Neil McCabe, a famous tour manager based in Sydney, became one of my best friends down there in Aussie and this was the view out of his front door at Coogie Beach. I went to stay with him here as much as possible..... it was a fantastic place, not only his very cool apartment but the fact that I could wake up, put on some trunks and walk across the road to the beach and wake up in the surf. It really can't get much better can it ?
And here is the man himself. Thanks Neil for looking after me when I was so young and vunerable..... oh and introducing me to the Manzil Room too !! https://australianmusichistory.com/the-manzil-room-springfields/ Here's a great site to go spend a few hours in as well.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Here we are on a glorious afternoon, playing on a beach in Sydney................. really can't explain how glorious it was doing shows here...... really can't.
Now what a festival Sweetwaters was. In New Zealand and in the middle of nowhere. Wow the crowds were amazing, and I have NEVER seen such a mountain that was the empty beer cans of that festival. I wish I'd taken a picture of it... We played sometime in the day. Talking Heads were headliners one night and Cold Chisel were headlining the other night.
Audio Player
Click title or image to play
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your
Flash plugin.
We ended up going to Perth twice, once supporting the Angels at the Ents Centre but first with Roxy Music. The second time we spent a few days there and played a few other venues. One of them the University and when we drove there for soundcheck I drove through some gates from the street on to a playing field, and the level was a little different, the street being higher. That didn't matter on the way in but after soundcheck, when I drove back out to go get some dinner, with all the band in the car, we were heavily loaded. As we drove across the point between dirt and road, there was a steel gate post stopper buried into the ground so the gates could be shut and locked. Well, the axle caught the steel and we came to an instant stop. It cut the axle close in half and we were going nowhere. I called cabs and then called Avis or Hertz, whatever, and they refused to give me another car, how embarassing...
I include a couple of photos of Matt Finish in full swing as well. I became a huge fan of these four guys and I got a lot more involved in Matt Moffitt's life and career later in the 80's around '88, but for a great bit of rock and roll, tight tight playing, brilliant drumming, I'm going on too much, I swear, check out their site and buy the '81 live at the Musicians club concert DVD you will not be disappointed, it holds its own to this day
https://www.mattfinish.net/
I must not forget to mention what a great little crew this tour and this band had at the time. Marcus, Michael and Kim worked their socks off. The trucks were smaller down here, so they didn't put wheels on the cases, they carried them. I tell you it was a sweaty job and these three guys were brilliant, the band were lucky to have them, true respect from me xx
One day Neil's girlfriend was getting up, Neil had gone to work, and the apartment started shaking. The next thing she knew the walls were moving and she ran for her life. You see this amazing apartment was right next to a building site that was putting up a new complex. It seems the builders had got too near to the footings of Neil's apartment building, and the whole place collapsed. It was the end of this lovely place. Such a shame...... Crime, I mean.
