Mick Thomas has been touring relentlessly for 35 years, but obviously this year was a little different.
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The Weddings Parties Anything legend has been keeping busy, perfecting the art of online collaboration with his new band and some heavyweight guest stars for his new album, but he's itching to get back on stage to show off the new songs.
"It's felt like I've been in this capsule spinning above the earth sometimes," he said about his time holed away in his backyard studio.
"I've had more work than I've ever had in the studio because I haven't been doing gigs - it's kept me sane in a lot of ways, I've been communicating with my fellow musicians and having this great to and fro with people in my band and collaborating with people like Tim Rogers."
While Mick Thomas' Roving Commission has had a couple of runs this year in livestreaming events, it's getting to play in front of a flesh and blood crowd that's getting Thomas excited.
"Having been denied stuff all year, you kind of realise what it's worth and you realise what things in your life are important," he said.
"It's made me sit down and look at what I've done as a career, and what I do as a musician.
"I just really like playing with people, I like what other musicians bring to the table.
"The other four in my band that I play with, I play with them because I can trust them in an artistic sense to take care with what I do.
"I have a respect for the people I play with in trusting they might have ideas too, and as I've gotten older, I've gone from being really nervous about what people might do with my song and my music, but now, after all these years, I want to see what they'll do."
The band will finally take the stage at Ballarat's Volta on December 4 for two special shows, re-christening the venue after months of closure.
"They've been a stalwart of the scene, there's plenty of other towns of comparable size to Ballarat that don't even have a venue," he said.
"I think people will see the first shows on the tour for a band who are used to playing live, and have spent the year in lockdown, we're just raring to go - you'll see a lot of happy musicians on stage."
Volta's band booker Lachy Anderson is keen as well - while the venue held a few shows at the beginning of the year under its new name, and has supported livestreaming events, throwing the doors open even for smaller, sit-down shows is a huge step.
"I think initially, when the pandemic first hit, I don't think the music industry was quite aware of how it was going to impact," he said.
"I think people thought it was going to only be a couple of months, then obviously more information came out.
"We had some incredible shows lined up, so it was pretty disappointing."
With restrictions easing, the venue has booked several big names for the summer, with more to come in the new year - joining Thomas, You Am I's Tim Rogers and Davey Lane will play on Saturday, while The Smith Street Band's Wil Wagner has already sold out a show, and the Pierce Brothers are also on their way.
Ali Barter will play a solo gig, supported by Bec Goring, in January, while local favourites like Meraki Minds and FLOC have secured gigs as well.
"Later in the year we'll be having wrestling, we'll be putting a ring in the venue, so that'll be pretty cool," Anderson said.
"One thing we're always getting asked about, yes, metal will be coming to the venue.
"When we first rebranded - we just never said anything, because I had these big metal bands booked in, we just said 'watch this space', and we never got to announce them."
"That'll come in next year, some big metal shows that have been on hold."
He cautioned shows might look a little bit different to what people are expecting at first - the venue will serve food, for example, and there will be limited capacities.
"It's about being flexible and trying to work cohesively to get the best outcome for the venue and the artist, because at the moment it's about trying to rejuvenate the live music scene and getting the live music economy going again," he said.
"I think everyone's hanging out for the standing-up gigs, but because we can have seated shows at the moment, that's where it's at and everyone's understanding and accepting of it.
"You just want to be really safe and responsible, and everything's going on the right path - I'm super excited for patrons to see live music again."
Mr Thomas concurred.
IN THE NEWS
"It's with diminished capacities at venues, but I'm getting a lot of sell-outs, so that's always good for a performer's ego," he joked.
"It's just good to be back out playing again, I said to the band you might not be getting what you've had in the past couple of years, but everyone just wants to get out and play again, believe me."
Mick Thomas' Roving Commission plays two shows at Volta on December 4 - tickets are selling fast.
WHAT HAS MICK THOMAS BEEN LISTENING TO IN LOCKDOWN?
"Every time something good happens to me during lockdown, I tried to pass the luck on and buy a bunch of records," Thomas said.
The Monkees
Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars
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