On 12/08/2025 at 04:06, hardtack said:

Again, if anyone reading this is in Sydney, or likely to be visiting Sydney on either the 31st August (Bowlo)

I hope the gig went well for you '@hardtack' and all is ok...

On 08/09/2025 at 11:04, rjay said:

I hope the gig went well for you '@hardtack' and all is ok...

I owe you an apology rjay… I saw this post the other day and planned to get back with a reply after I’d finished whatever it was I was doing at the time… obviously I didn’t!

All is reasonably ok, but despite now being on a break from chemo, I’m still occasionally being hit hard by the toxic waste still coursing through my veins!

The gig went very well… in fact, much better than I was expecting. We ended up with a good sized crowd for the venue and they were very responsive which was really encouraging.

The following is a link to a video a friend did on his phone and whacked up on Instagram… I’m pretty happy with it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOYMNHak9RO/?igsh=MXh6enFyMjllZnpleQ==

1 hour ago, hardtack said:

I owe you an apology rjay… I saw this post the other day and planned to get back with a reply after I’d finished whatever it was I was doing at the time… obviously I didn’t!

All is reasonably ok, but despite now being on a break from chemo, I’m still occasionally being hit hard by the toxic waste still coursing through my veins!

The gig went very well… in fact, much better than I was expecting. We ended up with a good sized crowd for the venue and they were very responsive which was really encouraging.

The following is a link to a video a friend did on his phone and whacked up on Instagram… I’m pretty happy with it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOYMNHak9RO/?igsh=MXh6enFyMjllZnpleQ==

No need to apologise, good to hear things went well and thanks for posting the link.

Looking and sounding good...big crew on stage.

I'm sure Pedal Steel is the most confounding of all instruments.

Take care and I hope you don't get hit too hard by the waste, it doesn't sound like fun.

5 hours ago, rjay said:

No need to apologise, good to hear things went well and thanks for posting the link.

Looking and sounding good...big crew on stage.

I'm sure Pedal Steel is the most confounding of all instruments.

Take care and I hope you don't get hit too hard by the waste, it doesn't sound like fun.

Yes, there were seven of us on stage… we usually have six, but Richard Burgman (Saints and Sunnyboys) was sitting in on guitar; you can see him playing a black and white Stratocaster standing directly behind Ged, our pedal steel player… and Ged has only been playing pedal steel for maybe five years; he used to be the guitarist for The Lime Spiders, and more recently was a founding member, with his brother, of The Cruel Sea.

I’ll be fine I think… our next gig is on Saturday week (20th) and then another of the 4th October. It’s good for the soul, if not the body 😉

—nothing to see here—

Edited September 20Sep 20 by hardtack

A couple of more clips from that gig a few weeks ago follow. We will play another show on Saturday week 25th and then our 10th anniversary show on Sunday November 23rd. I’m still feeling the effects of chemo, even though I’m now almost a couple of months free of it… the peripheral neuropathy is here to stay, I’m having constant vertigo if I’m getting up from bed or from reclining on the sofa, my taste buds are still screwed and my energy levels are somewhat depleted. Other than that, everything is hunky dory.

Anyway, here are a couple of tunes on my Instagram…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOvVCLik5Cp/?igsh=MXJldXBmYTBjeGIwZg==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOA7AQ-E5Fs/?igsh=c3V3Nzl3NzU0MzZ2

I was informed today by my oncologist that despite my CT scan and blood test results looking good, I’ll be getting back on the ‘juice’ early in January, so unfortunately, all of my musical exploits will have to go on the back burner yet again.

So just two more gigs coming up in December (an xmas lane party and a bar gig), unless I can convince a couple of venues to squeeze us in. In the meantime, here’s a couple of shots from yesterday’s gig at a place called The Gasoline Pony in the Sydney inner west suburb of Marrickville; and if I have enough allowable space on this site, an AI animation I put together (don’t want to say ‘created’ when it comes to AI).

Well, the time has come for me to return into the embrace of the Rusty Priest, so from January 5th, I will be off the wagon and back on the toxic juice, renewing acquaintances with the wonderful staff out at Concord Hospital. To celebrate this occasion, I thought I’d go with a touch of Maxfield Parrish-like romanticism, surrounded by Nymph Lodes; I suppose you could say it’s a Rusty Parrish Priest.

Also, as it was going to be difficult fielding a team for what, as it turns out, would have been my last gig for possibly the next six months (going on past form, but I’ll definitely take a rain check on that), my band has had to knock the Butchers Brew gig scheduled for the 20th December, on the head.

Footnote: this kind of imagery makes me feel a little Trumpian, and I fear I like it!