Powderfinger drummer to join 8 Ball Aitken for Tramfest extravaganza
8 Ball Aitken and drummer Jon Coghill will entertain the crowd at Tramfest on Saturday December 9. Jon has only played one gig since Powderfinger’s finale in 2010.
Homecoming Beat
by Janine Hill
A TWIST of fate will see Powderfinger drummer Jon Coghill play a rare gig in his hometown of Nambour this Saturday (December 9) with swamp-blues-rocker 8 Ball Aitken.
Jon and 8 Ball have agreed to team up for the Tramfest Christmas Festival, a community event and fundraising for the Nambour trams project, in Mill Street from 4-9pm.
The pairing came about after Jon found himself within arm’s length of TNTCo chair, former Sunshine Coast councillor, hot-plate ace Greg “Rogo” Rogerson at a Sunrise outdoor broadcast from Nambour on Father’s Day.
Jon, Sunrise weatherman Dan Anstey, and reality TV producer Dan Munday – all Nambour High students made good – had just been crowned Nambassadors on TV and Mr Rogerson had the sausages sizzling on the barbecue when his phone rang. “I had a pair of Ansell gloves on and was covered in grease from my armpits to the tips of my fingers when my phone rang in the back pocket of my Levis,” Rogo said.
“I’d had a chat to Jon. I hadn’t seen him since I was on council. Jon was standing in front of the council chambers talking to someone else. He was about 10 feet away.
“I sidled up to him with my bum towards him and gave him a nudge with my elbow and said, ‘Can you pick up this phone for me?’”
Jon dipped into otherwise forbidden territory and passed the phone to Rogo, noting the call was from 8 Ball, who he had interviewed while working as an announcer at ABC Coast FM.
8 Ball, who had agreed to play at Tramfest, was calling to say that his drummer could not make it but he would handle the gig on his own. “I said, “Hang on a minute. Does the name Jon Coghill mean anything to you’?” said Rogo, who got off the phone and went back to Jon.
“I said to Jon, ‘He’s just rung me to say his drummer can’t do Tramfest’,” Rogo said.
“Jon looked at me. He looked right into my eyes and said, ‘No, Rogo.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean, ‘No’? You’re the hot drummer from Powderfinger.’”
Jon, who has only played one gig since Powderfinger’s finale in 2010, finally agreed to talk to 8 Ball about it. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. Then I spoke to 8 Ball, the nicest and coolest man in country and boogie, and listened to the songs,” Jon said. “I was in. He’s awesome and the songs are killer. I’m thinking of asking Rogo to be my agent now.”
Rogo expects the combined pulling power of 8 Ball, who has 25,000 online followers, and the Powderfinger presence of Jon to draw possibly the largest crowd ever to Tramfest. “I’m not sure what we’ve had before but I think this will surpass anything we’ve had before,” he said.
Entertainment will also include All Strings Attached, Lazy Guns and The String Fusion Rock Orchestra, plus there will be the usual food trucks pop-up bar, face painting, markets, and a rock climbing wall, and Santa will drop in with gifts for the kids during the event.
TNTCo has thanked the Nambour Chamber of Commerce and the Sunshine Coast Council for their financial support of Tramfest.
8-Ball, who lives at Glasshouse Mountains, has been touring but will play another gig with his whole band on 6 January at the Maleny RSL.
Christmas Party at revamped Vogue
A KIDS Christmas party will be held at the revamped Vogue Theatre in Nambour to coincide with the Tramfest Christmas Festival.
The Vogue, in Currie Street next to the Royal George, will be transformed into a Christmas wonderland for kids from 3-6pm on Saturday, 9 December. Santa will be on hand with presents to give away, courtesy of patrons of the Royal George, and parents and carers can take their own photos of their children with the man in red, free of charge. The event will be alcohol-free and a security guard will be in place.