This is the way summer should be. Sun out, cold Coopers in hand, waiting for some tunes in the sixth installment of The Annandale’s local punk festival, Blood, Sweat & Beers. With a big month lined up for the iconic live music venue, Blood, Sweat & Beers kicked things off out back with Tommy Optional from the band The Optionals playing a solo acoustic set. Playing in much the same vein as Frank Turner, his folk tunes were perfect for a sunny afternoon.

Looks like the weather isn't going to stop Brisbane's Laneway from going ahead, and rest assured music-goers will get their thrills from an array of amazing talents at this year's summer festivals! Here'e the latest festival news:

What an amazing year we had in 2011! We're taking a look back now at our 11 favourite tours from the year, featuring the local artists who dominated our live scene...

The 2011 JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS have wrapped up their sixth year delivering a superbly entertaining evening and bestowing 12 Awards on some of Australia’s finest talent, with The Jezabels the only multiple award winners, taking out 2 major honours.

The Queenscliff Music Festival takes place over the weekend of 25-26-27 November and the organisers are clearly revving up the heat this summer with the critical first round of artists revealing some significant names on the cards with old school meeting modernity meeting new wave… showcasing the best in past, present and future Australian and world music.

The big and bloody hearted men of Wagons are very excited to announce the following guest musicians will be joining them on stage for the grand finale of the Rumble, Shake and Tumble tour.

Wagons began their show with very little fanfare and introduction, choosing to jump right into new album single 'Downlow'. This worried me initially... I'm used to lead singer and guitarist Henry Wagons' banter leading the was. But thankfully after 'Downlow' and Rumble, Shake and Tumble lead single 'I Blew It', Mr. Wagons got right into it, cracking wise and poking fun of both the audience and himself.

Rumble, Shake and Tumble, the fifth release from Wagons (local Melbourne alt-country rockers), has everything a good album should; tales of love and loss, a song about country legend Willie Nelson, and songs you can shake your booty to. Producer Cornel Wilczek who produced Wagon’s The Rise and Fall of Goodtown, also lends his touch here.

Happy Music Video Monday! We get quite a lot of music videos here at the AU review, so we thought we'd start putting together a weekly article to ensure that you see all the fun stuff we're getting to watch!

Our Canadian Music Week coverage comes to an end in this chat with Melbourne band Wagons - just before they hit the stage at The Aussie BBQ. We talk about the new album (their fifth!), Rumble, Shake and Tumble, due to be released on Friday May 6th - about Elvis, touring Canada and more...