Bondi Cigars

Canberra Blues Society presents legendary Blues & Roots band Bondi Cigars. Rarely has an Australian band received as much consistent and widespread acclaim from critics and music fans alike as the Bondi Cigars.

When the band was first gigging around Sydney, late 1989, the Cigars moved in a blues/R&B circuit which, while robust enough since the 60s, had then been sparked into new life by the ‘blues revival’ of the mid-80’s, spearheaded by Robert Cray, Joe Louis Walker, Stevie Ray Vaughan and similar crusaders. And while many of the Sydney bands from that era have vanished, become historical footnotes or undergone major changes, the Cigars—true survivors—have battled on, without ever compromising their distinctive no nonsense style, to become a leading force in Australian R&B.

That original Cigars line-up brought together four like-minded experienced players, all veterans of Sydney inner-west blues venues, and from the word go, as the 1990 tracks demonstrate, the Cigars have been the very model of the ‘no passengers’ band, a well-oiled machine plus soul: no room for slackers here. Always one of the country’s hardest working outfits (on the road more than off), the Cigars have kept their music tight, hard-driving and down-to-earth: the Australian bar band par excellence.

Shane Pacey (guitar/vocals), Alan Britton (bass /vocals), Eben Hale (guitar/vocals), Frank Corby (drums/vocals)

Special guest support: Moondog