No whaleburgers for us, thanks!

Groove Temple managed to land in the NSW coastal resort of Huskisson on the weekend of 28th & 29th July during the Jervis Bay Whale Festival and they discovered that there were no parades, no people dressed as whales, nobody selling whale flavoured-bar snacks and not even a whale band playing eerie whale song music. (Thank God for that!) In fact when they arrived on Friday evening, there were few people, save for some romantic couples having intimate dinners.

This all changed immediately when Groove Temple started playing. People came from out of nowhere, possibly some from trees, others from nearby venues and certainly at least a few were beamed down from alien spaceships currently circling the planet. Thankfully Groove Temple had an instant audience...."Just add water", or perhaps like the instructions on a packet of fireworks: "Light the Touchpaper and STAND WELL CLEAR".

Cheers and ovations from Groove Temple to the first dancer of the night, an elderly gentleman, quietly having dinner with his partner. He was truly infected by G.T.'s vibe. As soon as they started playing, he got up and danced a solo tribute to his infectious "joie de vivre". It looked like something out of a 1960's European "art house" film. Ahhh, the things you see when you haven't got a video camera.

This kicked off a great night for Groove Temple and in vocalist Ang's words: "This guy was cool to watch, kind of gracefully awkward, but still full of childish energy. Pretty soon a beautiful young thing started cutting some grooves with him. Must be she was taken by his sexy moves. So his wife had to join in then, to muscle out the competition. It got really crowded, so she had to take him home. Obviously they were feeling the love, or she was going to kill him. This is about where I remembered I can't laugh and sing at the same time. The Husky Pub crowd have always been a great source of entertainment for us."

Yet another case of allowing the audience to take over and letting them entertain the band. Seems to happen a lot with Groove Temple. Lets see what happens with the infectious GT thing at the next gig on Saturday 5th Aug at the Goulburn Workers Club. The band have been assured there is no whale meat on the venue menu.

No apologies

Shellharbour Workers Club lived up to its reputation as the place to be in the Illawarra on Saturday night 22 July. It was a creeper. The main lounge was very quiet early on in the evening, but DJ Wayne from Hits Alive managed to get them all shaking and a rocking with his huge sound system and even bigger hits. The guys from Groove Temple claim that size does matter after all, Wayne.

Once Wayne had the good people at Shellharbour primed to within an inch of their lives, it was time for Groove Temple to move in for the kill. The carnage was terrible. Hardly any room on the dance floor and sadly, no booty left unshaken, and all the victims were young and innocent. The band were hoping that there will be ample time for rehabilitation for the poor Shellharbourians before the next booking but refused to extend apologies to members and their families for any sore feet, hangovers or strained gluteals. (Notice we didn't say genitals.) The band's only comment on this issue came from vocalist, Ang who stated: "IF you go out to see Groove Temple AND have a good night, you'll have to learn to deal with it!!"

The real risk is that the scene might be repeated on Friday night 28th July at Huskisson Pub. The only way to find out for sure is to come along and bring your dancing shoes, your booty and some sports liniment, just in case. Oh yeah....and bring a friend too. You'll have someone to talk to and maybe go home with if you're lucky.

Say Uncle!

Well, the party atmoshpere at the Ocean Beach Hotel on Friday 14th July was almost edible. A delicious crowd of eager dancers were on the dance floor blowing off steam, the rain was teeming down outside and Groove Temple's engine room was stoked to full bore. The venue windows were fogged up like the inside of a Datsun 120y in Lovers Lane. Celebrations covered a 21st birthday for Mel, a 28th for Ben, and for Groove Temple, another graduation. Yes, Dr K, guitarist, now has a double degree in Computing Science and Law, making him doubly dangerous. This makes two Groove Temple academic high fives for the year as Ang (Vocalist), received his Diploma in Human Resources earlier in June. There ain't no dummies on the Groove Temple stage.

Dr K and his mates were partying big time on Friday and did some major damage. Troy was noted to have left his mark on the night and Dr K partied hard all night but eventually had to say uncle due to an ankle. Watch for evidence at the next few weeks gigs.

Groove Temple are scheduled to play the Shellharbour Workers Club on Saturday 22nd July from 10:00pm and are hoping to inflict somewhat less damage. No promises though. Participants would be advised to consider wearing the following PPE:
-Hardhat. (Must have plastic chinstrap. Yeah, yeah -just like the Village People!)
-Reflective Safety Vest.
-Safety boots, non slip sole variety is preferable (Steel caps optional).
-Safety goggles.
-Kid leather gloves (for that tight, comfortable fit, that we know you love).
-Sonic ear valve protection. (Only the Swiss made variety)
-Lubricant.
-Kneepads.
-Chocolate.

Kidnap the chef

Groove Temple were honoured to solidly rock the sleepy NSW Coastal town of Culburra on Saturday 8th July and were very impressed with the quality of dancers, "chair dancers" included. It was about quality, not quantity for a change. Culburra is in quiet winter mode. Not so for Groove Temple and not so for the venue. The dance floor may made need replacement after some heavy duty Saturday action, some from locals, some from tourists. Special mention should be made of one dancer who despite injury (sustained during a shopping adventure in Melbourne) danced through the pain with friends most of the night. This was accompanied by the demented cries of "Go you Aussie Rockers" (Voiced repeatedly by a suspected ex-member of the Welsh Rugby Choir - boy is he LOUD!!!)

Now Groove Temple have always displayed a keen interest in venue restaurants, snack bars, pub grub and freshly baked sausage rolls at 2am. Saturday night was no exception as the Chinese restaurant in the Culburra Bowling & Recreation Club is to die for and is the home of one very talented Chinese Chef. There was talk about kidnapping him, tying him up, hiding him in the lighting rig, but he deserves better. Perhaps a Knighthood, an OBE or at least a mention in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to the hospitality industry. The garlic was so strong in the Mongolian Lamb that locals should expect to see a shortage in the local green grocers. Investors would be well advised to invest in garlic futures for short term, high risk gains.

Maybe he can organise home delivery, or mail order, or maybe some budding young scientist can invent a teletransporter for restaurant meal delivery. Why not? It's for a good cause. (See Star Trek Videos for more information.) It is for the good of mankind. Go on, do something useful in your life.

Sadly the boys had to leave the restaurant.....no we mean the venue, as there are other gigs to attend. The guys are looking forward to playing the Ocean Beach Hotel on Friday 14th July from 9:00pm. Be there and get ready to see some serious dance floor action. Shake your booty people!

Blame it on the boogie

Despite expectations, Groove Temple reported one of their best South Coast weekends yet for Friday 30th June at the Dandaloo Hotel in Kanahooka and Saturday 1st July at the Greenwell Point Bowling Club near Nowra. The "Dandy" was at it's usual form, with the locals letting off enough steam to power the 3801 loco up to Robertson. What is it with the locals? Is there something in the water? Maybe we should "blame it on the boogie". This is becoming a regular gig for the guys who seem to get on well with the local barflys. It's surprising how much energy they have, they keep dancing and dancing. There would have been some sore heads and some very sore feet on Saturday morning.

The Greenwell Point Bowling Club on Saturday was a real find for the guys. This was a new venue for the band and apparently the locals have been groove starved for some time. They responded by dancing and shaking all night and hounding the guys to play more and more. Most people missed the courtesy bus because they were partying on. The good hearted management refused however to let every one walk home so they put on an extra shift.

The band were most appreciative. Clinical tests have shown that pedestrians can do a lot of damage to the front of a vehicle travelling at 90km/h.

The guys are playing at Culburra Recreation Club on Saturday 8th July and will be taking advantage of some delicious curry from the club restaurant and will also be punching out some tasty grooves. Be there if you have the need for boogie and don't blame it on the GT if you feel tired the next day.