The TenGooz Down-Under part 2

Our first gig in Melbourne really hit a chord (a very STRANGE chord) with the crowd. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. And though as usual we had fudged up some of our songs, we were flying high. at least the other guys were. I was about to pass out. Maybe it was the heat or it could have been exhaustion.I had to put it into overdrive at the end of the show and I was pretty much running on fumes.As the band packed up the gear, I was trying to stay conscious!

In the end my condition could probably be attributed to hunger,since after we crossed the street and had some humus at the little fast food Greek place, I felt much better.

We were waiting for Ascelin to come out of the club. He had been talking to the manager and the sound man. the sound guy told him that Kenya had the best tone of any Trombonist he had ever heard in all his years, Ascelin also brought out our pay, which thrilled the guys because it would would help to recoup some of our expenses!

The next day, though,lacking in sleep,we were awakened by the excitement of the previous evening and anticipation of things to come. I was a bit worried however, because the next 2 gigs would be at MUCH smaller venues ,without any sound systems. That made me uneasy.

We met up with The TenGooz at The Queen Victoria Market where we sampled an assortment of tanatalizing morsels, including figs stuffed with goats cheese and immense brautwursts with the works for the guys.We then systematically went through the souvenir market,trying to stick together,but still losing tanaka somehow. He was so engrossed in his new hobby,photography, that he went astray for a while.we then headed for the Botanical garden after parking by the Yara and checking out the barbecue scene. The Last stop in our days sightseeong was the Espy in St Kilda where we relaxed for a bit,before cutting through the just turned icy winds to the seashore and then headed back to Ascelins.On the ,we got a call from Hidemi and Ayako(original TenGooz members(they were in Cairns for a wedding) and we all chatted with them for a bit and were disappointed to hear that they wouldnt be able to make it to the gig.

The guys dropped in at house before heading back to the Barleycorn to get ready.Asceloin ,Brett,Yukari and I dropped by a studio to pick up a pa for me. We then headed for the venue.I was very nervous for the reasons I mentioned above, bit Geronimo,joined by Jon and kenya stirred up a magic in the room and we started out with Saudade and played for a couple of hours. The crowd was friendly and the staff very hospitable.Brett and Ascelin played on Stranger,Running,Ofuro and Infatuation and all in all we had a real nice night.It was great to have my old friend Ryan, Anthony and Yukari at the gig.

We then headed off to find a party in a warehouse, which we finally located and squeezed into. We stayed for a couple of hours(that means about 4) and danced to a great reggae band and then a DJ. HaseG and the guys disappeared were sleeping in the car.I really needed some sleep too!

To be continued

Avi Landau