Sad Is Rad Live At The Toff In Town For Melb Writers Fest

For the very first time More Than A Whelan is presented as a live show for the Melbourne Writers Festival. With special guests Hannah Blackburn, Natalie Jeffreys, Aurelia St Clair and Justin Bernasconi. Plus the debut performance of Crystal Veins.

The first Sad is Rad event took place at the Merri Creek Tavern in May this year. Have a listen to Episode 28 if you want to experience the birth of Sad is Rad. It was a hell of show featuring Jaymee Leyana, Amarina Waters, Ben Mastwyk, Patrick Wilson, Poppy Sloan, Caitlin Saunders and Ben Pobjie. I loved the experience so much I pitched the concept of the show as a possible event at the 2019 Melbourne Writers Festival and I was stoked they thought it would be a perfect fit.

So on Sunday 8th September More Than A Whelan made its debut at the Melbourne Writers Festival only a year after the podcast was started!

Sad is Rad was the theme of this show, an exploration of the theme of melancholy through music, poetry/storytelling and comedy. 

Our first performer for the show was Hannah Blackburn. I came across Hannah's single Did You Always Know earlier this year and it absolutely floored me. I still think it's one of the best singles of 2019. So I was so happy that she performed both that song and another song called I Want To Love You. And make sure you check out her new single Tiny Car which is being launched on November 2nd in Melbourne at Nighthawks.

Next up we had wonderful writer Natalie Jeffreys, winner of the 2018 Melbourne Spoken Word Prize. It was after seeing her perform the poem The Purity of Sadness that I decided she would be perfect for this bill. And make sure you check out her side hustle Puddledog Productions where you can specially commission her to write a song!

Following Natalie I welcomed incredible comedian and meme queen the wonderful Aurelia St Clair. Aurelia is currently presenting her new show Woke at the Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival. Subsequent states and the rest of the world to come! Keep an eye out for this brilliant show. 

I closed the show by presenting the debut live performance of Crystal Veins. Crystal Veins is a collaboration between myself and musician Justin Bernasconi. The collaboration was born from the very first More Than Whelan live show when I spontaneously asked Justin if he would mind improvising with me on stage as I read a poem. It went so spectacularly well that we decided to continue working together and thus Crystal Veins was born. 
We performed three pieces. Don't Drink The Heavy Fog, Stay Gold and I Am. 
For the last two pieces again the incredible Justin Bernasconi completely improvised on the spot. Crystal Veins are working on recording their debut album to be released later this year. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to keep informed of its release. 

I have to make special thanks to Allegra Hartford Davis, who supplied the prompt Spring: new beginnings . I rudely forgot to give her a shout out on stage, what a jerk! Allegra is our muse of the week! 

I am filled with gratitude for the Melbourne Writers Festival for granting this opportunity to More Than A Whelan.
As always eternal thanks to Castaway Studios, without whom this podcast would not exist.
And a big smooch to our generous supporter Luxe Country and to Brendan Bonsack for taking such glorious pics of the event. Check out our More Than a Whelan Facebook or Instagram to see further documentation of the event. 

Please consider leaving us a review on Itunes if you enjoyed this show as it helps immensely to grow our audience. 

Whelan, out.