| Jazz girls set to get funky |
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By CAINE EDWARDS
From the Sunshine Coast to sunny Darwin and beyond, these sweet and funky nu-jazz gals are a treat for the senses. Kaeleen Hunter (guitarist) and Angelika Heinrich (sax) are Mettaphor and have just embarked on their fouth seasonal visit to Darwin. The pair have secured regular gigs at Bogarts and The Deck Bar until the end of July and Hunter said the Top End was a "must do" destination for them.
"We love it, everyone is chilled out" she said. "Its always good to come back to Bogarts, it's such a unique venue and playing outdoors at The Deck Bar is just a great atmosphere."
The duo played in bands for around 12 years before teaming up to produce the unique saxophone-driven guitar grooves that is the sound of Mettaphor. The rhythm section comes via a laptop whose contents are recorded live in the ladies' own studio in the Sunshine Coast. Their music is original and 100 per cent authentic and Hunter said very few people in Australia were producing this style of music, but globally their skills were well noted. She said they spent three months touring Europe in 2010, and their following was established and growing. "People in Australia don't seem to realise what a talented sax player Gel is." Hunter said. Every city we played in Europe she had her own fan club."
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JUNE 31st
left sunny coast & stopped over in Airlie bch for a few days of shows at KCs Bar & Grill & can say that Airlie is looking great again after the cyclone attacks earlier in the year then headed west north where we hit darwin driving fast in our candy van & landed on the front page of darwins NT Times entertainer mag friday fix......a crocodile free article hahaha...(darwin joke)
we're playing about 5 gigs a week so theres not much r&r for us gals. the deck bar is a new venue for us on mitchell street & we are really liking the el fresco music thing, bogarts in Parap is a fav. gig & Lars is still trying to play with us = actually he was rapping with us last night...lol....Nirvana on smith st. is such a yummy restaurant & support live & original music, the iconic Ski club on Fannie Bay is the best sunset gig in town, Dinah bch Yacht club is always a hoot to catch some ol school darwin vibe & of course Mindil markets on Mindil beach is an all time fav market to play at.
its our 4th visit & a couple of things stand out - the weather is a tad cooler sitting at round 29 instead of 33 degrees which is just fine by us & theres a few new sunny coast musos up here Harii Bandu & Alvin the steel drum player......Theres plenty of venues for everyone & darwin loves a live music scene with a healthy talented bunch of local musos....
we're living in Tiwi opposite Casurina bch house sitting for a friend & our rent is to walk the dogs everyday.....how sweet is that!!! |
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JULY 10th
They may look like dogs to the untrained eye but they are our personal trainers. We feed & walk them on Casuarina beach nearby in lieu of rent in the Tiwi home we house-sit in Darwin….we feel very blessed… |
amazed at the variety of frangipanis adorning the nature strips around Darwin & the smell on the breeze is yummy….. |
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post Territory day debri on casuarina beach
July 1st goes off with a bang in the territory to celebrate the cessation from south Australia known as territory day where locals bomb the place with fireworx from morning to late into the night filling the sky with pretty lights, thick smoke & a noise resembling a war zone…..’only in the territory’ - so the saying goes for many crazy forms of behaviour here – can anyone guzzle publically on alcohol & play with penny bangers x 10 etc for a one off 24 hr period…..the last bastion of tolerated semi-regulated anti-social behaviours, its a nostalgic reminder of how life was in Aus. Pre regulations+……a bitter sweet sense of the good ol’ days where life seemed to feel safer (?!?!?!) – maybe because of the lower human count… |
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Another one of those ‘only in the territory’ events in Darwin is the beer can regatta at Mindil Beach…..participants make floating devices made out of cans of beer, softdrink or plastic bottles of choco milk for child appropriate involvement & race them in a competition of buoyancy, stamina, speed & design…a contribution to recycling Darwin style…….of course they need to drink all the contents first…its a big market heaps of people doused in sunblock & sponsored by XXXX having u-beaut Territorian day under the hot northern sun…….right now the tug of war is cranking on the beach……..good wholesome top end family fun!....we are here cause we got booked to play but to compete over the top of the constant announcements of events, sponsorship & radio we decided to kick back & just watch the day unfold & play at the regular Mindil sunset market that starts when the regatta palaver finishes… |
 ski club @ sunset  ski club stage
SHOWTIME…….
Five shows a week for 2 months means a lot to original musicians so we are blessed that so many venues here in Darwin make that an option for us – in fact if there were more days in the week we could do more but seriously we are on our chops………a lot to be said for a small ‘city’ with a wealth of musicians & venues………. something the eastcoast could well learn from this neck of the woods is the amount of venues willing to support original music….. and let me tell you the calibre of musicianship in town is GRAND…….you can still find a few covers acts around town if you really need to know the words of every tune that’s for sure tho the mix is very healthy………..
As a resident of the sunny coast for 20 years I do believe you can hear the same songs in the same venues week in week out – with a few updates & exceptions but seriously – its about the venues taking the chance & seriously supporting creativity – it can be done & Darwin proves it!
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