charmingly awkward

SHE SAID WE were the quietest audience she'd ever played to, thanked us and said it was weird to not have to yell at anyone, or she might have just said it was good. i'm not sure coz the acoustics were shiteful.

we, especially rae, wished she'd yelled at them good n proper when grand salvo were playing. we knew they was meant to be "quiet and soulful", but we had a hunch it was not meant to be at a frequency outside the normal range of human hearing.

turns out the incompetent behind the mixing desk had forgotten to turn on a whole row of speakers/desks/or whatever they call them in roadie/mixer lingo. this did not bode well for my impression of the all new and improved manchester lane ~ check how big and swish they try and make it look in the photos, it's bullshit, just so you know. and the merlot's $6.80 an unpassionate pop.


she didn't talk much, mostly sat at the piano with her back to us, just like that helen garner quote indicated she would.

while she was playing, she tucked her left foot behind her right knee so her bare pink toes were poking out from under the folds of her jeans, wiggling at us fools like it almost wouldn't matter if we weren't there. she said later she hardly ever gets to play in venues with a piano and at the end of the show she just wanted to keep playing.

i liked how she didn't do the whole pause-at-the-end-of-the-song-and-wait-for-applause thing. after her first song she just muttered into the mike, "it's the end." and, for the rest of the set, as soon as she finished playing she was straight into another song or clambering across the stage to sling her guitar on for yes; or welcome jim white of dirty three fame to drum with her for a song or two; or plug in her discman and dance around the stage for a bit.

when she was playing guitar, she held her knees together and swayed a bit out of time. i think i agree with sunanda creagh from smh when she says "singer-songwriter sally seltmann's stage presence is charmingly awkward".

she doesn't look like the pictures on her website, by the way. they make her look older, skinnier and less interesting. she nearly forgot her shoes when she was leaving the stage.

yah, so it was good, not fabulously outstanding but nicely enjoyable all the same. i bought her "the last beautiful day" cd so if you wanna listen to it, see ya in my loungeroom (you might wanna read some reviews first). otherwise you can see her at st kilda festival or performing with a full band at the northcote social club ~ i might even be there too!


today smells like mistakes. and your diaretic task? to free someone, such as leonard peltier. but y'know, i'm sure you're old enough to select your very own captive due for release.

xx