Brad Spurgeon's Blog

After a couple of quiet Brad’s Brunches at the Mecano bar in Paris, I returned home from Australia to host a great musical brunch, with the return of several musicians and friends like Tory Roucaud, Olivier Rodriguez, Rym Faraday de la Casa Blanca de la Chuca Chuca Mañana del Sol Rojo and Calvin McEnron. But the surprise visit of a star came in the form of a Wombat. No, and I do not mean that I brought back from Australia with me one of those not one of those weird, fury marsupials with the strange eyes. I mean Dan Haggis, the drummer of the British band, The Wombats.

Dan once attended the brunch as a spectator, but yesterday he returned and decided to drop the drums and get behind the mic and sing some songs of both The Wombats and others, and even one of the Wombats. It was the high point of the brunch, and I was not simply delightfully surprised by the mixture of his singing voice and guitar playing – ie, minus the drumming and full group effect – I was also very pleased that I had done my own musical intervention before Dan went up. He was so good. So musical, so coolly relaxed and hip in his playing in this casual open mic environment. By the way, he also spoke warmly about his days playing with The Wombats at Earle’s open mic at the Shebeen – which is why, by the way, he showed up for mine, what with Earle present….

Later in the day he also gave me a chance to interview him for my open mic documentary, and that was a very wonderful interview, too. Dan pointed out how for a musician it can be just as nerve-wracking to play in front of a few people in an open mic as in front of thousands in a big concert – in fact, he said, sometimes it is easier playing in front of thousands because it is less personal in some ways. But he had friends present yesterday too, and he was in great shape and it was clear he was having as much fun as were the spectators.

If you don’t know the Wombats, check them out, because this is a very cool British Indy band – oh, and the fact that Dan gave this four or five song concert for us was quite extraordinary, given that he is alreay back in the UK today doing a show with the Wombats somewhere in London. Musicians just never stop. Speaking of which, The Wombats head off to Australia in May for a nice little tour, including a gig in Melbourne at the Palais Theatre on 11 May. Maybe I can send them off to an open mic while they are there….