From tonight to Sunday (2nd May), Johno's will come to life again.
After near on twenty years as the ‘Best ‘Lil Blues Club’ in Australia, Johno’s Blue Bar closed down three years ago, with the last hurrah on Sunday June 10th 2007.
Local entertainer and live music fanatic Terry Doyle has come to an arrangement with the former owner Ric Montgomery, and with the inner-Cairns city venue, Vibe Bar in Lake Street, to put on John Blues Bar Revisited.
This coincides with during the second annual Cairns Blues Festival.
"I thought it'd be a good idea to complement the blues festival with a blues gig that welcomes the punters to Cairns on the Friday, and starts after the festival finishes on the Saturday and Sunday nights" Terry Doyle says.
“In all cities across the world that have big music festivals, you have venues putting on ‘side shows’, wouldn’t be great in the years to come that our beautiful city had live blues on every street corner and every nook and cranny spread over a whole week of the Blues Festival. That would surely bring a few visitors to town.”
The Doyle Blues Band, with Jake Doyle returning to Cairns for the week, after eighteen months away in Melbourne and in America, plus John’s Blues Band, featuring the last standing members of the popular lineup: Johno Johnson, Ric Montgomery, Bruce McKenzie and Dan Solawiej.
On Saturday 1st May there'll be Johno’s Blues Band, the Doyles and some surprises, and on Sunday night ‘The World Famous Gong Show’, which ran every Sunday for near on 25 years in Cairns, at venues like the Criterion, Oceanic, Australia, and the Pacific Hotel, along with and three Johno’s Blues Bar locations throughout the city.
Local music follower David Anthony, welcomes Johnos brief return. "Terry Doyle is a great champion of live music in Cairns. However, I'm going to miss Gordon though, but I'll be there and I've told my friends."
Respected Edgehill musician and journalist, Tony Hillier is away travelling with his band Kamerunga this weekend, but says he'll "be there in spirit."
The reunion is sure to serve up some great memories of the world-famous live music venue and rekindle the joy it brought to so many local live music fans as well as the countless interstate and international visitors, who, over the years embraced the irrepressible Blues Bar.
- CairnsBlog related coverage
What does the death of Johno’s mean for Cairns?
August 2007
6 comments:
*cue 'Memories' from Cats*
Kudos to Blues Festival organisers for their snub of Johno, despite a few naysayers. While Johno clearly has reason to "sing the blues" (after screwing up his last two nightclubs with poor security and tolerance of drug dealing) the fact that his voice is blown out and he can play the three requisite chords is little reason to employ this loser alongside real musicians.
Here's CBD Warrior again, trying to re-write history.
Mate, you are unbelievable. You are either totally ignorant or very jealous. Or, you have an hidden agenda.
I won't rattle off what I have to say about this because that can be easily found on this blog.
Seeing you continue to tell lies, there's obviously no point. If you want to continue pushing lies onto people, that's up to you, you have no credibility on this blog anyway.
But I tell you something, I understand why you hide behind your screen name because not only are you liar, you are also a known pedophile and it's only a matter of time before authorities catch up with you.
Mr. So-Called Factfinder:
Accusing an anonymous poster of being a pedophile is the mark of a desperate man. Why not call him a Nazi while you're at it?
I've seen Johno panhandling on streetcorners in town. His only audience. sad, really.
Re: "Accusing an anonymous poster of being a pedophile is the mark of a desperate man. Why not call him a Nazi while you're at it?"
Exactly my point Mr. Ed.
Wouldn't it be nice if people didn't use lies to push their petty agendas?
CBD Warrior, if indeed that is his real name, is obviously an unpleasant character. His nasty gutter comments about Johno and Johno's Blues Bar are lies.
Johno's had strict behaviour standards. The comment about drug-dealing is just a vicious slur.
Johno, a loser? Unlike Kevin Byrne, Cairns Police and Liquor Licensing, Johno is an asset to Cairns whether playing on stage or in the streets. He adds colour, fun and music and is part of the vibrant scene in the Byrne-wrecked CBD.
The Johno's nights at the Vibe were tremendous fun. Great to see the boys back together and some of the old gang who I used to knock around with at the previous Johno's Blues Bar.
Johno, Ric, Bruce and Dan are great musos and good friends to music lovers.
Thanks to Terry Doyle who organised the night and his blues band was sensational too. Good to see Jake back in town.
Thanks to the Vibe for putting the Vibe back into the CBD.
I hope we see more of Johno's Blues Band. I'll be heading up to Port Douglas later this month to see them together again at Carnivale.
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