The Eastern / Adam McGrath ‘Three For the Common Room’
Fundraiser and Solidarity grower!
In times like these a month can be a year, a year a month and a day a lifetime. All of us straddling a line between hope and doubt. Way back in April, “National Treasures” (Radio New Zealand) The Eastern were feeling relieved and as at ease a bunch of no-hit musicians could ever feel. The continuing Covid blitz that had waylaid the lives and incomes of travelling musicians, crews and venues all around the world had managed only to nibble at the heels of this shore. We had prevailed. With that in mind a collective decision was to reach out to brothers and sisters overseas with some solidarity and some money to help the wheels turn. It was conceived, agreed and believed that the band could throw a small drop in someone else’s bucket. Here there were gigs on the calendar, a functioning country and an air of the above-mentioned relief, shoulders could be shifted in the direction of need and the band picked a venue in Ireland dear to their hearts and raised over three thousand dollars for the great DeBarras pub in Clonakilty Co. Cork. They played a bunch of Pogues songs, mopped the floors with their swaying and baying and paypaled the money across the water. Job done.
And then here at home a few months later the wolves start howling and the doors get locked. The band prevailed again but noticed on of their favourite local venues, The Common Room in Hastings was shaky and looking at that forever lockdown due to the viscitudes of trying to run a goddamn people friendly pub in an un people friendly virus haunted spring.
A quick chat with governor Gerrard Barron, a glimpse at the give a little page convinced The Eastern they could duke up and sing for some dollars in the same service focused manner all of their CHCH performances project.
So, its roll the sleeves, book the venue, get the tickets up and hope they can pull together a hooley (sit-down kind if in level 2) in just two weeks, in order to help their friends and comrades in the Hawkes Bay.
“We trade music for ticket money, we donate the ticket money which gets turned into love, which keeps the doors open, which keeps the music humming and the bar staff tipped and ready” Says Eastern front man Adam McGrath. An easy pop up gig for a band that has cemented themselves into hearts and minds nationwide.
The shows will be ready, rowdy and willin’ at their home base of Blue Smoke in Woolston on Friday and Saturday the 15/10 and 16/10. Two nights ready for any level eventuality. New songs, hope songs, hearts songs, fight songs, drinking and crying songs will all be on the program, favourites and more, all in trade, all in service to the spirit of The Common Room, solidarity and to the idea that music needs people and people need places and we need to protect the best of them when the road gets rocky.
Adam also will add one solo show in Hawkes Bay at the common rooms big brother venue The Cabana in Napier to add to the kitty on Sunday. Oct. 17th.
The Cabana has long been a favourite of both McGrath solo and with The Eastern. Cabana owner and Hawkes Bay music legend Roy ‘The Guv’ Brown, is glad to team up with a McGrath on this show, believing a rich musical culture is fed by its community.
The Cabana show will feature the usual rambunctious story telling, hand on heart humor, lyricism and folk singin’ a McGrath solo show is known for.
