Ron King and Maisie O'Keefe will no longer rock along to the Cobrico hall where their band, the Metratones, has performed since 1971.
AFTER surviving the fickle world of rock 'n' roll for nearly 30 years, Warrnambool old-time musicians, the Metratones, have called it a day. The rocking trio of saxophonist Ron King, pianist Maisie O'Keefe and drummer Bernie Price have played their last gig at the Saturday night old-time dance at the Cobrico hall, where the Metratones have played religiously since 1971. "The band started in 1971, but Ron and I didn't join until 1983," Maisie said. "It was a five-piece orchestra when we started but it slowly got down to a three-piece." Maisie said the decision to give up their permanent playing position was purely for extra time. "I basically have other things to do in my life at the moment and it gets a bit much after a while, especially when you want to go away for the weekend," she said. Tinkling the ivories for more than 45 years, Maisie said she would continue to do the odd performance and Ron said he would also continue to play in another band, Club 5. Reminiscing yesterday about their 18 years on stage, Maisie and Ron said they had a number of memorable performances during the years, including playing at a Monivae College deb ball in front of about 1000 people. Maisie said there was also a memorable experience travelling to a show at Heywood a number of years ago in a band member's van, which caught fire while they were driving. "The lights flickered a couple of times and then flames came out of the dashboard and we all scurried out of the car, grabbing what we could. Of course it was pitch black and we didn't know what was going on. It was quite hilarious at the time," she said. The musical duo said they would miss their monthly performances at the old-time dances, and Ron added that the band's final performance last weekend was emotional. "It was sad, we were sad, the people were pretty sad and there were a lot of hugs and kisses goodbye," he said. . . . (Report: REBECCA TROTT. Picture: GLEN WATSON)
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