The Detonators vs. the Re-mains at the Retreat

The Detonators vs. The Re-mains at the Retreat Hotel

The last time I went to three big gigs over a weekend was the Queenscliff Festival at the end of last year, so it was a big weekend for me. Thankfully I made up for it by having a quiet Easter and also will be having a quiet couple of weekends afterwards to make up for it.

My friend Ilana had asked me to come take photos for the Detonators and I was going to give her birthday present to her on the night. She loved it and I am hopefully going to see her to catch up soon (it was too busy on the night.)

The Detonators were on first as decided on by the coin-toss. I saw them earlier this year with Ilana at Nighthawks in Mentone, but I didn't take my camera that night so I didn't have any photos of them yet. There was meant to be a rivalry between the bands on the night (Rockabilly vs. Country Rock & Roll), but the worst thing that happened were the home made t-shirts some people were wearing.

I thought more people would have been dancing for the Detonators, but those who did sure made up for it. Ilana yelling out for the band was also fun.

During the break between bands, I also got to go out the back and say hello to Suzannah, Ian and their new bub John (he was asleep.) I look forward to seeing him at some of Suzannah's gigs when he gets a bit older.

The Re-mains had some trouble with the PA and had to get it all changed over, leading to some impatience of the crowd. I am used to that sort of thing by now after all the pub gigs I have been to. I didn't get to see the Re-mains at the Retreat Hotel last time they came down. I was looking forward to seeing them as them as that venue is the best one in Melbourne for them.

Special guest with the Re-mains on fiddle was Glennys Rae, she was really good with the band. I thought the Re-mains played really well also, although I wish they had a longer set as always. I had planned to walk to the Shrine after the pub closed at 3am, instead they kicked everyone out at 1am and I still walked to the city anyway. I didn't want to wait around for the dawn service for another 3 hours in the cold so I just got a taxi home (should have thought of that 2 hours before.)