Buried in the cobbles of Newtown lies Young Henry’s – a boutique brewery come bar as the sun dips below the horizon. It was here I met Shane Parsons, singer/guitarist and half of the original DZ duo.
Straight away Shane presented himself as a humble, down-to-earth bro – not something usually associated with punk rockers that are on an explosive come-up. Shane and his buddy Chris, a rep from Small World Festival were just finishing up discussing the last minute details of the upcoming local festival whilst delving deep into a well earned bar tab. So before long we were deep into our second round of ‘Real Ales’ and were loving the vibe like old mate Bronwyn loves free airfare.
Walking through Newtown faithful Small World festival handler Chris and Shane talk love, life and everything in between, en route to our first item on the agenda – CREAM on king where we met Shane’s good bud and fellow musician Al Gregg from PALMS.
CREAM on King – the mecca for choice vintage digs.
Thrift store camo – Shane blends in with a denim jacket as old as the man himself.
Al & Shane entertain a joke made about that Macklemore song… something about wearing your granddads clothes and smelling like moth-balls?
Two punks in a pod – Gregg and Parsons disappear into a sea of flannel, denim and patina’d leather.
Al told us these boots were worn by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. He was lying, but one should never let the truth get in the way of a good story – especially if it involves Clint Eastwood and cowboy boots.
Small World Fest is a day not to be missed – Saturday Sept. 19th, quash your FOMO and pencil it in your diary now. We can’t say we’ll be seeing you at that Adam Lambert gig though…
‘Humans of Newtown, a series by Jack Bennett’ – Shane looking more local than anyone in his adopted stomping-ground.
As the sun dropped below the tiled roofs of workers cottages repurposed by hipsters long ago, we headed back to Shane’s place to take his dog’s out for a quick explore before heading to Cornersmith for a meal that had been on everyones minds all afternoon.
Uncertain of Shane’s intentions, punk-pug wriggles free from her handler.
Coincidentally on point, Shane and I both rocked un-coordinated denim on denim. Shane motions how he snapped his guitar neck at SITG just as their set finished.
Punk-pug rocking an on point eyebrow game.
After tucking away the pups, Charlie and Sweet-D, we made for the street corner outside Shane’s – our rendezvous point with the Uber. Whilst waiting Shane pointed out The Golden Barley Hotel – his and many other Sydney rock acts’ favoured watering hole.
There aren’t too many cons to being in a band… Well actually there are, but not the bad kind. Converse hook Shane up on the reg with whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. #punkpower
Two wrong turns, and 4 minutes later our ride to dinner shows up. Shane kindly positions himself in the middle allowing Jack and I the window seats. All this moments before getting a crash course on how to rally through Marrickville in a 50k Lexus.
Finally inside, we make haste with the formalities and tuck into the array of share plates pre-prepared for us. Among the first few – Lamb Kofta, Labneh & Fermented Turnips. All of Cornersmith’s dishes have had their ingredients ethically and independently sourced then prepared on location. Imaginative cuisine, done properly.
A romantic candle lit dinner for four – Cornersmith bridges the gap between informal get together and fancy night out. After dinner, there is plenty of space at the small diner-style bar to continue your experience – sip cocktails, guzzle gourmet wine, and sample the craft beers they have on offer too.
After a top afternoon and a feast fit for finer folks, the day was over. Dinner was finished and there we were standing in the cold waiting for another eager Uber driver to whisk us away to our own abodes. We all shared a few last laughs and then departed one by one. What a great day to spend the afternoon in such swell company.
