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The Crackerjack club is one of Melbourne's newest live music venues and is run out of the Melbourne Bowling Club, in Windsor. It only runs once a month at the moment, and that at this time is where you will find Sam See, and Glyn Mason, usually accompanied by Lindsay field, playing on that one day a month.
However on this particular Sunday a wonderful reunion took place when Chris Stockley joined them for an extended reunion bracket as Stockley, See & Mason.
This group was incredibly popular in its all too short life. Stockley See and Mason was a Melbourne based band that worked from 1978 to 1981. They originally formed out of the break up of of popular Australian bands, 'Ariel', 'Country Radio' and 'The Dingoes', three absolutely amazing bands, and indeed the pedigree of these three musicians stretches even further back into the late 1960's/early 1970's.
They were renowned for their wonderful dueling guitar work and harmonies, with all three contributing to vocals. At the peak of their time they were supported by Jeff Rosenberg (bass) and Dave Stewart (drums). Although they were a highly talented band with seasoned song writing skills, they only produced one album (Beg Steal or Borrow) and this was largely due to their being constantly on the road.
So the opportunity of seeing these three reunite was to put in bluntly, mouthwatering.
Sam & Glyn also work as a duo under the name, The Pardoners. They warmed up an appreciative and eager crowd with a combination of their own compositions from their most recent album - Indulgences, and a couple of tracks written by Chris in previous years. Then they invited Chris onto the stage for a lengthy bracket where they, and we, relived some of the wonderful music from their Stockley, See and Mason songbook.
There was a familiarity on stage that can only come from playing together and from being close friends for many years, and it was a familiarity punctuated with humour that was quite infectious as the music and the humour drew us in, making for a very large, but at the same time intimate "party".
These guys have lost nothing! The voices like the music, have matured like a good wine and we drank deeply.
At the conclusion of an incredibly well received bracket, they took a break then Sam and Glyn came back with a few tunes before Chris rejoined them for a hearty dose of good old Rock 'n Roll. Really, they didn't wind back the clock, they simply ignored it and those of us with white or greying hair, or indeed no hair at all, ignored the fact that 35 years had passed and sang along, danced along and reminded the world at large, that music is meant to be played live!
It was a most excellent show in what is, actually a damn fine venue.
The Crackerjack club has a fully functioning bar, a decent kitchen, a large room with no pillars in the way, and a fine acoustic environment that is very conducive to live music and the Committee of that club should be congratulated on providing Melbourne with another, much needed, live venue.
We can only hope they expand the frequency of the Crackerjack Clubs opening.
Enjoy the video, it was shot under less than ideal circumstances, but it does at least document in some small way another piece of Australian music with legendary performers.
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