I would write something here, but Julie Montan (Soft Rubbish) has written this incredible intro to this show that I feel it’s almost silly of me to add anything:
Stop, Smell and Listen.
Nobody really knows where they came from but when the sky exploded in an ear splitting sonic boom and the first grain of joy fell to earth, songs and flowers were destined to be friends. Countless brand new things were hatching in virgin seas and cavorting on the latent landscape, but true to their own natures, songs and flowers took their time to unpack and they procrastinated leisurely as if they had all the time in the world to lay their roots and write themselves into the halls of fame. And take their time they did; there were places to go and people to see and all the possessions they possessed were weightlessly stored in seed form; packed tighter than an MP3 file or pickles in a jar and also produceable on demand by a mere hum or a whistle. And so they roamed unencumbered around the dry, dusty, crumpled up earth, beautifying everything they came into contact with. Wherever they pitched their camp they gave a homely touch to that patch of derelict, unloved ground and the whole of existence, went wild for the fresh new looks, you name it, Rolling Stone, Vogue Living, Beat Magazine they all jumped on it and lo and behold they hippified the wonderful world as we know it today, a world that is an exotic corsage of botanics and sonics which would not be hip or wondrous at all without their indispensable bequeathments.
This world has been around a long time now and is still blighted in some unfortunate places but that does not apply to a place called Long Play in North Fitzroy where destiny’s beauty footprints reverberate. Since first opening it’s doors Long Play has welcomed the strangest yet friendliest flowers - the Cadenza, Cobra and Bacardi among others to sit atop it’s bar and perfume the air with the unmistakable smell of Lily while tanking you with cocktails of the same name at the same time and if you’ve been to this establishment you will know what I’m talking about. It has also dimmed the lights upon the stage of the conjoined theatre yonder in the back where the longings of souls have poured forth from the goblets of ‘la la la’ and with roots firmly laid, for just one night all the spoils of our worlds inherent beauty will be congregating in this very place before they flee, who knows where, once more.
Though a question remains. Where did the songs and flowers come from? Nobody really knows, all that matters is we don’t stomp on them with cheaply made shoes or homogenise their streets with monotonous concrete so that they can’t fulfil their life’s purpose to beautify and beautify some more! And if they should beckon us to come and smell them and listen to them at the venue mentioned here, then who are we to say anything but yes and we can smoke if we want to….and leave our friends behind if they don’t want to come to Long Play 318 St Georges Rd North Fitzroy on:
Thursday night April 30,
Entry is $5
Doors are at 8.30pm
Elizabeth, Nina and Julie can’t wait to see you there. Thank you to LISTEN and to Ashley Jane Goodall from Brisbane who made our beautiful poster.
Totally Mild (Elizabeth Mitchell)