With a name such as “Waiting For Guinness”, you could easily expect to see the band playing a set of traditional Irish songs. This assumption was quickly dispelled once the band hit the stage, particularly when their bass player is dressed as a Mariachi!
This Sydney based band plays a style of music which is a Pot Pourri of different influences. They throw in a bit of Irish Folk, Jazz, Tex-Mex, Gypsy & even some Reggae. In doing so, they employed a wide range of instruments including Piano Accordion, Banjo, Saxophone & Bouzouki (at least I think that’s what it was!).
There wasn’t really a lot of humour in the music, but it was mostly songs that had people smiling. Only the occassionly funny bit of banter between songs raised some laughter. Waiting For Guinness was a band that would probably be better suited to a more traditional band rather than the Spiegeltent in “Cabaret Mode”. The band even commented that they had requested a dancefloor rather than the table seating that was set up in front of the stage. Overall, the set was a collection of fun songs that satisfied the punters.
The second show for the evening was “The A to B Lectures ( An Exposition of Accordion & Banjo)”. This show featured Neil Thomas acting as the Lecturer. He traced the origins of both instruments & told a skewed version of general world & musical history where Banjos & Accordions were the stars. We were told stories such as that of the banjo’s influence on Reggae music (apparently Bob Marley owned one!) & the tale of a Spanish man (Jose) who after trying almost every instrument to woo his sweetheart, finally won her over with a Banjo. His Lecturer character was portrayed as a bit of a Music Nerd, who enthusiastically read from his notes & bopped along with the music.
The performers who played the music of the show were Gus MacMillan on banjo & Carolyn Connors on Accordion. They were both attired in formal wear as if part of an orchestra. This highbrow mood was such that the Banjo plectrum was handed to Gus by an assistant using a silver tray! Despite these appearances, the music that they performed together covered a wide spectrum. We were treated to unique versions of songs such as ABBA’s “Money,Money,Money”, Barry White’s “You’re My Everything”, Dragon’s “April Sun in Cuba” & Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor” . They were also joined by a vocalist named Benjamin for a rendition of the Bob Marley classic “Jammin’”.
When Neil began a section on Banjo music in film & both players donned banjos, I’m sure that everyone in the audience was expecting a bit of “Dueling Banjos”, but instead a banjo piece from the film “Bonny & Clyde” was performed.
At one stage of the show, Neil acknowledged that the instruments sometimes got a bad wrap in the wider musical community. He recounted some defamatory jokes (“What do you get if you throw an Accordion & Banjo off a building”, Answer: “Applause”) & the duo played an experimental piece to prove that the instruments were indeed “hip”. If this piece wasn’t in a comedy show, it would probably be applauded at an event in the “What Is Music?” Festival!
They came back for an encore & played a couple of Disco classics, “You Should Be Dancin’” & “You Sexy Thing”. Benjamin joined them once more to provide so Beatboxing. It was a great finish to a unique & fun show.