These Infinite Spaces

Ross Tisdell is an Australian rock guitar veteran, the sort of bloke who was on the cusp of making it big a couple of times, but never got over the line. I've heard from a couple of people that he was in an early line-up of Rose Tattoo - though he is not mentioned in the bands Wikipedia page. Perhaps he greatest success was with a band called "The OK's" where he played with guys from Stormy Monday and Swanee. In the mid-80's they supported the Moody Blues at the Entertainment Centre - must have been a highlight.

By 1990, Ross had formed a band called "Ross and the Sweetsmoke", and he desired a crack at the lucrative Friday night slot at the SUS Club. The Catch had been so successful that we became a kind of gatekeeper for the SUS Club, and all bands had to do at least one support slot with us before getting a go. And so this rock veteran found himself supporting a bunch of 18 year olds for $150 one Friday evening.

I recall that Andrew was particularly worried by this. Young musicians are incredibly competitive, and we were always asking quesitons like "Is he a better guitarist than I am?" Andrew, with justification, felt he was better than anyone else playing at the SUS Club, but Ross was in a different league altogether. As it turned out, he needn't have worried - he could really hold his own with anyone on his guitar.

I mentioned before that the SUS Club had a dressing room. We were sitting in there before the gig, when Ross and his band came in, along with their girlfriends and wives. We all thought, pretty unkindly, that women in their 40s shouldn't dress like they were 18. Now that I'm in my 40s, that doesn't seem so funny!

You would think that they wouldn't care even a little bit what kids like us thought, but they kept saying things that were obviously meant to impress us, like, "Ross, that radio station called back and they want to interview you tomorrow," and, "Ross, Angry Anderson left a message wishing you good luck for tonight's gig." That sort of thing.

In the end they went on and did ok. They were playing originals, which were always a tough sell at the SUS Club - and obviously they had to suffer through a support band mix. Then we went on, everyone cheered and got up and had a good time.

After that, Ross got to do the main act on Friday nights, and he played there just about every month. I have to give him credit for being clever. They weren't pulling the numbers that they needed, so he hired three very pretty 18 year old dancers to join the act. They were the "Sweetsmoke Dancers", and came out between sets to do 2 or 3 routines in skimpy outfits. One of my g/f's friends was actually one of the dancers, so we went and saw the show one night, and they had a packed room.

Soon after this gig we played with another group of rock veterans, but in this case they were childhood idols. It would be the highlight of my brief musical career.