charlie owen

MARVELLOUS MUSICAL MOMENTS OF 2022 AND MORE MUSINGS:

Firstly, thanks to The Barman and I-94 Bar contributors Keith Claringbold, Dylan Webster, Matty Ryan and Edwin Garland who included my shows with my band in NSW and Melbourne in their Top Tens for 2022. That is so cool and greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who came to these shows! It was fabulous to see so many “old” friends there!

Thanks to the musicians who played in my band – Tim McCormack on bass, Jason McGann on drums, Julian Held on guitar, Sam Billinghurst-Walsh on guitar and Ryan Oliver on keyboards. They are worthy of the attention they have been getting.

In fact, thanks to all the musicians who performed live on the indie rock circuit in 2022. These are not easy times for many musicians, and it’s been fantastic to see so many artists back in action on stage, in the post lockdown world. Often, I cross paths with them when they attend other people’s gigs as well. It’s a wonderful thing to behold - intrepid rock’n’roll soldiers leading the charge to bring live music back into the forefront of our hearts and minds! 

Thanks to all the punters who have been supporting live gigs. Thanks to the music journalists for reviewing our shows and new releases and to the radio presenters who have been playing our music. Thanks to the venues and the promoters, with a special thanks to The Barman for his tireless efforts to keep our rock scene alive and well.

Top Ten in no particular order

1. Iggy Pop – Every Loser
After the WTF-was-that-all-about of 2019’s “Free”, Iggy is back doing what Iggy does best – fronting a small combo and letting it rip.

We get a taste of most of Iggy’s personas, including the punk god to the dodgy philosopher to the Sinatra-influenced sleazebag. Standout tracks, well, pretty much all of them, but “Strung Out Johnny” turned into an earworm that went for weeks.

At 76, he still shows that he’s got plenty to offer and plenty to say and this would be a fitting record for him to go out on. Compare it to the doggerel the Stones put out recently. Sir Michael sounds like he’s singing through a vocoder FFS. 

Every year The Barman makes the call-out for the Top Ten. Every year I can’t reduce mine to only ten.  Near impossible. I have cheated and there way too many highlights. For me personally, it was good to step out and do an acoustic gig for the opening might of Bryan Cooke’s musical photography exhibition in Sydney.  I used to play these shows at The Excelsior, Hopetoun and Manly Fishos and aim to do more this year.

Live Gigs

1. Grace Cummings in several places
It has  been a long time I have seen one artist or band four times in a year. I was envious of other people as Grace’s local performances, up until recently, have very rare. In fact, it’s been almost 18 months between Sydney shows. Notably, one was a warm-up prior to a gruelling American and European tour that included a live performance on the Steven Colbert late show.  

Four months later came an actual album launch for “Romana” at Sydney’s Metro Social in August. Then I won a lottery for a spot at the Phoenix Theatre, and finally caught a packed Crowbar show in early December.

I wish I could remember more of the first half of the year… Not sure if I should blame the Melbourne Bitter longnecks. Likely culprit. This is pretty close to a Top 10..

Big love to all involved in the SoundPressing projects and tours throughout the year. In particular Mark Spinks (Gravel Samwidge) and Skeleton Boy (Art Gray Noizz Quintet) who spurred an incredible split 7”that was mail ordered and posted to all corners of the globe.

Favourite Live Gigs in Sydney

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS (Metro Theatre):
It was a long time between drinks but
they finally made it back to our shores and gave the crowd an Alabama
ass-whuppin'for the ages! With 14 studio albums up their sleeves it's
impossible to hear all of your favourite tunes,but it was a wonderful
evening of top-shelf Southern Rock whichever way you slice it.



CHEAP TRICK/THE ANGELS (Enmore Theatre): 

A crackin' night of pop-infused rock'n'roll from the get-go. I loved The Angels back in high school but lost interest by the late 80s, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear a
solid set of classics by a rejuvenated lineup now boasting 4 x Brewsters
in the ranks! They'll never have a frontman as great as Doc Neeson, but
they're still a fun night out. Cheap Trick were in top form delivering
hit after hit - if you don't enjoy these blokes you may be in need for a
check-up from the neck up!