So Peter Noble in Australia gets this idea. "Why not get Taj Mahal to come with the Hula Blues Band this time?" Peter is the promoter for the annual (10th) East Coast Blues and Roots festival at Byron Bay in NSW Australia. Quite a party. They really have it wired. Transportation, Traffic control, crowd control, food, booths, security, on and on. Every detail like clockwork and on budget.
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rrring...rrring...
Me: Hello.
Taj: Hey Barretto, what you doing the first week of April?
Me: Probably moping.
Taj: You wanna go play music in Australia?
Me: Sure.So we went. Taj's longtime tour manager and friend Carey Williams got it organized, sent us all an itinerary, (which I guess we were supposed to actually look at) and ten of us met on Maui to start the tour in Makawao at a place called Casanova's. Very nice little venue seating about 200 or so. Good food, solid drinks, great hospitality. Oh, and the women.
I forget what he said after that, but I did make the gig.
Me: So Carey, what time is the first set? Carey: Mmbndam.. hjas, &%$@* msuewrhnth didn't read did you? Me: What? Carey: Mmbndam.. hjas, &%$@* msuewrhnth didn't read did you? Me: What? Carey: Man, you are one deaf &$#%*@ aren't you? Me: No Carey, you just talk funny. Fred: You can forget about your per-diem Barretto. Carey: *#@!@#!)@... right.
This is The Hula Blues Band: Taj Kester Smith Drums Rudy Costa Horns, Lute, Zither, Calimba, Coke bottles, etc Pancho Graham Upright Bass, vocals Fred Lunt Hawaiian Steel guitar Patrick Cockett Liliu ukulele, vocals Wayne Jacintho Tenor ukulele, vocals Michael Barretto Baritone ukulele, vocals John Salvo Production Manager, all around good guy Carey Williams Road Manager, all around watchdog (and passport recovery agent) We played two nights to packed houses Maui, then flew to Kaua`i for a set at the War Memorial Auditorium to a full house of about 1,000 souls. Playing for the home crowd is so cool. The folks on our island love our sound, and most everybody crowded up front. So the guys who bought front row seats ended up in the 10th row. It was a great gig there too. WE ran out of beer though, but it's probably because the backstage crowd hit our coolers.
Cindy Combs put a band together and played a fine set of Hawaiian Music with Ken Emmerson on Slide guitar (lap /Hawaiian style), a number of original tunes including one that a halau (troop) of Hula dancers came out and performed.
Our sets included:
I estimate the amount of sleep we all got over the ten day tour through Hawaii and Australia's East Coast... about 40 hours total.. About 20 of that was over six days in Australia. Much of it on airplanes. But hey! You can sleep any time.
Mailbox Blues Jelly Roll Lovin' in my Baby's Eyes Betty and Dupree The Calypsonians* Everybody is Somebody* Sacred Island* Honey Bee New Hula Blues* Strut Walker's Cay Waimea Blues* Hula Band Roll* Kanikapila* Corrina Stagger Lee Matty Roll Giant Step * Hula blues Band Exclusive We left Honolulu at 1am on March 30th. We got to Sydney the next day (31st - we lost a day) after a ten-hour plane ride.. Straight to the hotel - The Sydney Towers, then off on a whirlwind tour of the city.. Very clean - and green. Of course - every city has it's problems, but Sydney is in the throes of a giant facelift because of the 2000 Olympics. The architecture is awesome. And parks? Everywhere you look, there's a park.. Very nice. Oh, and the women.
So we gigged at 9:45 that night - two sets, at a place called 'The Basement." Full house - both sets - about 450 people each time. We ended that night around 2am. That means nobody gets to sleep till about 4:30. Good fun. Then it's off to Melbourne at 7am to play at a venue called "The Palace.".. SRO there - about 2500 enthusiastic rockers for us and Angelique Kidjo. Good sound, terrific fans, great beer and liquor. Oh, and the women.
Crash for 4 hours. Get to the airport.
Wayne realizes he has left his passport in the hotel room.
Carey: Now, tell me again... why did you hide your passport?Scramble to get the passport from the hotel, catch plane to Gold Coast - drive - hour and a half to Byron. Gig - 5:45.
Wayne: I didn't want it stolen.
Carey: Have you ever had something stolen from your body?
Wayne: No.
Carey: I rest my case.
Saturday: Byron Bay -
Byron Bay. What a spot. If you ever get to Australia, go to Byron. We tuned up and played a bit at the hotel, Ben Harper dropped in to say high. Sitting around, just before we go on, with Ben, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and his wahine - Jan, Taj. Cool. Talk story for a while - Jack and Taj are old friends. We're in this trailer, in Byron Australia, with Taj and Ramblin' Jack, and the Hula Blues Band, good food, a cooler-full of Australian beers (did I mention the beautiful women?) and we're all cooked from travelling, and life is good. Then we play. About 10,000 bluesers. Great sound system. Terrific food, good beer. Oh, and the women. Somebody's gotta do it.We had part of the next day to mill around. We did. Who can sleep? Bought a boomerang, you know, that stuff you cannot leave Australia without. I swear, I tasted more different kinds of beer in 6 days than I have over the last 10 years. Light, Dark, Red, Ale, Lager... Jeez. And I still lost weight. Oh, did I mention the women? I can say, without prejudice, that some of the most beautiful women in the world live in Australia. And I just love to hear them talk.
Sunday, we tooled around the festival part of the day and I sat around backstage with Ramblin' Jack and Jan. Just shooting the breeze - now I know why they call him Ramblin' Jack.
We played that night at about 6:30. 15,000 people packed themselves as close to the stage and tent (which held about 10,000 by the way) to hear the music that night. The Paladins played before us, and Tony Joe White went on right after us. The party ensued through the wee hours, then we hopped a van back to the airport at around 3:30 am for our flight back to Sydney and home. I got back to Hawai`i the day before I left Sydney.. Weird.
Next stop: June '99 - Europe - with The Hula Blues Band
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