Yabun*...

..or the gig that almost wasn't. But it was, and it was lots of fun too.

Gardens Magic 2019

As a very recent entity, the two of us making up Kuki Koori have managed to foster a Be Prepared, Be Very Prepared attitude, knowing the dangers of relying on technology and power supplies.  So, sound and visual checks are Not To Be Missed and our gear is handled Reverently.

And after a great soundcheck, on a PA system that had been running smoothly for 17 days, we were pretty relaxed. The Gardens Magic series has been going for 20+ years  and the bands on before us -  A.U.R.A. , CL-Audio, and Rob Thorne - were sounding good too. Time to relax and enjoy the ambience of a friendly crowd and the very pleasantly warm Wellington Botanic Gardens venue.

We had a 25 minute set planned for when the sun went down...but 10 minutes into A.U.R.A.s set there was an ominous sound...of silence. It was, it seemed, a fuse and a fried mixing desk. After an interesting interim, with MC Polyfilla dragged back onto the stage (pun intended) and Rob Thorne traipsing through the crowd with putorino flute in hand followed by a line of kids Pied Piper style, a solution was found. Iain's small mixing desk, part of our setup and already on stage, could be used as a replacement and the show could go on.

So, slightly shorter sets for most of us, while the wonderful crowd stayed on to watch and dance to the end. Luckily I brought two cameras to catch the crowd from afar as well as the stage action.  And two tripods, which leads to another lesson learned...it's bloody hard to draw on a waist height table when you're used to having the drawing tablet at just the right height. I ended up kneeling on the stage to protect my back. Mental note - get an extra tripod...

The end result should be good - the distant camera with one angle, and the onstage fisheye capturing both the crowd and us plus the screen. We cut some very short instagram clips together the next day; this one here showing off the very supportive crowd.

The final 10-15 minutes clip will have some of Rob Thorne's Taonga Puoro (Maori instruments) on at the start as we transitioned - who knows, we may end up making a special cross-cultural performance one day, with yidaki and clapsticks along with the Maori conch and flutes...I'm thinking a birrung baya or guwanyi (story about the stars) would be cool.

I'm still looking out for Dharawal words, for 2019 Year of Indigenous Languages, and Yabun is a great one - as evidenced by the recent very awesome looking Yabun Festival. *Music made by singing and beating time...