To all our regulars: get your dinner tables
organised, book in with Samanda (samanda@spottedmallard.com)
and lets make this a huge night in honour of Louis
McManus.
To those who have not been before: you won't
be disappointed: trust us, just be there!
Anthony O'Neill, Mairead Hurley & Ben McAtamney
Trio
presented as a part of the 2015 Brunswick Music Festival
THE PURPLE DENTISTS
The mighty Purple Dentists return to The Spotted
Mallard to present the Annual Louis McManus Memorial
Concert as a part of the 2015 Brunswick Music
Festival and to honour the memory of an original
Dentist, Louis McManus.
The Dentists formed in Brunswick back in the 1980's
and went on to perform at the first two Brunswick Music
Festivals in 1989 and 1990. They reformed in 2013 for
an appearance at the 25th Anniversary Brunswick Music
Festival, and since then they have been holding court
at The Spotted Mallard, performing a number of legendary
shows at this much-loved Sydney Rd venue.
The music of the Dentists is based on the Irish tradition
but also incorporates elements of Zydeco, country swing,
free improvisation and contemporary compositions. A
mixture of old and new, displaying the classic diversity
of genre that made the band's name, The Purple Dentists
are simply too good to be missed.
Dan Bourke: fiddle, vocals | Anthony O'Neill:
fiddle, mandolin | George Butrumlis: piano accordion
| Steve Groves: guitar, vocals
MAIREAD HURLEY
2006 All-Ireland Concertina Champion Mairead Hurley
will be appearing at this year's Louis McManus Memorial
Concert. Mairead is an awesome player who will add a
level of magic and excitement to this brilliant night
of Celtic music.
In addition to sitting in with The Purple Dentists,
Mairead will also bring us a tune-fest of her own to
open the show in a trio with Anthony O'Neill
and Ben McAtamney....wow!
Mairead has spent the past year living in Sydney and
teaching Irish music at the Gaelic Club there. She has
recently moved to Melbourne and is becoming immersed
in the vibrant local music scene. She will be performing
at the National Folk Festival at Easter with her Sydney-based
band Restless Legs, and at Port Fairy Folk Festival
as a special guest with Australian stalwarts Trouble
in the Kitchen ...... and now at The Spotted Mallard
as a part of the 2015 Brunswick Music Festival.
KAVISHA MAZZELLA
And as if that is not enough, we will open the show
with long-time Brunswick favourite, Kavisha Mazzella.
Kavisha and Louis go back a long way. Louis played on
Kavisha's 1998 Aria Award winning CD Fisherman's
Daughter, which was produced by Mick Thomas.We are delighted that Kavisha will be joining us
this year to remember Louis and celebrate all that is
good about live-music making. Kavisha will be joined
by the amazing violinist and long time collaborator
Matthew Arnold.
LOUIS McMANUS & THE PURPLE DENTISTS
____________________________________
"Louis McManus was a one-off. Intelligence and wit
informed everything he did from telling a joke to playing
a reel. There was no funnier or more acerbic observer
of the human condition. People loved to hear Louis play
because he expressed his life in every note. It all came
together in his idiosyncratic mandolin solos with their
classical structure, clarity of expression and crazy energy.
He used to say "Maaaaate, every tune is a (*&%#@#)
story " - and nobody could tell a story like Louis.
The Purple Dentists, as the name might suggest, were something
of a musican's fantasy - a loosely defined coterie of
pals and musical cronies who played anything and everything
to enthusiastic punters. This happened in Brunswick during
the 1980s at the Retreat hotel. At the time the Retreat
was a marvellous Greek pub with no light, no ventilation
and the clandestine air of a mob lair. We played there
almost exclusively in a time when heavy clouds of cigarette
smoke, even in the pub kitchen, were a mandatory adjunct
to the music.
The repertoire of the band was stylistically diverse,
from jigs and reels to hungarian dances, original songs
to country standards. It was based on seat-of-the-pants
improvisation with a modicum of rehearsal. In truth, the
playing sometimes scaled great heights and we all enjoyed
walking our musical tightrope.
We began as a three piece then transformed into a 5 member
band that welcomed assorted guests such as Martin Carthy
and the Emmanuel Brothers. It is great to once again be
a part of the Brunswick Festival in an event that honours
the memory of an original Dentist, Louis McManus."
Dan Bourke Purple Dentists
The original Purple Dentists
Dan Bourke, Louis McManus, Anthony O'Neill Illustration by Peter Keown
The Purple Dentists circa 1989:
Steve Groves, Louis McManus, George Butrumlis, Anthony
O'Neill, Dan Bourke Photo by Liz Reed
LOUIS McMANUS MEMORIAL CONCERT
____________________________________
2015 marks the 27th anniversary of the Brunswick Music
Festival, and over those 27 years, no-one has captured
'the heart and soul' of the Festival more than Louis McManus.
Louis lived in Brunswick for more than ten years and
this was his 'home-town' festival. It was fitting then,
that he played such a major role in the 1st Brunswick
Music Festival way back in 1989.
Louis' first appearance at the Brunswick Music Festival
Festival was on Saturday April 1, 1989, in the Guitar
Concert at the Brunswick Town Hall, alongside Martin
Carthy, Tommy and Phil Emmanuel, Steve Housden, Tony
O'Neill and Steve Groves.
The next day, Louis appeared in an afternoon concert
with the great Martin Carthy in the intimacy of the
Brunswick Mechanics Insititute. In fact, it was the
Brunswick Music Festival that brought Louis and Martin
together in a hastily arranged short-tour that resulted
in a life-long friendship.
Later that night, Louis took the 1st Brunswick Music
Festival out in style with his mates in the Celtic spectacular
at the legendary Retreat Hotel. The Festival finished
with George Butrumlis, Martin Carthy, Dan Bourke, Tony
O'Neill, Dobe Newton, Steve Groves, Jan Wositzky and
Phil Emmanuel joining Louis on stage under the banner
of The Purple Dentists: a night that will live
forever for those lucky enough to be at the Retreat
Hotel.
Louis would go on to play at the Brunswick Music Festival
with either the The Purple Dentists or the Leisure Twins
each and every year until illness forced him from the
stage.
The Annual Louis McManus Memorial Concert, presented
as a part of the Brunswick Music Festival, is an opportunity
to celebrate the music and the friendship that we all
shared with Louis.
Louis McManus (1956 - 2004)
____________________________________
DINNER and RESERVED SEAT AT THE SPOTTED
MALLARD
The Spotted Mallard is a brilliant place to have a meal,
so make a night of it and book in for dinner before
the show. Simply email samanda@spottedmallard.com
to make a table reservation. Samanda is our very fine
host for the night at The Spotted Mallard and and she
will email you back to confirm your reservation. You
can either pre-book your concert tickets, or pay for
them at the door on the night. Either way your reserved
table for dinner and show will be waiting for you and
you can pay for your meal and drinks as you order them
"THOSE
WHO FOLLOW THE BAND JUST TO ENJOY THE MUSIC ARE CALLED
THE SECOND LINE"
