Tours

Rip It Up, Issue 20, 1 March 1979, Page 3

Tours

Duncan Campbell

The overseas tour scene is in a state of considerable flux. The proposed Todd Rundgren tour now appears to be off. Dates are no longer set and there is only a vague possibility that the gigs will be rescheduled in May. Bob Marley’s one New Zealand date now looks to be set for Easter Sunday, 4th April and will be handled by Michael Edgley, a promoter better known for his circus tours. Individual tours from The Cars and Burton Cummings are looking 90% certain for May, and a return visit from Joe Cocker is also possible in May. Confirmed for June are dates from John McLaughlin and his new band. Cheap Trick have one free day in their Australian itinerary and, provided suitable connecting flights can be arranged, the band are prepared to play a one night gig in Auckland. If these arrangements work out the concert will be in early April. MI-SEX March 20, Maidment Theatre, Auckland University. March 21-24, Gluepot, Ponsonby. March 25-27, Lady Hamilton. March

29-31, Awapuni Hotel, Palmerston North. April 1, Wellington. April 3-7, Aranui Hotel, Christchurch. SPLIT ENZ March 29, Theatre Royal, Timaru. March 30, Regent Theatre, Dunedin. March 31, Civic Theatre, Invercargill. April 2, Theatre Royal, Christchurch. April 5, Wellington Town Hall. April 9, Municipal Theatre, Napier. April 10, YMCA, Gisborne. April 12, His Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland.

HELLO SAILOR March 13, Sandown Park Hotel, Gisborne. March 14, West Town, New Plymouth. March 15, Castle Cliff, Wanganui. March 16, Awapuni Hotel, Palmerston North. March 18, Theatre Royal, Christchurch. March 20 & 21, Shoreline Hotel, Dunedin. March 22, Brydone Tavern, Oamaru. March 25, State Opera House, Wellington. March 26 & 27, Auckland University. March 28-31, Hillcrest Tavern, Hamilton.

Since then, pastures across the pond, have beckoned, and the band’s rise to success there has surprised one and all. Get this, camp followers: Mi-Sex can now happily boast to be one of the top four bands in Sydney, and other i centres are rapidly following suit. They now only do support gigs when crowds exceed two thousand. Otherwise it’s top of the bill.

They’ve just been signed to CBS, and have done nine demo tracks, produced by Alan Galbraith. An album is in the pipeline. Costello, Parker and Thin Lizzy have seen them gig and have come away showering praise. Not bad at all.

“When we first arrived, we had a very strong punk following for about a month,” says keyboards player Murray Burns. "Once they’d passed us on for new bands, we started to get a good rock following, and quite a few Kiwis came to see us too.”

One of the smartest moves the band did on arrival in Sydney was to contact a guy named Bob Yates. “He gave us a support to Jeff St John, and came out and saw us,” says Burns. "He had to leave to go to a gig somewhere else, but he left us a note saying “The sky’s the limit” and from then on, he’s been our manager. We just walked in on the right thing at the right time.”

The signing to CBS has been a big help, since it gives Mi-Sex a leg into the markets further afield. That magical Hit Single is the next target, to make them a national name in Oz, and hopefully, further afield. Now, they’re coming home, albeit very briefly, to show the folks they have not forgotten us, and to displays the changes that time hath wrought. For a start, don’t expect to hear all the Parker-Costello-Ultravox covers that Mi-Sex used to do. 95 percent of the material they’ll be doing this time is their own, largely penned Dy Burns and guitarist Kevin Stanton. "We’ll hardly be doing any other people’s songs,” says Murray. "We might do the odd number the audiences will remember, but basically it'll be new material.” The band is also bringing back all its bright, shiny new equipment to thrill and delight, including their 40 thousand-dollar sound and lighting system (3000 watts of noise, 48,000 of dazzle), a custom-built 20 channel mixer, and lotsa luvley Marshall and Music Man amps. (Should be fun to see them trying to get all that into the Gluepot!) To handle it all, their three-man road crew will be coming along for the ride. The crew has also worked for Kevin Borich, Sherbet and LRB. The three-week jaunt is dubbed the "Before The Album” tour, since they’ll be straight back across the Tasman to begin recording a single and LP, with either Galbraith or Peter Dawkins at the desk, as soon as the tour finishes. Mi-Sex is Your Sex. Be sure to give 'em a big Welcome Back.