Howdy Powdies!

The Break played The Tivoli in Brisbane last night (Monday night).

Like Sunday night's show, last night was sold out.  The queue to get in
on Monday night went half-way round the block in (inner city) Fortitude
Valley.  Room for 1500 standing, 700 sitting, apparently.  Rob made an
appearance before the concert.  He went out of his way to connect with
the ordinary punters lined up outside, it was really special.  He said
"Get out of the way, we're reversing out".

Rodriguez' T-shirts and CDs seemed to be selling like hotcakes.  The
sales guy had to search to get my "headless" suit "T".  An older crowd,
peppered with (over 18) young 'uns - not much dancing at the front at
least.  And it was the LADIES who "lived large", with one 30-ish woman
moved out (gently) by security guards, screaming "I didn't DO anything",
and a woman screeching out her affection over and over for R, whenever
he paused to catch his breath or thoughts between songs (tough luck for
the girl next to her).

Apart from one fella who later decided to subject R to "Aussie, Aussie,
Aussie...", the blokes in the crowd seemed much more sedate, unlike the
Oils concerts I remember at beer barns...   Noticed Died Pretty's "DC"
in the pre-performance mix-tape, like at the final Oils concert at Twin
Towns in 2002.

At about 8pm The Break came on, sans Rodriguez.  Jim - (facing out into
the audience, or "stage") left, with his theremin, then Brian, Jack
Howard (former Hunters & Collectors) on trumpet, Rob, and Martin.

They all wore the suits except for Rob - no helmets but.  Must be a
local, low-orbit, mission.

They started with a backdrop of Tibetan monks, chanting Psychonauts. 
They closed with "Space Farm".  In between, "Majestic Kelp" (accompanied
by a colourful visual projected behind them of a "star-rise" and then a
"star-set" - stars rising and setting in the edge ("corona"?) of the
Earth as seen from a low orbit  and "Face the Music".  I particularly
liked "Day 300".   Drums and bass sound a bit better next to a 15 foot
speaker bank, than on headphones on the computer.  REALLY good driving,
thumpy sound.  Jim charmed folks at the front with his toy (theremin),
and even went ballistic (yes, Jim!) on guitar on one of the rocky
numbers.  Sorry I couldn't make it to Bluesfest.  Break played for about
40 mins.

After a 30-45 min break, the Break came back on as the Band for
Rodriguez.

The guys were all sitting down apart from Sixto, who stood for the whole
thing (although having to be helped out on to the stage and back again
afterwards).

Saw a South African acquaintance in the crowd - must have been a surreal
moment to see his folk hero in Brisbane.  In response to the fans, R
again stated he is just an "ordinary" legend.

For R's set the feel seemed bluesy - I'm not that familiar with his
stuff but knew some really melodic tunes from the movie "Searching for
Sugarman" - at the concert I particularly liked "Establishment Blues",
and "Can't get away", topped by a (spontaneous?) cover of Dylan's "How
does it feel?" (some very (and good) Femmes riffs from Brian on the
bass, there), not to mention a bluesy  "Redneck Wonderland" in the
encore, with R. leading again on plugged in acoustic.  I guess it's not
a cover if a majority of the Oils plays it.  R concluded with a cry of
"Power to the People".  Bit of a delay getting out - think a long room
with a narrow exit (and the plushest toilets you have ever seen in a
rock venue).

A seriously punishing touring schedule ahead for R. in the US and Europe
... http://www.rodriguez-music.com/tour-dates/

Hopefully the guys will be back for more tours later in the year.