A Valley Of Balloons, Tea, Wine & Fantastic People
We transformed the Tea Club in Nowra into a valley of balloons, tea, wine and fantastic people to shoot a music video for my track, ‘We All Keep On Marching,’ last Saturday and I still have a grin on my face.
Loading in a collection of music gear, refreshments and assorted props at 3pm I noticed that we’d been gifted with what was one of the most stunning days of the year. The Tea Club’s high walls, painted with vines and covered by chalkboards and what appears to be a vintage 1920’s bicycle, have become my musical home ground since my first show there five years ago.
We decked the stage with lights and the good part of a 100 pack of balloons and then squeezed in 6 musicians. The audience seats had been set up in a beautiful fashion, but there really was no need. The shoot begun and before me stood a beautiful variety of friends and music lovers: some I’d known for years, others I had just met and those who I would be talking to between my frantic ping-ponging across the backyard-like settings of the Tea Club.
Between what is best described as ‘too many’ versions of Marching, I churned out a few incredibly random covers, from INXS to The Backstreet Boys. The band and I also delivered unrehearsed versions of my originals and The White Stripes’ ‘Hotel Yorba’’.
To everybody who came or helped me on the day: thank you. Thanks’ for making my night so special, I hope you enjoyed the show.
Bennie James.
