Mister Brisbane: Market daze | Billy boils | Alice is back | Stage gems | Euro a-go-go | Brewer's coup
In your inbox every Tuesday, because you wouldn’t have it any other way
BEST OF WURST
Can too much Eurovision ever be enough? If you have a television, you can watch Eurovision – Australia Decides on SBS on Saturday, February 8, at 7.30pm. Details of the finalists in the race to represent Australia are here. If you like your music live and a little on the wild side, you can book tickets to see 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst in concert with guests Trevor Ashley (above with Conchita) and Kate Miller-Heidke at the Concert Hall at QPAC on February 26. It will also feature the 38-piece Camerata Queensland Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Michael Tyack. The show will include a tribute to the music of James Bond, with showstoppers from Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker and Goldfinger, and a performance of Wurst’s Eurovision hit Rise Like A Phoenix. Fun facts: Conchita is a character performed by Austrian singer Thomas Neuwirth, and Trevor is the founding artistic director of the Sydney International Cabaret Festival.
ALICE AND THE ALL-STARS
One of the first “real” concerts I attended as a teenager (school musicals don’t count) was Alice Cooper at Festival Hall. It was dark, it was theatrical, it was fun and it helped shape my lifelong interest in the arts. I’m glad to say that Alice (above) is still going strong and bringing his Ol’ Black Eyes is Back tour to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall on February 18. He’ll also be part of the huge line-up for the 10-hour Fire Fight Australia concert on February 2, which will held at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and telecast around the country on Channel 7 from 1pm. Compered by mega-fundraiser and comedian Celeste Barber, the show will also feature Queen with Adam Lambert, k.d. lang, 5 Seconds of Summer, Amy Shark, Baker Boy, Conrad Sewel, Daryl Braithwaite, Delta Goodrem, Grinspoon, Guy Sebastian, Hilltop Hoods, Icehouse, Illy, Jessica Mauboy. John Farnham, Lee Kernaghan, Olivia Newton-John, Peking Duk, Peter Murray, Tina Arena and William Barton, with an “exclusive live cross performance” (whatever that is) by Michael Bublé.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
One of my favourite musical artists, Billy Bragg, is coming back to Brisbane to play three gigs at the Triffid in May. I’ve been lucky enough to interview Billy a few times over his long career, beginning with a chat in the green room at St David’s Hall in Cardiff in 1988. I last spoke to him in late 2007, when he told me a story about a showcase performance he’d given a few years earlier at the South by Southwest music industry event to mark the re- release of his back catalogue.
“I said to the guy just before I went on, ‘What should I play?’. He said, ‘You’ve got 15 minutes, play something from your first album.’ I said, ‘In 15 minutes I could play my entire first album.’ He looked at me as if I was joking. I said, ‘Watch me.’ I found out I could play my entire first album – which was only 17 minutes long anyway – in 15 minutes. So, as an encore – if the audience is really gagging for it, and they’ve really lifted me – I will try and play the entire first album in 15 minutes. It nearly kills me. The first time I did it, I was in my dressing room afterwards with a towel over my head [and] the keyboard player said to my manager, ‘I feel like I’ve seen him back in the days when he originally started.’ And my manager said, ‘No, he’s much better now. He was shit then; he couldn’t play those songs for toffee.’”
Tickets for the three different Brisbane gigs, which cover his entire career, are currently sold out, but there is a wait list if dates are added.
SPARKLING COMEDY
Queensland Theatre is planning a big 2020, and its first offering for the year is Emerald City – a new production of the David Williamson comedy co-produced with the Melbourne Theatre Company and directed by former QT artistic director Sam Strong. The talented cast includes Ray Chong Nee, Marg Downey, Nadine Garner, Megan Hind, Rhys Muldoon and Jason Klarwein, who will be directing the company’s upcoming production of Othello. Strong, who has relocated to Melbourne, will be back in Brisbane later this year to direct the world premiere of the play based on Trent Dalton’s super-selling novel Boy Swallows Universe.
IS THAT BEER FROM HERE?
When I first started drinking, Brisbane pubs often only sold one beer. Mostly it was Fourex Bitter (or just XXXX), but some places (including the newfangled “taverns” that sprang up in fringe suburbs) were affiliated with Carlton and United Breweries, and they sold Carlton Draught and the short-lived Brisbane Bitter (my student friends called it “Brisbane River”). Along came the likes of VB and Tooheys New, and suddenly some pubs had four or five draught beers, including what became the most popular, XXXX Gold. Now there are so many choices, oldtimers can be excused for finding it baffling. While there are some excellent products out there, it’s worth remembering that not every brew with a funky name is a boutique craft beer. Many of them are mass produced in the same breweries that make the beers we grew up with. And even those familiar beers are not necessarily made where you think they are. On a visit to the Fourex Brewery a few years ago, I saw staff members repacking cans of a well-known NSW beer that, for “capacity” reasons, was being brewed in Brisbane rather than Sydney, but was mistakenly put in XXXX Gold boxes. Which brings me to the subject of provenance: my mission over coming weeks and months is to seek out some unique craft brews at their point of origin. Stay tuned.
REVIVING THE MARKET ECONOMY
Before returning to Brisbane last September, I spent a couple of years in Thailand where, despite having some of the most modern shopping precincts in the world, there are still many traditional food markets. In Brisbane, we don’t have the same kind of permanent venues for everyday customers (as opposed to wholesale markets that cater mostly to retailers). But we do have some excellent pop-up markets that operate once a week, or a month, or on special occasions. I’ll be trying to visit more of these, but I’ve started with the Wednesday market in Reddacliff Place in the CBD near the casino. It’s known for its German sausages, fresh fruit, meat, seafood, baked treats and other foodie delights, and it was a joy to wander around and soak it all in, even if I did get a sunburned head (note to self: wear a hat in summer, you idiot). I was on a mission, so I wasn’t able to buy a lot, but I did pick up some tasty macadamias. Oh, and I had a beer at the Communal Bar and Eathouse, which is on the fringe of the market venues and just outside the council library.
TURN UP YOUR RADIO
The race for yours hearts and minds, but mainly your ears, has begun in earnest, and there’s even a new player in the radio market. Or, at least, the return of an old player, 4BH, which is now playing music again after other failed format experiments, first as a “lifestyle” station and then as a sports broadcaster. I tuned in over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised to hear a good selection of 70s, 80s and 90s music kicking off with Nena’s 99 Luftballoons (yes, the German version). At this point, the networked station is promising to play “the best music and more if it”, perhaps suggesting it won’t have announcers or thee’ll be a minimum of talk. Meanwhile, I note that 4BH’s sister station is promoting itself as “Brisbane’s 4BC” with newspaper ads featuring its daytime line-up, none of whom actually live in Brisbane, although they sometimes do broadcast from here. Speaking of talking heads, a great way to catch up with what’s being said on air is by subscribing to the stations’ social-media feeds. On Instagram, many of the FM stations are running short video clips of the “talking bits” between the songs. The battle ground is clearly shifting.
FEEDBACK, UPDATE AND ERRATUM
+ Dunking yes, but Scotch Fingers no. That was one response to my question last week about whether dunking is still a thing. Another reader said, “the only biscuit that should be dunked is a gingernut”, while others were repelled by the very idea of dipping their biscuit in milk or tea. On the question of the top 10 Australian bands of all time, there was love for Silverchair and Midnight Oil and a question as to where the Brizbands were.
+ Those readers who identified with the item about going solo may be interested to know that single is the new sexy.
+ In last week’s newsletter I wrote that The Gospel According to Paul would run at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre from April 28 to March 2. As a reader pointed out “that’s a hell of a long run”. In fact, it runs until May 2.
THINGS TO DO
+ Stay indoors and keep hydrated. How about this heat, eh?
+ Tune in to Mad As Hell, the only show that tries to make sense of an increasingly crazy world. Shaun Micallef (above) and his team return to the ABC on Wednesday, February 5, at 8.30pm, and on iview.
+Find an air-conditioned cinema and see the new Aussie film H is for Happiness.
If you like what you’ve read – and what’s not to like? – please consider subscribing. I’d also like to hear your feedback. I’m on Twitter at @debritz and @misterbrisbane, on Instagram as @brettdebritz and there is a Mister Brisbane Facebook group. Images: Brett Debritz, alicecooper.com, X-FM, QPAC, Queensland Theatre, ABC TV, 4BC, Nena YouTube,