Live Review: Music Victoria Regional Bus Crawl #2 Day Three

Music Victoria Regional Bus Crawl #2 Day Three

Leongatha - South Gippsland - Mirboo North - Traralgon/Morwell

Venues visited: 6

Live acts experienced: 2

So on the itinerary it reads, "Breakfast in bed," and we're pretty excited by the prospect of Room Service until this all changes and breakfast is served somewhere within Leongatha Motel. However, we anticipate a delicious lunch, with matching beers no less, at Grand Ridge Brewery in the not-so-distant future so decide to skip it. Upon hearing that Triple M's Cassie Walker, one of this year's 'Crawlers', got to say "good morning" to the dapper Don Walker we sure wish we'd made the trek over, though.           

Our luggage is bundled into the bus trailer for the final time and we get comfortable for our journey to Mossvale Park in South Gippsland. It's explained to us that people used to come to Mossvale Park to get under the shade of these trees, some of the more "significant" of which are even registered (!) before air conditioning was invented. A maximum of six events are held per year in Mossvale Park and only during particular months because it's a wet area and the tree roots are vulnerable, we're told. Some neighbouring farmers are even kind enough to allow their land to be turned into car parks as required. We get a chance to take a look at the park's sound shell, a structure for events such as Music For The People, Raw Vibes and Summer Of Soul (Xavier Rudd has performed here). There's also a smaller side area that's suitable for smaller events/a second stage, but this has no power so is restricted to acoustic events. Mossvale Park's policy, "No Animals, No Glass, No Dickheads," calls to mind the policy for two of our fave festivals at Supernatural Amphitheatre: Meredith and Golden Plains.

It's back on the bus and we're off to Grand Ridge Brewery, Mirboo North. Here we're met by the Live At Spectrum film crew who are filming a piece on Day Three of the Music Victoria Regional Bus Crawl. We're filmed getting off the bus, and also heading down the venue stairs, and some of the more camera shy crawlers among us have mini freak-outs. Walking into Grand Ridge Brewery we kinda feel like we've walked onto the set of Justified.

"It's about time you got here," announces one member of The Strzelecki Stringbusters. Out of a possible 14 members, we sight nine on stage today. What a pack of legends! We are immediately charmed (especially when our busmate Liv Hally from Oh Pep! gets up for a jam). It's dungarees aplenty up on stage and every one of them wears a hat, ranging from peaked caps to massive-brimmed Stetsons. They crack jokes about an out-of-tune banjo and when something drops on the stage one larrikin from the Stringbusters says, "I thought someone lost a tooth," before another who reaches down to pick a small piece of something up off the ground jests, "One of those fancy Melbourne folk's drugs" - it's just past midday and they're not holding back on the not-fit-for-children banter despite the fact that some of their own offspring are in attendance. A fiddle bow is held up to one of the vocalist's mouths as a prop from which to mime taking "a toke". 

The Strzelecki Stringbusters gather around three mics, singing while playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, fiddle, double bass and harmonica. The group straddles many genres from bluegrass and western swing to country and the blues. We're told the member of The Strzelecki Stringbusters who's nursing a broken wrist, Red "Delmar" O'Donnell, came runner-up in the masturbation championships again. "Came second again," O'Donnell confirms delightedly. We suspect some The Strzelecki Stringbusters may have colourful nicknames and this is confirmed when Gary "Rainbow" Roberts introduces himself (there's also Daryl "Big D" Hewitt).

One of Australia's first craft breweries, Grand Ridge Brewery is housed in an old butter factory. The Strzelecki Stringbusters ordain Grand Ridge Brewery founder Eric Walters, a genuine music lover who has flown all the way from Sydney to be with us today, "a saint" for running both a brewery and live music venue. Walters tells us there are plans underway to open a recording studio here later on in the year. As well as bloody delish beers and their recent-addition Twisted Sister craft cider, Walters tells us this region is spring-fed, which makes the drinking water delectable. Accommodation is available across the road from the brewery and Thursdays Grand Ridge Brewery hosts an open-mic night.

Cassie Walker conducts a spontaneous Q&A and we learn that The Strzelecki Stringbusters host regular nights, the last Wednesday of every month, at the community-owned Yinnar Hotel. Out of a population of around 500, about 140 to 150 punters turn up to watch The Strzelecki Stringbusters and have a meal. Every time they play famous musicians such as Mike Compton ("mandolin player to the stars") have been known to pop in for a guest spot. Walker observes that watching The Strzelecki Stringbusters made her feel like she'd entered "another dimension" and she's not wrong.

During the second set, the double bassist pretends his instrument has run outta juice and (deliberately) plays in wonky fashion before O'Donnell puts a coin into the f-hole. One of the highlights of our entire crawl comes when Coops straddles his chair and pretends to ride it like a horse. Strzelecki Stringbusters perform Wagon Wheel and it's mass singalongs - toe-tapping stuff. The bowler-hatted Stringbuster recites a humdinger "poem" that we initially mistakenly (but intentionally via his delivery) think is about losing one's virginity, but then there's a comedic twist (don't worry, we're not gonna give away the punchline).

Fun fact: Davidson Brothers' uncle, Arnie Young, is in Strzelecki Stringbusters and plays fiddle (although he's unfortunately not present on this day).

We're sad to walk away from this vibe and return to the bus, but to Traralgon we must go. While the band bookers visit and get a guided tour of Kay Street Entertainment Complex (Inferno Nightclub and Saloon Bar) and Spirit Bar & Lounge, the rest of us continue on to Live At Spectrum TV studios. During our tour of this state-of-the-art studio, we're told Live At Spectrum is run by a team of volunteers and that they "don't make a cent" since the studio audiences get in for free. It sure is an impressive set-up and Live At Spectrum proudly shine a spotlight on artists from Gippsland through this streaming music television show that broadcasts monthly. Tune in to liveatspectrum.com.au on the first Sunday of every month at 7.30pm, Channel 31 at 9.30pm or on Foxtel Aurora the following Tuesday at 7.30pm.   

When we head back to reconnect with the band booker contingent, some of us nosey parkers wanna cop a look ourselves so take a wander through the 800-capacity Inferno Nightclub, which hosts bands (such as Illy, Karnivool and The Living End) as well as DJs (Tigerlily, Joel Fletcher, Timmy Trumpet), and also boasts a dancefloor that lights up like Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video. There are also plenty of balconies if you lose your mates or just wanna search for hotties. The nearby Spirit Bar & Lounge is inside a church and we're shown a pretty fancy VIP room upstairs complete with pool table, view of downstairs and chandelier.

Oops, better rush back to the bus! It's a bit emotional, but our last stop is Gippsland FM in Morwell. Here we're all gifted with Gippsland 104.7 baseball caps and immediately put them on our heads. After a brief tour of the station, we're all interviewed and each one of us shares a personal highlight from our Regional Bus Crawl experience. Then Hally performs a couple of Oh Pep! songs solo with added singalong chorus contributions from the Crawlers who are all spread along the studio's walls as far away from the mics as possible, as if we're waiting for the Gravitron to lift off. "I know what I want, but it's not what I need," we all try to sing sweetly and Doctor Doctor sure is one hellavu catchy choon.

An action-packed three days of discovering regional venues, experiencing hot live acts both hot-off-the-press and established, making invaluable new contacts/friends, nursing 'motion sickness' to varying levels of success and singing Tiny Dancer en masse on the bus (as opposed to Kate Bush, who was favoured during Music Victoria Regional Bus Crawl #1).