tag:adammcgrath.net,2005:/blogs/the-news-is-imminentThe News is Imminent2024-02-18T14:08:37+13:00Adam McGrathfalsetag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/73531582024-02-18T14:08:37+13:002024-02-18T14:09:46+13:00FEED!<p><span lang="EN-US">Once, actually about 4 times, I got to sing ‘Welcome Home’ on stage with Dave Dobbyn to rooms full of stranded New Zealanders. I’m not that nationalistic, and have a mostly impossible fear of flags (excluding probably the Tino Rangatiratanga flag and Union Banners world wide), but man it was pretty hard to not be moved by the big feelings and big tears coming back to the stage during those long hot nights. I had to keep kicking myself in the shins and wondering, “How did I get here? This cannot be my beautiful life? This can not be Dave Dobbyns beautiful wife standing beside the stage.” And yet there I was.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">I’ve been lucky to do the same with a lot of my songwriting heroes, everytime is like what?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Barry Saunders, Lindon Puffin, Upper Hutt Posse, Luckless, and more, it’s a big list.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Last year or maybe the year before ( I dunno, folk singer time is weird, moving at once rapidly forward and backward all at the same time), I got to do the same with Jordan Luck as part of his backing band; an honor all us easterners got to share. It was big stuff and fun as fuck hearing every word of every song that’s in built into your NZ DNA coming back at you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Jordan is wry and wise and deep and true and kind and wild and a man with the greatest song writing gifts as well as those of one of the greatest front people to ever do it. As a pretender to the outhouse throne of the temple of fronters and chancers I couldn’t help but feel THE AWE and the AW and of course THE AW FUCK YEAH.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">It was great.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">We’ve been waiting for a chance to Voltron and form up to get it done again. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">This march that chance becomes a fine thing, and in service to the big things which makes it even better.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">A Fundraiser for the Delta Community Trust, a great organization that go deep for the folks with the big needs, day after live long day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">This year they saw their major regular donation of food (which they shared with two other food banks) suddenly split between nearly 17 more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">There’s a few levels to this,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">But the main ones are the big gut kicking pangs that they’re running short and the fact there are 17 (at least) food banks out there in Christchurch.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Its hard to feel patriotic about a land of plenty of not much.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">It is however easy to feel patriotic about a land of folks who are down to come and get down and bring a bunch of food when they are called upon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">THAT’S YOU GUYS! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">So c’mon and join us, we’ll do the heavy work, y’all can just sink a few and get busy down the front, while our pals count the cans (and weetbix, and toiletries and tampons and toothpaste and pet food) ya’ll are gonna bring with your cheap as chips tickets (just $15).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">These tickets are to cover costs and we’ll pony up the profits to Delta but it’s the food we want! And the solidarity! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">If you’re running late and won’t make the supermarket you can pay $35 (or more) for a ticket on its own!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Grab your tickets right here:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.forteastern.net"><span lang="EN-US">www.forteastern.net</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Postscript:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">The Reason ‘Welcome Home’ is such a mighty beast of a song, is one line, buried right there drawing very little attention to itself. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">“You’ll find most of us here, with our arms wide open”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">That’s beautiful and also very smart and aware<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">The key word being ‘Most’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Very smart Dr Dobbyn<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">I promise to get teary when we sell this sucker out and get to believing in the most of us again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">This a gig we’re excited about, but frustrated that it even needs to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">That said you are all welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">As always if the ticket money is tight send me a message we’ll figure it out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Much love<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Welcome home etc </span></p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/578907/b3b428cc39e1745574488e23b855102ac601b8d1/original/feed-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/73531572024-02-18T14:07:51+13:002024-02-18T14:07:51+13:00Back In Town<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">ya boy is back, back in the rig, swigs to take, glasses to break, hearts to ache, posters to make, tickets to take, for the songs sake for goodness sake...its been a long time since we rocked n rolled, folk, souled, whatever the hell it Is I and the Eastern do...but here we go again...out of the barlands into the bad lands and the south lands and this weekend the northlands! thats right up in Parua Bay Whangarei heads at the Llama Lounge, a good old fashioned Listening room, and singing room!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">and then in a couple of Weeks in Auckland amongst the goods at Studio 1 vintage Guitars for their first live instore session! this is ltd capacity so dive on them suckers!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">then a bit after that in Wanaka at <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/Festivalofcolour?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZXNUJt7_-FXL9xaOKHFiAUPcQ0L1p3-bNcNwaTgUzlIkBdOPcRiMiosic_sIYGSLySbfo2LnjZaW6--0CwP1uFaTyrOpmeR36t57pvQW_FOTMv0kNi7zgqDQdJDQAHRaXoU7C4sGGlJib-yOhmycuMo_89tgw_PXERdvzgc7-5GTzaFInhQ0bXNI_cUYsGd5Yc&__tn__=-%5DK-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>Wānaka Festival of Colour</span></a> in a talking and singing session with esteemed wise ones, <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/juliadeans?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZXNUJt7_-FXL9xaOKHFiAUPcQ0L1p3-bNcNwaTgUzlIkBdOPcRiMiosic_sIYGSLySbfo2LnjZaW6--0CwP1uFaTyrOpmeR36t57pvQW_FOTMv0kNi7zgqDQdJDQAHRaXoU7C4sGGlJib-yOhmycuMo_89tgw_PXERdvzgc7-5GTzaFInhQ0bXNI_cUYsGd5Yc&__tn__=-%5DK-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>julia deans</span></a> Julia Deans and Ebony lamb <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/ebonylamb79?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZXNUJt7_-FXL9xaOKHFiAUPcQ0L1p3-bNcNwaTgUzlIkBdOPcRiMiosic_sIYGSLySbfo2LnjZaW6--0CwP1uFaTyrOpmeR36t57pvQW_FOTMv0kNi7zgqDQdJDQAHRaXoU7C4sGGlJib-yOhmycuMo_89tgw_PXERdvzgc7-5GTzaFInhQ0bXNI_cUYsGd5Yc&__tn__=-%5DK-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>Ebony Lamb</span></a> and wrtiter of soul and taste Grant Smithies Grant Smithies</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">details for all of these tickets etc at the old creaky web hut <a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.adammcgrath.net/?fbclid=IwAR3F4CwwTnvv2uNnoQeMxOjXYOfiTREQK_dgek2LRhZZbEj9_l3ze1uQnEs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>www.adammcgrath.net</span></a>
</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">but that aint it listener, reader, web surfer! no way do you think your easterns will leave you hanging? we've got something big and special and righteous on the come up...if you were around for our gig with Jordan Luck last year as his backing band for the finale of the Barlands run then you will get a hint of where we're heading with this special announcement! info on sunday night! prepare your 3d glasses, popcorn and take the phone off the hook this will be better than something not as good!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">in the meantime! check me out in Northland, auckland and wanaka land!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">get some!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;animation-name:none !important;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition-property:none !important;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/studio1vintageguitars?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZXNUJt7_-FXL9xaOKHFiAUPcQ0L1p3-bNcNwaTgUzlIkBdOPcRiMiosic_sIYGSLySbfo2LnjZaW6--0CwP1uFaTyrOpmeR36t57pvQW_FOTMv0kNi7zgqDQdJDQAHRaXoU7C4sGGlJib-yOhmycuMo_89tgw_PXERdvzgc7-5GTzaFInhQ0bXNI_cUYsGd5Yc&__tn__=-%5DK-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>Studio 1 Vintage Acoustic Guitars</span></a></div><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/578907/3baa2d519e34c6c18c4cd200af7ea4762351f165/original/adam-at-studio-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/72104332023-05-17T19:05:55+12:002023-10-17T04:04:11+13:00Lets get small<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto" data-auto-logging-id="f33f614851e3cbc">I move through the world uncomfortably, too big not to bang my head, break the chair, squeeze between the tables, knees to chin, chin to knees, slumping to get little to not make a scene, 6’4 4000kgs of pure pizza, I drag my frame through airports and cars and queues and bars often uncomfortably.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The big cities though make you feel small but you have to have your ambitions hulk size rather than your fears to stand out. My ambitions are enough to get me out the door no more and in acuallity mostly spites disguised as something else. Mostly spites against my self though my fears bigger than both of us, but like ol’ blue eyes sang ‘High Hopes’ baby high hopes.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">But small is good for the soul, small keeps your feet right where they need to be, small is good to start a conversation without too much in the way, small is just roomy enough to let the work happen without too much drama. Tomorrow I’ll walk around Auckland and get that small feeling, but like I said a few thousand of your precious minutes ago, in a post or two back, I’ll be singing the big songs, not big in sales or hits but big in hopes and hand ups. That’s the idea, without a setlist it could all just be cold chisel covers, I dunno whats gonna happen, but I’ll be in Auckland at the tuning fork trying to get as small and as big as I can.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">A duality! Two opposing forces fighting in bag full of schrodinger’s cats man it’ll be a racket but hopefully one worth your psychic time!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Kendall Elise on first makes it worth the ticket price as well!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Big city! Big Posts!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Amen</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/72086482023-05-14T19:05:55+12:002023-05-14T19:05:56+12:00The dark Art<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Ticketing is a dark art…</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">First it starts with a pre release ticket deal for spark or vodafone subscribers or maybe even visa, you take your rebel soul and you subsume it in desperation, you reward the customers of these beastly entities, if you’re lucky you might get into some ‘partnership’ to curate an ‘experience’</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">workers sell their labour you sell your magic, everyone is selling, buying and selling and selling and buying, everything is fair game, everything is reduced to a commodity, the real commodity though is bamboozling contracts, which by proxy you are now promoting; via songs you wrote in your room about your feelings. These contracts are now part of you and via you out there sucking souls, hurting heads, requiring 16 years of algebraic learning to make hide or hair,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“If we move you from the friends plan via the mates plan over to the team plan then you’ll get 16gbs of full speed minus 30gb of half time night time minutes locked in for 36 month over a 16 month no return break out party clause”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">And then once you’ve exhausted that, you start on the early bird, pre release, get in quick limited before they’re even been numbered tickets,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">And then so on and so on until the last minute just released seats deals etc</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">What I want to know who has these seats? How can we negotiate their release? Are they political prisioners?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Why are they viciously trapped in the same way a solo parent might be into a predatory phone contract?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Whats going on?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Is this shamanism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Hustlism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Capitialism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Its all beyond my pay grade</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">but c'mon you rock n rollers</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">FREE THE SEATS</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">After all that though, the artist might reach the holy highs, the HOLY GRAIL of the rock n roll fleece “progressive pricing”,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">SEE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN SING SONGS ABOUT WORKING PEOPLE TO FRONT ROWS FULL OF RICH PEOPLE JUST $3000 A TICKET</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Phew its hard out there,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Especially for the journeyman folk singers</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Our 1 ticket-one seat-one price-sell em all or none at all-philosophy is not catching on,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">my no ticket under our control more than an hour and half of minimum wage plan, has not caught fire,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The promoters are not knocking down my door, the deafening applause of the public has been drowned out by the sound of crickets and an empty room,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I turn to my side kicks in the eastern and they form like an army of Sancho Panzas and say another windmill boss?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I adjust my lance and my armour and say,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Except I don’t say that Cervantes said that, I simply say</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">My low rent tickets for my show Auckland this Thursday the 18th are ALL for sale at low low prices at the shows tab</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Ps</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I’m not complaining! Not even pontificating! Just joculating! Which I hope means joking!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I’m the luckiest folk singer on my street and we’ve had some great houses these past weeks and I’m thrilled</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Invercargill</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Dunedin</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Lyttelton</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Taupo</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Napier</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Gisborne</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">All went off as they say, and my landlord and my spark bill salute your ticket buying prowess!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Thankyou friends!</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/72086472023-05-14T19:05:53+12:002023-05-14T19:05:53+12:00The dark Art<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Ticketing is a dark art…</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">First it starts with a pre release ticket deal for spark or vodafone subscribers or maybe even visa, you take your rebel soul and you subsume it in desperation, you reward the customers of these beastly entities, if you’re lucky you might get into some ‘partnership’ to curate an ‘experience’</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">workers sell their labour you sell your magic, everyone is selling, buying and selling and selling and buying, everything is fair game, everything is reduced to a commodity, the real commodity though is bamboozling contracts, which by proxy you are now promoting; via songs you wrote in your room about your feelings. These contracts are now part of you and via you out there sucking souls, hurting heads, requiring 16 years of algebraic learning to make hide or hair,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“If we move you from the friends plan via the mates plan over to the team plan then you’ll get 16gbs of full speed minus 30gb of half time night time minutes locked in for 36 month over a 16 month no return break out party clause”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">And then once you’ve exhausted that, you start on the early bird, pre release, get in quick limited before they’re even been numbered tickets,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">And then so on and so on until the last minute just released seats deals etc</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">What I want to know who has these seats? How can we negotiate their release? Are they political prisioners?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Why are they viciously trapped in the same way a solo parent might be into a predatory phone contract?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Whats going on?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Is this shamanism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Hustlism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Capitialism?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Its all beyond my pay grade</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">but c'mon you rock n rollers</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">FREE THE SEATS</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">After all that though, the artist might reach the holy highs, the HOLY GRAIL of the rock n roll fleece “progressive pricing”,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">SEE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN SING SONGS ABOUT WORKING PEOPLE TO FRONT ROWS FULL OF RICH PEOPLE JUST $3000 A TICKET</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Phew its hard out there,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Especially for the journeyman folk singers</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Our 1 ticket-one seat-one price-sell em all or none at all-philosophy is not catching on,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">my no ticket under our control more than an hour and half of minimum wage plan, has not caught fire,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The promoters are not knocking down my door, the deafening applause of the public has been drowned out by the sound of crickets and an empty room,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I turn to my side kicks in the eastern and they form like an army of Sancho Panzas and say another windmill boss?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I adjust my lance and my armour and say,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Except I don’t say that Cervantes said that, I simply say</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">My low rent tickets for my show Auckland this Thursday the 18th are ALL for sale at low low prices at the shows tab</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Ps</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I’m not complaining! Not even pontificating! Just joculating! Which I hope means joking!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I’m the luckiest folk singer on my street and we’ve had some great houses these past weeks and I’m thrilled</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Invercargill</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Dunedin</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Lyttelton</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Taupo</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Napier</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Gisborne</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">All went off as they say, and my landlord and my spark bill salute your ticket buying prowess!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Thankyou friends!</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/72086462023-05-14T19:04:54+12:002023-05-14T19:04:54+12:00The Hours<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">36 hours of driving for 6 hours of playing? these are the goddamn statistics we like! backwards, inordinate, immoderate, inconceivably backward, we could just pull out the drive at drive around the block 11,000 times and throw money out the window and get someone to throw you a ham sandwich and some pinapple lumps every 3 hours and maybe install an IV for some road coffee and just tick up your wildbean cafe card and it'd probably all amount to the same thing butttttt then we'd never get to meet y'all, new friends and old, dancers, singers, sitters, chancers, in for a good time, in for a heart time, in for a story, in for a yee ha, in for a penny in for a pound of fleash, whatever it is it makes it so worthwhile to show up for y'all as you continue to show up for us. All these years, all these hours, all these times, all these bad ideas, all these good intentions and here we both are us and you and right in the middle of the set, just before the guitar strings break, just before we say fuck it and get on the floor with you, it all starts to make a weird kind of sense! and therefore proving our proviso, that if weird is the way most taken, then gifts will be the things most given. So good to be out there with the band! so good to be out there with you good good souls. Next week though, the truck stays parked and me, ol' long talking fool that I am, goes north to shout from the big stage about the new quiet Album Dear Companions at the tuning fork! Hoping the vinyl will be here by then! big hoping! but even if it aint' the good strong wonder of Kendall Elise will be there to open the show which I'm sure will make up for it!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">c'mon on now!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Auckland! Next thursday! 7.30pm! The Tuning Fork!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">tickets at the shows page</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/72020022023-05-03T20:30:50+12:002023-05-03T20:30:50+12:00Sit in it...<p><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">If only you could sit in the big show for a while, just call it quits and revel in the good feelings and tshirt sales on some eternal loop of wonder and peace. Because friday in port was like that, and dunedin and invercargill and wellington before that. Man!</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Well it seems like a good idea when you breaking yourself out of bed to make the ferry for the next one, but it isnt, cause the big wheel refuses to stop and the stick in the mill is gonna get snapped. So we drive on, ready for the next tough show and then the next good one and then so on, etc, repeat, adinfinitum. Maybe till we run out of songs? maybe till we run out of ticket sales? maybe till the knees become knubs?</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Regardless, I’ll put the solo shows in the pack for a week and feel them Eastern engines get to warming, and whirring and burning and roaring. We’re making up some covid slowed dates, a million months after when they should’ve been, but feels good to be out in it with the pals doing that thing we made up for ourselves so many million moons back there. Come hang, pre sales put our anxieties in the box but if we wanted no anxiety we should’ve stayed at home, we’ll take what we get as ever and get it done like we were never gonna do anything else!</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Tomorrow Night</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Taupo, Muesem</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Friday</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Napier, The Cabana w/ Devils Elbow</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Saturday</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Gisborne, The Dome w/ Eliot Witters</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">The Solo shows start up in Auckland at the tuning fork</span><br><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">May 18th<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/578907/39d05fcdde5c56a6e4edfeba38501b3683dacb1e/original/dome-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71977252023-04-27T21:25:31+12:002023-04-27T21:25:31+12:00Saints are comin'<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I was feeling pretty shaky, a bit worn out and a bit beat from the rock going up hill and down, but I ended up at the club rooms and the sheds below and it got me thinking.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">We’d walk in there half the Saturdays of every season, scrabbling, pushing, piss taking, boots on the shoulder, bags on the back. Inside something magic would happen, wild unfocussed boys being drawn in together, hierarchies of smarts and strength subsumed, power building, hope growing, we could listen, we could hear, we were in the moment, believing in each other, believing our coach when he would say we had something we could prove and we could help each other and we could trust each other and the only thing that mattered was that we committed, to the boys on either side, to the tackle, to the hit up, to the game.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">No one remembers that we lost more than we won cause that was never the point we were just in it as best we could, for something to do but mostly for something and somewhere to be. A lot of the boys muddled and stressed in their real life, wonky parents, wonkier futures and yet here we were, being given a chance and some attention from some of the soundest grown ups I’ve ever known. Ones that might call you a fuckwit when you were a fuckwit but also ones that’d come and get you when the lights were going out literally and figuratively.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">As I said I went down to the clubrooms today, old Lee Nelson let me in and we talked that the club was closing down, no more teams, not enough kids, demographics, economics, fears of the big hit’s. But he had some yarns and some laughs and it meant the world to grasp a little of the rarefied air before it’s all gone.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I’ve met a lot of folks in the creative fields with not much interest in sport, full contact ones especially and that’s ok but I know it saved a lot of lives and shaped so many more or gave respite, connection, community and offered a lot of wayward young dudes some real things of value and great worth and every now and then as ol’ Lee Nelson reminded me, the piss ups and the punch ups made for some pretty funny stories.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The latter you get to talk about forever and maybe a bit of a smoke screen for the former, that you didn’t need to talk about because its inside you like a ballast keeping you upright when it all looks shaky.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Thanks to Lee, thanks to the ol’ Saints, thanks to y’all for reading this far and coming to the show tomorrow! The tickets are on their last legs and that feels good so jump on ‘em if you haven’t yet, there’ll be a smattering of door sales but not many.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The band is tight and loose in all the right places (oh yeah did I say we had a band tomorrow? Yeah! We wanted to give these new songs a good honouring!) and spirits are high…so yeah so yeah so yeah tomorrow we’ll be honouring those spirits, hopefully your spirit, the spirits of all them old saints and everything else!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Thank you Thank you Thank you</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">For doing the yards with me!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Tomorrow night!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Tix:</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.adammcgrath.net/shows?fbclid=IwAR0iM4KXaQX9Yp2TGhNrahDBLcJeC_q-eAgHBuanUAH-vFwEd1qO6ETQEWs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>www.adammcgrath.net/shows</span></a></div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Lyttelton Arts Factory doors 8pm music 8.30pm</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Ps</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Taupo</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Gisborne</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Napier</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Auckland</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">You’re next!</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71977232023-04-27T21:24:12+12:002023-04-27T21:24:12+12:00Station Z<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">that was a time, z station after z station and some big clear sky and some cold strong winds and just enough rain to keep me honest. Listened to houses of the holy, physical graffiti and coda all in one hit, man that Bonzo was something else. Blew my voice out singing top lung and bottom to trampled underfoot but it came right by the time I got to Dee St. in invercargill, the boy racers were reving hard and every now and then the imports sounded a bit like their grandads' holdens might of when them engines go banging off the shop walls, and then you hear a Holden and think oh yeah maybe not, but tradition moves as much with technology as it does against it. The shows were great full rooms, kind audiences and lost uncles and old chums and mentors and new ones all showed up for me and it means as much as it ever does and considering the rapid waning of the traditions I hope to represent, maybe it means even more? Big questions, but big questions don't stand up to big skies or big engines or big weird dreams so amen to all those and I'll leave the questions to st peter come the big reckoning and the biggest one of all when he puts it on me and says "What do ya reckon?" I'll come clean and say "That Pete is beyond my pay grade but I did my best as much as I did my worst". Hopefully he'll say "You think you're a clever bastard eh?" and then laugh and sneak me in the back way through fiddlers green.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">A boy can hope right?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Anyways we go hoping again this friday! the home town show in the old home town, in a venue built on all the good spirits, that feels pretty good to me! tickets are moving so jump on them if you're able.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Friday 28th Lyttelton Arts Factory 8pm</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The ticket price should come in no more than an hour and half of minimum wage, but times being what they are if that feels tight just drop us a line.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">you can get the tickets at <a class="no-pjax" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adammcgrath.net%2Fshows%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3TxG5AMJ7rSNIxfgWvN0eZ2w7CQj7e8NjyGDy7vdli49cn6LCmwsvOjwo&h=AT15TOYeWjoDLhRfTnrf8LeZSoTOsB180oaJDvxufWlMOaaQiaimnxHA9RNEiXbcEoCSLawCr6jllASS6JQ4iuT-laEu6PCEXooMq11YrS80jIWTJ5-XXTplu29CDO0qJZGJTWc&__tn__=-UK-R&c%5B0%5D=AT0rVaT-Mbz_1NL-WY2c2P2J1KDN3Wu_-K8w-HbIlMzmCCrUZoYK62NugyV_-Fub4Q_1Ya_EUNnU1gOtFGM8Uc8V5pjtjKRkkCXhuWR3WoKCEqOl-lGsegS-j07YIUQY6LQnrXQtH-tAsGFUmKzay_B4iCzNY5EiDdMcDN3wnhbDF_1hq6M5qQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>www.adammcgrath.net/shows</span></a>
</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">as ever forever (or at east until I forget to pay the website bill!)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">from my path to yours</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">peace</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71977222023-04-27T21:23:40+12:002023-04-27T21:23:40+12:00Now Form a Band<div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I take this creative writing class in high school. The Class is filled with bookish sensitive smart funny people and one maniac psycho rugby league playing sometime bully trauma filled totally confused giant who is a year older than everyone else. That would be me.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Despite all the above adjectives, the teacher finds me endearing and seems to believe in me a little; this is a rarity, but makes me behave.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I see this guy in the class always has tapes, I tell him we need to trade them, because of the above adjectives he doesn’t argue but you can tell he is suspicious. Months go by slowly in an everlasting swirl of angst, rage, adventure and weed. The Holidays rise up, I say to the guy with the tapes,</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“What are you doing in the holidays?”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">He says “Just band practice”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“You’re in a band?” I’m a bit shocked, there is very little rock n roll that I can see to this kid.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“Yeah”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“What kind of music do you play?”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">“We’re um ah um a punk band”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">What the absolute fuck I think, this does not fit the picture and how come THIS GUY! And not ME GUY is in a punk band? I have a black flag logo on my bag for god’s sake.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I ask him who the singer is?</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">He says “um we don’t have one”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I pause for a minute, “I’m your new singer”.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I used the power of the above adjectives to cement my position without argument. There was a sense of stress within my new bandmate about how he was gonna tell the other bandmates that this maniac psycho rugby league playing sometime bully trauma filled totally confused giant who is a year older than everyone else was now the lead singer of their band.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">That was his problem. My problem was where to find a godamn microphone and amp.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I sold weed to this other kid who had these things (or at least his dad did and that was good enough). He wasn’t stoked about lending it to me so I told him he could be in the band too. He was good looking, popular, a surfer, with abs and he had an amp. He would be an excellent counterpoint to the bookish guys and the maniac psycho guy.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">We were, as they say, away.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The first show I ever got to do out of town was with these kids in Dunedin on tour with the great NOTHING AT ALL who for their short moment were the greatest band in New Zealand.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">We played an instore on our own at this record store called fire engine and I have a great photo of our guitar player with this fifty-foot lead playing outside the door and this older lady dressed like the queen with her hands in her ears.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">I have done maybe 2000 shows since then and not a single one has been better than that.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Now I sing the folk music I don’t have to pull the maniac psycho card too often, but I’m sure there’s still plenty of folks with their hands in their ears.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Those guys I played music with back there started pretty wary of me and they weren’t to be blamed for that at all, I deserved it, but like the teacher in creative writing ( viva Ms. McColl!) they eventually starting believing me and it helped me so much! I don’t really know where all those guys are but they showed me so much about songs and the chances we all were taking mean so much right now in the here in now!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The Dunedin Folk Club were a bit like that with me and The Eastern, it would be fair to say we felt not quite in the folk mix when we started, being weak of technique, devoid of connections and any control of the volume level. But man, we wanted to be down so hard. Eventually we figured out the walls were just our own making and folk folk just want to make sure you’re not chocka full of bullshit. But before we figured out how to tunnel under our insecurities and before we figured out how to disguise we were all chocka full of bullshit. The Dunedin Folkies saw something in us and me, enough to let us keep showing up.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">It has always meant the best.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">So, showing up with me most folk singing record this Sunday feels a little like a homecoming. I’ll be doing the folk singing and telling the stories for anyone who’ll care to listen, and I’m not here to strong arm you into buying tickets like I did to get into that band way back when, I’m just here to tell you about it. So, if you’re recovering after feastock, a friend of the folk music then I’d be grateful to see you.</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">The night before I’m in Invercargill! Not for the first time but for the first time at the Black Shag Café! And the best news is that its right next to a new record store! Threes and Sevens Records! And its record store day! And they have music all day until I show up at 7.30pm (there’s a joke in there somewhere)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">One good thing about being a folk singer is you don’t need a fifty-foot lead to get out the door, so who knows where we’ll end up. Bring your fingers to stick in your friends’ ears when they go “Who the hell does this guy think he is?”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">And simply say “one maniac psycho rugby league playing sometime bully trauma filled totally confused giant who is a year older than everyone else…doing his best getting born every day.”</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Tickets for everything from:</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.adammcgrath.net/shows?fbclid=IwAR19nTIdK1vljt_Gh9vbwHD2YPYg6YL_Xta-Db_nq73tv1cp1P7mIpRXSD4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>www.Adammcgrath.net/shows</span></a></div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">as well as</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">chch Lyttelton arts factory Apr. 28th</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">taupo museum may 4th (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Napier Cabana may 5th (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Gisborne the dome may 6th (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Auckland the Tuning Fork may 18th</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71917402023-04-18T03:54:04+12:002023-04-18T03:54:04+12:00little big show<p style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"> </p><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">the big man with the small following returns to the big city to take on the big room with the small songs filled with the big hope trying to follow and fill big shoes with his small talents but big/little (TBC) ego playing a big guitar with big chords but only a small number of them, it's a little flight in a big plane flying through a big sky rolling the dice at big things but managing his little expectations. Thats Right Auckland!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">MAY 18!!!!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Dukes Up I'm comin' in swinging (watch me trip on the steps to the stage).</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">with special magical power guest Kendall Elise!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Tickets at: <a class="no-pjax" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adammcgrath.net%2Fshows%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2ljKkKRckHL-4TdEMSiCO6tH0Mv-IKklSV9eCcUhyq6JZ7cLVANT2gd5Y&h=AT1ejmh_lBQHLizVCKxd_ZVBUA9IKa9wHz6pbOM8J4RtIU9VoRP2keaDjlQIQz1v-1aAXCmeT7up5lxiRf8gZt2Rnr_F9PDrBP1rBqGRAcJ6e0LNXE01mFfaAW_k37VI3ngOfJs&__tn__=-UK-R&c%5B0%5D=AT3kPCYKEjQ7QfFDSKTO2pMnTEcaEMVDcAVw0lAcnbz7TBts6743JGEmMF8OHekO9-gMu6m_jeQfxfbozeH32pz8_1C2kBIOagUq7f1g5jL8P8BKrvcbaHZR5knkQilYhyohe0X8KY83OI5l5C3XI7apYYJAQO1NRaUGbsQXSPB4IKYSYDNH9i36sTUFEAdX6cUb3UQsz_rPoe_pVqVADbCFAWYP1oqWHNjVLg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"><span>www.adammcgrath.net/shows</span></a>
</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">plus tickets available for</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Invercargill Sat 22</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Dunedin Sun 23</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">CHCH april 28</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Taupo May 4 (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Napier May 5 (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Gisborne May 6 (The Eastern)</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">there too!</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">Plus some kind reviews of Dear Companions:</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.muzic.net.nz/articles/reviews/94230/adam-mcgrath-album-review-dear-companions" data-link-type="url">https://www.muzic.net.nz/articles/reviews/94230/adam-mcgrath-album-review-dear-companions</a></div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">and</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/music/10677/adam-mcgrath-dear-companions-vinyl-cd-download/" data-link-type="url">https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/music/10677/adam-mcgrath-dear-companions-vinyl-cd-download/</a></div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">PS</div><div style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(5, 5, 5);font-family:system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' dir="auto">VINYL INCOMING (phew)</div>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71915652023-04-17T19:24:45+12:002023-04-17T19:28:31+12:00They Come in 3's boys<p><span style="color:#050505;">The good luck comes in threes,</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">the bad luck too</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">the inevitability of death and life</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">the inevitability of the folk singer and his unending search for the longest possible story between the song</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">the inevitability of one last minute hail mary face book post</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">the ying yang the chicken the egg the hope the wire the distance inbetween</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">what am I on about?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">who knows?! who cares?! </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">I'm listening to W.A.S.P. and reflecting on how the image of lead singer Blackie Lawless drinking Blood from a Skull on the front cover of my binder had literally no effect on my teacher Mr Blair. I guess then I knew shock rock and hooky power metal would not be my path. If I was to win over Mr Blair it would take more than gimmicks! It would take lyrics! and going for the long game...no quick and easy platinum records for this guy, no no no Mr Blair wouldn't want a flash in the pan! he's want the good long grease fire and the burnt curtains at the end, Mr Blair would want me to commit! and Commit I shall and commit I have and I will not quit until Mr Blair says I've won him over! </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">After the wonderous heart and soul y'all offered me in the Wellington on thursday I take that faith fuel and turn in a 360 to home and parts south...</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">today I announce!!!!!!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">I will be in Invercargill Saturday Week at the Black Shag Boutique Cafe! theres a record store right next door what could be finer!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">April 22</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">then in Dunedin!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">April 23</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">Then in CHCH!!!!!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">April</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">then then then</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">in Taupo and in Napier and in Gisborne with The Eastern and then there will be more and more and more!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">Because as Blackie Lawless Says "I wanna be somebody" even if that somebody is your 39th favourite folk singer and as Mr Blair said "You just have to shut up and focus Adam"</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">tickets at the shows tab</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color:#050505;">as ever!</span><o:p></o:p></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71540712023-02-15T19:13:46+13:002023-03-24T16:42:43+13:00Maths<p>Not unlike the weird maths that confers each dog year to 7 human years, musician years have an exponential arrangement with time directly corelated with the weariness you feel as you try to decreak your knees getting out of the van after 6 hrs trapped inside it listening to warren zevon to tell you must learn to write better. There is a formula for this it goes… A2x MY1000 (Z+V-K)3 = 172.</p><p>Thus, in my musician years I am 172 give or take a few. This is interestingly numerologically speaking because I have done 127 shows this year, certainly not a record but a fair wack considering x2 rounds of covid, pneumonia, food poisoning, old age, despair, a complete lack of ambition. Somehow they got done. There were also a lot that didn’t get done, because of the above and the weather and all manner of stymies big and small.</p><p>I’ve been doing this for more of my working life than I haven’t. Strange maths.</p><p>I’m not alone though, there’s heaps of out here running up and down the radar in and out of reception digging trenches and trails wherever we can.</p><p>It’s a big ol’ goofy world as old john prine might say and when I run into other journeymen and women I wonder if we’re not making it goofier for ourselves? Or are we trying to help everyone else out with their own goofiness. It’s probably somewhere right in the middle.</p><p>Regardless, we’re out there this weekend making up our rain savaged show in Lake Hawea on sat (tix: <a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.forteastern.net">www.forteastern.net</a>) and then for free in CHCH at the City’s Summer Sundays series with local wahine of wonder Stephanie Beck (details here: <a class="no-pjax" href="http://tinyurl.com/2xb98fx6"><span style="color:#212529;"><strong>tinyurl.com/2xb98fx6</strong></span></a></p><p>)</p><p>And then the great so ons and redo’s:</p><p>Taupo-Hastings-Napier-Gisborne-Mapua/Nelson</p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.forteastern.net">www.forteastern.net</a></p><p>but what I really want to tell you about is two road friends from around the way who will be showing up in C-City of the next couple…</p><p>Next week Feb.16th at little andromeda one of my road heroes the great Canadian folk singer scott cook will be breaking hearts, rattling, brains and making y’all smile. If theres a real deal, he is it. Please go and tell him that the city has a place for travelling wise men like him it’ll be more than worth it.</p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.scottcook.net">www.scottcook.net</a> if you need the proving, but once you see him you won’t.</p><p>A week later, my dear sister of the road Esther Swift will be bringing her Harp and Celtic wondery here to The Piano. She is as good as it can get as it can be and there’s no melody she can’t send like a missile to your heart.</p><p>I’m gonna go and sing with her, it’ll be something. I can’t ask you harder so I won’t but if you believe the music side of folk music and want your heart messed up for days, this will be the one.</p><p>Here’s a review of her latest show in Hawkes Bay…if you ain’t in c-city she’s out there around the isles making it all feel like Scotland and its great beauty and mystery.</p><p>Details at:</p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.estherswift.co.uk/">https://www.estherswift.co.uk/</a></p><p>review:</p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.ambientlightblog.com/esther-swift-pukehou-nz-2023/">https://www.ambientlightblog.com/esther-swift-pukehou-nz-2023/</a></p><p> </p><p>Oh and the album I’m meant to be telling you all about?</p><p>Should be in stores now, cd’s have been shipping steadily and the vinyl is pressing fingers crossed for a soon landing.</p><p>I’m not fucking around, just trying to catch up…</p><p>Besides I’m 172 years old and getting born everyday</p><p>Good luck my friends and foes and brothers and sister dogs of the road</p><p>Drive on till we get there</p><p>Love</p><p>adam</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71268392022-12-23T02:08:12+13:002023-04-17T19:28:31+12:00Dear Companions<p>When I’m not falling over the cables trying to stand on the tables with The Eastern I’m a one man operation, spinning all the plates, burning all the rags, making the posters, driving the truck, breaking the PA, trying to tell the good stories, taking the D.I.Y. approach most of the time, ‘cause if I don’t the Black Flag Tattoo on my wrist starts burning; which it does all the time and especially lately whenever I thinks to myself “there must be an easier way than this”. The answer is there probably is, except it isn’t because it’s easy to get tangled in your expectations when you start talking plans and strategies etc. and then you get caught in ‘how to do it right’ and I’m quite contrary, cause no one really knows how that all should go down. I do a lot of things wrong but I get a lot of right out of it if that makes any kind of sense and I watch people doing everything right and only growing wronger and wronger. Sales are small around here, ticket sales down, knees weaker, brain tireder but I’m getting more human as the day goes and if I’m not mistaken the work gets closer every day. Closer to what doesn’t even matter. </p>
<p>I have no team (apart from my 8-9 bemused and often disappointed friends), no manager, no ambition, no plan, no goals, just a bundle of hopes and a dogged desire not to give up and not have to go looking for a day job. I’m trying to be a folk singer, singing songs about people and the things they go through and the things they find, I try to listen and make sense of it all which is hard ‘cause I’m loud and scared and a bit out of whack and running at a weird speed which is a little bit slower and a little bit faster than what it should be. </p>
<p>I never stops writing the songs though but, and travelling with them round and round and round ticking off a lot of singing for folks listening and a lot for folks not, but the whole rigmarole of stopping and recording them and listening to my own voice and not having a chance to tell the stories in between just seems to keep me away from any kind of studio anywhere. But back there before the pandemic I slowed down/speeded up enough to make some songs and record them and then I mostly let the whole thing lie, staying home like everyone else, then revving my roadwork and The Eastern back up, and then I figured, maybe I’d just let the record stay way down hidden with my ambitions. </p>
<p>BUTTTTTT… </p>
<p>A lot of people helped me make the record, and I was so grateful and didn’t want to dishonor them and their efforts but man it’s been slow going trying to think about what it all should be and how it all should be. </p>
<p>But then my friend Paul got sick, like real sick, like suddenly the present feels very present type sick and Paul has a little family that loves him and they need all the help and time they can get with him and the drug that might increase that time is beyond most people’s means, including Paul’s. Paul also ran a record store that just had to close and that record store had a label attached and that label put out The Eastern’s last records as well as so many other great things. VIVA ROUGH PEEL! </p>
<p>And when I thought about that I thought who cares about what and how, lets just get busy with DO, so I’m putting it out now, early, late, whatever. </p>
<p>It’s called Dear Companions, because of everything I’ve learnt or am learning about the people in the songs and what they help me learn about myself and about the world big and small (especially small). But that kind of conception is just how records start, where they end up is up to whoever gets a copy in their life. </p>
<p>Paul always put his heart and money where other people’s mouths were and it’s in that spirit that I release Dear Companions, right now, without any grand strategy, just get the thing out, trade it with people for money and any of that money we might generate can be given back to my Pal Paul in order to help keep him going and loving and hanging on. </p>
<p>With that in mind, there will be no Spotify (or the like) streaming of the album. It’s gonna be old fashioned. If anyone wants it then it’s for sale, on Vinyl, CD and Download. Any streaming might show up in the future if Paul’s need for treatment ends but right now its SELL SELL SELL as the record label people used to say. </p>
<p>My operation is small, jerry-rigged, run on gaffa, good will and sweat and guts and is all missteps and wonder and confusion, late payments and weird happenings but I try to make the songs as good as I can, ‘cause they keep saving me and that’s what songs are meant to do. I am under no illusion that they would or could do the same for you but I hope they might make things a little easier or at least take the edge off or maybe if the songs are ok enough help you feel like you ain’t in this whole big weird thing on your own. </p>
<p>I’ll be talking about it, singing it, praising everyone who helped me make it over the next while, but for now it’s out from </p>
<p>Bandcamp </p>
<p><a contents="https://adammcgrath.bandcamp.com/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://adammcgrath.bandcamp.com/">https://adammcgrath.bandcamp.com/ </a></p>
<p>or here on the store page!</p>
<p>------ </p>
<p>you can download it </p>
<p>buy the CD (shipping now! But if youre in chch and want it before xmas I’ll deliver it like a desperate santa!) </p>
<p>preoder the vinyl (shipping early FEB!, you know how vinyl goes) </p>
<p>it’ll be in stores early in the year </p>
<p>I know it’s all a bit messy but we gotta hustle up some of this dough for my brother/father/friend Paul a paypalforpalpaul if you will! </p>
<p>Expect everything a normal album release might entail but slower and later and all higgeldy piggeldy pie…which is perfect ‘cause it means I’m getting more human every day. </p>
<p>“Let the pros do what they do </p>
<p>They ain’t rough like me and you </p>
<p>I got more than enough good enough to get us through”</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71267732022-12-22T18:25:31+13:002022-12-22T18:25:31+13:00roadwork<p>FRIENDS! TICKET BUYERS! PEOPLE OF THE FOLK AND THE ROCK N ROLL AND THE MID TO LATE NIGHT... </p>
<p>we thought we should let you know about a bunch of things before Adam begins the exceptionally well planned, strategised, and breathtaking release of his first solo record 'Dear Companions'... </p>
<p>because he is so organised at this stuff he is promoting all the shows the Eastern have booked over the coming months rather than some well oiled solo tour (which he already has done most of the year without any album to push). ooooosh! </p>
<p>and even better... </p>
<p>tomorrow night some of the sisters of the Eastern Jess Shanks, Frankie Daly & Tess Liautaud will be playing as their magic side project The Sweet Sweet Nothings at St Marys Church in Addington...good magic will be unleashed for their Christmas solstice show! details right here! </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/events/523749773013849?ref=newsfeed&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/523749773013849?ref=newsfeed&nbsp;">https://www.facebook.com/events/523749773013849?ref=newsfeed </a></p>
<p>Door Sales for this one </p>
<p>and from there... </p>
<p>Dec. 30th will see Adam and Frankie both warming up for mentor hero father figure Al Park and his Unknown Legends at a rolling stone!!! NEW YEARS EVE EVE!!! good songs sung for good hearted friends of the such! </p>
<p>Then the now yearly New yearly Hooley at OGB with the whole damn band.... </p>
<p>then it goes a bit like this with all these goddamn Eastern Shows! </p>
<p>tickets and info at shows tab!</p>
<p>Jan 2 2023 Whare Flats Folk Festival, Dunedin </p>
<p>Jan 12 2023 Taupo Museum, taupo </p>
<p>Jan 13 2023 The Common Room Hastings </p>
<p>Jan 14 2023. The Cabana, napier </p>
<p>Jan 22 2023. Otaki Summer Camp, Otaki </p>
<p>Jan 26 2023. The Woodshed Whangarei, Whangarei </p>
<p>Jan 27 2023 Kauaeranga Hall, Thames </p>
<p>Jan 28 2023. Wild on Waiheke, Waiheke Island </p>
<p>Jan 29 2023 The Jam Factory, Tauranga </p>
<p>Feb 11 2023, Lichen Lane House Concert Lake Hawea </p>
<p>Mar 18 2023. THE PLAYHOUSE, MAPUA </p>
<p>May 6 2023. The Dome Gisborne, gisborne </p>
<p>stick with us for new album stuff! promise it'll be just in time to be late for christmas! </p>
<p>professionally unprofessional since 2006 going nowhere fast since the day we began!</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71267722022-12-22T18:24:09+13:002022-12-22T18:24:09+13:00Le Cafe<p>I am not a gourmand, I even had to look up my Collins English dictionary to spell it. My considerations around food revolve mostly around the questions “Is it werid? Is it Boring? Will it make me full?” and if I can answer no, yes, yes respectively then I will eat it. I am as developed gastronomically like a four year old might be whos just figured out how to use a fork (ps I hold my fork wrong, and my pen but that’s another story). When I see cooking shows I imagine people tuning in through some jerry-rigged satellite tv in a corrugated iron shed somewhere and being confused at watching someone in a cravat ‘judge’ food and I imagine those people I imagined being confused eventually turning to anger and coming with the Ak-47s and making said cravat wearer pee his pants and promise not to do it again. </p>
<p>I don’t understand/enjoy/drink wine either, I mean I’ve drunk it, a lot when I was 17 and it was cheap and some of it I may have even liked but its really above my pay grade. I have played at toast martinborough and driven through the zombified stumbling hordes of big hatted no sock chino wearing folks and figured out that this may not be my um buzz. But even me saying that proves I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. </p>
<p>Which is standard. </p>
<p>Because the problem is with me. </p>
<p>Which is generally true of most of the problems one might have with things. </p>
<p>Which is obviously true of me with all things. </p>
<p>I figured out the problem was with me in relation to wine a long time ago. We had been playing at Le Café in picton and after the gig, long tall deep eyed owner and hospitality keeper of the flame Peter sent us back to where we were staying. He said he left us some wine on the table and we should drink it. At those times I was inclined to drink anything free so when I got there I took the bottle and poured it and filled a big coffee cup full and drunk it in big cocal cola sized gulps. About half way through the bottle Peter arrives and he sees what I doing and he gets real mad at me in that dark rattle your soul way that Europeans can make you feel. </p>
<p>Basically the situation is thus, the wine was good, not just good like yeah that’ll do good, like it was special, a holy bottle squished into being by the feet of angels or something, and Peter had left it as a gift and a tribute to us and I was meant to know this and cherish it. Instead I was skulling it like soda from a coffee cup. </p>
<p>Peter says this will not do and asks me if I know anything about how fucking wine works, and I say I don’t cause I don’t so, he pulls out these glasses and these bottles and we get to it and he teaches me about sniffing it and tasting it and why the glass is shaped like it is and I get the whole run down and I don’t understand it really but I understand his passion and his power and what and why he’s trying to tell me what he’s trying to tell me and that how musicians can be just as pretentious as wine snobs but even with that in mind there is wonder and heart and spirit involved in these reaaaaaallll fucking ancient art forms. I get it and I understand that at least! And it was such a great time and we listened to serious jams and had serious talks and eventually the wine gave over to schnapps and we got all fucked up and went to bed. In the middle of the night, Peter wakes me up and says, </p>
<p>“That last song you played tonight??? That’s the one…that will be a hit, that will change your life, don’t fuck it up…honor that song” </p>
<p>I say groggily, drunkly “Ok Boss” and go back to sleep, </p>
<p>He wakes me up again and says the same but with this great urgency </p>
<p>“FUCKING LISTEN TO ME!!!! THAT SONG!!!! THAT’S THE ONE!!!!!” </p>
<p>I go back to sleep. </p>
<p>That was like 13 years ago, </p>
<p>I’m still yet to record the song properly, maybe next round. </p>
<p>Like I said, the problem always begins and ends with me dammit. </p>
<p>But the good news is on Friday night we’re playing in Picton at Le Café with Peter serving the drinks and Brother Lindon Puffin in support. Hopefully some people will come, we might even play that song. VIVA PETER! And all the wonder he cares about! Maybe we’ll see you! We hope so! </p>
<p>Tickets at www.forteastern.net </p>
<p>PS </p>
<p>My first solo record will be coming out in the next few days, probably should say that eh? </p>
<p>stay posted, stay frosty</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/71197252022-12-08T21:13:30+13:002022-12-08T21:13:31+13:00POSTPONEMENT<p>Goddamn these viscitudes! With sadness but a begrudging wonder at the humbling power of the natural forces of the planet, we have to admit defeat in relation to our show tomorrow in Lake Hawea due to the forecast day long rain that will make our beautiful under the stars bonfire show at the beautiful Lichen Lane Homestead untenable. </p>
<p>We rolled the dice hoping that a nice outdoors dance in the grass type a’happening might slip past the weather gods this early in the summer season and of course we were found wanting when aforementioned roll turned up snake eyes! </p>
<p>We’re making the call tonight so the logistics are easier to bare for y’all and us. After a deep communion between ourselves, Monty Bevins and Hilary and Jeff, who’s place it is, we figured that it’d be better to postpone the whole thing rather than have a wet, lawn destroying, electrical equipment drowning, stinker of a night, when really the lichen lanes first mega outdoor humdinger starlight hooley (trademarked obviously!) deserves clear skies and dry dirt for all y’all bums and boots. With our luck the sun’ll come out and it’ll be all good just to make it a double stymie but we had to make the call this evening, so we don’t lose a ton of money, energy and everything else, none of which after all these years we have much of to lose! </p>
<p>So with that in mind we will not cancel but instead postpone now till Feb. 11th, the first date we all could make happen! </p>
<p>Tomorrow was pretty much sold out which is a drag, but we are emailing everyone right now and offering refunds, but also letting you know all tickets will be valid for the 11/2. </p>
<p>So stay dry, stay humble, stay cool hopefully stay in the ticket loop till feb. </p>
<p>Your pals </p>
<p>Eastern, Monty, Hilary and Jeff</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70661332022-09-22T21:09:59+12:002022-09-22T21:09:59+12:00Hit the North!<p>Let this be a proclamation! </p>
<p>Let the north hear, prepare the interislander, warm up the fish pies in wairoa, let foxton fizz, we will be passing through, running in, trying to get the harmonic balancers balanced. </p>
<p>We will come as the eastern, four shows in… </p>
<p>Taupo! – The Muesem, Thursday Oct. 13th </p>
<p>Gisborne! – The Dome, Friday Oct. 14th </p>
<p>Napier! – The Cabana, Saturday Oct. 15th </p>
<p>Hastings! – The Common Room Oct. 16th </p>
<p>We will have </p>
<p>Devils Elbow (Napier) </p>
<p>Tucker Lane Band (Hastings) </p>
<p>Eliot Witters (Gisborne) </p>
<p>With us… </p>
<p>We will rumble, we will roar, we will do everything we were born to do, then we will apologise and do better, do what you paid for, go beyond go above we get up so you can get down amen alright… </p>
<p>Adam will path find solo north right here… </p>
<p>Oct. 8th Kumeu Live </p>
<p>Oct. 9th Onewhero Society for Performing Arts Hall </p>
<p>All tickets and ticket links </p>
<p>At… </p>
<p>the shows tab</p>
<p>------ </p>
<p>C-City… Barlands 3! Is on tomorrow night tix at </p>
<p>the shows tab!</p>
<p>Well alright! Uh huh! </p>
<p>Won’t stop can’t stop (when will it stop?)</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70652412022-09-22T00:32:39+12:002022-09-22T00:32:39+12:00Barlands Calling<p>Phew…long time no nothing friends, I mean not in the great epic turn of the wheel, if we look at it like that then it’s less than a grain of sand through the hourglass, and maybe as important! But the thing is see we all got sick, we all went to wellington to raise money for our brother/father rough peel Paul and we all got the flu, and for me that flu turned into some pnuemony and well I’ve been on my back for two and half weeks and I’m just slowly rousing now, and it means I’m about 15 days late in all my promotional activities and it wouldn’t have mattered anyways because I’ve been hanging on wondering if we were gonna make it to the next gig! We cancelled some bar shows and our usual pilgrimage to temple basin, but as I said I can get out of bed and I’m not coughing down the walls and I’m doing all the right things, like right now where I’m listening to Gene Pitney and drinking some lemon and ginger tea and looking at the strange skull on my desk and thinking ‘that’d be you if you don’t keep doing the right things’. </p>
<p>So that means this week we’re back in the Barlands! For our first show at 12bar! </p>
<p>Sadly I’m not the only one who got sick recently! Brother Al Hunter got caught with covid so following the right protocols will not make it on Friday and will be resting back on the coast! So we’re real sorry buttttttt we’ll do something with Al again soon and we promise that between ourselves, Al Park and Brendan Gregg we’ll still give you at least $30’s worth of show for $5 and a can of food!... </p>
<p>We’ve got so many more shows a’coming, adventures, plans etc and a goddamn album release and so much so much…we’re a ragtag crew operating on oily rags and spirit(s) so it arrives when it arrives but we’re grateful for everything… </p>
<p>See you this weekend at the Barlands on Friday at 12bar… </p>
<p><a contents="https://tinyurl.com/4vk4485j" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://tinyurl.com/4vk4485j">https://tinyurl.com/4vk4485j</a></p>
<p>Ps </p>
<p>Between us all we’ve raised about 8 months of care for Paul, we just want to offer much blessings and thanks to all friends of The Eastern who’ve ponyed up on Pauls behalf… </p>
<p>Here is the link if you missed it </p>
<p><a contents="https://tinyurl.com/4b3kyan3" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://tinyurl.com/4b3kyan3">https://tinyurl.com/4b3kyan3</a></p>
<p>and here is a video of an impromptu, mixed up words version of London Calling we did at the San Fran back at his fundraiser! We got Paul up for his first time ever singing on stage and Warren Maxwell from Trinity Roots joined us to hold paul up and hold up the phone with the words, luckily I sung them all in the wrong place just to make it easy…it’s amazing what no rehearsals will do for you!</p>
<p><a contents="https://youtu.be/Qiotpe63TYA" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/Qiotpe63TYA">https://youtu.be/Qiotpe63TYA</a></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70446792022-08-24T18:58:16+12:002022-08-24T18:58:17+12:00Barlandssss<p>I think we’ve only done #1 post about it and already the first and last Barlands shows are almost sold out and the others are up there too, I’d like to think it was the reach of social media and of course the wonder of The Eastern but it might be more likely the $5 tickets and all of y’alls Idea of coming out in support of those for whom a can of food might make difference between a shit day and a better one. Either way pal’s I’m wholly glad of it and all of us are! This sat. We are joined by our brothers and sisters Adam Hattaway & The Haunters, Imperial April and Tess Liataud, a lot of music for a cheap price and a wholesome donation, there might be some tickets left but it’s getting close friends. </p>
<p>To us The Barlands is any place where they ain’t got an usher and where in the great words of Hank First ‘the dancing is free’. </p>
<p>Also cans of food are great! But also things like tampons, razors etc are all bloody useful so feel free to expand your parameters! And feel free to bring more than one! Nudge nudge nudge! </p>
<p>anyways </p>
<p>This Sat… </p>
<p>A Rollin Stone, </p>
<p>Next Week The Darkroom and then </p>
<p>12 bar on the 23rd of September and so on and on and on and on </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall&amp;q=barlands" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall&amp;q=barlands">https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall&q=barlands</a></p>
<p>Oh and wellington! You asked! It has been delivered! With added Trinty Roots and Nudge and End Boss and Cake Kitchen and more for the best of reasons… </p>
<p>San Fran sept 4th</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/8458067fe063eac72014ee2b1c41da30b9ad2e32/original/barlands-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><a contents="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/ticket/17917/Sunday-Best.utr" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/ticket/17917/Sunday-Best.utr">https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/ticket/17917/Sunday-Best.utr</a></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70262382022-07-29T19:47:52+12:002022-07-29T19:47:52+12:00The Country Singer<p>I made this poem up about John Grenell and put it in my little book sometime ago, I think of him and country singers everywhere and country drummers too; one of the best of which we also lost this week. </p>
<p>Forever John and forever Snapper, see you when we get there. </p>
<p>ps </p>
<p>and thank you to Greta Yeoman for documenting us and john in this video right here... </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/90a43d6f6d3a18bad092ecae7feab17fa550ed53/original/img-8778.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn54LsKrKQo" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn54LsKrKQo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn54LsKrKQo</a></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70262372022-07-29T19:46:32+12:002022-07-29T19:46:32+12:00Barlands<p>Like an old dog with one good trick, The Eastern is, and have always been, a band built to play. In whatever combination we've shown up in over their 15-year history, we've tried to stand our ground for all comers and have seen every table as something to stand on and every moment standing on said tables as one where we could be singing. Traditionalists in the most rock n roll sense, we don’t have much truck with the future but we believe deeply in the moment, right here, right now. </p>
<p>Right here, right now in terms of playing living, breathing, original music especially for a living is a pretty wonky time; covid burning, cost of living growing, etc. etc. ad infinitum. But we see the world in a strange way, and we know musicians always get the big sympathy and the big empathy (all though we often try and tell you different). </p>
<p>As a touring band who’ve played everywhere in New Zealand and almost everywhere beyond, one thing us brothers and sisters of The Eastern have realized, is that musicians are often the least important part of the process. The infrastructures, eco systems and communities from which they spring are as crucial to the whole shebang as oxygen is to everyday humans. You might be King turd on top of poop mountain but without the air your breathing, or the bar to play in you ain’t nothing. </p>
<p>With that in mind and with all things considered, maybe before the next pandemic, weather bomb, burning sky, wraith of vengeful gods or until every stage gets choked with a Fleetwood mac tribute band, your 37th favourite bunch of folk singers thought we could, this spring, wield whatever swing our aching aging elbows could muster in service; to the bars, original music and maybe a little more for some food banks just for good measure and a little extra virtue signaling. </p>
<p>we called in some pals and decided to go on tour, in one city, for one night only over six nights! </p>
<p>Six tribute nights, but not tributes to millionaire rock stars, a tribute to the bars that probably won’t grow a single rock star between them but will still open every night, to young chancers, long haulers and true believers alike. A tribute to the communion of a shared experience of songs you don’t know played by people who have to play them anyway, like it matters and is truly important. A tribute to the people serving the drinks, making the speakers go and a tribute to the resilience of those doing it tough this winter, this year, this forever, by offering some food, non-perishable household items, sanitary products whatever! To help take the edge off and the sting out of it all maybe for just one meal or one day or whatever. A tribute to being in this together. </p>
<p>Oh! and a tribute to the audiences, we see y’all out there forking out $70 and more a ticket for the big shows and we know that’s pretty tough if you’re on minimum wage or trying to feed your kids, so come get busy with us we’re making it just $5 a ticket (with an item of the aforementioned can or something similar), to get you out. </p>
<p>It sounds mental and everyone’s gonna lose money but damn if doing it for the money doesn’t make doing it, just that little bit worse. There’ll be plenty of time to jack the price up to keep us in our mansions. This one however is on us, with just enough to pay the sound people and the folks doing the door. </p>
<p>Whether we sell one ticket or all of them, we’re proud to be from and for The Barlands. </p>
<p>It’s gonna be everything we can make it be, starting off At A Rolling Stone this August and ending in November with a big celebration just behind the cathedral on a big stage outside of OGB with local hero Jordan Luck putting the exclamation point where the full stop should go. There’s different line ups at every gig, and more to announce. We’d be thrilled if you could join us in The Barlands or at least help spread the word! We’re on your side thanks for being on ours! </p>
<p>with all these folks right here: </p>
<p>JORDAN LUCK VOLTS BEST BETS </p>
<p>AL PARK IMPERIAL APRIL </p>
<p>ADAM HATTAWAY & THE HAUNTERS </p>
<p>AL HUNTER LINDON PUFFIN FRANKIE DALY </p>
<p>TESS LIAUTAUD RYAN FISHERMAN </p>
<p>BRENDAN GREGG SHAKIN' HAYRIDE </p>
<p>THE SWEET SWEET NOTHINGS </p>
<p>AND MORE TO COME! </p>
<p>SIX (AND A BIT) SHOWS: </p>
<p>AUG 27TH </p>
<p>A ROLLING STONE </p>
<p>SEP. 3RD </p>
<p>DARKROOM </p>
<p>SEP 23RD </p>
<p>12 BAR </p>
<p>OCT 7 </p>
<p>SPACE ACADEMY </p>
<p>OCT 24 </p>
<p>LABOUR DAY PICNIC (ANNOUNCING SOON) </p>
<p>OCT 30 </p>
<p>FOLK CLUB </p>
<p>NOV 4 </p>
<p>OGB </p>
<p>$5 tickets right here </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall...&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall...&nbsp;">https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall... </a></p>
<p>(FOLK CLUB BOOKINGS AT <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/8458067fe063eac72014ee2b1c41da30b9ad2e32/original/barlands-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><a contents="secretary@folkmusic.org.nz" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://secretary@folkmusic.org.nz">secretary@folkmusic.org.nz</a>) </p>
<p>MORE INFO TO COME BUT IT'S GONNA BE A GRAND COUPLE OF MONTHS... </p>
<p>PS </p>
<p>McGrath's solo tour continues next week New Plymouth, Rotorua, Levin, Palmerston North, Whanganui with auckland and Balcairn still to come and The Eastern in Ophir and Queenstown after that! and announcing soon The Eastern in Taupo, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, and Auckland! </p>
<p>and more and more and more</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70196512022-07-22T08:09:07+12:002022-07-22T08:09:07+12:00Nail Free!<p>I've grazed Matamata before, played around it, sensing it through the shadows of the Kaimais , turning left at Hamilton or turning right at Hamilton depending on the reliability of my internal compass, circling like a vulture with acoustic guitars for talons and finally tomorrow after all that flapping and floating the eventual morning will dawn and the hours will pass right up until 8pm when I'll show up at The House With No Nails, which as the name suggests is a literal house built with no nails, and do some of that good old fashioned folk singing! </p>
<p>Knowing my luck if there are any nails present I will, with my usual inevitability, stand on them and they will embed in the sole of my foot and my literal soul and I will carry them like a soldier carries a medal on his chest. </p>
<p>My no name tour cheats a little as I'm on a plane up to Hamilton to get to this one, but I'll bring the truck up for round two in a couple of weeks. </p>
<p>so friends of the Waikato, if you're close and want to come by for the communion... all details at www.adammcgrath.net/shows.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/75e338c67bab53874bfa659371aa8c08578cb8aa/original/house-with-no-nails-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70184642022-07-20T23:07:31+12:002022-07-20T23:07:31+12:00Chulainn's Dogs<p>A lot of bands hate playing, it seems. A lot of bands do not want to do anything other than the one very specific narrow band of art they believe defines them and allows them to communicate, even though that communication often seems pretty lopsided, “experience me, and pay me $70 for the pleasure” </p>
<p>“I’m just here to communicate” </p>
<p>A lot of bands talk about their ‘brand’, a lot of bands do not want to dilute the ‘brand’ by picking up any kind of instrument unless they are ‘valued’. A lot of bands talk a lot of shit and we eat it up while the crew does all the work. </p>
<p>As an experienced lazy ass shit talker from way back happy to hang out at the merch table while some one else is coiling the leads, I know what the fuck I’m talking about people. </p>
<p>And here at EASTERN CORP™ we understand BRAND penetration. </p>
<p>Our staff are sitting in monstera lined offices reclining on Norwegian furniture collating the STATS in chunky footwear as we speak! </p>
<p>We get the memos on Monday and break it down over pastries and turmeric in a huddle around our brushed steel table. </p>
<p>“Adam the beard is down 10 points this quarter, and your ‘90’s era tattoos are at all time lows. </p>
<p>folk music is slipping can we pivot to a new ‘ironic’ persona? </p>
<p>No one understands these long ‘socials’ posts, can we divert some funds accordingly for some kind of consultant.” </p>
<p>We get busy and we get improving! </p>
<p>That’s exactly how we know we’re keeping this ship on the right track but also how we can tell you what goes on behind the curtains for a lot of bands/brands. </p>
<p>Who are these ‘lot of bands’? </p>
<p>Well… </p>
<p>Nah no one I was just fucking around, most bands a pretty cool and spinal tap was just a joke. </p>
<p>What is true is most bands are just trying their best and hoping for the best insecure and confused as everyone else and don’t need another insecure and confused person poking fun at them! </p>
<p>However I do often wonder what bands are doing all week/month? They’re probably rehearsing a lot which is probably how come they’re all so fucking good at what they do! </p>
<p>Me and the eastern don’t rehearse all that much, and it shows, but we’re good at showing up! And playing for three hours! (ticket holders of recent tour shows can attest!). </p>
<p>That’s because we play most nights of the week in various combinations in various bars, for varying amounts of bar tabs and listeners but always for 3hrs! </p>
<p>We’d like to say we don’t tell people all that much about those shows because of ‘BRAND PROTECTION PROTOCOLS (BPP’S)’, but its mostly cause we’re lazy, and partly because we play so much who would have time for it, and a little bit because if you live in chch you’ve probably seen us in a million different ways in a million different places and if you dig hearing us sing songs that aren’t our own, you know we’ll be somewhere, someplace some time or another. </p>
<p>But we’ve been working on this little Irish group we put together for a while now and getting stronger and fitter every night, we don’t rehearse but we play a lot and It shows (for good and bad). It’s been a real pleasure to honor this music, gunning for the spirit, trying on the poetry, catching the lilt, tipping the pints and shouting against the walls. We are certainly not the best at it, but we play everything fast and we lean all the way in brothers and sisters because we really love doing it. </p>
<p>We’re calling ourselves ‘Chulainn’s Dogs’ and if we’re not anywhere else, and if they can’t get anyone better we’ll be at A Rolling Stone most Thursday nights and Paddy Macnaugtons on Saturdays. Its always a grab bag of who’ll show but theres a few of us, and we want to sing you these songs and make you warm and feel the spirit and sing them with us. </p>
<p>Pogues, Dubliners, Clancy's, D. Dempsey, Wolfetones, Trad., Undertones, T. Lizzy, and more and more and more and all the good shit, we don’t aim to be the best but we aim to sweat hard while we’re doing it, and we aim to care, because we do! </p>
<p>We’re at a rolling stone tomorrow! If Saint Shane is willing and the covid don’t rise! Join us if you can!....<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/6e9e79b12ce9c929be6d101d3f948469f4e4be8b/original/chulainns-dogs-rolling-stone-print.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70176952022-07-19T22:27:49+12:002022-07-19T22:27:49+12:00Travdel Safe!<p>`I rolled all the way back down the island got all the way to kohu kohu for a lil’ dream show at the sound lounge and all the way down back to c-city, got to thinking about all these years and all these up and downs and long way rounds. I like still being in the trenches, under my own steam, calling my own shots, rolling my own dice, thinking my long thoughts hoping my big hopes trying to keep my bad feelings in the boot or under my wheels where they belong. I’ve got do just about everything I’d ever hoped of doing, and theres just enough of you out there to keep me going and I know how much I owe you and I know how much I owe everyone who don’t even know who the fuck I am and for whom the whole idea of springing $20 to come see some folk music would throw the whole budget out of whack. In fact I probably owe those people the most, because I guess that’s the world I got borned into and I’m glad in between the train songs I try to sing as many of their songs as I can squeeze out of me. </p>
<p>But you know their songs, your songs, my songs, those songs, it’s all the same song I guess. I’m not counting those songs designed to get something from you, or designed to sell you something other than a record or a ticket. I’m not sure those songs count. But you know what they might. But I can only speak for the songs that show up inside me and well I’m glad of them and I’m lucky to deploy them and…and…and… </p>
<p>Jeez, Adam get to it man, get to the POINT. </p>
<p>Well the point is I’m grateful and I’m trying to tell the people that. </p>
<p>OK fairs, fair, 100 words or less though would be a little easier on the attention span, y’now? </p>
<p>DIG! Okokok… </p>
<p>Thankyou friends for the last few weeks and the ones to come. </p>
<p>Which start this week in MATATMATA! At the House With No Nails… </p>
<p>And then continue on from Aug 4th at the 4th Wall in New Plymouth </p>
<p>Then… </p>
<p>Rotorua </p>
<p>Levin </p>
<p>Palmy </p>
<p>Whanganui </p>
<p>Details and tix as ever at www.adammcgrath.net/shows </p>
<p>And so on and so on… </p>
<p>And Auckland we’re working on you proper! And goddamn goddamn, the Band you really show up here for The Goddamn Eastern, lets just say, stay on the line brothers and sisters things are gonna get stupid this spring/summer/forever…. </p>
<p>And here’s a Lil’ Photo of my godson Lil’ Joe sending me a postcard, that’s how we keep in touch as I go a ramblin’, mine to him are always ramblin’ his are always to the point and always put the water in my eyes. Him and my other godson are the best things I never had anything to do with! thanks for the message Lil’ Joe and everyone else out there with their Eyes tight on my back! </p>
<p>TRAVDEL SAFE BROTHERS AND SISTERS TRAVDEL SAFE!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/c99afc63e7ce8924a634083700c4949cc8c2ba53/original/291786638-698453471220421-7976782406297833373-n.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70076682022-07-05T21:16:11+12:002022-07-05T21:16:11+12:00Old Nick Mundy<p>Did I tell you about my old brother Nick Mundy? Last time I was coming to Whangarei? </p>
<p>If I did then here we go again, if I didn’t then we’re sweet as… </p>
<p>Anyway Nick Mundy showed up in my 3rd form class and he was a giant with a mullet just like me and he had bone tooth earring and I had a bone tooth necklace (which got me banned from all school functions for punching someone with it and getting caught with it wrapped around and in between my fist at the very first burnside high school disco, but you know that’s a different story and a different life) so of course we were destined to be the propping combination for the Marist Western Suburbs under 14’s… </p>
<p>Anyways… </p>
<p>Wait… </p>
<p>Hold on I have written this here…I checked… </p>
<p>Goddamit I’m running out of stories </p>
<p>and towns </p>
<p>and old friends </p>
<p>Shit! </p>
<p>Oh fuck it call it an encore, like when we had to play wagon wheel three times at the Hokitika Wild Food’s Festival just to get the crowd to like as much as the beat girls who had just destroyed us, (I mean that in deep seriousness, you might think you’re shit is pretty tight but you just can’t compete with a band of killer singers in big wigs a backing tape and every no. 1 hit ever written in their set, anyways that’s a different story and a different life). </p>
<p>But way back when </p>
<p>When I was 11 there was this test we did at school to identify whether you had a predilection for music. </p>
<p>If you got a certain mark you were allowed to take music lessons subsidized by the school they played lots of notes and you had to answer questions about the way they sounded etc. </p>
<p>I closed my eyes and focused real hard, because I wanted to play the saxophone real bad. </p>
<p>Of course I failed. </p>
<p>That was it for me as far as lessons went. </p>
<p>Until... </p>
<p>When I hit high school a couple of years later and old Nick Mundy discovered the sheets that you needed to give to your teacher to get out of class for music lessons. </p>
<p>We stole about fifty </p>
<p>And I never went to economics again. </p>
<p>However we got busted on that. </p>
<p>But the music teacher who called us on it and said if we wanted he'd organize real lessons for us. </p>
<p>I chose bass guitar cause I wanted to be like Steve Harris from iron maiden. Nick didn't care so we went together. </p>
<p>However the teacher was smart and said we had do some other music lessons also. So we said sure, he told us to show up later so we did and he presented us both with a euphonium each. </p>
<p>Now the euphonium being the little brother to the tuba and the fact we now had to carry it to and from school was a mighty blow to the shitty scumbag bemulleted </p>
<p>Metal warrior school bully vibe we working on. </p>
<p>The teacher was smart. </p>
<p>It was an ace he kicked up our holes. </p>
<p>To be fair the lessons didn't last long as me and nick were both 6ft at age 13 and intimidated the teacher so much he asked if we would be removed from his schedule. </p>
<p>The point of all this is that there could be a fairly direct line between Nick Mundy’s shifty eye for an out from economics and me showing up singing these here folk bangers to crowds of up to 20 or more in small spots all around New Zealand. </p>
<p>And the point of that is that Nick was from Whangarei </p>
<p>And the point of that copy and paste from 2019 </p>
<p>Is that I’m back in Whangarei on Thursday and I’m playing at the Woodshed which is actually a boat shed and my mullet less pal Monty Bevins will be there too! And then on Friday in KOHU KOHU! At the soundgarden! Whoah get back oh yeah c’mon now! </p>
<p>All the details at </p>
<p>www.adammcgrath.net/shows </p>
<p>and here is an announcement for a whole other leg of shows! </p>
<p>And goddamn there is more coming so check these out tickets and ticket info just like above at: </p>
<p>www.adammcgrath.net/shows </p>
<p>Jul. 22 </p>
<p>MATAMATA </p>
<p>House with No Nails </p>
<p>Aug. 4th </p>
<p>NEW PLYMOUTH </p>
<p>4th Wall Theatre </p>
<p>Aug. 5th </p>
<p>ROTORUA <br>McLeods Booksellers </p>
<p>Aug. 11th </p>
<p>PALMERSTON NORTH </p>
<p>The Globe Theatre </p>
<p>(tickets on sale soon) </p>
<p>Aug. 12th </p>
<p>WHANGANUI </p>
<p>Musicians Cub</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70067332022-07-03T22:53:41+12:002022-07-03T22:53:41+12:00Hummingbirds<p>Friends! I'm burning round the nth island setting fire to coffee shops and junk shops and book shops wherever they land singing and telling stories late into the night! found a sweet old 70's japanese Hummingbird copy in Waipu Cove and it made me think of old ben edwards who helped us make all The Eastern albums and all the albums by everyone ever and how when I only had $100 yamaha held together with electrical tape he would lend me his until the busking and three shows a day work we were doing way back when paid off, then he gave it to Marlon Williams who snapped the neck in the high altitudes more than once. I don't know where it ended up but maybe this new/old one I found might carry some of the spirit! Guitars are good like that! I like the North North Northlands a lot and this week I'm banging around there with one of the good road dogs monty bevins, I've watched him destroy his future by spending most his time on the road these past years and its good to know I ain't alone out there on these wild state highways where the cars a getting faster by the minute, road pals like guitars often carry the same spirit! We're in Whangarei come thursday night in this fellas boat building Shed called the woodshed and on friday across the water from opononi in Kohu Kohu, I love it there and can't wait for the weekend! both shows are door sales only so we cross our fingers any one'll make it and if they don't we'll still sing cause thats what we like to do and it'll take the edge off an empty room anytime! </p>
<p>This beaut keeper of the faith who hosts this great Radio Show in Northland gave me some airtime last week and I droned on and he let me go which was sweet and kind of him! you can listen right here: </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.beagleradio.co.nz/podcasts/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.beagleradio.co.nz/podcasts/">https://www.beagleradio.co.nz/podcasts/ </a></p>
<p>just scroll on down till you find tunes from the badgers den, thats where this ol' bear got his yarn on and the badger was good enough to let me roll without a scratch or nothing! viva him and the beagle radio upon which he resides! </p>
<p>we got more shows coming up! </p>
<p>New Plymouth </p>
<p>Whanganui </p>
<p>Matamata </p>
<p>Rotorua </p>
<p>Levin </p>
<p>Palmerston north! </p>
<p>with me solo and </p>
<p>some real humdingers with The Eastern coming soon! I'll start rolling them out from a motel room somewhere tomorrow! stay tuned! stay gold! stay free! </p>
<p>and in the great words of of old Chuck Dukowski 'What the fuck, Fuck shit up', I know that ain't no way for a folk singer to talk but at exactly the same time its exactly how a folk singer should talk...we'll keep riding the dualities as high and tight as we can and try and make it look as easy as Duke Kahanamoku made his wave riding look, of course I ain't as full as grace and wonder and power like him, but I'm trying and swearing like Chuck Dukowski all the way to my own inevitable wipe out! Peace!</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70048832022-06-30T23:40:09+12:002022-06-30T23:40:09+12:00The Breeze<p>I did an interview with the breeze in Tauranga and they were really nice to me to help drum up some audience for the show tomorrow! </p>
<p>They asked if I had any special memories of Tauranga, and I paused and said something not specific because I didn’t know if it would be right to mention at that time that time, I escaped from the band got lost in the trees with some friends I met at the show and we broke into the ice skating rink and I skated in my boots and fell on my ass, and then we went night swimming and got caught in the tide and nearly drowned and then we went to the strip club and it all went a bit weird and the dancers were cool and full of guts and their audience wasn’t and then we went to this bar I remembered being called ‘The Home of Five Dollar Drinks’ and it really was and the bartender left us the pool table and to fill our own pints and go behind the bar and play whatever we wanted on the stereo while he went upstairs for god knows what and it might have been a one story place but that’s how loose I was feeling that there might be a second story but it didn’t matter because I was racking up for free and pouring my own pints and playing the jams like a well paid DJ. </p>
<p>I didn’t tell them any of that because, well I wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate at 9am but we did talk about Jimmy Barnes and how he was the best we ever opened for and how that made the breakfast host happy and it made me happy that at 9am we could offer a benediction to the spirit of Jimmy Barnes and that makes you feel alright! </p>
<p>Anyways I’m there tomorrow and the fabulous and holy Jam factory and if you were close or even far away this is where the tickets are: </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath&nbsp;">https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath </a></p>
<p>ps </p>
<p>its good to have a friend at the breeze<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/a66142f696bb892590753bb12aa7088f6562b428/original/jam-fact-adam-mcgrath-july-1st-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040682022-06-29T22:46:14+12:002022-06-29T22:46:14+12:00Viva Small Halls Sessions!<p>I </p>
<p>started the small halls tour humble as, trying to help, trying to not get in the way, get soundcheck out of the way in ten minutes, fix the toilets, do the rubbish etc but three shows in they'd started to treat me so nice I started to feel like the better musicians might feel, like I was worth something, like I was important and then all bets were off...the demands come flowing, I needed to be carried in to the venue, fanned with a giant monstera leaf stolen from an indie bands photoshoot, I demanded silk slippers, and golden monitors, my water bottles opened and no one in the crew could look me in the eye, and I wanted an immediate increase of my ticket price to 17,000 times that of minimum wage. </p>
<p>Well, maybe not... the Black Flag tattoo on my wrist starts to glow and make a sizzling sound when that starts to happen. But they treated us so kindly and made everything easy and good. It was so nice I have probably lost my edge. Anyways they're doing important work with this series of things, inevitably they'll get burned out on musicians like me, but damn in the meantime, go see all the acts that are coming through this year! 150 shows! Thats some Eastern level shit! I believe in them, I'm a bit shifty about 'arts and culture' and sometimes the privilaged exaltations wrapping yourself in those words claims for you, but you know my life has been enriched and empowered and magicicised by arts and culture, and I pay my rent serving up my wonky brand of it, so Its important and hopeful what Jamie and his crew have got going on in the bay of hawkes, support it if you can, good things gotta grow, go cats go! viva Jamie, Millie, Olivia, Darius, Kalib, Izzy, Darryl, Grundy, Jordan Drive on you good true things! Thankyou for the space and time and support and faith! </p>
<p>visit with them here...</p>
<p><a contents="https://www.smallhallsessions.co.nz/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.smallhallsessions.co.nz/">https://www.smallhallsessions.co.nz/</a><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/0410b15d279a27bfc3e0ddad718e9655a9ec8cbd/original/small-halls-crew-2022.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040622022-06-29T22:43:15+12:002022-06-29T22:43:15+12:00what a week!<p>Phew what week in the bay of hawks, a dream, a pleasure, a wonder, y'all sat and listened for hours and hours and I only alienated perhaps 2% of you! which is good odds! Tauranga! this friday! tickets right here! <a contents="https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath">https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/adammcgrath</a></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/a66142f696bb892590753bb12aa7088f6562b428/original/jam-fact-adam-mcgrath-july-1st-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040612022-06-29T22:41:12+12:002022-06-29T22:41:12+12:00Te Awanga Hall!<p>Aw yeah first show of the Small Hall Sessions tonight! and as everafter everyday this week will be! </p>
<p>at the MIGHTY TE AWANGA COMMUNITY HALL, just down from Haumoana, just down from hastings! tickets for tomorrow and the next </p>
<p>https://www.smallhallsessions.co.nz/<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/1ab78e0a3a9711c3881d165c5ca00f2393a37c2e/original/small-hall-adam-mcgrath-2-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040602022-06-29T22:38:27+12:002022-06-29T22:38:27+12:00little rivers<p>At the folk club on Sunday we had a full house and it was so good to be there and be heard and feel worth something so thank you so much! </p>
<p>Copper and Steel filled in for a covid hit Sophia Evelyn and they were so funny and cool so I thank them too! </p>
<p>They Opened with a little river band song, and it made me think about my old heavy metal pal Chris Pope. When we were 13 we use to pool our money and Chris would pay some shifty 16 year old to leave a bottle of Rocket Fuel behind a gravestone. We named this thunder brew The Bean Juice. I have many powerful visions of what that stuff did to us, powerful visions of the powerful visions I had while I was drinking it. Of course it was vomit and tears and fights with friends and strangers and passing out in the darkest and lightest of places all over our flat city. But it was also, lip synching to Deep Purple, gate crashing parties looking for tapes and Nikes to steal and long 3am walks to the Dog House for some Mortal Kombat fatalities. It was of course, like all times, the best and worst of it; but mostly the best. </p>
<p>Anyways me and Chris loved the Little River Band( if you scroll far enough down this page you might find out how that happened in another longwindednosenseofbrevity story of a post), but we lost him to the great sadness a whole bunch of years ago before I got to tell him that it was the Little River Band who made all them songs we knew but didn’t know who. </p>
<p>It made me think of this song I got to writing about the old chch, when things were probably wronger but somehow betterer as much as they were worser. I started the song as tribute to one of the wildest to ever do it around town, but eventually other ideas and people and memories showed up… </p>
<p>Jesse j </p>
<p>And little kate </p>
<p>Singing dirty old town </p>
<p>They were 16 years young </p>
<p>They were Seven pints down </p>
<p>The gangs left early </p>
<p>The old men hung round </p>
<p>They had Five bucks in common </p>
<p>They were Seven pints down </p>
<p>Their lordships their manor </p>
<p>Their kingdom their crowns </p>
<p>Now Sold and repackged </p>
<p>Repurposed unwound </p>
<p>Singing time time time cruel time </p>
<p>But you go a’smiling </p>
<p>and I’ll see you in time </p>
<p>and you go a smiling </p>
<p>and I’ll go a singing </p>
<p>I’ll see you in time </p>
<p>It was rehabs and wonder </p>
<p>As the yuppies would chunder </p>
<p>the boot boys played trumpets </p>
<p>the beasts they would thunder </p>
<p>We were lost on the corners </p>
<p>In the flats in the trees </p>
<p>But I got you in the toilets </p>
<p>We went down on our knees </p>
<p>Cactus and chaos </p>
<p>Tinnies, db’s, it was blood on our knuckles </p>
<p>It was wild and painful and desperate and free </p>
<p>Before craft beer and clean lines </p>
<p>Soft music, money music, weak music, cheap music and selfies and wellness and sighs </p>
<p>We wrote slayer in spray-paint </p>
<p>In the alley in the crescent </p>
<p>By the main road we were agro </p>
<p>Stealing bulls’ caps and bikes </p>
<p>We were climbing over fences </p>
<p>Over labour party hoardings </p>
<p>smacked in the head by their dads </p>
<p>I’m alright </p>
<p>Still standing ever laughing </p>
<p>I was psycho going wild </p>
<p>We were bruised, we were rifles </p>
<p>I’m still a benefit child </p>
<p>I’m still a benefit child </p>
<p>.303, you and me, </p>
<p>13 we would be </p>
<p>Ever after, no matter, the pub and the road </p>
<p>you hitting cunts, pulling them out of their homes </p>
<p>Rolleston or Rimutaka you won’t die alone </p>
<p>Anyways it’s a long way from the Little River Band to that but ain’t that just the way this good music should take you, all around and back again through all the good and all the bad and best of times and things and places and people and all of it! </p>
<p>PHEWEEEEEE </p>
<p>I’m tapping this out on the ferry right now, back in my sweetest of places, running between shows, not enough sleep and looking forward and back just far enough to see right now! </p>
<p>I’ll be singing the song above tomorrow in the Hawkes bay and for the weeks after at the shows below and all the shows after that, I’ll have Little River Band on the preshow for Chris Pope and all those other hard doers who used to populate the in-between places of my wonky old home town all of whom would no doubt go and give the LRB a kicking at the first opportunity. For me though its memory and wonder and dreams made and unmade. Whether you want to give me a kicking or share in my strange explorations of it all, I’m just glad to know you’re out there! Hosannas on you all! </p>
<p>PHEWEEEEEE </p>
<p>All info on all shows at </p>
<p>the shows tab</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040592022-06-29T22:37:03+12:002022-06-29T22:37:03+12:00FOLK CLUB!<p>Tommorow night good buddies! I'm gonna tell the stories sing the new songs breath in the power of the Christchurch Folk Music Club gonna surrender to the spirits! kneel before the memory of trail maker and true good scout of the folk platoon Phil Garland! gonna take my place in line and give praises for the gig! amen alright uh huh oh yeah! come with me if you can! </p>
<p>7pm Irish Society Hall<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/844c2fd001d8398865b5d3e0e9bc04ff775735cc/original/folk-club-jun-22-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040582022-06-29T22:36:11+12:002022-06-29T22:36:11+12:00Tur!<p>Holy shows! </p>
<p>of course this sunday I'll be at the Christchurch Folk Music Club from 7pm! but also after that I'll get in the old truck and start burning my way north! I'm gonna play a beaut run of shows in Hawkes Bay! in these beautiful community halls... </p>
<p>Te Awanga Community Hall - 22nd June </p>
<p>Waipukurau Saint Marys Hall - 23rd June </p>
<p>Twyford Community Hall - 24th June </p>
<p>Meanee Community Hall - 25th June </p>
<p>Te Pohue Community Hall - 26th June </p>
<p>then! I'll play in </p>
<p>Tauranga at the jam factory! </p>
<p>july 1st! </p>
<p>then up in KOHUKOHU in northland then in Whangarei both of those with fellow road dog and good hearted brother Monty Bevins! ...I'm gonna tell you all about it the coming days! </p>
<p>after that you'll be finding me in New Plymouth, Whanganui and even more! its gonna be a strong winter pals and a stronger spring! I'm driving on join me if you can! of course all info www.adammcgrath.net/shows </p>
<p>holy humdingers indeed!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/abd3477a29d8a2e66f3c469fcde1aae28f8cc89d/original/adam-monty-whangarei-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/70040572022-06-29T22:33:42+12:002022-06-29T22:33:42+12:00Holy Merch!<p>HOLY MERCH! </p>
<p>HOLY SALES! </p>
<p>UNHOLY CAPITALISM! </p>
<p>HOLY TSHIRTS! COME GET SOME!... </p>
<p>Friends I've been using folk music to print money for over 180 months now come ask me how! </p>
<p>check the store page for detailssss</p>
<p>ALL MERCH FEATURES OUR DELIVERED LATE AND POSSIBLY BROKEN PROMISE!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/8848f2ae9517da93c6777af8e2e47dc023cb5c3e/original/tshirt-merch-advert.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/69900362022-06-09T21:15:10+12:002022-06-09T21:15:10+12:00The Gigs they are a'rising...<p>OK, I rose up! I listened to CRASS and to the Flatlanders and yelled into the ether, "GET BEHIND ME VIRUS" and the heavens broke and the earth trembled and the mountains shattered and were regrown higher and higher and higher and in the depths of my malaise I knew the covid heard and was cowed and I knew that I would be healed and I knew the power of science and wonder were coursing in my blood and I knew that I could not be beaten, nor crushed, nor undone by this tiny invader! I KNEW I JUST KNEW...and yet I was wrong, so I went back to bed. But that was a few days ago, I'm a little better, a little stronger, a little cloudy in the brain and a little dusty in the bones but everyday is one better and thats just my story, in the city of the church there are a million of them*. </p>
<p>Anyways, I'm a little behind the gun but before monday when we begin the first of 17,000 show announcements I thought I'd get this one squeezed out as signal to say I was sick but now its time to rumble!...so step up Christchurch Folk Music Club and friends of the good true folk singing here I come! Joined by special guest Sophia Evelyn... </p>
<p>Sunday June 19th doors 7pm </p>
<p>door sales only </p>
<p>non members welcome! </p>
<p>against all odds I do pretty good at the folk club so jump at the doors to be assured a seat! if you can! if you want! no stress! no pressure! we banish the NOWNOWNOW we are built for comfort never for speed! </p>
<p>amen, high five, alright uh huh ok! </p>
<p>(*any stories above 400,000 exaggerated for effect)<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/844c2fd001d8398865b5d3e0e9bc04ff775735cc/original/folk-club-jun-22-web.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/69632682022-05-04T22:48:31+12:002022-05-04T22:48:31+12:00underneath the radar<p>From <a contents="www.facebook.com/forteastern&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.facebook.com/forteastern&nbsp;">www.facebook.com/forteastern </a></p>
<p>We ain’t never ever no way never posted very much here. Mostly ‘cause I’m lazy, partly ‘cause I’m trying to get busy out n the big wide with all my looking listening feeling and thinking caps on, but yeah mostly ‘cause I’m lazy. </p>
<p>Also part of the reason is the world is fucking noisey, and these platfroms despite all their posturing keep us feeding and anxious and popping off at infractions and inactions. It ain’t good. We can all kinda feel it. But goddamn its easy to get hooked on it. </p>
<p>But that’s a different buzz, what I was heading for, was to say I don’t post much but looking over what I have posted over the years I always seem to be repeating myself, </p>
<p>Good people here, true things there, we believe in this blah blah blah </p>
<p>Jeez can’t we just ask you to like our shit, give us pledge me money instead of this saintly posing? </p>
<p>It’s a balance I guess… </p>
<p>Anyways speaking of saintly things, real deal good people you can believe in doing the true things have ever told you about UnderTheRadar? </p>
<p>Yeah they’re a business I guess trying to make it all work, but they do a fucking good thing for the culture, and I don’t just throw that word into the ever after. </p>
<p>Look, our opinion is and remains the least important people in music are the musicians. </p>
<p>The best being the people working to make all the music happen. My dad was a scaffolder in between being on fishing boats, he taught me the importance of keeping it all held up and bolted together and providing platforms that allow the good work to happen. </p>
<p>(please note: he didn’t teach me that all, but it fits good eh? Actually one tour year way back ago two crazy nurses made me climb some scaffolding in Westport and at that moment I appreciated all the art of it my dad never told me about). </p>
<p>Undertheradar though… </p>
<p>They sell tickets, premiere the music news and videos and publish the press releases and do the interviews and they’re fucking cool to deal with, nothings ever a problem. I’m way down the list of cool musicians and sell about 3 tickets a show but they make me feel useful and are just so nice and chill and fucking everything good! </p>
<p>The pandemic has seen a lot of musicians doing it hard, but add families and essential workers and everyone else you realise the extent of it all. But UTR exist because of things happening, and if nothing happens then they don’t happen. Bad maths. </p>
<p>SO ANYWAY… </p>
<p>I noticed they had the donation bucket out to try and keep it all moving, and I wanted to say you should donate to them, a little, a lot, something everything. I don’t know any other ticketing site that gives you the goddamn money immediately without some kind of burning hoop over a bucket of snakes to jump over. </p>
<p>They’re not offering me advertising space or nothing like that (yo utr give me some shit!) I just wanted to say that ‘cause it struck me how fucking good they are at what they do! </p>
<p>So yeah go do a gig get them to do the tickets, send them some shit to write about, write to them and tell them thanks. But maybe give them a donation. </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/supporter/&nbsp;&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/supporter/&nbsp;&nbsp;">https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/supporter/ </a></p>
<p>I wonder if they have anythng to do with this underworld song? </p>
<p>this is a good song </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrVERNeCPE&nbsp;&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrVERNeCPE&nbsp;&nbsp;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrVERNeCPE </a></p>
<p>#16 in the nz charts I believe...ready to roll indeed </p>
<p>anyways </p>
<p>Thanks to you and them and all of ya </p>
<p>Ps buy tickets to my mapua show </p>
<p><a contents="At https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/.../Adam-McGrath.utr&nbsp;&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="At%20https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/.../Adam-McGrath.utr&nbsp;&nbsp;">At https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/.../Adam-McGrath.utr </a> </p>
<p>Pps the above is not a cynical attempt to sell tickets just me being funny </p>
<p>Ppps please buy some tickets</p>Adam McGrathtag:adammcgrath.net,2005:Post/69632382022-05-04T21:42:56+12:002022-05-04T21:42:56+12:001st post post 1st gigs back and posted!<p>Sunday was sweet and strong and full of heart. Thankyou friends for your shoulders and voices and every damn thing. </p>
<p>It was our first Eastern show for months and we did two in one day! Eastern fashion, eastern style and I ain’t talking about the denim shirts we’re still trying to squeeze into. </p>
<p>Felt good! </p>
<p> These past couple of years we thought it best to come off the road and like all of y’all try to wait this thing out. We still had to play, so it was back to the bars, Wednesday through Sunday most weeks for two years; Whatever on wed nights, irish on Thursday and Saturdays, three piece rock’n’soul’whatthefuckever on Friday nights well into the wee hours etc etc repeat adinfinitum </p>
<p>It was good to keep the music flowing as the bug allowed, it was good to sing, pay tribute to our heroes and I don’t mean just them folks lucky enough to have found the songs and written them down. I mean our heros of the bar, the long lifers, the true believers, the three hour setters, the brothers and sisters strapped to the wagon wheel rolling through every weekend, cause they gotta play. I’ve been more influenced and inspired by them than almost anyone. No shame in singing other peoples songs to get the rent done, because theres never a shame in singing and making people happy. It’s been a proud place to be stationed while the covid war drove/drives on. </p>
<p>Thankyou to all the folks believing in the various combos the eastern created to make all them gigs work! Showing up and letting us play the ones you didn’t know so well. </p>
<p>Always grateful to serve in the Barlands. </p>
<p>The past two months though we pulled our asses out, trying to act in solidarity with those folks making do with way less than neccassary keeping folks well as best they can. </p>
<p>If you’ve had cancer, been on a waiting list, waiting deep in an ED understaffed and hanging on then this covid wave probably hasn’t felt as easy as a lot of us have been talking it up. </p>
<p>It’s a fine line, togetherness, responsibilitiyness, gettingonthepissness, trying to knit it all together. </p>
<p>I dunno, it could’ve been worse, it probably could’ve been better. Ain’t that always the good goddamn way. </p>
<p>We’ve negotiated our lane as best we can and that’s about all you can hope to do. </p>
<p>From our lane we wish you health and healing and always buckets of fucking hope. </p>
<p>To every one out there on the hard way many many blessings whatever that means, we mean it all. </p>
<p>Now its time to get out and pay the rent, rumble out on the road and at home the best we can. If we’re in town you’ll see us in the bar Fridays and Saturdays if we ain’t there we’re out in it, soaking it in breathing it up to turn it into stories to turn it into songs and to go again… </p>
<p>To paraphrase one of the best to ever do it… </p>
<p>“We’re the Roadmasters </p>
<p>The Asphalt Blasters </p>
<p>Mess with us and we’ll shut you down </p>
<p>The bad things </p>
<p>The highway kings and we’re coming to claim our kingdom now” </p>
<p>Its gonna be realllll good. Look out!!! </p>
<p>I’m gonna start this week down in Lake Hawea, a good true little house concert down there Its just about sold out but theres a scratch of seats left. How much is a scratch? I dunno less than 10 more than 2? Howabout that…tickets here </p>
<p><a contents="www.adammcgrath.net/shows" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.adammcgrath.net/shows">www.adammcgrath.net/shows</a></p>
<p>Next week though… </p>
<p>Friday night the 13th </p>
<p>I’m gonna make good on the most postponed show ever, up at the playhouse in mapua, Nick and Manu up there have been keeping the fires burning, I’ll go sing for them tell you some stories maybe you’ll buy some beers and keep the whole circle turning! </p>
<p>Tickets right here… </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/78628/Adam-McGrath.utr&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/78628/Adam-McGrath.utr&nbsp;">https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/78628/Adam-McGrath.utr&nbsp;</a></p>
<p>or </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/events/340784541390161" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/340784541390161">https://www.facebook.com/events/340784541390161</a></p>
<p>Saturday the 14th we’re playing as The Eastern at The Bone Line here in Canterbury land they’re fire and feasting and we’re gonna sing by the fireside…it might be sold out but you never know check eventfinda for details </p>
<p>Theres more to come, so much to do, so much to get done, solo shows Eastern shows, all the shows </p>
<p>Reminds me of the old joke how do you eat 1000 elephant hunters? </p>
<p> one bite at a time animal lovers, one bite at a time. </p>
<p>Info for all the shows as they come will be up at </p>
<p>at the shows page!</p>
<p>hang out hang tough hang the fuck on</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/578907/8427ae873b1a2c770459fb0ff62d08626de893ba/original/adam-playhouse-web-for-website.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Adam McGrath