Hmph! It goes
without saying that I think the HOF should be awarding it to our guys BUT on the other hand they 'usually' give them out to bands and musicians who are
no longer performing .. i say 'usually' because Nick Cave got one last year. AND our guys still have a brilliant career ahead of them, their work is
not done 
In any case, its a fantastic opportunity for Steve and Tim to perform at the venue tomorrow night, these are two amazing songs. The Real Thing is
one of my alltime favourites ever. Im just a bit devastated that Peter and Marty are both overseas at the moment - they wouldve absolutely nailed a fantastic
rendition of The Real Thing. We all know about the Wide Open Road (The Church covered in on their acoustic album) but maybe not The Real Thing. This was
released in 1969 and became a huge hit here and in some overseas countries. Russell Morris was only 17 when it was recorded and released. Johnny Young (a
seemingly unlikely person to have written this; but with a great ear for a melody) created a brilliant song that was produced by Ian 'Molly' Meldrum
(usually known by my generation as the host of Countdown). The Real Thing is a favourite song of the band so to perform this is an exciting honour. Im looking
forward to hearing about Steve bringing down the house on both songs. Go guys! Cant wait to "hopefully" see it. Any recordings to dvd would be MOST
appreciated.
Sue
Steve Kilbey and Tim Powles appearing at the
ARIA HALL OF FAME - MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
Tuesday 1st July 2008
Steve Kilbey will be performing the Wide Open Road onstage with The Triffids for The Triffids induction into the 2008 Hall of Fame this week. Steve will be joined onstage by the remaining Triffids, a proud and humble honour for our frontman. Steve was part of The Triffids concerts earlier this year stepping into the shoes of the late David McComb for rousing productions of this and other Triffids songs.
Steve and Tim Powles have also been proudly invited to perform The Real Thing, an Australian psychedelic mind-blowing tour de force, for the induction of Russell Morris. This spectacular song (written by Johnny Young and produced by Ian 'Molly' Meldrum) will be performed with Steve on vocals, Tim on drums, Clayton and Lachlan Doley on hammond and piano, and Jack Housden and David Skeet both on guitars.
Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes are both presently overseas and were sadly unavailable.
These two songs Wide Open Road and The Real Thing are
ultimate Australian classics, masterpieces in their time and to this day will live on as songs that captured our imagination.
Julia Zemiro will host the ceremony this Tuesday night 1st of July (at the Melbourne Town Hall) and it will air on VH1 at 9pm Saturday 5thJuly 2008
Limited tickets for the general public are available from Ticketek for $87 + booking fee.
Steve recently appeared in a memorable performance with Jimmy Little at the Peace & Compassion, Concert for Tibet.
Tim has been busy mixing Mark Moldre's new album and produced Doc Neeson's solo album, among others.
The Church's new studio album is
presently 'in production' and we are hoping to release it in time for you.
ARIA Press Release:
"From across the Atlantic, 2007 ARIA
HALL OF FAME inductee NICK CAVE will pay tribute to his former UK touring mates THE TRIFFIDS. The BLACK EYED SUSAN's golden voiced ROB SNARSKI and THE
TRIFFIDS will perform Red Pony while STEVE KILBEY (THE CHURCH) will join THE TRIFFIDS on stage to perform the glorious Wide Open Road,
arguably the band's signature tune.
MIDNIGHT OIL and GHOSTWRITERS' founding member, ROB HIRST, will take out induction honours for the incomparable RUSSELL MORRIS while a supergroup featuring
special guest musicians including members of THE CHURCH (Steve Kilbey, Tim Powles), THE WHITLAMS (Jack Housden), JIMMY BARNES BAND / THE HANDS (Clayton Doley)
and POWDERFINGER / THE HANDS (Lachlan Doley) will team up to perform The Real Thing, a song that was described by Cashbox Magazine at the time as a
"Mind-boggling electronic blast, hypnotic spell caster ... compelling at first listen and impossible to ignore". How right they
were!"
