Last night I went with my brother to The Hay Shed. The Hay Shed is a venue built by my cousin for the express purpose of providing music entertainment for the local community. The shed has been built in a paddock on his farm and he has installed toilets (proper ones not porta loos), has an area set up for food catering and serving drinks. An incredible amount of money, time and effort has gone into the planning and the facilities. The sound system is amazing and the lights operated by my other cousin add a wonderful atmosphere.
The music last night was Country style which is not my favourite but it was on opportunity to see my cousin's venue and experience music under the stars. The night was perfect, balmy and only later in the evening did a cool wind spring up but it wasn't unpleasant.
These photos were taken about 6.45pm in the evening.
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| The Hay Shed, the performing area. The green area on the ground is for dancing or if rock bands are playing, the mosh pit. I love the way old farm implements have been used to decorate and add atmosphere. |
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| The sound and light tower. My two cousins were up there last night with my nephew assisting. |
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| To the left is the catering area. I had a hot lamb roll, delicious. |
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| This is in the back area. Some people bring their own chairs although chairs and tables are provided. The big gum trees in the background are lit up at night. |
Three bands played. First a local group and two bands from Perth. The second band was very ordinary in my opinion but the third band, the Renegades were outstanding. They played good country rock with a mix of cover songs that everyone knew and some of their own material. They got people up and dancing with good music, encouraged crowd participation and were the hit of the night.
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| The Renegades |
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| Crowd participation. The lady on the far left in the yellow top is a local parliamentarian. |
The cousin who built the Hay Shed is in his own band of which my nephew is also a member. The band is Fullnoise and they play covers of really cool rock songs. My cousin plays guitar and was invited to play a couple of songs with the Renegades.
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| My cousin is the hairy bloke with the mullet hairstyle, sunnys on his head in the middle of the other two fellas playing guitar. |
During the last part of the show, I was invited up to the sound and light box to get a birds eye view and check out all the gear the fellas were operating.
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| Just a small portion of the equipment used for sound and lights. |
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| Another view form the sound/light box looking west toward the huge car parking area and camping ground. Yes there are facilities for camping. |
When I previously visited Western Australia in late November, 2012, Fullnoise had a concert at The Hay Shed in conjunction with cover bands for the Blues Brothers and the Beatles. I missed that one as the weather was terrible. Last year The Hay Shed had concerts featuring a pipe band and a swing band from Kalamunda, a suburb of Perth and a Bachelors and Spinster Ball. My cousin also organised a Carols by Candlelight concert in December which involved some Perth performers who feature in one of the main Carols nights in Perth.
Hats off to my cousin for providing such a wonderful venue where the local and surrounding communities can enjoy music. I didn't mention that he (my cousin) is also an electrician so the whole place is extremely well lit. I hope you enjoyed hearing about the difference one person can make, someone with a dream, a dream that has become a reality.
Anne xx
