One tall step for Mann
The Dave Mann Collective have announced their first run of WA shows in 10 years. The tour follows on from a long-awaited return performance at Blues at Bridgetown festival last November. BOB GORDON chatted to Dave Mann about his return to the road.
“That’s what spurred it on,” Dave Mann explains. “I was talking to (former Blues at Bridgetown promoter) Cole Bishop, and that got the idea kicking around. I thought it was probably about time I gave it another go because I’d sort of hung up the boots for a little while to have a rest and focus on raising children. I just pulled things back a little bit. Trying to juggle late nights and being away on the road just wasn’t very conducive to babies, being a good dad, and being supportive to my partner.”
While the Dave Mann Collective went on ice for a decade, the Mann himself still performed in The Nomadics, a duo with his wife Bec Schofield. They released three albums: Love is a Flood (2018), Love Country (2020) and Green Shoots from Dead Wood (2023).
“The Nomadics was a bit more fitting, as we could tour as a family in the truck and play the gigs together,” Mann says. “The gigs that we chose were all friendly timeslots that we could include the kids with. Now that they’re all a bit older, a few heartstrings started to get pulled again just talking about the Collective. I felt like I was ready to touch those songs again and have a bit of a play with Roy (Martinez, bass), and it turned out Arun (Satgunasingham, percussion) was back from the US, so we called him, and he was keen.
“So from Bridgetown, it flowed quite nicely and easily,” Mann says, “and seeing the excitement of some of the fans when we were playing a gig spurred me on to book some more. Hopefully it’s enough of a kick forward for us to think about writing some new songs and maybe doing a recording and releasing some new stuff. I’d like that.”
With the band’s appearance at Blues at Bridgetown going down a storm, Mann can’t wait to tread the boards with his Collective bandmates. Roy Martinez is one of the country’s most respected bassists, and Arun Satgunasingham is a second-to-none percussionist who, for a long time, drummed with Mann’s very good friends, Blue Shaddy.
“Playing with those guys is so exciting,” he enthuses. “Roy and Arun are such amazing musicians; it’s just such a pleasure to play with them. When we’re onstage, we just get into that flow state where time just becomes an irrelevant vortex. We just drop into this beautiful zone, which is kind of why we do it, really. It’s like meditation; you go into these beautiful mental states where the music just plays itself. It’s so much fun to get into that space with those guys.
“We’re choosing songs to put into the set that still really resonate with us—even after all these years—that have meaning and thoughts we want to put out there into the world that do good for us and anybody who cares to listen.”
That means a selection of songs from the band’s four albums: Dave Mann Collective (2002), Endless Page (2005), Heart Over Mind (2008) and Everywhere At Once (2010).
“I put it out there to the followers on our Facebook page and asked them what they wanted to hear as well,” Mann says. “So it’s a bit of a collection of what some of the diehard fans want to hear, but also some that we feel like we want to play because they’re fun and have the right intention.”
Dave Mann WA shows (with special guest Wil Thomas)
Friday, February 2 – Gatsby Skyline, Manjimup
Saturday, February 3 – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Sunday, February 4 – Clancy’s Fish Pub, Dunsborough
Friday, February 9 – Clancy’s Fish Pub Fremantle
Saturday, February 10 – Froth Craft Brewery, Bunbury