NAKED CITY: THE EARL OF WARRACKNABEAL
It was a PR event to inject some interest into the ancient Royals’ forthcoming (and mercifully last ever) visit to Australia. The Queen had invited 350 high profile Australians to Buckingham Palace and there were the usual suspects drawn fom the ranks of sports people, thespians and celebrity cooks.
There was Hugh Jackman, Elle McPherson, Jason Donovan, Bill Grainger and then there was Nick Cave. Nick Cave? What the hell was Nick Cave doing at chez Royalty? After all this was the man who penned the songline about standing outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, “selling reefer” and “puffin the chalice with the Beefeaters” – “Gettin so high that whenever I drop shit it’ll land on the window of your airplane cockpit”.
The Queen would definitely not have been amused and nor were the thousands of Cave afficiandos worldwide who have spent the last 30 years religiously dressing in black and reliving their childhood angst through the ongoing evolution of Nick and his dark, brooding schtick. “We’ve been betrayed,” on ardent Cave fan confided in us last week. “If he had gone there 20 years ago to knock off some of the cutlery, then that would have been fine but this is 2011.”
Indeed it is – and at a time when the British establishment, collectively lumped with the Conservative Government and British big business is very much on the nose. “It’s enough to cause another riot in Notting Hill,” another tearful fan confessed. “We never thought we’d see the day when Nick would be curtseying to the Monarch.”
Here at the Naked City, nothing surprises us, although we did check out the Queen’s Australian itinerary to see if she would be making a surprise visit to Warracknabeal, the birthplace of Nick, and the location of a proposed statue of the great man himself. Yes, we envisage the scenario now as the Queen pulls the veil to reveal the impressive bronze image of the bare chested warrior mounted on a Phar Lap like steed, much to the joy of hundreds of school children and assorted gathered dignitaries. Arise Sir Nicholas – first Earl of Warracknabeal!
THE HIT LIST:
Cult Sinema was a Monday night institution at the Annandale Hotel for what seemed like an eternity but has recently moved to a regular Tuesday night at the nearby Mu-Meson Archives. It’s a chance to check out an amazing program of psychotronic, ultra B grade and exploitation style movies that you will probably never find in your local video shop. Next Tuesday 25 October sees a rare screening of this post apocalyptic rarity The New Babarians set in the year 2019 where gangs of human predators travel in packs like wolves, where junkyards are filled with the dying remnants of society, and an army of carnivorous military prisoners threaten a fragile sliver of civilisation. Doors open at 7.30pm and admission is only $5. Check out the full Meson program and how to get to the archives at www.mumeson.org
