NYE 2024

My last gig of the year was with the Wesleys at the Roleystone Club! To be clear, it's the one on Wygonda Rd, not the one near Araluen. It's also home to the Roleystone Musicians Club. Got that? Right.

I've not performed a NYE gig for quite a few years. In recent times, it's been important for our family to start the new year off together at home, away from crowds and situations we're unable to control. We usually spend the evening playing board games, and have treated ourselves to the odd NYE in a holiday house down south. The opportunity arose this year to play a NYE gig with the Wesleys AND spend a decent amount of time at home bringing in the new year with my family. We were offered an early set time, playing from 4-6pm, which appealed to me greatly. We had done a couple of Happy Zoo Year gigs at the Perth Zoo in the past, and they were usually around 6-9pm. No opportunities like that had come up for a while though, and I was keen for an early gig to finish off the year. When the 31st of December rolled around, and the weather forecast predicted a forty plus degree day, I was a little concerned. My family were going to come with me, and I was worried how hot it would be for us all. We all sunscreened up, donned our freshly-procured cowboy hats to fit in with the Wild West theme, and hoped for the best! On arrival, we met our sound technician Elton who was busy rigging up the PA inside...in the air conditioning. What a relief! Joining me in that gig's Wesley line-up was our need-to-know bassist Shaun Street and the wonderful Shane Brady on drums. Both were off to other NYE gigs afterwards, so it was a privilege to have them onstage. The staff were all wonderful, and barring a little drama with power before we kicked off, the gig went really well. Lots of nice comments from people attending, as well as staff members. There was a bit dancing going on as well as the occasional boot-scooting posse. We're not a country band, but we threw in a little Neil Young, Eagles and John Denver for good measure. We got our boy Lachlan up on the drums for a couple of songs as well. He performed his first full gig with the Wesleys a few months earlier in September, and will be doing another with us in February. With Lachlan onstage we played Todd Rundgren's I Saw the Light and, for his mum, Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. As the gig went on, the better it got. Being a new venue, there's always a level of nervous energy present, and as we got comfortable, we got a little more playful. Crowd favourites like Miss You (Rolling Stones), Keep On Runnin' (Spencer Davis Group) and December 1963 (Oh What a Night) (Frankie Valli & the Four Seaons) landed well and got a great response from the crowd. We hurriedly packed up and got in the obligatory selfie before The Moonshine Trust took to the stage. It was a nice way to finish off the gigging year, and we headed home to grab some takeaway and break out the board games. And a drink or two. Happy new year!