Thursday night. 9pm. A free Candy Session. Once more, Bluesbunny finds himself drawn into the familiar confines of the Liquid Ship for some more beer and free music. Tonight's attractions are Stephen Porch, Andrew Quinn and Richie Gallacher.
First on is Stephen Porch. He is a big guy with long hair and glasses and looks like the bass player in some obscure seventies rock band. Flying in the face of such stereotyping, he turns out to be a rather sensitive songwriter rather than the speed metal maniac that we might have been expecting. He looks a bit nervous and uncomfortable in front of an audience but that kind of adds to his charm. "This Time Around" impresses us however. His songs seem a lot bigger than the man himself and we would be interested to hear them played with a band.
Next on is Andrew Quinn. He's a man with an electric guitar and - casting our mind back to the last time we saw him - what must be a large collection of dodgy, black t-shirts. "Secrets" hits the mark and he follows it with a tasteful version of what seems to be his signature tune - John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery". Bluesbunny has seen him perform before and he seems to be getting better all the time. He displays a self effacing sense of humour between the songs that contrasts nicely with the bitter and twisted approach to the songs themselves.
Our last performer for this evening is Richie Gallacher. Now here was a rather pleasant surprise. Bluesbunny had seen him before a couple of months ago in a different venue and he had seemed a bit unsure of himself. It is a different Richie Gallacher that we had the pleasure of hearing tonight. Confident and poised, he delivers a performance that is a bit special. He tells us of his adventures in the rougher part of Melbourne and even manages one of our favourite happy endings - boy meets girl and runs away to happiness. His performance seems so much better than the last time that we encountered him. "Angel without Wings" is delivered with enough power to fill a stadium. "Have Another Drink" tackles that age old problem of whether to pay your debts or buy beer. He makes the right decision in case you are wondering. "Ghosts" is passionate and reflective at the same time. The ghost of Dylan is still there on the periphery but our Richie sounds like a man who has found his muse and we would hazard a guess that she was in the room tonight.
With his musical thirst quenched, Bluesbunny heads back out into the night. A most acceptable night's entertainment without a doubt.