pete ross and the sapphire

“Searching For Charlie Owen”
Charlie Owen
Cam Butler
Pete Ross and the Sapphire
Django Bar, Marrickville
Friday 16 August 2024
WORDS: Edwin Garland
PHOTOS: The Barman

The Camelot Lounge and its smaller cousin Django Bar, really are the most unheralded venues in Sydney’s inner-west. They’re in a great location, directly opposite Sydenham Railway Station, with Django holding about 120 people and the other about 200.

There has been a lot of love and attention to detail put into the fit-out with all sorts of antiques and obscure paintings on hand. Food and bar prices are reasonable, the sound is immaculate and there’s loads of atmosphere and vibe.  In a time when it’s a struggle for venues to keep themselves alive, big kudos to the owners.

Your favourite cowpunks The Johnnysare back for their first Sydney show since 2023 and it’s at their spiritual home, Marrickville Bowling Club, with a killer line-up, presented by The I-94 Bar.Tickets are on sale here.

Joining The Johnnys will be high-energy Melbourne veterans Brando Rising, launching their self-titled album, and the internationally-credentialled swamp rockers Pete Ross & The Sapphire, signed to French label Beast Records but now living in Sydney..  

The show is a home town return from the injured list for bassist Graham Hood, who is bouncing back from a wrist operation.

All is well with Hoody after the equivalent of a grease and oil change, He, Slim and Billyhave been in the studio over winter, working with producer Phil Punch to preparing a vinyl re-issue of their debut  album, “Highlights of a Dangerous Life”. 

The gig will be the Sydney debut of Brando Rising, with singer Ripley Hood and bassist Tony "The Kid" Robertson (of Hitmen and The Naked Lunch) back on what was their home turf for many years. 

Peter Ross and his crack outfit are fast making a name for themselves in Sydney and played a memorable support to Charlie Owen at a sold-out Django Bar that still has people talking.

Book your ticket often and early to save and make admission on the night a breeze. Cheap drinks and even cheaper thrills from The Johnnys under The Bowlo's Coppperart ceiling. What else could your heart desire?

Every year The Barman makes the call-out for the Top Ten. Every year I can’t reduce mine to only ten.  Near impossible. I have cheated and there way too many highlights. For me personally, it was good to step out and do an acoustic gig for the opening might of Bryan Cooke’s musical photography exhibition in Sydney.  I used to play these shows at The Excelsior, Hopetoun and Manly Fishos and aim to do more this year.

Live Gigs

1. Grace Cummings in several places
It has  been a long time I have seen one artist or band four times in a year. I was envious of other people as Grace’s local performances, up until recently, have very rare. In fact, it’s been almost 18 months between Sydney shows. Notably, one was a warm-up prior to a gruelling American and European tour that included a live performance on the Steven Colbert late show.  

Four months later came an actual album launch for “Romana” at Sydney’s Metro Social in August. Then I won a lottery for a spot at the Phoenix Theatre, and finally caught a packed Crowbar show in early December.

Favourite Live Gigs in Sydney

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS (Metro Theatre):
It was a long time between drinks but
they finally made it back to our shores and gave the crowd an Alabama
ass-whuppin'for the ages! With 14 studio albums up their sleeves it's
impossible to hear all of your favourite tunes,but it was a wonderful
evening of top-shelf Southern Rock whichever way you slice it.



CHEAP TRICK/THE ANGELS (Enmore Theatre): 

A crackin' night of pop-infused rock'n'roll from the get-go. I loved The Angels back in high school but lost interest by the late 80s, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear a
solid set of classics by a rejuvenated lineup now boasting 4 x Brewsters
in the ranks! They'll never have a frontman as great as Doc Neeson, but
they're still a fun night out. Cheap Trick were in top form delivering
hit after hit - if you don't enjoy these blokes you may be in need for a
check-up from the neck up!



2024 was quite year for me. I attended some amazing gigs, met some amazing people, resigned from my day job, and completed a year of service with Majestic XI, along with increasing the profile of Balkan Grill.

Spring of 2024 was when I got the news that my all-time favourite Ex YU band Električni Orgazam (aka Electric Orgasm/El Org) would be touring Australia in Jan 2025, and that Balkan Grill would be one of the support acts for their Sydney show on 25 January. The show went off, by the way. But as this list is for 2024 events, you can see and read all about it on my Facebook profile as well as the Balkan Grill band page. On with the list (in no particular order). 

1. Dinosaur Jr – Enmore Theatre – 21/02/24
It was my birthday, so I got a ticket as a present to myself. They didn't disappoint, plowing through the album "Where You Been?" from start to finish. They followed this with a few songs from different eras, the obligatory "Freak Scene" and "Feel The Pain" of course, and The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". J Mascis has the best Neil Young distortion tone ever, and his shredding is just superb.

2. Kim Salmon solo – Enmore Hotel – 09/03/24 & 18/05/24
Totally amazing performance on both nights. Powerful. Great dynamics. Loud and dirty at one end, gentle and tender at the other. Many memorable moments. At one point on both nights Kim dedicated a song to his old friend Ron Peno RIP. To my surprise and delight it was "ETI (Extraterrestrial Intelligence)" by Blue Öyster Cult.

It was a very sweet moment. I'm kicking myself for not recording it, but I was just so caught up in the moment having a great old time singing along. Being a BÖC nerd, it was such a perfect moment, surreal and celebratory. Life affirming even! Although, I think I ended up annoying Kim by the end of the second show. Oh well, I was pretty high at the time. Fuck it. Kim Salmon is a genius regardless.