“Always leave a party when you’re having good time,” he laughs. “The guy from Madness said that. The ball has gotten so big, and rather than losing love for it we’d long to go out on a high. It’s gotten to the point where there are almost too many confused musical styles and influences that come to the event that it’s difficult to cater for all the demographics. We’d have to go to larger venues, and we don’t want to expand and lose the intimacy and magic.”
This last event, “The Boho Ball is Dead”, is going out on a high, bringing the trademark mix of musical talent and cock-eyed circus freaks. Among the bands on the bill are Boho luminaries Clairey Browne and the Banging Rackettes, Mojo Juju, Laneous and the Family Yah, Martin Martini, The Barons of Tang, Frankie Valentine, The Caravan of Doom, Simone Page Jones and heaps, heaps more.
“There’s over 200 performers and crew who go into the ball, who have all come on board over the years. Originally it started spontaneously from a bunch of bands and circus people who came out at the same time. We held the first few in the northern suburbs, pitching a circus tent out in the street, running illegal bars. 300 people turned up and shit started getting a bit outrageous. Then the Thornbury opened and we started bringing in internationals and it grew to where it is now. Through it all there’s always been a few bands and performers who brought in people they know, and the circles have grown further out,” explains Si.
Punk-gypsy rockers The Barons of Tang were there for the very first Boho ball, have been at most of the balls, and will be playing the last set on the main stage. They’ll be on just after 1am, shortly after a stilt-walker cuts down a ten foot Day Of The Dead candy skull piñata with a chainsaw. I spoke to bass player Jules on the phone from where The Barons are finishing a tour of Tasmania.
“The ball and the Barons have always been really supportive of each other. We played one of our very first gigs at the ball and together we’ve ridden this wave, which has become a scene – this anarchist-punk-gypsy-vaudeville thing which has grown with us.”
Jules says he has bitter-sweet feelings about the ball wrapping up, but is looking forward to the party “It’s the last ever boho ball. You’ll never see anything like it again, so do come down. Life is the kicks you get between birth and death. And we always get a lot of kicks at The Boho Ball.”
In between the birth and death of the ball, there have been an awful lot of kicks, for the thousands of people who attended the ball, and for the cast and crew. The scene that grew up helped The Barons of Tang to attain notoriety – they’ve just finished a tour of America and Canada, where they alternated between playing headline shows and parties in anarchist squats and libraries, surviving equally on green room canapés and food harvested from dumpster dives.
The ball itself has undergone a transformation. From its humble beginnings it teetered on the verge of becoming an entertainment juggernaught, which terminated in a disastrous national tour which nearly bankrupted the show and hospitalised Si with chronic fatigue and exhaustion. “We got a booze sponsorship and tried to tour the country regionally, we were way too ambitious and optimistic. The bus broke down, bands went missing, we lost our bond in nearly every venue we played. I had to learn the hard way that the music industry is full of thugs, thieves and drug addicts,” recalls Si sadly. “Most of all I underestimated how much musicians can drink.”
For this show, the team is returning to the roots of the Ball, bringing together the bands and names that have been part of the boho ball name from the beginning, along with new bands that are coming up. “We’ve got bands that regulars to the ball know and love, and it’s also a great way to showcase new bands. Bands like Snappy Yabby and the Snag Party and Hiyatus Kaiyote who not many people have heard of yet but are fucking amazing.”
“Ultimately, people turn up for the party, not the bands. More and more I’m interested in creating an event which is more detail and less numbers, more immersive and intimate. A lot of our bands played for $100 bucks in a warehouse back in the day and now they tour the world. It’s a nice arc to get out on, rather than becoming bitter and twisted.”
In future, Si and the team behind the Boho Ball will be curating two different parties, each with a different feel and musical echelon, to help cater for the myriad punks, gypsies, ferals, crusty-anarcho punks, princesses, rag-timers, scenesters and lost hipsters who frequent the ball now. “Before that, the goal is to pull out all the stops, one last time.”
