The Spooky Men are coming your way. Be afraid. Well, be entertained, excited, confused... and delighted!
As thunderous as a herd of wildebeest, as sly as a wagonload of Spike Milligans and as sonorous as a cloister of monks,
the Spooky Men's Chorale are the gift that keeps on giving.
And their latest, biggest adventure is an 11-city national tour beginning in Hobart 24 June and finishing in Goulburn 6 August. In-between there will a whole lot of mischief.
The Spookies emerged blithering and blinking-eyed from the Blue Mountains of NSW in 2001 and - armed with no more than their voices, a nice line in deadpan and an ill-matched set of hats - have been gleefully disturbing audiences everywhere since.
Formed by NZ-born spookmeister Stephen Taberner, the Spooky Men soon attracted attention with a judicious combination of Georgian table songs, pindrop beautiful ballads, highly inappropriate covers, and a swag of original songs which seek to both celebrate the "boof" and mock it.
The Spooky Men's CV includes nine tours of the UK, six CDs, sell-out shows at theatrical venues like the Melbourne Recital Centre and festival appearances too numerous to mention.
Faced with a mid-life crisis, they chose not to become a tribute band to themselves,
but instead find ever fresher, deeper, more ludicrous perspectives, such as those found in their latest album Welcome to the Second Half.
In 2022, they responded to an ever changing world by adding a Ukrainian section to the set, one song of which has gone viral within Ukraine and a stunning, rabble-rousing rendition of Yothu Yindi's "Treaty".
Always renowned for a combination of Visigothic bravado, absurdist humour and eye-moistening tenderness, the Spookies in middle age (and fortified with a new generation of wunderkids) are more masters of their territory than ever before. They will delicately garnish their much loved black-catalogue with new incursions into beauty and stupidity, somewhat like a chocolate muffin with bits of chocolate in it.
Saturday 24 June 7.30pm HOBART, Hobart Town Hall
Sunday 25 June 3pm LAUNCESTON, Longford Town Hall
Thursday 29 June 7.30pm SPRINGWOOD, Blue Mountains Theatre
Saturday 8 July 7.30pm BRISBANE, Old Museum
Saturday 22 July 7.30pm SYDNEY , Seymour Centre
Sunday 23 July 3pm WOLLONGONG, IMB Theatre
Thursday 27 July 7.30pm BALLARAT, Trades Hall
Friday 28 July 7.30pm MELBOURNE, Melbourne Recital Centre
Sunday 30 July 7.30pm ADELAIDE, Adelaide Town Hall,
Saturday 5 August 7.30pm CANBERRA, Llewellyn Hall
Sunday 6 August 3pm GOULBURN, Hume Conservatorium
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