There was a lot of love in the room at the Adelaide launch of ‘No Fixed Address’ and the opening of the related exhibition in the Wall Gallery at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 24 August.

Main pic: Duckie Taylor, Graeme Isaac, Donald Robertson and Ricky Harrison. Pic by Peter Thurmer.

An early arrival was original No Fixed Address sound engineer (and sometimes bass player) Duckie Taylor, accompanied by his cousin Tania (whose garage was an early NFA rehearsal space). Other groovers in attendance included CASM tutor and Wrong Side of the Road producer Graeme Isaac, who flew down from Sydney, photographers Eric Algra and Peter Thurmer, Roadunner art director Geoffrey Gifford and friends and supporters from the band’s early days such as State MP Eddie Hughes, Mark Thomson and Sherree Goldsworthy.

An unexpected (and rather surreal) guest was the Governor of South Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, acompanied by her husband and a uniformed aide-de-camp. Her Excellency and I had a very pleasant chat, and she seemed genuinely interested in the band and its history.

Dr Collette Snowden. Pic by Peter Thurmer.

Surrounded by an assemblage of No Fixed Address photos, artworks, objects and videos, my good friend Dr Collette Snowden did the launching honours. She said nice things about me and the book and spoke about the importance of the Dunstan-era initiatives in the creative arts that fostered the envirnonment in which a band like No Fixed Address could emerge. She pointedly observed that current South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas ‘is no Don Dunstan’. Ouch.

Donald Robertson speaks at the book launch. Pic by Peter Thurmer.

In my remarks, I acknowledged the 20 stunning photos by Gabriele Senft that form the centrepiece of the exhibition. Taken in February 1988 at the East Berlin Festival des politischen Liedes (Festival of Political Song) and a one week tour through the German Democratic Republic that followed, they show the band at work, rest and play, a long way from home. Of the 91 images that Gabi scanned from her original negatives and sent to me, I only used four in the book. Subsequently, she generously gave her permission for a selection to be printed and used in the exhibition.

I concluded my remarks at the book launch with the following. ‘I’d like to pay my respects to all the band and crew members, past and present, for their inspirational music and performances over more than 40 years.’

After the welcomes and speeches, the band members arrived and happily posed for photos with members of the crowd. Then it was time for the concert, which was terrific, and the after party in the Wall Gallery that followed. Which was also terrfic.

In a sobering reminder of how fragile and precious our lives are, news came through the following morning that Mick Thompson, sound engineer with No Fixed Address from late 1986 through their Eastern European adventures of 1988, and then with Bart Willoughby’s next band Mixed Relations, had died after a prolonged illness. RIP Mick.

From My Eyes. Artwork, Johnny Cummins. Pic by Jeff Jansen.

Ricky Harrison, John John Miller and Bart Willoughby view the exhibition. Pic by Helen Trepa.

No Fixed Address at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Pic by Peter Thurmer.