Ian Moss – The Brass Monkey at Cronulla 11th Feb 2012

The place was packed and very rowdy. Ian’s guitar was playing up and the sound was very low. There was no light show, which made the stage very dark. So many people were talking that other people were yelling out at them to shut up. Ian was talking about the death of a friend and people were so rude he even said, “do you want to even hear me play?” Eventually most were quieter. Ian continued playing old standards, such as Cry Me A River, Green River, Cold Chisel songs such as Choir Girl, Saturday Night as well as from his Solo Career, Telephone Booth.

Ian has a distinct playing style like no other guitarist, very original. I first saw Ian with Cold Chisel in the 70’s at Adelaide Oval Supporting Rod Stewart, who was booed off stage. I saw him again on 28 January 1977 at Manly Vale Hotel Sydney, then 28 March 1978 at the Comb and Cutter Hotel at Blacktown. I next saw Cold Chisel 18 November 1978 at the Old Sydney Sports Ground supporting Peter Frampton. One thing about an Ian Moss’ gigs is people know all the songs. Many of the songs have the crowd as backing vocals with Ian encouraging everyone to join in. Ian reminds me of a story teller.

Ian Moss – Acoustic Set – Song List that Night.

• Cry Me A River
• Telephone Booth
• Green River (John Fogerty)
• Such A Beautiful Thing
• Choir Girl
• Good Times (Sam Cooke )
• My Baby
• Saturday Night
• When The War Is Over
• Cheap Wine
• Bow River

I had been filming/photographing bands since 2010. By early 2012 I had filmed over 1,200. I was trying to record the night for bands to have a memory of it. After going to Jam nights at several venues and filming/photographing cover bands and tribute bands, I wanted to start to film/photograph those bands I grew up with, such as Cold Chisel.

As they weren’t touring I searched out Ian Moss. I had been filming/photographing Ray Beadle for a few shows in a row when I saw he was playing with Ian at The Brass Monkey at Cronulla. I thought if I could film/photograph Ray, then maybe I could also do Ian’s show as well. I live in the western suburbs and Cronulla is a fair drive. The show was to start at 8.30. I left home at 3 pm so I could record Ray’s sound check and then go to the beach and spend a few hours taking photos.

I hadn’t been to Cronulla since I was young and it had changed so much. I went back to the venue about 5pm, which gave me about 3 hours before the show started. I was set up when Ray Beadle, (I still hadn’t asked Ray or Ian if I could film them, I just turned up) came down the stairs and asked what I was doing here. I asked, “could I film your set?” He said, “sure, but its Ian’s show, you will have to ask him first”. After filming Ray’s sound check the place started to fill up and 30 minutes before Ray was to play I still hadn’t asked Ian if could film his acoustic set. I was set-up at the back of the room with the video camera perched on the platform, where you put your glasses. I went over to Rays drummer and asked how I could ask Ian about filming him. He said ask the mixer. I had been talking to the mixer for a few hours, so when I asked he said, “I will ask for you”, and walked behind the bar and then came back, beckoned me over, but he kept walking and said, “just go behind the bar into the dressing room, Ian is waiting to talk to you”.

I walked into the dressing room and Ian was sitting eating dinner with his sound manager who I had also met earlier. I explained that I film/photograph bands to record the night of them and give them copies of the photos and a DVD of the night. I also told Ian how I don’t put any footage online without the band or artists permission. He said, “sure”. I was about to walk out when I asked him, “could I take a few photos?”, one of those photos is above. Earlier in the day before I left I had stopped at a friends to tell him and he has a guitar and I was playing a few Cold Chisel songs.

When I took a photo of Ian I asked him would it be okay to bring my video cameras in here and could he play on an Acoustic he had next to him, a few songs for me. Ian again said, “sure”. I went to get the video camera and stand and set-up. Ian was still eating but quickly finished and picked up the acoustic and started playing. I asked could he play Bow River, Tuckers daughter and anything else he might want to play. He started to play Bow River and I could see as he was playing, he was working out riffs for later in the show that night. I was enthralled as Ian has always been one of my favourite Australian guitarists and Cold Chisel one of my favourite Australian bands. For me it was such a privilege to be able to film him in the dressing room, take photos, then later that night film & photograph his set. Then, Ray Beadle came in and I took a few more photos then left to set-up the video camera again, thanking Ian for his time as I walked out. Quite a night for me.

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