Art Gallery Jaunt - Brian's Angels

Here's a shot of the Angels dealing with Brian. Mikki and Maria were waiting patiently at the correct art gallery while we fooled around outside the wrong gallery!

Sunnybank State High School gig - CANCELLED

O well, it's not the best week, Sunnybank State High School has cancelled their whole Culture Snaps program this year as the kids, who actively should take part in the organisation, pretty much have done exactly nothing. So they cancelled the whole thing.

So this means, that for the first time in almost a year, we don't have a gig coming up in the next few weeks! Don't worry, they will come. I'm already talking about a possible one in the Gold Coast!

Enjoy the break!

Girls' Day Out

Next Saturday, 22nd May, some of us Samba Goddesses are having a girls' day out to see the exhibition "Hats: an anthology by Stephen Jones" at GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art, South Brisbane). Join us for a fun day!

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and one of the world’s foremost milliners, Stephen Jones. Exploring the fascinating world of millinery, the exhibition presents more than 250 hats and iconic headpieces from the V&A’s extensive collection and Jones’s own archive.

The plan is:
> Meet at GoMA entrance 11 am next Saturday 22nd.
> See the exhibition
> Maybe make a hat
> Have late lunch together afterwards at the cafe on-site

Admission is free.

Even if you are not a girl but would like to explore your feminimime side, you are welcome to come along. Just expect to be treated like a little brother. :)

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are coming, allow for the fact that traffic will be very heavy in South Brisbane next weekend, as Paniyiri Festival is on. You may want to use public transport.

Reds Last Game 2010

Notice how hard Gail and Patty want "to be seen" ?

More photos here

Meat!

Further to tonight's dinner can I recommend the following shirt:

Details for Saturday's gig @ SunCorp

I trust everyone had a great night tonight! So let's play with Fernando one more time tomorrow @ SunCorp! It's going to be a big one again, with at least 30,000 visitors!

• Where: SunCorp Stadium (Reds vs Wanckers)
• Timetable:
• 5.15pm I'll arrive with car & trailer, start unloading instruments
• 5.30pm you guys meet at boom gate, go to dress room
• 6.00pm - 7.00pm we play at North plaza. Some breaks in between 'sets'. 
• 7.15pm - ready to play in stadium
• 7.30pm - kick-off, play during 1st and 2nd half

• Dress code - use Reds shirts from last time, please wear black pants. I'll still have a few spares for those that weren't there last few times. At the end, you can keep your shirt.
• No car parking unfortunately except for me and the trailer. The Reds does not have the arrangement with the car park opposite the stadium like Roar, unfortunately.
• This time, no tickets available for guests, unfortunately. If anyone really needs one let me know though
• In case of rain we will seek shelter to protect instruments and fragile sambistas.
• In case of a win, we hang around until the team leaves the field.
• Rehearsals next few weeks will be free for all! Those people not playing on Saturday can buy me and other performers a beer ;-)

Security procedure - please read:

Because the organisation forgot to block off the seats, we'll play in the North East tunnel (well really in between the tunnel and the field. Because this is an emergency exit, please note the following:

1. The seats must stay in the formation provided. They CANNOT queue across the full width of the tunnel and must not hinder entry and exit for other suppliers.
2. They must stay OFF the grass. Once they are in the tunnel they cannot wander onto the grass at all.
3. All band members must stay with their instruments at all times. (From the Stadium: In the unlikely need to evacuate the venue the tunnel forms part of evacuation path so these need to be clear if in this mode. There will not be time to find the owner of musical equipment if left attended and obstacles of this nature can be deadly when thousands are trying to evacuate). Note from Remko: in case of an evacuation also grab your chair, I think!

Patty	Agogo
Will	Caixa
Denis	Caixa
Miki	Ganza
Sarah	Ganza
Remko	Repinique
Josh	Repinique
Darren	S1
Mike	S1
Brian	S2
Gail	S2
Fernando	S3
Warren	S3
Elwin	S3
Maria	Tamborim
Pri	Tamborim

Powerhouse gig Tuesday 18 May CANCELLED

I received a call from Dorian last night: negotiations with the Powerhouse and Brisbane City Council have been difficult and only yesterday Council indicated they just want a 'drum roll' during the presentation on Tuesday.

As I think it is ridiculous to get a full Samba School to the Powerhouse just to do a drum roll, and Dorian agrees, we have cancelled the Samba School appearance.

I am very disappointed, not only because we like playing there but also because this was to be Fernando's last performance. Fortunately we still play at Suncorp on Saturday! And of course there's the Churrasco tomorrow!

Fernando's farewell dinner!

Just confirming, everything has been booked for this Friday.
We start at 6pm.


Mundo Churrasco
Address: 63 Macgregor Tce, Bardon.

See you there!

Unlimited beautiful meat, $7.50 caipirinhas!

Xeque Balde vs Pandeiro (Nereu from Trio Mocoto)

Punjabi Palace

Finally we have a plan for Brisbane's best Indian. Anyone interest please respond. We will meet at the Polish Club at 5pm next Thursday 13th May before rehearsal. The booking will be for 5:30pm. We can car pool to the restaurant.

Darren

Unofficial Farewell Dinner No.1

Fernando's 'official' farewell dinner!

As you all know, the samba school will enter a tough period when Fernando leaves for Brazil late May. Fernando has been a very dedicated member of the samba school, playing pretty much each gig and most rehearsals. Besides that he also is a great friend of most people in the samba school.

So, I was not going to let him go without organising something special. And a couple of weeks ago, an opportunity presented itself when I received an email from a new Brazilian restaurant in Bardon. This is an authentic Brazilian BBQ 'Churrasco' restaurant, and they needed a small bateria to play during their opening last week. Which six of us did. Instead of payment, I negotiated a number of food vouchers, as I could not think of a better place to have Fernando's official farewell dinner!

When: Friday night 14 May, 7pm
Where: Mundo Churrasco, 63 Macgregor Tce, Bardon

Could you please let me know by email asap if you want to join this special event? If you want to bring someone, please let me know as well of course.

Fortunately, this won't be the last we've seen of Fernando: we got two more gigs later in May, at SunCorp the next day on the 15th and in the Power House on Tuesday 18 May. Our first gig without Fernando will be at Sunnybank State Highschool, Friday 28 May.

Pagode in a Vietnamese restaurant by Aussie Sambistas ?

I'm organizing a get together of the Primavera sambistas at a good Vietnamese restaurant , in Darra, for Fernando . The tentative plan is:

Next weekend on Sunday May 2nd @ 7:00PM
At KIM KHANH - B.Y.O. Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant
67 Cardiff Road DARRA - At the round about
tel. 3375 3014

Please let me know on thursday rehearsal of the number so I can do the booking.

If the condition is right, the owner may let us dine at the more private table upstairs and play Pagode to our heart content. ... Well, bring your musical instrument and play if we feel like it.

Fernando is on a mission to taste as much Chinese and Vietnamese food before heading home to Brazil. Please note: This is not a farewell party for Fernando, just pure lust for food. Remko will organize another official one later.

ABC Radio 612 interview with Reds' Coach

On the radio interview this afternoon, the Reds' coach Ewen McKenzie has mentioned how a bunch of drummers..."with real big drums" have incited the most vocal Qld rugby crowd. He compared last night atmosphere with the State of Origin. ..... Well played guys !. Wish I was there .

The interview was about building up a Reds culture and how the crowd is increasingly vocal and supportive to the team and its style of playing. ...... then I drove under the Inner City Bypass tunnel and couldn't hear what else he said about us with all the static on the AM radio ! :-{

[edit by Remko: here's a page on the ABC website with some of the interviews. I couldn't hear the reference above but you can clearly hear the drums in the background on some of the interviews]

Pandeiro vs Cavaco

Details for Friday's gig @ SunCorp

Thanks to all of you who have replied to my emails, we currently have 12 people confirmed, with maybe one or two more.  It's going to be a big one, with at least 30,000 visitors!

• Where: SunCorp Stadium (Reds vs Stormers)
• Timetable:
• 5.15pm I'll arrive with car & trailer, start unloading instruments
• 5.30pm you guys meet at boom gate, go to dress room
• 6.00pm - 7.00pm we play at one of the plazas - to be confirmed. Some breaks in between 'sets'. I have again requested NOT to play on both sides of the stadium
• 7.15pm - ready to play in stadium
• 7.30pm - kick-off, play during 1st and 2nd half

• Dress code - use Reds shirts from Saturday, please wear black pants. I'll have a few spares for those that weren't there last week. At the end, please take your shirt home for use in the next game
• No car parking unfortunately except for me and the trailer. The Reds does not have the arrangement with the car park opposite the stadium like Roar, unfortunately
• This time, no tickets available for guests, unfortunately. If anyone really needs one let me know though
• In case of rain we will seek shelter to protect instruments and fragile sambistas
• In case of a win, we hang around until the team leaves the field (I stuffed that up last time)
• Rehearsals next few weeks will be free for all! Those people not playing on Friday can buy me and other performers a beer ;-)

Remember - no rehearsal this Thursday 22 April!

I look forward to seeing you again this Friday!

Denis	Caixa
Remko	Repinique
Josh	Repinique
Darren	S1
Mike	S1
Elwin	S2
Helen	S2
Fernando	S3
Warren	S3
Cedric	S3
Miki	Shaker
Pri	Shaker/tamborim
Gail	Shaker
Art	Shaker/tamborim

Any questions, let me know!

Rehearsal this week 22 April cancelled

I am very sorry (again!) but because of an incredibly busy week, I think it's best to cancel this Thursday's rehearsal. 

• On Wednesday night, some of us have a small but important gig (only 6 players) 'for the benefit of all of us' - more about that 'benefit' very soon!
• On Friday night, we have another big Reds game at SunCorp (they expect over 30,000 visitors that night). As always, this will be a long night.

So, to avoid tiring myself too much and possibly a few of you as well, and because I don't want to neglect my family life too much either, I have made this decision. Don't worry, I'll still be doing plenty of free classes in the next couple of months!

Talking about Friday night, we still don't have enough people for this important gig, can I persuade anyone who has declined for that night to change their mind? Please?

To All Shekere Players, . . .

An interesting polyrhythmic arrangement for our shekere players to do solo acts in Maracatu rhythm ?



Amalgama is a Latin American percussion trio based in Brussels.

And .... an interesting clip from Michael Pluznick .

Reds Home Game - April 17th

More pictures here

Details for Saturday's gig @ SunCorp

Thanks to all of you who have replied to my emails, we currently have 13 people confirmed, with maybe a couple more. Will be a great vibe, I'm sure!

• Where: SunCorp Stadium (Reds vs Bulls)
• Timetable:
• 5.15pm I'll arrive with car & trailer, start unloading instruments
• 5.30pm you guys meet at boom gate, go to dress room for face painting
• 6.00pm - 7.00pm we play at Northern Plaza (Caxton Street end - this has changed). Some breaks in between 'sets'. I have requested NOT to play on both sides - too tiring
• 7.15pm - ready to play in stadium
• 7.30pm - kick-off, play during 1st and 2nd half

• Dress code - we'll get (new) Reds shirts, please wear black pants. This time we'll take the shirts home for use in next games
• No car parking unfortunately except for me and the trailer. The Reds does not have the arrangement with the car park opposite the stadium like Roar, unfortunately
• This time, no tickets available for guests, unfortunately. If anyone really needs one let me know though
• In case of rain we will seek shelter to protect instruments and fragile sambistas
• In case of a win, we hang around until the team leaves the field (I stuffed that up last time)
• Rehearsal this week and next week (15 and 22 April) will be free for all! Those people not playing on Saturday can buy me and other performers a beer ;-)

Erin	Caixa
Denis	Caixa
Remko	Repinique
Josh	Repinique
Darren	S1
Brian	S2
Fernando	S3
Will	S3
Warren	S3
Lynne	Shaker
Gail	Shaker
Claire	Tamborim
Pri	Tamborim

Some points that I feel I have to make, reluctantly:

• Of course, please be on time: 5.30pm sharp. Not 5.35pm, please plan ahead. As always we have to get in as a group because of security issues. 
• As you all know, no one in the samba school is required to play at gigs. If you do, fantastic, if not, that's really OK. I never put real pressure on people to play at a gig. However, once you have confirmed you play at a gig, I do expect you to be there. Of course this is because of the commitments we have as a group to the organiser, and to each other. Last minute cancellations certainly don't amuse me, and add to the level of stress during the gig, which makes it less enjoyable for everyone. Of course, legitimate reasons are OK.
• If you are playing at a gig (any gig), I expect you to be there for the full length of the gig, and not walk out in the middle of the event, unless agreed with me. Certainly not without discussing this with me. I feel such behaviour really lets the team down.

I look forward to playing again this Saturday, it has been too long already! And, there's more gigs coming up soon, as you know!

I will confirm who plays what instrument later this week by editing this post.

Any questions, let me know!