St Finbar's Catholic Church: Glenbrook, AUSTRALIA

This was a new concert venue for me... in Glenbrook, about an hour's drive up into the Blue Mountains from the Sydney CBD. Not that far for a regional driver... but the Sydney people were griping... and there isn't really great public transport to get this far out, so... it would have to be driving.

It was a warm and Australian sunny day when I was out here... and so, I start to realise that my phone camera gets pretty colour saturated in this sort of bright light... I think the software is trying to compensate in some measure, but it is making the pictures look a bit weird!

The inside remains nice and cool in the warm daytime... not crazily cool, but enough to be comfortable enough. Unfortunately, the "stage" area is impeded by two large and immovable stone artifacts... the alter and the lectern... which does make it difficult to get an ensemble up there.

The stone walls and the high wooden ceiling make for a very live and loud acoustic... it can get quite boomy and confusing, which is nice if you are playing by yourself... but difficult when you are trying to play with and balance with other instruments and singers.

An impressive looking organ sits off to the side... the pipes and everything are likely for show... this is a modern church, and I suspect that they wouldn't have an air blown organ... but I might be wrong on that count!

Like most Catholic churches, there is quite an emphasis on the decorative aspects of the church.... with lots of adornments on the walls. Mostly tasteful (not always the case...), and I found these were sort of interesting... a modern take on an old design aesthetic.

What was a little bit over the top and perhaps a little confusing was this weird little chapel area... a bit bird-cage like for me!