Friday, April 29, 2011

London, day1 rehearsal

In London, that it be!  The Royal Wedding.

It's difficult not to get swept up in the pomp, ceremony and nostalgia of the wedding while I'm here in London. The feeling of joy in the streets has become quite tangible.

When I was younger, and knew much more than I do now, everything was black and white. I was completely convinced there was no value in the monarchy.

Everyone has an opinion, much of which consumes more of their life than it probably should. The interesting point is that I have met so many people interested in displaying their complete lack of interest in the wedding. That is interesting in itself. And yet, there are people here so interested in this interesting event that they have sat for 4 days alongside the road, waiting to get the prime view of the newly married couple, William and his chick (whose name escapes me at the moment). These people have formed little communities where they interact and share together, even though a few days earlier they were complete strangers. (Shame on them for wasting their lives in such a matter.) My cabbie declared his complete "disinterest" in this. Surely he was receiving much financial gain at this time?

Those uninterested in the wedding describe these people as being anything other than sane. They are calling forth the Tower of London guards to promptly arrest them so they can be sent to an asylum. I, of course, agree with them…….And now , for a more noble use of my time, I'm off to watch a soccer match in a stadium. I'm going to view a little white ball through my binoculars, and scream at people I don't know when that ball doesn't go in the direction I think it should. And I'm going to yell even louder at those folk next to me who think the ball should go some other way.

Now that I'm older and know less than I used to, to be black and white on anything seems to me rather foolish and naive. But thats what happens when you get older.

I can see my friend Emma now, cross-legged sitting in front of the TV in her Basso townhouse,  cheering with raised arm and fist at every glimpse of the Royal couple. I too, will join in and wipe a tear from my eye, seeing people happy for no particular reason at all, but just enjoying being part of the event, and living.

Oh yeah, I think I'm actually meant to be talking about London rehearsals with Yusuf (Cat Stevens). I've re-acquainted myself with the band today, and I'm slowly getting my tool kit together. I'll be setting up the workbench tomorrow to modify and setup Yusuf's guitars.

Monday, April 18, 2011

kevinnitrovane on twitter

Next week I'm off to Europe to join Yusuf (Cat Steven's) tour as guitar tech. I'll be visiting lots of cool cities including Stockholm, Paris, Copenhagen and Munich, and also heading to Morocco. I plan to tweet about it while I'm away, so if you're interested you can follow along on twitter @kevinnitrovane
In this photo is Alun Davies tuning up side stage pre-concert in Sydney. Photo courtesy of Aminah

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Wheels and Dollbaby

In this photo I am performing with Mark McEntee at Melanie Greensmith's (in photo) Wheels and Dollbaby fashion show. I am using a 1968 Gibson Les Paul with P90 pickups. Also in the photo is Roddy Radar, formerly of Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Mulreany, formerly of Primal Scream. You can see the live footage of this event if you follow the link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ialvzF-CcIk&feature=fvst


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Friday, April 8, 2011

The Basement Birds


Last night I visited the Basement Birds as they prepared for their show at the Perth Art Gallery. This was to do a few running repairs on Kav's 1967 Beatle bass, and a few re-strings for a few of my favourite Australian artists. In the photo is Kevin Mitchell, myself, Josh Pyke, Kav Temperley and Steve Parkin. This was to be their last show for now, as they all have other projects that they are embarking on. Ben Witt from The Chemist also did a set beforehand.

Apparently the Basement Birds and the Birds of Tokyo were going to join together to do a show in Japan. I believe they agreed to call themselves "The Basement Radioactive Birds of Tokyo" (or maybe not).