Friday evening was wonderful.
It started off with dinner at Little Malaysia in West End. I have eaten there a few times and have never been disappointed. Okay, maybe once, when I went last time and asked for the Salty Fish With Eggplant. They were out of eggplant. Tonight was different. The waitress was about to give me a menu when I asked if they had the salty fish with eggplant. She asked if I wanted steamed rice as well. I said yes, and she sat me down at the only empty table in the place. It wasn't long before the dish came out. Good heavens it smelled amazing and I was not disappointed with the taste or texture. It was wonderfully spicy and definitely salty. The eggplant was soft and smooth and not oily. I was very happy with everything, including the price of $15.90.
After this I went across to the 7-11 for a peppermint magnum. I wandered up and down Boundary Street until I had finished, then went to The Bearded Lady. I have never been here before but one of the guys at work said he went there once and loved it. Well, I love it too. It's not very big so the place can fill up quickly. I didn't mind the decor, including the graffiti walls and the branches with fairy lights on the ceiling. There were clusters of comfortable looking seats about the place. Next time I go I'll definitely check out the beer list more closely because there looked to be a few interesting choices.
The stage was set up and the back of the venue. When I arrived The Underskore Orkestra were setting up. This time around they were touring with the boys only, which was a bit of a shame because I was looking forward to seeing and hearing Willo on the accordion. I believe female accordionists are quite rare. Having said that, one of the ladies who teaches at the music studio where I learn violin plays the accordion. It looked like they were having trouble setting up the sound. The accordion player was not a happy camper. He could not hear himself on the monitor and he was frequently covering his ears to block out some high frequency feedback or other. From time to time I could hear it too. Eventually, and with time ticking away, the band got under way.
They play a mixture of Balkan, Klezmer (Eastern European Jewish), Gypsy Jazz and Swing so quite clearly there is something for almost everyone. When I heard them and realised they have violin and accordion I just had to see them play. They started off with a few swing pieces before playing a Bulgarian piece and some other Balkan pieces. The band leader, Jorge, would often stop playing to dance with some of the ladies at the front of the stage. And for some of the Balkan tunes a group of ladies would start dancing. It was similar to Greek dancing with the holding of hands and kicking and light steps, but it's been too long since I had done any of that so I did not join in. One piece was, apparently, Norwegian, for which they had invited a special guest to dance with them. Her name was Bernie, and surely she did dance, and surely she did start removing her clothing. And she stopped just on this side of Queensland's nudity laws by the end of the song. She moved really well with the music. The band also had a talent competition (which was really quite lame) and a "guess the funky time signature of this music" competition. One of the Balkan-dancing girls guessed it. Oh come on, is 19/8 *really* a time signature? They ended off with a new track which had a Balkan Gypsy vibe. Looking around at the diverse group of people, everyone seemed to be having a great time. I certainly was, with no-one to tell me to stop clapping and singing and bopping along.
After the show I went up to Jorge, who was expertly flogging his merchandise. I was going to buy a CD, but I figured I could hear them on Spotify. Check them out. They are on there. Instead I bought a music box for $15. It is incredibly cute, and it plays the melody of the new song! I love it!! So does Princess Sage (although she was bummed that they did not play her favourite song 'Hobbiton'). As I spoke to Jorge he realised it was me who sent him an email that morning. I can't say the man is not switched on. It may have been just band talk, but he did offer to jam with me next time they came to Brisbane. I think an apple pie and hot chocolate is fair compensation for learning one of their Balkan Gypsy tunes =)
Unfortunately, I could not hang around for The Good Ship but I'll keep them in mind for another night.
Like I said, it was a great Friday night in West End for the sage. Great food, great music, great new venue.
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