The Dawn Collective

They say the end of the world is coming? I was recently asked what my greatest fear was and without blinking I said the end of the world. Death is a heavy subject but the step beyond that into the realm of post apocalyptic brings a shiver to my soul. Whatever your beliefs are: UFOs coming back to reclaim the pyramids, peak oil, climate change, divine retribution, the second coming, Armageddon, the rapture, the Mayan calendar, nuclear fallout, Lord Zishnu assuming his tenth carnation, zombie uprising, midget uprising, hobbit uprising…it’ll be a shame to see this all go.

They say the end of the world is coming? And I’m sure it will happen at the most inconvenient time. UFOs destroying humanity while you’re on the way to the airport to travel the world with the money you’ve been saving for years or Jesus returning while you’re having a shower. Alanis Morrisette would call it ironic. I wouldn’t. Also, think of the events that you’d miss out on. That concert you bought tickets for ain’t going to happen. That football team you love won’t get a chance to make it to the finals.

They say the end of the world is coming? And it’ll be a drag. It’s important to let you know a couple of years ago we did a residency at the Hopetoun Hotel. Every show was unique. Set lists beautifully manicured to build and show the different dynamics and personalities of The Dawn Collective. Sometimes subtle and beautiful and surreptitiously revealing a part of life that love offers; and then pounding love’s mistakes in a face melting heavy purging experience. There are two sides to every coin.

They say the end of the world is coming? I urge you to come along to The Dawn Collective’s new residency at the Hopetoun Hotels on Sundays in August (9th, 16th & 23rd). Apart from hearing some good live music it will also be the only chance to grab a preview disc of some new songs. We’ve been busy writing and recording in the studio and are excited to reveal a couple of new songs. At any of the three residencies come up to the merch desk and grab one. It’ll be the only place these songs are available (for a little while at least). I’m not a prophet but if the world was going to end in a few months time you probably shouldn’t miss out on The Dawn Collective at the Hopetoun in August.

Last Saturday morning many of you were no doubt enjoying a sleep in, or perhaps grabbing some breakfast out somwhere. We were trying to work out the logistics of getting five people and their instruments into Surry Hills without having to worry about finding a car park at the other end.

Of course our first thought was to jump on a train, but once you start counting the number of drums, pedal boxes, guitars etc etc that needed to be carried, and compare that to the number of arms available to do so, the maths doesn’t look good.

However Rob and I are always up for a challenge, and we had some willing friends assisting, so we set off - cello on my back, pedal box in one hand, chair in the other (yes, I take my own chair to gigs - too many times I’ve turned up somewhere and asked for a chair, and am offered a bar stool miles too high for me to use). Rob’s drum were stacked up on a trolley which made things quite a bit easier, but having carried that up and down a few sets of unavoidable stairs does make me feel for those people in wheelchairs and parents with strollers.

Having arrived at Central our merry band of travellers joined the long stream of people heading into the festival. Didn’t take long for us to find the Green Stage (it was conveniently covered in green flags), and we were able to offload our gear and go for a bit of a wander around.

A few traditional lemonade and hat purchases later, we were back and setting up. One of our regular mixers Henry was on duty out the front, which made us very relaxed as he’s quite familiar with our songs, and from all reports he did an excellent job. We only had a thirty minute set, which seemed to fly by. Thankfully the gathering storm clouds held off (I’m sure the audience were even more thankful - we at least were undercover). Our cover of Space Oddity made a rare appearance, and was well received, though I think it may have been a little loud judging by the young kids who walked past the front of stage with their hands over their ears. Sorry kids.

Note to self: next time you’re heading to Katoomba, take a beanie.

Last Friday we headed up into the Blue Mountains for our first gig in Katoomba. We’d been invited to play with some local bands (Stop Hard and Olivine) at the Carrington Baroque Bar and Nightclub - a rather long winded name, but a rather nice room. It felt a bit like The Heritage in Bulli - chandeliers, lounges, polished floors, red curtains - just the sort of place we like.

We’d left the city early in the afternoon to beat the traffic, so ended up having quite a bit of time to kill. And of course, when in Katoomba there’s one activity you have to do - see The Three Sisters. We dutifully drove down to Echo Point, and wandered over to the lookout just as the sun set. Quite lovely, but the cold was starting to get to us, so we didn’t stay long. After a brief detour for a bit of local wine tasting, it was back to the Carrington for sound check.

Well not quite - the other bands were still setting up, so we decided to grab an early dinner. There’s nothing much better on a cold day than a bowl of soup, and the roast butternut pumpkin soup on offer hit the spot perfectly. Naturally there was some rather deep pre-gig dinner conversation happening (which Batman movie really was the best?), but once we’d settled that it was back to the venue and on with the show.

Playing in a new venue can be a little worrying. On one hand you’ve got a new crowd, which is normally a good thing. On the other, you have no idea what the sound will be like. Thankfully the crowd were lovely, and there weren’t any problems with the sound either, which made for a very enjoyable gig.

Once we’d left the stage the DJ took over, so we packed up and weaved our way through the dancers back out into the cold. Heaters on full, we drove down the mountain to a soundtrack of Sarah Blasko, and a view of distant city lights - not a bad way to end the day at all.

It was always going to be a small rush getting to the show, but I wasn’t expecting it to take as long as it did. There was some sporting event (and to be consistent with my interest in sport, I have no idea what game it was) taking place not far away, which extended our trip by more than 25 minutes including the time it took me to find a stupid car park. I did eventually find a car park, and it was indeed stupid because I was in such a hurry at this point. I rushed inside, and with the aid of my girlfriend and house mate (who are both drummers), we souped up the drum kit, making it TDC friendly in a very timely fashion.

I looked out into the audience and noticed that there was a very good-sized crowd floating around, which was great to see given that it only coming up to 8:30. Showtime was getting nearer but there was a small issue with the drum fold back not working, and something with a guitar channel, but Sheila the mixer soon sorted it out, allowing us to start our set on time.

Tonight was the second night we ran our new adjusted set. It started with a bang as Greg opened the night with the uplifting intro of Blessed Beauty filling the stage (and hopefully the audience) with a wave of energy that was quadrupled when the rest of us came in. It felt really cool and helped me forget about the rushing earlier in the night, allowing me focus on playing a great show. The set continued in the same way it started, Andrew kept us intrigued with his ‘faith in humankind’ story, before gracefully going into Shadow Friend. I never tire of listening to Simeon’s outro of All Those Pigs & Enemies, and the darkness that is created by Stacey’s bass playing in The Art of Longevity is very driving. The whole set felt strong and tight (which is how it should be) all the way to our final song A Russian Trilogy. We had a great reaction from the crowd, which is always very rewarding.

Once I had packed away my things, I listened to Bird Automatic, they were very tight and controlled and had many great tunes. I got thinking about my car, and thought it would be a good idea to move it, so after Bird Automatic’s set, I headed out and discovered a parking fine. Damn. There was still nowhere to park, so I put on my hazards, loaded my gear and went home both happy for playing a good set, and unhappy due to my fine and missing Plastic Palace Alice.