ADAM PAVITT

So the East Coast called my name and I answered with a station wagon, two roadies, two guitars, a P.A. and four surf crafts.
We rode the lightening; leaving at 12:00am on the 17th of December 2009 we were aiming to hit the South Coast of N.S.W at dawn. As we drove along with the roaring road trains and white knuckled highway travelers, we noticed the multitude of stars that were so amazingly bright. With no city lights to darken their sheen I knew this was going to be a great trip.
As we wound down the mountains off the bland golf course known as the Hume Highway we got a surprise from Quincy (my eloquently named station wagon). Quincy had smoke coming from the front left tyre. Luckily it was just a temporary thing and we decided to utilize low gear a bit more often on steep inclines from then on. Quincy was a real champion along the way, and didn’t miss a beat, despite the disgrace that became of the interior due to three lads living on the cusp of homelessness and using Quincy as a tour base.
Minnamurra Beach welcomed us with small waves and warm water. The Victorian wetsuits were left at home and shorts were the order of the day. After the surf I proceeded to nearly knock myself out on the tail gate. As I lay on the ground, I realized that I must be a bit fatigued from the eight hour drive. We had all our own food and cooking gear, so we were sorted for breakfast.
Wollongong proved a friendly place for a busk and a great place to get some $3 sunnies, and more secondhand cooking gear. I also found a hilarious beach mat with an over-simplified map of Oz that said “let’s go to the beach”…..$2 oppy gold! After staying at Coaldale and adopting the name ‘The Three Wise Men’ (due to our advice/counseling session with a stranger at the R.S.L)…..It was time to head for Stanwell Park and my first gig.
My official roadies (Matto and Chien) were selected due to their amazing strength, skills, adaptability and the fact that they wanted to go on a surfing holiday…and I was headed that way anyhow. They are great mates of mine and they wasted no time in setting up my P.A and guitars and CDs as I sipped lattes and talked about the surf with Bec, the owner of Ruby’s Café. As disappointed as I was that Bec’s name was not Ruby….She was a true champ and had even cooked up a special vegan curry for yours truly. All the staff were heaps friendly, and the lovely family that we stayed with, the Murrays, came down to watch along with some of my family. The show had a nice intimacy to it and the open air feel of the small café gave it a cool feel. We ended up back at the Murrays playing pool until the early hours of the morning and talking to Dane about a new controversial campaign to help curb global warming (all will be revealed in 2010).
Sydney’s North Shore was the next stop for an in-store at Power Linez surf shop Dee Why. I must say, it shocked a few Xmas shoppers to see someone jamming out in the shop, but generally it was a good vibe and an interesting experiment. So Sydneysiders be aware that my record is available at this surf shop. The surf wasn’t getting any bigger but that didn’t phase us. Surfing North Narrabeen with my sister Rachel and her partner Jake is always fun.
Next stop Forster and the Mexican restaurant known as The Aztec. What a cool place, the paint work is bright and colourful and the food was great. The Aztec is a venue that is fostering the music scene in Forster. My mum and step-dad Mick came down and brought a crew as well. There was a good vibe in the air and one of the families on holidays in attendance was dancing up a storm. They became known as the ‘kings of cool’, as one of the kids had a shirt that said some thing along those lines. I could not help myself and had to make up an adlib song…when they bought my CD I was asked to sign the CD and make it out to ‘the king’s of cool’….. This was the beginning of my adlib fun, and it was a good way to break the ice at some gigs. I sold a good amount of albums at this gig and it definitely put the wind in my sails.
This gig combined with a nice surf at Treachery definitely was the ticket. Treachery also had a resident mad man who insisted on taking the most dangerous waves and pulling deep into the barrel. He later came out with a video camera strapped to his head and did fairly well before breaking his leg rope and giving up on the idea. Matto also scored his first tube of the trip on his first wave…impressive. Chien and I were having a bit of a hard time and considered calling a ‘learn to surf’ phone number that we had spotted on a billboard.
Next stop was the beautiful Bellinger Valley. The road crew was due for a wash and so the river at Thora was the perfect place. The water was surprisingly warm even after recent flooding. We considered protesting the drought in Victoria by not bathing but that idea didn’t really hold up. Back in Bello I went busking out the front of the historic Hammond and Wheatly store to drum up some publicity for the gig that night at Guru Foods. It was here that I was given some organic cherries as a donation from a woman who said she was collecting up from communal gardens from around the town…nice. At Guru foods that night my mate Dean was over from W.A. and my buddy Brett Divola from the old school days was there as well. Brett was a massive influence on my playing as a youngster as we would play music down the phone line to each other and so it was great to see him and great to play my songs back in Bellingen. The adlib was alive and well and I proceeded to make up a song about all the people in the room. The crew at Guru Foods was ace and offered for us to stay in the shop that night. We nearly accepted, but then decided to head for sunny Sawtell.
Sawtell was a bit of an extended stay and a bit of time to relax and catch up with old friends. Matto’s parents Moreen and Allan were away, and said to us “you guys are welcome to stay…..just make sure we are away at the time”..funny! Sawtell is a pretty nice place in that it has two islands, two rivers, an antique cinema, Viv and Jenny (the same chip shop proprietors for around 18 years) and now about 20 cafes. If you know the size of Sawtell then 20 is a lot!
Xmas day brought with it a huge shift in the ocean temperature and we were back to around the familiar 16 degrees mark. After the inaugural Sawtell Boxing Day Test it was off to Barells Café to play three sets. Barells was a treat to play, with plenty of friends turning up and even a teacher Mr. Dyball and his family from back in my high school days. Hilda Kemp who own Barells, even worked out that her son Chris and I went to school together. So it certainly is a small world as they say. It was a really warm night and the free beers were flowing. Matto’s folks even could chill on the picnic tables in the middle of the main street and get a good sound. My awesome neighbors from Melbourne turned up and helped cheer me on and the familiar faces made the gig a treat. While staying in Sawtell, Chien and I had two really great busking sessions in Toormina and Coffs Harbour. The Coffs session netted 6 CDs sold and had a great response from people. Buskers take notice; Coffs could be an untapped place to spread the busking love?
After the Barells gig we headed off to Emerald beach and were awoken by kangaroos and heavy dew. The waves were calling us further north and so it was time to fire up Quincy and chase the north swell that seemed to be building. Angourie at Yamba was mega crowded and not quite working, so we went to a beach just south of Lennox Head.
Now Byron Bay was looking to be the climax of the tour for me. It had the biggest venue and the most potential for crowd vibes given that it was going to be the night before New Year’s Eve. I was excited and looking to bust out the jams. We gave the streets a busk in a bid to get a vibe for the crowd. We decided to check out the Channon area around Lismore and took some good friends and visiting German family members to Protester’s Falls. It was really spectacular and the water tasted fantastic and fresh.
After playing cards in a park and sleeping in a parking lot and getting awoken by police we headed to Cameron Spike-Porter’s house (Cam is the talented guitarist who added guitar tracks and solos to my album). Cam and I set up the P.A as my road crew slept and we warmed up for the big Byron gig in his lounge room over looking the Tuki Tuki hills. The country around Lismore had the most massive mango trees that I had ever seen and they were all laden with mangoes. It was as if they were weeds, just sitting in the middle of paddocks everywhere.
The Buddha Bar was pumping when we arrived with a nice sized crew and an ace outdoor stage. The only problem was that my name was not on the massive blackboard out the front. I went inside and my posters were everywhere, so at least I had a story to tell the manager. Now it was agreed that I would play after the guy who was setting up. That sounded fair enough…..little did I know that the act before me would be the most offensive excuse for entertainment that I have ever seen or anyone else who came to see me had ever seen. This clown, proceeded to beat the crowd into submission with his verbal assault and even his last song “suck more piss, smoke more drugs, have sex with everyone” could not bring the crowd back. I think he lost them with the remarks about “fat chicks” and their sex lives and when he started telling stories about “road kill” and making necklaces out of “the good bits”. Let’s just say, that by the time I got onstage the audience was all clapped out. Now that would have been fine if we could have just cranked it up and enjoyed playing….but no, to do that you need a sound engineer. The venue did not have one of those and so we sat there with a lot of feedback and trying to mix our selves in a 200 seat venue. This is the only gig in my life that I have ever checked the time at and wished that there was still not 20 mins to go. Cam was ripping it up on guitar and I was happy with my performance, it was just as my dad said though “once you started playing covers I knew you were in trouble”. After the gig we all raved on about all the factors that had worked against the gig and basically whinged. I decided to let it go though and focus on the next gig.
Before the next gig was that wonderful tradition know as New Year’s Eve and what better place to spend it than the sleep hamlet known as Nimbin. Chien headed off to the Sunshine Coast as by now he was known as ‘Sunny’ and he told us that he had to spread the message of the three wise men before their arrival. To explain how we got the name ‘the three wise men’….The guy back at the R.S.L in Coaldale had explained to us how he hated his job as a real-estate agent in west Sydney and that he had given up on his dream of becoming a DJ. We told him that he should stop doing something that he hated just for the sake of getting money. I told him that I have a rule when it comes to working ‘if I can’t take my guitar to work, then I do not take the job’. Matto told him that he had been working on organic farms for food and shelter as well as planting nearly half a million trees. Then Chien told him that he had been to a spiritual retreat and not spoken for three months …and the title was born…To him we were the gurus known as ‘the three wise men’.
Nimbin was a blast! After swimming in the river Matto and I booked into a camp site and met some fellow travelers who were all from Sydney. We partied with them and hit the main street for the countdown and then it was back to camp for the sing-along and classic Nimbin indulgence. The cous cous and rice salad plus marinated zucchini from the Nimbin Café the next morning was also the perfect start to 2010. The drive out of Nimbin was spectacular. We stopped in to visit on old mate Glen Cambell who has a great heritage listed house in Corakai. After that Evan’s Head was a nice place to chill out with a lot of wilderness close to the ocean protected. It was here that the joy of corn fritters was also rekindled.
It was off to Lennox head the next day for some small surf and a dip in the tea tree waters of Lake Ainsworth. It is an amazing natural phenomenon where there is a fresh water lake only 50 metres from the beach. It is stained brown from the tea trees that are all around it, and is great for your skin and hair.
Byron Bay and the Fresh Café was the next stop. There are a heap of people complaining about Byron due to the changes that have taken place. You have to pay to park at the beach during the day and you cannot sleep in your car or face a $200 fine per person. The town is pumping though and despite the changes, people from all over the world head to Byron Bay for the coastal dream. I was starting to get pissy with the place after my last gig, but then as I paddled through the top of a nice four foot peak that all changed. A dolphin launched straight out the top of the wave that I was pushing through and went spinning though the air. Byron Bay is constantly switching it on with plentiful daily displays of natural beauty. This gig set up was an interesting one, as I was on the street, but playing to three levels of people having dinner. So as well as having all the guests in café to play to there were also all the people on the street. This was great because I was getting paid and had a bar and food tab as well as coins and notes in my case from passers by. Again there was some good CD sales and some young crew dancing. Byron had switched it back on for me and I was stoked.
Next stop Brisbane. The music Kafe in West End was a friendly bunch of people, and for a Tuesday night there was not a bad amount of people. I kicked out the jams and had the most amazing spicy pasta of the trip. When I asked if it would be a problem to get a vegan meal the response was amusing….”the chefs are all animals”. My host for the nights in Brisvegas was Moshe, who is the super supportive uncle of my old buddy Trash Mcsweeny of The Red Paintings fame. Moshe was a champion and despite my protesting insisted on shouting me food and beverages due to my status as “a touring struggling artist”. Looking around the house, it was nice to see some of my paintings around and it made me keen as ever to get to L.A and paint with T.R.P again.
The Kookaburra Club in Paddington was my next gig. The club has a long tradition going back around 20 years and it was great to see an audience who were singing along with the performers. This gig was totally unplugged and allowed me to tell a few stories and explain a bit about my songs to an attentive audience. I would have liked to have stuck around, but my host had to work and the Brisbane heat was intense.
Malaney in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is a truly beautiful town. All the shops have a ye-old look to them. Everything was super green and tropical looking. Upon meeting Danny Rose who booked my gig I knew I was in good hands. He had secured a write up in two local papers and all the tables were booked out for dinner. Danny also got some footage of the gig and was super organized. The Upfront Club was a treat to play. My Aunty Robyn and partner Bill came along and even Kathryn Lee(an old neighbor) who I had not seen for 20 years turned up. How time flys…now she is married and has four kids. Danny chilled with Matto and I after the gig and we awoke to a car boot market and a hang-over. I was quite happy to buy a tweety bird with an eye patch and some vintage English 60’s era dinner plates. Coffee was to be my true friend that morning.
We spent the next day chilling on Burleigh Headland and relaxing at Chien’s buddy’s house up the hill from Palm Beach. Chien and I had finally learned how to surf again and got some ace waves. The sun was absolutely cooking and a large slab of tar melted to one of my tyres and remained there for the next week, despite driving hundreds of kilometers.
The three wise men were back together again and it was off to Coffs Harbour for a gig at the Surf Club. Again a crew turned up to see me and it was a nice place to play. I could have done with band, due to the large area. However, I still had a blast. The stage was underneath a little tent on the veranda and everyone was enjoying the perfect weather. My old friend Kim offered for us to stay at her place in Sawtell and it was cool to catch up with some of the crew from high school days. Another busk in Coffs went well and then we headed south again. A midday nap at pelican point was much needed and then we decided to go straight for Sydney. Just like everyone else….we had succumb to the calling of Avatar. After the 3D amazement of the biggest movie of all time, Matto went off to study his permaculture course and Chien flew back to Melbourne to party with friends.
I picked up my little bro Shane from the airport and we headed to Nowra for my last gig of the tour. It was a treat to hang with my bro, as we don’t get to see each other that much due to him teaching in Q.L.D. Again the venue had made sure that I was given local press and the word had gone out to a large mailing list. The Tea Club Café has the best stage. It sits at the back of a large open air court yard with a big avocado tree that is said to be fed on the vibes of the music. All the staff are great and keen to help out. The candles on all the tables made this one of the best gigs. Local lad Liam provided a nice set after fixing up his broken guitar with good old super glue. The audience was great and I look forward to heading back to Nowra again.
So after a family wedding that was just too much fun. I picked up my lovely fiance Marta and headed the long way via the coast road back to Melbourne. It was time for more sun, surf, kangaroos and great scenery.
The road is a great place to be and I know this tour is just the beginning…………..