We thought we were going to be so "rock" with our fashionably late entrance to last night's Ash Grunwald concert at Townsville's current music venue Bombay Rock. Doors opened at 7:30 pm. We arrived close to ten, when nothing appeared to be happening yet. I have to say, I really do like what they have done with the ex ‘Playpen’. The building was never put to proper use as just a nightclub with its undesirable location far away from the bustle of the Flinders Street night-life strip. The interior is the same as it was, albeit maybe with a new carpet and cleaner bathrooms, but the decision to use it as a venue for touring musicians mixes up a better flavour. Bombay Rock works as a small theatre for intimate shows and brings a fresh alternative to Townsville night life with its line-up of home-grown Australian talent. It's clean, smells fresh, the staff are fun with plenty of personality, the crowd are friendly too, and the drinks are at a reasonable price. The room is scattered with small groups of people - Townsville's trendy hipsters sporting dreadlocks and check shirts, and a wide variety of tattoos and piercings on exhibition. However, this event should have drawn a larger gathering, but how can you compete with the Full Moon Party on Magnetic Island on a Friday night Mr. Grunwald? You may bring the funk slash jazz n’ blues slash folk (feel free to add more to the list) with the voice of a black man from Mississippi in the 1920's, but all that can be said in your defence is the abbreviation "FMP" followed up by plenty of exclamation points - > !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We mingle by the bar anticipating the main act and hoping for some good support. Eventually a young boy comes on stage with an acoustic guitar tucked under his arm and introduces himself as Jason. Life’s number one lesson to be learned is not to have great expectations, and unfortunately the management at Bombay Rock did not listen to the demo tape first. Well, that’s how I imagined this debacle occured, because while Jason battled it out I was getting the impression that I was eaves-dropping, rather impolitely, on a teenage boy rehearsing in his bedroom and singing songs about his long-lost girlfriend. If a support act does not create atmosphere and warm the crowd up ready to dance and enjoy the main event it does not really achieve its purpose, and primarily this “genre” was out of touch with Ash Grunwald’s style. They were totally incompatible. The audience was taken from a teenage boy crying about losing the girl of his dreams to a smorgasbord of shoe-tapping and hip-swinging – moved directly from one end of the spectrum to the other!
I have to admit that I went to this Ash Grunwald concert primarily out of curiosity, and for the lust to see some quality live music (it has been too long), and for something different to do in Townsville on a Friday night. I previously was not too familiar with this musician, but I had that ‘crazy feeling’ it would all be worth the investigation. I did not recognise or know any of Ash Grunwald’s songs from his new album 'Fish Out of Water'. I could not sing along or claim to know the lyrics word-for-word. However, the audience doesn't need this familiarity in order to devour and delight in the music. As blue lighting washed the stage, Ash took his seat and perched centre-stage armed only with his guitar. Immediately, the crowd belonged to him, taken on a journey of energy,rock, roots and blues - comparable to John Butler live, Ash Grunwald is an artist with the ability to feed energy and positive vibes to the crowded sea of eager faces. The music seemed to enter through my heart and exit through my toes, translating the language of our human souls and the emotions we carry, and it seemed to echo the lives of many dead men housed in Ash’s fantastic, old black man’s voice.It was an extremely cathartic experience. How this voice came from him, with so much feeling and wisdom and depth was my only question. The small intimate crowd danced together and moved together, appreciating the gift of letting go and being absorbed into the music until finally floating away. At one point a few band mates came on stage to accompany Ash with bongos, drums and keyboard to mix it up a bit.
I would have to say that this investigation went very well really. I’m quite pleased. It was definitely worth the twenty-two bucks, and I will be waiting to see many more good things come from Bombay Rock. It is a breath of fresh-air to find a place in Townsville with a little atmosphere and the potential to host a more personal gathering than the Townsville Entertainment Centre. And for the record, I have definitely been converted as a fan of Ash Grunwald, who I thank kindly for bringing me an extra special night in Town to float away on air and to travel back through time.
