Gigs in Japan…without Roald Dahl

Mar 10

So I am sitting at a dining table on a verandah in the rainforest after an amazing Lamb roast dinner listening to stories of visiting Japan with Sean Connery and Roald Dahl and of life in London in the theatre in the 60’s. That is not a situation in which yer average lad from Yorkshire often finds himself.

Despite Cyclone weather and flooded roads, I made it up to Port Douglas in the North Queensland tropics and spent two days with Diane Cilento an incredible woman who started life as the daughter of two highly respected medics in Brisbane and through her determination, went to England to study theatre at the Royal Academy. Diane went on to become a successful actress, writer and director and was nominated for an Academy Award. In addition to all this she become dubbed Mrs James Bond when she married Sean Connery which invariably lead to some problems often associated with excessive fame …people breaking into her house, stalking her kids etc..

Diane with husband and son Jason

Diane now runs the Karnak playhouse set in the Queensland rainforest near Mossman. Its an idyllic lakeside setting where she puts on all manner of shows as well as farming organic fruit from her tropical fruit trees. I stayed at a house called the Ritz which was the first house on the land which she acquired some years ago. I shared it with a white cat called Prism and a Bandecoot that came crashing around the kitchen in the middle of the night looking for food. Diane`s friend, a kind Sri Lankan lady called Delini, lives in a house nearby and I popped over one evening for Breadfruit chips, mended her speaker system and we listened to Abbey Road by the Beatles.

The room I stayed in at the Ritz had a thai double bed and two walls made entirely of mosquito net. The insect and animal noise was incredible and it was possible to look out at night into the forest from the bed and see the moon overhead, or on cloudy evenings, see the distant flashes of lightning as tropical storms moved through the mountains.

We chatted about all sort of things over dinner including the state of the planet and the choke of global marketing. Her stories were fascinating and my time there although short will make a everlasting memory. I am determined to return when hopefully I can perform at Karnak although It would have to be a spectacular show to do the venue justice.

Cricket and my weird toe with missing nail.

floating goons in the water

After Leaving Diane, I had planned on splashin out to do a dive course in Cairns and was really excited about it. It wasn`t until I got to the half way point on the first day of tuition that I was told by the medical doctor that she would fail me because I used to have asthma and hadnt been clear for long enough. Apparently if you have an attack under water and then surface, your lungs can explode….instant fish food. Instead, I hooked up with Nic noo noo, John WHATson and Alice cream teas and took a day trip out to the Barrier reef and did some snorkelling. It was like an underwater paradise in million different colours and more than made up for the disappointment.

frog in the top of a didgeridoo

in the out back with swedish pete

To sum it up….Having dinner with possums, seeing dolphins at the beach in the shallows at dusk under a glorious sunset, learning to ride a motorbike beside kangaroos hopping around in the outback, seeing Gecko lizards scurry across the walls of your bedroom hoovering up moths and insects, finding giant crickets and hairy huntsman spiders as big as your hand on your sleeping bag, walking for miles on white sand without seeing another soul, enduring blistering heat with inviting turquoise seas full of deadly stingers…oh and Big Mamas pie shop. Its got the lot.

Dinner guest beach rave

After kissing goodbye the 40 degree warmth of Northern Australia I landed in the bitterly cold and snowy 4 degrees of Tokyo. Once the teeth had stopped chattering I went to meet Dan Moran the Man from Japan. His flat here in the bustling city will be my base for the next month or so. He has helped me sort out a bunch of gigs for march. I had my first one last friday which was a little rough around the edges to say the least but nevertheless very enjoyable. It was at Cave Be and I was joined by a wonderful singer songwriter called Yumiko and a crazy Kate Bush/Bjork/free form jazz alt outfit that were a bit special.

Japan is the most intriguing place I have been. I came here a year and a half ago to play some show with my band Ernest and fell in love with it. Where else can you buy a magazine with a round up of japanese events in pictures that include crying corporate executives, cute fluffy animals and a nude man bent over with a sex toy inserted where the sun doesnt shine… bizarre.

The mentality regarding wildlife here is a little strange. If it isnt human then its probably edible. In the Tokyo fish market I saw fish intestines on a kebab stick and a plethora of whelks and Mollusks that looked like they had been picked from the surface of the moon. I ordered a plate of wonderful looking stir fry at a restaurant two days ago, only to be greeted by a plate of deep fried knuckles. Mmmm….gristle…my favourite…

Last night I played at Shinjuku Marz and straightened out a few mess ups from the last show although I am still getting to grips with my looping pedal and diamond skeleton synthezizer stomp box (its just the name I like). Quite a few people turned up which was cool and I managed to bumble my way through some Japanese in between songs. Walking down neon lit streets afterward s, I passed waves of boys and girls all made up like they were due to be featured on Pop Idol. Hair style is king here. I felt like the court jester. A few people came for a drink and Ironically enough, we were steered into an English Pub. Its my all time worst choice of venue in a foreign land but the road leads to where its lead …or something like that.

These are my other live dates for March…

15 Mar 2009