Saturday, October 31, 2009

WPAC sound variations and re-assessing the blues...

After the Hoodangers, there was another interlude involving beers, which then turned into dinner and a little visit to the Blues Marquee. I'd wanted to hear Linda Oh, who was playing in the Hall at WPAC at 8:00 pm, but figured she was on again on Sunday morning. Sometimes friends and beers come first! As it turns out, the accidental decision I made to postpone listening to Linda was a good one. A punter I spoke to in a queue on Sunday (as you do) mentioned that he'd heard both of her gigs and the sound in the theatre had been far superior to the sound in the hall. While we'd both heard Ish Ish in the Hall (more of that later) and it had sounded great, the particular line-up or sound or something of Linda's trio had been better suited to the theatre's ambience. I tested that on Sunday morning (separate post).

In the Blues Marquee, heard the tail end of Andrea Marr and the beginning of Hamilton Loomis. Energetic, and very much appreciated by the crowd, both of them. And Helen Jennings doing a superb job of Blues Emcee, as she does every year. Punter comment about Loomis 'very seventies'. Yes, he was. And it was here that I realised how this particular Wangaratta is very much about the joy of listening to improvised music.... the unpredictability, the call to an open heart and open ears. Rushed back to Ford Street to hear some jazz.

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