The Other Northcote and the EGRMB

Melbourne has a Northcote of it's own. Yes Auckland, you have competition and quite a lot to live up to if you want to be in the name game. This quirky little village similar in feel to Ponsonby, is famous for the live music at its local pub, The Northcote Social Club. I have seen so many posters around for live acts at The Northcote Social Club that I felt I just had to check it out at some stage. So I looked on my trusty and much scronkled by this stage, tram map and noticed how far away it was. My immediate thought is, Holy carrolly Batman I'm never gonna make it on foot. But make it I did. I walked all of Smith Street, Queens Parade, through the pleasant suburb of Clifton Hill to Westgarth, another pleasant village and up the only hill I have yet found in Melbourne. Well when I say 'ill, it were a pimple really but it were a 'ill to uzz, as the Four Yorkshire Men might say.

I chose to visit Northcote on Sunday when the High Vibe 8 street fiesta was on. The wide High Street was blocked off to tram and road traffic and it felt quite daring to be walking down the middle of the ghost tracks but that is what I and everyone else did. All of the village shops had market day stands outside selling their wares and there were lots of lovely street food to be sampled.

Cafes set up enclosures of tables out on the street to sell alcohol. The cordoned off spaces effectively extend the cafe's license to it's new boundary. I was there for the first two of the eight hour festival so the drinking was still quite civilised. Alcohol induced violence problems are undergoing a big community newspaper campaign here in Melbourne at the moment. The slogan is “Just Think. We're not saying don't drink- just think”. I am skeptical that such a soft line will be effective but they are at least acknowledging the issue. But at the moment however the Northcote festival is very sociable with music and food to soak up any alcohol.

There are street musician and unfortunately the sounds clash a bit as they do with the Jazz Festival in Mission Bay but everyone is here, child buskers playing didjeridoo and dancing (obviously not at the same time), a teenage group sitting cross legged in the middle of the street clapping out random rhythms, a three piece folk group with harp and unusual harmonies, a real mix of sounds. Yes I know, my mind boggled also at the line up and I was there to witness it so you'd have thought it made more sense but no. Music in the northern suburbs of Melbourne is as eclectic as the mix of people and fashion.

There are vendors of tantalising ethnic street food and as it is lunchtime I sample some very tasty Indian pakora, a fried potato cake fragrant with cumin and curry, and some Sri Lankan lentil patties and potato dumplings. I nearly go back for a helping of Tibetan Yak dahl and rice but my hunger is satisfied so I pass on this occasion.

I decide that it is time to move on when the street starts to get crowded because after very little sleep due to the Friday and Saturday night noise at the youth hostel and and a changeable windy, sunny day that is making hat wearing difficult but also necessary I walk back to town.

So back down the road and this time I walked through the Edinburgh Gardens to stop for a bite to eat. There I met the Edinburgh Gardens Rotunda Marching Band. This ad hoc group of young musicians has just started meeting in the park by the rotunda on Sunday afternoons at about 2.00pm to jam. Their music is jazz roots with on the day I was there, a drummer, a guitarist and a clarinetist (if that's the correct term) however there could also be a cellist and other musicians turn up later if they are not too hungover from the night before. This is the drawback of meeting on a Sunday afternoon I'm told, the commitment to drinking for these young people is stronger than it is to jammin' with the group. I didn't see much marching likely to happen given the pale complexions of the three who did turn up but the sound was definitely was cool to happen upon on my Sunday walk.