30 Jun 06 - 03:12 AM (#1772482) Subject: Spooky Men;s Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,A Fan The Spookys have asked their fans to let the Poms know about their tour in August. I'm amazed nobody has yet posted about this. I have nothing to do with them, i just think they're worth a look at. And there are 15 of them on tour. So they need a bit of help to subsidize the tour. Anyway, the Spookys are a hilarious and unique Aussie phenomenon, and their publicity blurb is below. As you can see they have a website which will underline their wacky personality. Enjoy Britain ! T H E S P O O K Y M E N 'S C H O R A L E U K T O U R 2 0 0 6 "We are the Spooky Men We dream of mastodons Practice mysterious handshakes And we can grow beards, if we want to..." Genial buffoonery and immaculate, testosterone drenched vocals define the Spooky Men's Chorale, a ruthless bunch of larrikins based in the Blue Mountains of NSW, whose stated ambition is to make women cry, small children quail, and insurance salesmen vaguely aware that somewhere, there is a whole world they've never experienced. With a sound as warm and grainy as a slab of teak, the Spooky men give equally loving attention to ancient Georgian table songs, tawdry anthems like Don't Stand Between a Man and his Tool, and any other vaudevillian trash they can lay their hands on. The repertoire is largely inspired by the pointless grandeur of everyday maleness, in the shower, in the shed and after breakfast. Stage presence is imposing, black and pointlessly exuberant, with a cunning taste in hats. Their studied deadpan is no act: like most blokes, they've only got the faintest idea of what's going on... Whilst they are apt to reduce audiences to chortling, gurgling, and in some cases, involuntary snorting, the Spooky men are not entirely a comedy act. They are also partial to pin drop renditions of love ballads that will send you reaching for your beloved so you can gently nuzzle them with your facial hair. These magnificent boofopaths have been the undoubted underground hit of the 2005 Australian festival circuit. If you miss out, don't say you weren't told... "Sheer musical excellence... like the ghosts of choristers long gone..." John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald "Astounding and outstanding... I admire them immensely..." Roy Bailey, MBE w w w . s p o o k y m e n . c o m T O U R D A T E S See www.spookymen.com.au for further details of gigs as they are finalised 12 august Hereford Three Choirs Festival Fringe, 7.30pm (see www.hereford3choirsfringe.org.uk) 14 august Broadstairs Folk Week workshop, 3pm (see www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk) 15 august Broadstairs Folk Week (see www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk) 16 august Lochside Theatre, Castle Douglas, Dumfries (email ali@littleegg.demon.co.uk) 17 - 20 august Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Spiegeltent (La Gayola) 7pm (see www.edfringe.com) 20 august Edinburgh AMC St. Brides, 10:45pm (see www.edfringe.com) 22 august Warkworth Memorial Hall, Northumberland, workshop and gig, (email sandra.kerr@songsharers.net) 23 august Hebden Bridge Trades Club, workshop and gig (email singing.jennyg@virgin.net) 24 august Huddersfield, workshop and gig (email singing.jennyg@virgin.net) 25-27 august Towersey Village Folk Festival (see www.towerseyfestival.com) 28 august Shrewsbury Folk Festival (see www.bridgnorthfolkfest.co.uk) 29 august Ludlow, Clee St Margaret's Village Hall, workshop and gig (email info@oak-barn.co.uk) 31 august Cambridge (email talkingintune@ntlworld.com) 1 september Derby Assembly Rooms (see www.assemblyrooms-derby.co.uk) 2 september Ipswich, all day workshop and evening gig (cliveBarker1@btinternet.com - www.sharedvoices.org.uk) 3 september Bush Hall, Shepherd's Bush, London (see www.bushhallmusic.co.uk) Please note all gigs are in the evening unless otherwise stated. For further information or media contact, email taberner@tpg.com.au or biz@spookymen.com.au |
30 Jun 06 - 11:24 AM (#1772807) Subject: RE: Spooky Men;s Chorale UK tour From: Sandra in Sydney you're in for a treat! Steven Taberner is the best choirmaster in Oz & the Spookies are the best. This is not a community choir where anyone can join - only the best are invited, & they have been over-filling venues at festivals for the past few years. They are wonderful singers & superb showmen. A show by the Spookies appeals to eyes & ears! Don't miss them Spooky men check out their reviews here sandra |
01 Jul 06 - 10:53 AM (#1773513) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill This seedy bunch of reprobates have crawled out of the finest holes -they emit spine-curdling prisms of sound. Take rescue remedy - while your body vibrates with the pleasurable sounds of spooky men, make sure you have a friend to take you home.. unuusual, noice.. f.u. |
02 Jul 06 - 04:45 AM (#1773904) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Bruce from Bathurst Praise be! They're leaving the country at last. Many of these disturbing (and disturbed) Spooky Men live between Bathurst and Sydney and every time I drive to the big city I risk being "spooked" en route. I can travel safely for a couple of months. Bruce |
02 Jul 06 - 06:04 AM (#1773940) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Sandra in Sydney tut, tut, tut, what kind of review is that!! no one will want to see them now & they will come back early! sandra |
02 Jul 06 - 06:14 AM (#1773946) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Dave Hanson Too spooky for me. eric |
02 Jul 06 - 08:30 AM (#1774020) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Bruce from Bathurst Oh no, please don't send them home early. As Sandra knows, this lot are top shelf stuff and you 'above the Equator' people should have your turn! All the Spooky Men are lovely, warm, caring, sensitive, real Aussie blokes. Apparently, they are now on a mission to spread their message of love and appreciation of alternative masculine physical beauty and personal hardware with a fortunate sub-stratum of northern hemisphere folkdome. You have been warned. (and I don't mean "that" Warne!) If you have the opportunity to see the Spooky Men in action, you won't be disappointed. You might be confused or slightly perturbed, but you won't be disappointed. Bruce |
02 Jul 06 - 09:33 AM (#1774047) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: JennyO ...and wait till you see their BIG TOOLS!! |
02 Jul 06 - 12:13 PM (#1774100) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Amos boofopaths? wot the hell is a boofopath? A |
05 Jul 06 - 05:09 PM (#1777048) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,Tony Good to see that we're exciting controversy and confusion amongst the Mudcatters. 'Boofopaths'? Well, think 'boofy' (sort of big, lumbering, dim-witted), then think pathologically boofy. That's us to a t. Tony A Spooky Man |
06 Jul 06 - 10:19 AM (#1777334) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Sandra in Sydney Spookies are very boofy! Messages from multiple threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread. |
15 Jul 06 - 02:04 PM (#1784372) Subject: Spooky Men's Chorale From: Herga Kitty I've received e-mails from Margaret Walters and Miguel Heatwole saying that the Spooky Men's Chorale will be touring the UK soon. Any info about where in UK when? Kitty |
15 Jul 06 - 06:43 PM (#1784499) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale From: GUEST They're booked for Towersey. Not heard 'em in the flesh, but hey sound darned good. |
16 Jul 06 - 05:29 PM (#1785091) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale From: vectis They are at Broadstairs. They are doing a workshop about singing like a bloke, so I'm told. |
17 Jul 06 - 05:48 AM (#1785384) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale From: Sandra in Sydney as I said before, they are wonderful - don't miss them. Led by the best choirmaster in Oz, they're an invitation-only choir of excellent singers. And they have a great stage presence, too, also good marketing skills! They will be noticed & talked about, & will consequently sing to standing-room only venues! Check out their website which I posted on the other thread. sandra |
21 Jul 06 - 12:26 AM (#1788878) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST Hey Kitty, You can find our tour details at http://www.spookymen.com.au/spookyUKtour.html Come and say hello if you get to one of our gigs, and please spread the gospel of spook the length and breadth of the land. cheers Tony |
21 Jul 06 - 02:32 PM (#1789259) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Herga Kitty Joe - I did search for SMC before starting my thread, and for some reason only came up with a post from last year, not the thread started earlier this month! Tony - I have seen your list of bookings and am disappointed to find that they aren't in places I'm likely to get to. Hopefully I'm wrong! Kitty |
21 Jul 06 - 11:28 PM (#1789609) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: JennieG Saw the Spookies on Sydney ABC-TV last night! Cheers JennieG |
22 Jul 06 - 11:18 AM (#1789846) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill Spotted a couple of spookies at the Loaded Dog folk club tonight....brrr.... They looked very .. strange. Spooky Men We are the Spooky Men We dream of Mastodons Practice mysterious handshakes and we can grow beards... if we want to I believe they have recently been practising the ancient art of hypnotising wombats. This mystical practise is an initiation ritual amongst young (and, er, middle aged) men of the Blue Mountains, nsw, a very spooky place. For a man to hypnotise a wombat is a significant act, symbolic as it entails exerting charismatic mind energy over an inert and avuncular mass of apathetic wombat. something similar to the effect that the spookies are having over much of middle australia. GOOOO SPOOOOKIES! |
22 Jul 06 - 11:22 AM (#1789854) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill spoooky.. enter if you dare.. |
22 Jul 06 - 11:24 AM (#1789857) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill oops, try this one... sssshhhhhh... spooky men about.... |
28 Jul 06 - 08:25 PM (#1795860) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill only a couple of weeks to go - pommies, polish your butterfly nets and scrub up your bovver boots - you are about to be truuly spooooked! f.u. |
26 Aug 06 - 10:12 AM (#1819389) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill upcoming spookgigs... 25-27 august Towersey Village Folk Festival, Oxfordshire (see www.towerseyfestival.com) 28 august Shrewsbury Folk Festival (afternoon) (see www.bridgnorthfolkfest.co.uk) 29 august Ludlow, Clee St Margaret's Village Hall, workshop and gig (email info@oak-barn.co.uk) 31 august Cambridge, St Lukes Church, Victoria Road, 8.00pm, £7/£5 (email talkingintune@ntlworld.com) 1 september Derby Guildhall Theatre, Market Place, Derby, 8.00pm, £12/ £10 (see www.assemblyrooms-derby.co.uk) 2 september Ipswich, all day workshop and evening concert (email cliveBarker1@btinternet.com -www.sharedvoices.org.uk) 3 september Bush Hall, 310 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W12, 7.30pm, £10, Bookings through www.ticketweb.com, phone 08700 600100, or see www.bushhallmusic.co.uk. For further information or media contact, email spookyuktour@hotmail.com have they been sighted yet? |
26 Aug 06 - 05:47 PM (#1819655) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,Frug Caught the Spookies at Broadstairs.................did the workshop and loved it and the concert afterwards.......................great stuff. Frank |
27 Aug 06 - 12:40 PM (#1820019) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Herga Kitty I paid a brief visit to the Three Horseshoes barn at Towersey today, and enjoyed the even briefer visit (and song) from a couple of Spookies - thanks guys! Kitty |
01 Sep 06 - 03:44 AM (#1824279) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST Just saw them in Cambridge last night - brilliant! The Swedish folk song just has to be experienced :) There are still tickets available for 3rd Sept in London... |
03 Sep 06 - 07:23 PM (#1826228) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Liz the Squeak Saw them tonight on their last gig of the tour... bloody brilliant! If the Spooky Man who guested above looks in again - I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to make the young 'un fall off the stage.... If you missed them, you are a very silly person. If you saw them, you're probably even sillier! LTS |
04 Sep 06 - 07:12 AM (#1826470) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Sandra in Sydney tell us more, Liz |
04 Sep 06 - 08:44 AM (#1826519) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,Pickle My boyfriend Alex saw the Spooky men in Cambridge after seeing them at Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The lead singer spotted him and came across to have a natter.. heres a pic... http://www.birtwisle.com/shrewsbury/Image085.jpg Would highly recommend them, as they are brilliant! Pickle :o) |
04 Sep 06 - 08:15 PM (#1827057) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,merek n dary Saw them at Shrewsbury. Fantastic!!! If they are touring next year, sombody put me in touch with them for Banbury (If we can afford it) |
04 Sep 06 - 08:19 PM (#1827061) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,merek n dary p.s. dary bought their CD and has been singing "We are the Spooky Men" non stop ever since! - Merek |
05 Sep 06 - 06:17 AM (#1827275) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: GUEST,Alex Yikes Pickle, that is a scaryman standing next to a spookyman! As Pickle mentioned, after seeing them at Shrewsbury I jumped in the car on Thursday and drove 265 miles to catch them in Cambridge with a few of my mastodonesque chums... If I wasn't about to move house I would probably have gone to the performance in Shepherds Bush too. Absolutely brilliant. CD is fantastic too. Very much hope they make it back to Blighty again. Alex |
01 Aug 07 - 02:58 PM (#2116721) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Herga Kitty There's a good review of the Spooky Men's performance at the Town Hall Castle Douglas in today's edition of the Independent newspaper. I haven't managed to find it online yet though. Kitty |
01 Aug 07 - 04:06 PM (#2116773) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Linda Kelly Saw them at Warwick -fantastic!!! They also sang in the beer tent until 4:00am in the morning -very spooky but we loved them!!! |
01 Aug 07 - 04:46 PM (#2116808) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Marje I saw them here in Devon last week - a great evening out, and thoroughly recommended. They're going to be at Sidmouth, so look out for them there. Marje |
24 May 09 - 06:48 AM (#2639783) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill The Spookies are baaaack! And are coming to a venue near you Brits,from July 17 - September 6. who are they? as described by the Irish Times, they are ...an unlikely 10-strong legion of Antipodeans, populated, it seemed, by the motley scions of a Kazakh goat herder, a Cuban revolutionary, Audie Murphy, Abraham Lincoln, Hill Street Blues' Mick (aka Animal), a Nebraskan woodcutter, Roberto Benigni - and Biggles. Evidently schooled in the Stanislavski method, the Spooky Men championed the power of pointless grandeur, and tickled their rapt audience with such life-enhancing gems as Am I Not Pretty Enough?, Don't Stand Between a Man and His Tool and the mother of all protest songs, Stop Scratching It, You're Only Making It Worse. High camp, epic folly: probably the best programming choice of the entire summer festival circuit. They'll be at Brampton, The Sage Gateshead,Oxford,The Stables Wavendon Milton Keynes, Warwick Folk Festival,Cambridge, Newman Hall, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol,Bexhill,Stokes Bay Festival, Sidmouth Folk Week, Clee St Margarets,Thropton - Croketdale,Durham,Castle Douglas, Stranraer, Edinburgh, Towersey Village Festival, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, London, Abergavenny, Caernafon ...and more to be announced shortly! |
24 May 09 - 04:42 PM (#2640006) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: My guru always said Luckily these guys are full of energy, they'll need loads of it for the tour! They're a Must-See, don't miss them!! |
24 May 09 - 05:01 PM (#2640016) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Weasel Are they coming anywhere near Manchester? |
26 May 09 - 08:46 AM (#2641117) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: freda underhill waesel, they'll be posting more venues as they organise them, so check in every now and then to see! freda |
27 May 09 - 04:31 AM (#2641691) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: r.padgett Yea saw em at Warwick ff the other year! A must see! Ray |
27 May 09 - 05:31 AM (#2641719) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Mrs_Annie John from Cloudstreet is going to be with them for the first part of the tour :) |
27 May 09 - 06:24 AM (#2641749) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Dave Earl I am not going to be able to escape from these guys. I'll be at Warwick, Sidmouth and Towersey Dave |
27 May 09 - 07:14 PM (#2642304) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Tangledwood They ran a singing workshop,"How to sing like a bloke", at the National Folk Festival in Canberra this year. If they do the same at any of your events don't miss it! There's nothing quite like leaving the venue and walking into a crowded festival singing "get out of my way, I've very important things to do" in four part harmony. :) |
28 May 09 - 06:56 PM (#2643166) Subject: RE: Spooky Men's Chorale UK tour From: Pistachio Spoooookey and brilliantly funny. I remember them from their Warwick gig in 07 and hope to meet them in the beer tent again this year. Hx |