Next month will see The Saw Doctors travelling to Australia for their first time in 17 years and the band is calling on Irish backpackers as well as the Australian-Irish community to come out in force and support the band.
The Docs made their first foray down under in September 1993 when they were invited to play the Guinness and Oyster Festival in Sydney.
The upcoming March tour is a big investment for the band as the costs of bringing over a party of 10 people - five musicians and five support crew - are very high with the cost of long haul flights, internal flights, work visas, accommodation, equipment hire, etc.
However the band and manager Ollie Jennings are determined to make the 11 show tour from March 4 to 19 a success in the hope that it will lead to The Docs touring Australia on a regular basis. As a result, Mr Jennings is calling on “all the Irish backpackers that are currently on 12 month visas in Australia” to support the band and go to the gigs.
“The Australian government has issued 22,000 12 month visas to Irish young people each year for the past five years,” he said. “If a couple of thousand of the young Irish backpackers to go to The Saw Doctors’ concerts in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth, The Saw Doctors would have a successful Oz tour.”
Interest in the band in Australia has risen quite recently. Three months ago The Docs had no agent, no record company, and no promoter there. Now they are represented by John Sinclair of Premier Harbour Agency and the top Aussie promoter, Adrian Bohm will present the Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane shows. Universal Music Australia will release To Win Just Once - The Best Of The Saw Doctors in Australia on Friday February 26.
Among the concerts The Docs will play are a St Patrick’s Night bash in Sydney and three performances at the famous Port Fairy Folk Festival in Victoria on March 6 and 7.
“The invitation to play at Port Fairy Festival was the deciding factor in taking the decision to travel to Australia in March after all these years,” said Mr Jennings. “For the past 10 years, The Saw Doctors have played sold out shows in the USA in March.”
The full dates of The Docs Australian tour are as follows:
Fly By Night, 1 Holdsworth Street, Freemantle WA 6959, Perth, on Thursday March 4 (call 9430 5976 or see www.flybynight.org ).
Port Fairy folk Festival, Geelong, Victoria, Saturday March 6 and Sunday 7 (see www.portfairyfolkfestival.com ).
Tasmania Republic Bar, 299 Elizabeth Street, Hobart, Tasmania, on Tuesday March 9 (call 6234 6954 or see www.republicbar.com ) .
Melbourne Corner Hotel, 57 Swan Street, Richmond 3121, Melbourne, on Thursday March 11 (call 9427 9198 or see www.cornerhotel.com ).
Ferntree Gully Hotel, 1132 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156, on Friday March 12 (call 9758 6544 or see www.ferntreegullyhotel.com.au ).
Southern Cross Club, Canberra, Top of The Cross Auditorium, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden, ACT 2606, on Sunday March 14 (call 6283 7200 or see www.cscc.com.au ).
Mean Fiddler, Cnr Commerical and Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, Sydney 2155 on Tuesday March 16 (call 9629 4811 or see www.meanfiddler.com.au ).
Metro Theatre, 624 George Street, Sydney 2000, on Wednesday March 17 (call 9550 3666 or see www.ticketek.com.au ).
The Gov, 59 Port Road, Hindmarsh SA 5007, Adelaide, on Thursday March 18 (call 8340 0744 or see www.thegov.com.au ).
The Hi-Fi, 125 Boundary Street, West End, QLD 4104, Brisbane, on Friday March 19 (call 1 300 843 4434 or see www.thehifi.com.au ).
