It looked a bit like someone had left the gates open at the old folks rest home and the inmates had all escaped, back into 1973!
Or at least to the Pomona pub, and the launch of Barry Charles’ latest album. Or, to be correct, the launch of “In The Moment”, the first album by The Charles-Camilleri Connection, the duo which, since 2023, has teamed one of rock’s greatest voices with a true guitar virtuoso.
If you don’t know who Barry Charles is, here’s a primer from these pages a couple of years back: “In case you just got here or you’ve been under a rock for the past 45 years, Barry Charles is a rock god in Noosa. He’s the leader of the tribe, mentor to many, once the young muso cruising around naked on the outer bays, the man with the golden tonsils, the guy who put the country into soul and soul into our part of the country. He’s a man who loves life with a passion and his passion for making beautiful music has been bringing love and light into the lives of local audiences for almost half a century. And for all but the first of his 75 years (he’s now nudging 78], Barry has lived with the spectre of poliomyelitis and its sinister cousin, post-polio syndrome, which can come back and hit you even harder than the first time. That’s what Barry’s living through right now, and his response is to work even harder, play more gigs, spread the love, cover the South-East from Hervey Bay to the border, wife of many decades Diana Dummett at the wheel, helping lug the gear, helping Barry avoid the unthinkable, which is no longer doing the thing that has blessed his life, and ours.”
As I’ve also written before, if you’ve guessed that I’m a Barry Charles fan, think again. I’m a total tragic, as much for his spirit as his endless talent.
And just one more recycled take from these pages: “The senior gent with long hair dangling from under his floppy hat finishes his light beer, excuses himself from the table and rises uncertainly with the help of walking sticks to make a slow progress, his baggy trackie dacks flapping in the breeze, across the restaurant to the bandstand, where he eases into a chair, picks up a guitar and strums a quick warm-up. Yes, the dude is in his golden years, no mistaking that, but the moment he adjusts the mic and leans in to allow that rich five-octave range to fill the room, he loses 20 years, maybe more, and he is unmistakably Barry Charles.”
Baz was in his element in Pomona last weekend, even during the bedlam of a sudden shower ripping through the pub courtyard and forcing the gig into a tiny adjoining lounge. He worked the room, supported by his beloved Diana, greeting old mates and meeting new ones, acknowledging other local muso royals, like Andy Cowan and Duncan McQueen, and finally taking his seat next to Paul to rip, scat, mouth-harp, whistle, strum and pluck through the great songs, old and new, on the new album, while we rest home escapees hooted, hollered and reprised dance moves from the middle of the last century.
Hey, it doesn’t get much better than this.
In The Moment includes some absolute gems, from a wildly exciting opening jam called Free Flight, to a couple of beautifully rendered ballads – Northern Shores, about early trips to Double Island Point, and Our Love Story, about meeting Diana – and on to a superb cover of JJ Cale’s Magnolia.
As an added bonus, the album comes on a guitar-shaped USB drive inside a cute wooden box. It’s already got pride of place on my memorabilia shelf. To order one or get info about upcoming Charles-Camilleri gigs, visit The Charles-Camilleri Connection Facebook page.
Pros back at Pipe
It’s been a long break but the aspiring WSL pros will be back in action end of month at the Lexus Pipe Challenger, second last chance to secure a spot on the 2026 world championship tour.
It’s been a pretty slow start to the Hawaiian winter season but the long-term forecast is looking pretty good for the 29 January start at Pipeline. Ten men and five women will earn promotion to the WCT after the Newcastle Pro CS in early March, and two Aussie guys looking to get to the pointy end at Pipe are former CT star Morgan Cibilic at 14 and on the comeback trail, and Jordie Lawler, who bolted up the rankings with a third in Brazil late last year. Already in the 10 and hoping to stay there are Oscar Berry, George Pittar, Liam O’Brien, Jacob Willcox and Winter Vincent.
In the women’s, Ellie Harrison and Sophie McCallum are at 13 and 16 and need to make the quarters or better at Pipe to have a chance at promotion. Veteran Sally Fitzgibbons is the only Aussie currently in the top five at 3, but India Robinson is knocking on the door at 7.
As a reminder of what we want to see later this month, check the shot of John-John Florence showing how you ride Pipe, ahead of his much-anticipated return to the tour in April.
