The Parking Lot Experiments @ The Birmingham Hotel, Fitzroy

But what of the Experiments? Ramshackle in setup (the aforementioned lack of stage, amp stacked on milkcrates, drums sat on possibly more milk crates) and often also in sound (in particular the vocal harmonies that occasionally bordered on caterwauling).

Yet what tunes: from wistful freaky folk to pounding electro-indie that recall anything from the Lips to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, fellow Melburnians Kes and beyond. Impressive drumming on a sparse, unusual set up, entertaining playoff between the keyboard / organ and guitars, otherwordly lead vocals, odd lyrics, moments of yelping lunacy and boundless imagination. Exciting, weird, wonderful and bursting with potential.

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Bruce’s cocktail idea in print!

A while back, Bruce and a barman at Fitzroy’s Black Pearl entered into a late night / early morning conversation about creating a cocktail inspired by the Elbow single Grounds For Divorce. It went on to win Best Whisky Cocktail in Australia and will see its creator head to London later in the year to [...]

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Grounds for divorce at the Black Pearl

When you receive a text from a barman apologising for the last drink you were made the night before, well… just think twice when you’re offered a Fog Cutter, even if it does come in a Tiki mug.

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Keep off the oysters, Fran!

In comparison to the saltwater crocs he’d recently spotted and the stingrays he’d chased fruitlessly with a spear an hour earlier, eating an oyster seemed a mere bagatelle. That it had just been hacked off a rock by a grizzled man bearing a knife and measured several inches in length was of only minor concern. The problems started when it proved far too big to swallow and Bruce was forced to chew into its slimy, salty mingingness…

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Barefoot bowling: reclaiming the lawn from the wrinklies

The $12 bought two games, a pot of Cooper’s (who sponsor the weekly session at the Fitzroy Victoria Bowling Club) and a bbq (snags, chicken, lamb chops, salad) as well as the chance to mingle with the characters who inhabit these parts – one team included a man in ninja outfit and another in cream safari suit and matching hat – and the opportunity for such unwittingly hilarious conversational snippets as “Sorry, did I just hit your balls?”.

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