‘Dreary and boring': Rosie O'Donnell set to visit Australia in October
O'Donnell will make her way Down Under in the coming weeks to perform her one-woman show, Common Knowledge, at Sydney's Opera House in October, where she will reflect on her recent move from the US to Ireland.
'If you are coming out here to do shows, you are just so dreary and boring,' Ms MacSween told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
12 hours ago
- West Australian
Blooming good days
Araluen Botanic Park is bright with colour, and the annual tulip display kicks off on August 22. Around 250,000 tulips will bloom for Yates' Springtime at Araluen Tulip Festival, at Araluen Botanic Park in Roleystone. They sit among green lawns, bubbling streams and bushland trails. The festival continues until October 3. New this year is a special evening — Symphony Among the Tulips. It is on September 13 and 14, with host Dolce Ensembles performing symphonic tributes to Queen and Fleetwood Mac, under the stars. A little window into the past … JJ 'Boss' Simons, the founder of the Young Australia League, was drawn to the valley in which Araluen sits in 1902. His idea was to develop a weekend retreat where YAL members could enjoy some outdoor life. As YAL members travelled the world, they were asked to bring back plants for Araluen. The park gardens were developed to sit well with Canadian-style log cabins, water features and pergolas. The YAL has taken over the park with little more than the tracks left by timber cutters during the 1800s but, over more than 20 years, they laid the basis of what we see as Araluen and the park it is today. + The YAL is the oldest youth organisation in Western Australia. Since 1905, it has supported young Australians, from scholarships and financial support to mentorship and social connection. Spring is almost in the air. The WA wildflower season is working its way south, towards the metro area. In preparation, here are the planned events for this year. + Nannup Flower and Garden Festival. Ends tomorrow, August 17, 2025. + Outback Bloom, Mullewa's Wildflower Festival. August 28 to 31, 2025. The Wildflower Show at the Mullewa Town Hall is open daily from 9am to 4pm, but closes on Sunday at 2pm. $5 admission, children under 12, free. + Chittering Spring Festival. August 31 to September 21, 2025. + Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show. September 8 to 20, 2025. + Kings Park Everlasting Festival. September 12 to 29, 2025. + Esperance Wildflower Festival. September 20 to 24, 2025. + Albany Wildflower Show. September 24 to 27, 2025. + Great Southern Bloom Festival, Annual Spring Festival. September 27 to October 26, 2025.
News.com.au
18 hours ago
- News.com.au
Revered rock drummer Buzz Bidstrup shares how that infamous Angels chant began
It was the night that scarred the members of Aussie rock band The Angels for life, and changed New Year's Eve concerts in Australia forever. In his memoir No Secrets, original Angels drummer Buzz Bidstrup shares the horrific violence the band faced when they took the stage in front of the Sydney Opera House to usher in 1980. Back then, the New Year's Eve concerts were free. There were no onsite bars or portaloos and minimal security. Up to 100,000 revellers with eskies of slabs of beer and champagne crowded the forecourt and foreshore throughout the day. By the time The Angels took the stage just after midnight, cans and bottles were flying at their heads and smashing against the scaffolding, showering the band members in glass shrapnel. Bass player Chris Bailey was knocked unconscious when a bottle hit him in the head and then frontman Doc Neeson was felled by a piece of Masonite which sliced the back of his neck. From that night on, the New Year's Eve concert dumped rock acts as headliners in favour of a family-friendly program. Bidstrup said the band copped the blame from the government of the day for the 'war zone,' despite Neeson and Bailey being rushed to hospital and the authorities failing to make it a safe event. 'That night ruined Chris's life. We should have sued the council for that,' Bidstrup said. 'We looked out from backstage and saw all of these people and somebody told us they'd been there all day, there were no toilets, there was piss and shit everywhere, bottles and cans everywhere because people were bringing Eskies full of booze. 'We kind of thought, we'll be all right, they're not going to do anything to us because they were there to see us. 'And nobody tried to stop them. The police were there and could have seen who was throwing stuff, surely. 'After that night, every time I'd be playing and anything would come up on stage, I'd just get up and walk off.' Bidstrup's memoir details the hardscrabble early years of The Angels when they desperately tried to conquer overseas markets to match their success at home and the internal frictions which led him to leave the band and continue to this day. They broke into the charts in 1976 with debut single Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, a song still so beloved here it was voted into No. 12 on the recent Triple J poll of the Hottest 100 Australian Songs. The song remains famous for its fan-led chant of 'No way, get There remains some confusion as to when that quintessentially Aussie call and response began a feature of the band's gigs in the early 1980s. Bidstrup he believed the chant developed during an eight-week residency at the Mooloolaba Hotel on the Sunshine Coast in 1983 by Bailey's side project The Invisible Men, who also performed Face after their own song No Way. Neeson told Bidstrup the first time he heard it was at an Angels gig in Mount Isa the same year by which time both Bidstrup and Bailey had left the band. 'Doc told me they got two encores that night and figured they were going to have to play Face and they hadn't played it for years because it was kind of a pop single and felt a bit daggy,' Bidstrup said. 'Doc does his thing where he ran out the back door, came back through the front and into the middle of the crowd, and is singing the first chorus and a thousand people turn around and yell 'No way, get f... off' and he wasn't sure whether they were telling him to f... off, whether they didn't like the song, or didn't like the band for playing the song!' Bidstrup's book reveals how many different musical and other lives he's had. He formed GANGgajang with Mark Callaghan and Bailey who gave us the evergreen Sound of Then (This is Australia). It's a travesty that didn't make the Hottest 100 or even Hottest 200. A self-taught producer and engineer, he's worked on songs by everyone from the Hoodoo Gurus and Australian Crawl to Tiny Tim and recorded with and played in Jimmy Barnes' band in the 90s. Bidstrup introduced Barnes to his wife Jane in Canberra in 1979, and with his wife Kay, took the bride to meet her groom at the Sydney registry office for their civil ceremony in 1981. He also managed the treasured Indigenous singer Jimmy Little during the last chapter of his career, and continues to run the artist's Thumbs Up! initiative in Indigenous communities which spotlights healthy food options.
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Sky News AU
‘Dreary and boring': Rosie O'Donnell set to visit Australia in October
Verve Communications' Prue MacSween has urged Australians to 'blackball' Rosie O'Donnell's tour when the comedian visits the country later this year. O'Donnell will make her way Down Under in the coming weeks to perform her one-woman show, Common Knowledge, at Sydney's Opera House in October, where she will reflect on her recent move from the US to Ireland. 'If you are coming out here to do shows, you are just so dreary and boring,' Ms MacSween told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio.
