. The material aired in these sessions will be either new or totally different to what people have previously heard. To place so many respected artists on a couch for the sake of a few acoustic performances and banter may seem mildly indulgent, but the main aim is to give the audience a unique experience that they may never get to see again.
As these shows devolve artistic expression to its most simplest and humble form it is apt that they are being held at the Street Theatre in conjunction with the CMC. The CMC with humble beginnings has recently celebrated it’s first birthday and will be celebrating in the best way it knows how – art until it comes out the khyber. The CMC is the spiritual home of Canberra’s artistic, beatnik and bohemian cliques and has a growing reputation as an alternative avenue for established and developing local artists.
The first of these four unique shows begins at The Street Theatre on 14 October. It is hosted by Matty Ellis (The Ellis Collective) and features:
WED 14 – Adam Hadley (Mr Fibby) | Sean Smeaton | Chanel Cole
THU 15 – Cathy Petocz | Michael Bones (The Trivs) | Randall-Blair (The Wedded Bliss)
FRI 16 – Pete Lyon (The Cashews) | Jay Sullivan | Judy Kohn (Flint Winter)
SAT 17 – James O’Connell | Johnny Barrington (Super Best Friends) | Sanji Da Silva
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