Saturday 30 November

Is when we’re throwing our epic, star-studded launch party at The Retreat Hotel in Brunswick. Tickets are on sale NOW and can be found at this Eventbrite page:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-offtopics-album-launch-tomorrow-is-a-month-away-tickets-1023142686317?aff=oddtdtcreator

Naturally there’s also a Facebook event (if that kind of thing floats your boat.) There’s a little bit of information there but no need to go all Meta as we’re going to tell you all about what’s on offer right here in this newsletter.

Doors will open at 7pm after which the opening act will be That Gold Street Sound. We’re not doing things by halves here. We’re putting an 8-piece band on first. If you’re unfamiliar with TGSS then we can best describe them as the archetypal Melbourne Soul band. They do a particular thing and they do it well.

Here’s a clip of them doing something particularly well on Brunswick St. They must have got up pretty early to avoid getting run over.

That Gold Street Sound and The Offtopics go back a long way. It was nine years ago at Yah Yah’s that the bands shared a stage. Since then, it’s fair to say the two groups have gone in different directions but there have been some parallels. Both bands had an overseas adventure in the last couple of years. Both bands have been lying low while recording a killer new album. And of course, both bands have a fabulously attractive lead singer.

Ahem…

Moving right along.

We Offtopics are on stage next. We’ll be playing songs from the new album
and we’ve got a couple of very special guests. Mady Brennan aka Madeleine Clare
appeared several times with us live over the years to duet on Mr
Tonight and we just had to include it on the album. The launch wouldn’t
be the same without the quirky dynamic she shares with the Love Wombat.We’re also going to be joined by The OG from G-roy, Melbourne’s Queen of Soul and Hay’s finest export – Kylie Auldist!
She’s best known for her work with The Bamboos and Cookin on Three
Burners. Their song “This Girl” turned into a European club hit when it
was remixed by Kungs.

Check out the original version below

Kylie and Polash have been friends for years having known each other from the Fitzroy Funk scene of the 1990s. Soul survivors? Perhaps. They’ve hung out at numerous gigs together over the years, played Christmas carols and even written a song together.

We’re really looking forward to hearing La Auldist’s unique pipes on a couple of Offtopics songs at The Retreat.

To close the night, legendary Soul Time DJ Vince Peach will spin a selection of soul and funk tunes. It’s no secret that Vince has been a great supporter of ours over the years. Getting him to agree to play didn’t take much arm twisting as he said, “I was going to be there anyway!”

Now you might be wondering why we’re putting Vince on last. Isn’t it normal for the headliner to go on at the end? Well… yes, but what also tend to be normal is that you end up extremely keyed up waiting to go on at the end, do your show, get stressed about packing up before the venue kicks you out and by the time that’s all sorted all our friends have gone home!

It can be quite deflating…

We really want to be able to party with everyone afterwards so we’re thrilled that Vince is going to be there to let us do that. We’ll have a boogie, grab a drink or three, get in some selfies and catch you by the merch table.

Speaking of Merch…

We’re on track to pick up the vinyl version of Tomorrow Is a Month Away in a couple of weeks. CDs have already landed. There’ll also be a selection of Tees and Teatowels (YES! TEATOWELS!) available to purchase on the night. Everything features the tasteful design work of Rebecca Stewart our masterful illustratrix. If we can persuade her to bring a few along you might even be able to pick up a copy of her debut graphic novel “Infernal Regions”.

Why are we pushing merch so hard? Honestly, we’re doing it for YOU! The launch is on the 30th of November. There are hardly any shopping days till Christmas after that. Seriously, we just know you’re going to see the perfect gift for that music lover/comics enthusiast/baker in your life.

That’s all for now!

There’ll be another couple of updates on the socials as more info about the gig emerges. Get in early with your tickets. In the next newsletter we’ll let you know about the timeline of events leading up to the launch including the next single drop. There’ll be info about the dates from which you can stream the whole album and an informal get together/listening party to celebrate the LP.

Stay tuned!

Luvyerwerk!

The Offtopics LIVE at P.O.M.E this Saturday Night!

To say that a lot has happened in the last year is something of an understatement… but what didn’t eventuate, for obvious reasons, is a whole heap of Offtopics gigs.

Those of you who witnessed our experimental Zoom gig back in December will recall that we certainly gave the whole iso-performance thing a red-hot go. Thanks to some excellent sound and lighting the show was something of a qualified success but there ain’t nothing like the real thing baby! (with apologies to Tammi Terrell)

So with that in mind we’d like to invite you to P.O.M.E this Saturday night to witness the rise and rebirth of The Offtopics.

The venue is a cosy sort of place so it might be the perfect location to showcase our new songs and new sound for some old favourites. A leaner Offtopics outfit with our ersatz funk dynamo back on guitar duties will see us pushing towards a 70s R&B sound in the vein of Gil Scott-Heron and Bill Withers.

Check it out – Tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=713171&

Bookings essential in this Covid aware era!

And here’s a FB event if that’s your thang: https://www.facebook.com/events/264484728574342

Come on down for some fun times, great music and delicious cocktails.

See you there!

With love from Huw, Stu, Linc, Tim, Polash and the whole extended Offtopics crew!

P.O.M.E is at 267 Swan St Richmond and The Offtopics will be playing two sets from 7:30pm.