Autumn news
What a tremendous Autumn I have had working around this glorious country of ours. The Currumbin RSL Dawn Service at Elephant Rock was followed by a gunfire breakfast, then it was straight to the airport where I flew to Sydney for the annual 2024 Channel 7 Lest We Forget Anzac Day Tribute Concert.
Arcobar
I think it’s about the fourth time The Playboys and I have performed at the Arcobar, as we did recently. Arco, as we lovingly refer to it, is a brilliantly run suburban entertainment venue in Heatherton, a southern suburb of Melbourne. Franz and his staff are so well-versed in all things to do with a great entertainment experience that one would be very hard to please if one didn’t have a brilliant night out.
Arco is a long room which sometimes can make an evening’s entertainment difficult, but everything just seems to come together so well, and it just seems to suit our type of performance. So far, every time we’ve appeared, it’s been pretty much sold out, and it’s a great place to experience other artists who have appeared, such as Ross Wilson and Wendy Matthews.
A regular entity appearing at the Arcobar is the Marty Rose Band, a group of incredibly talented Australian musicians who play music for the public live in the area. Don’t miss anything that comes along to the Arcobar – visit the website here
At The Palms At Crown Casino, Denise, myself, and my band The Playboys entertained the audience with our Mother’s Day performance – with 82-year-old Trotta on drums – what more could a mother want?!
Bird’s Basement
Rarely in my life and career have I walked into a venue that I was to work in and said to myself, “Oh, this is going to be fantastic.” That was my personal response the moment I walked into Bird’s Basement last Saturday to load equipment and set up for our show that night.
Bird’s Basement is a venue in central Melbourne initially set up to bring international performances to Melbourne for jazz lovers. So, when we were engaged to do our show there, we have to say we were surprised. It is a beautifully laid-out restaurant, entertainment venue and nightclub. This place is equipped with studded velvet seating, beautifully subdued lighting, great service staff, and an all-around delightful atmosphere. I believe Bird’s to be the best entertainment spot in Australia. It is certainly world-class.
Photos of Normie & The Playboys, taken by Shannon Trottman at Birds Basement
As far as facilities for performing artists, these all matched the first impression I had when I walked in. The shows are run by Peter Camilleri, well-supported by first-class equipment and people to operate it, not least of all Peter himself. Like I said, I don’t often rave about entertainment venues, but Bird’s deserves it, and I can hardly wait until my next engagement, checkout the website here, and I hope you join me when we make it there.
Keep an eye on my tour dates page here for the next shows. Be sure to visit my online Shop here for CDs and books.
Normie.
Photo of Normie by Oriana Aprico-Wister Photography at The Palms At Crown Casino.
