Ella Hooper is back with more Americana tunes on her third solo LP, Overnight Success. You may already be familiar with its four singles: “Growing Up is Hard to Do”, “I Got Eyes (On You)”, “When the Shit Went Down”, and, most recently, “Cowboy Man.” The opening track “Growing Up is Hard to Do” starts…
You Am I are preparing for a string of shows to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hourly, Daily. The band will be joined by a string quartet on their “Strung Up” tour that kicks off in Castlemaine. Tell me about the Strung Up tour that’s starting next month. Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: Well, we have engaged…
PNAU played an electrifying set full of (Go) bangers to an adoring crowd as part of Brisbane’s Night at the Parkland concert series, held in Roma Street Parkland. Opening the night was solo acoustic artist Birren. There were some slower and quieter moments throughout his set, including a cover of Leon Bridges’ “River”. Unfortunately these…
“Switch On, Light Up, Come Alive” is the theme of this year’s Brisbane Festival, which runs from 4-26 September. This is Ebony Bott’s first Brisbane Festival as Artistic Director, featuring a range of events, including live music, theatre, opera, dance, talks, and film. We’ve chosen five must-see events that showcase new voices, storytelling, and local…
KINGSWOOD played old favourites and new songs from Midnight Mavericks to an energetic crowd at Lefty’s Music Hall in Brisbane. The night kicked off with a support set from country artist Briana Dinsdale. Dinsdale was even more hyped than the crowd to be seeing KINGSWOOD perform, as she told us between songs. She played a…
KINGSWOOD’s seventh album Midnight Mavericks is a love-letter to country rock and all things Americana. The album kicks off with “Two Lovers”, a solid opener that features Steph Greenwood on vocals alongside lead singer Fergus Linacre. The rhythm guitars paired with a slide-guitar riff show off the band’s country-rock style, and sets the scene for…
Katy Steele brought the banter along with reworked versions of her solo songs, beloved Little Birdy hits, and covers from her latest album Undressed to an intimate setting at Lefty’s Music Hall in Brisbane on 7th May. The show started with local solo artist Mou. He managed to keep the audience quiet while he played…
Katy Steele, solo artist and lead singer of Perth band Little Birdy, has been busy preparing to tour for her latest album Undressed. Undressed features stripped back versions of well-known Little Birdy songs including “Relapse” and “Beautiful to Me”; Steele’s solo songs “Rescue Boat” and “Signal to You”; one new song “Honest With Me”, and includes…
When I was a child learning to count and spell, I never thought I would visit Mississippi, the word used to measure time and to prove how good I was at spelling. But, I took a chance on Clarksdale. It’s a small town located in the north part of Mississippi, about an hour south of…
If you haven’t heard any of Kira Puru‘s music, exactly how big is that rock you’re hiding under? Her single “Molotov” has had a lot of airplay on Triple J, and her undeniably cool ‘Like A Version’ performance of Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night” is what dreams are made of. Her debut self-titled EP contains the…
Boston Calling kicked off the weekend to a mid-sized crowd on a hot, windy day, which gave me major flashbacks to the Big Day Out and Falls Festivals past. Within the first ten minutes I was sweaty, covered in dirt, and had sneezed about a hundred times. But if you don’t get a little grimy and…
The second day of Boston Calling had the biggest headliners, and a solid late afternoon run on the Red and Green stages. The Pod Saves America podcast was a good idea until the line ended up going out the door and around the corner, but Manchester Orchestra on the Green stage was a good enough…
The hot weather and sun we’d had on the first two days felt like a distant memory by Sunday afternoon. The temperature dropped 20 degrees overnight, and the cold wind made the light rain feel a million times worse than it was. The weather inspired me to check out The Arena stage, held in a…
This year’s Boston Calling Music Festival takes place between May 25 and May 27, at Harvard Athletic Complex in Massachusetts in the USA. A festival with this many headliners – Eminem, The Killers, Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, and Tyler, The Creator – doesn’t really need to do much else to get…
British India returned to The Metro with songs from their latest album Forgetting the Future and two support acts, Deadlove and Planet, in tow. First support act Deadlove were loud and energetic, their set could be heard from the bar at The Metro. Playing to a small crowd that gradually grew throughout the set, the…
The Guild has three locations in Austin, and I chose to stay at the one on Red River and 9th Street – right across from the iconic Stubb’s BBQ. It proved itself to offer something quite different to the usual hotel experience. Upon booking, I received a text asking me to send photos of my…
My experience with the Holiday Inn Ontario Airport, California (about an hour east of Los Angeles) started two days before I was set to arrive. I wanted to make sure that arriving late at night after a music festival would be acceptable, and that I could have a late checkout the next day. The woman…
I have never listened to St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) before this album, and while I feel I need to go and do that now, I am happy that MASSEDUCTION was my introduction to her music and her amazing talent. MASSEDUCTION is, quite frankly, the best thing I’ve listened to in a while. The production…
The Lisbon Marriott Hotel is the stereotype of a hotel that would have been considered classy in the ’80s, but hasn’t been updated since. The lobby has a huge revolving door – something about them always makes me nervous – a bar and restaurant immediately opposite the entrance, and a large check-in desk to the…
For anyone not in the know, CalJam is the birth child of Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. Debuting in San Bernadino, about an hour and a half drive from LA, the festival hosted a huge lineup including Cage The Elephant, The Kills, Royal Blood, Liam Gallagher and Babes in Toyland. Like any…
I have been a British India fan from the start. I remember playing “Tie Up My Hands” on repeat back in 2007, and since then, I’ve followed their progress and danced in their moshpits in venues and festivals all over Sydney. To say their sixth album, Forgetting the Future is great is an understatement. Their…
Stepping into Marquis Reforma in Mexico City is what I’d imagine stepping into a palace is like. Staff greeted my friend and I as the taxi dropped us off, and held our suitcases for us while we checked in. The lobby is decorated with marble-effect tiling, gold and black statues, and large plants. There are…
When I checked into my original Barbados hotel, in the Carribean, I was sorely disappointed. The bed was uncomfortable, bathroom dirty, and, because of the open plan of the building, was barely private. The next morning I trawled Booking.com for a better hotel nearby and found a deal at Time Out Hotel, only a ten…
The War on Drugs‘ Adam Granduciel has a lot to live up to with latest album, A Deeper Understanding. 2014’s Lost in the Dream received high, widespread acclaim – our review even called it a masterpiece – which means this album is given the unlucky task of upholding or exceeding the hype. A Deeper Understanding…
The Preatures‘ second album Girlhood, follow up to their 2014 debut Blue Planet Eyes, explores matters that affect us as girls in a fun, pop-driven way. Opening track “Girlhood” blasts in without an intro, and makes me want to jump around my bedroom while singing into a hairbrush. If they were intending to make female…
It was a different kind of set to the ones I’m used to from The Living End. This is a band that headlines festivals, starts mosh pits, and causes all ’round chaos in Australia. But on this sticky Monday night in New York, they were very much a support act. It wasn’t from lack of…
I have been to one European festival before – Main Square in France – but that was six years ago. In that time I got used to the stricter, but definitely more organized, festivals in Australia and the US. If there’s one thing you should take away from this piece it’s this: if you’re going…
One of Australia’s best known and celebrated singer-songwriters, Sarah Blasko is touring around Australia, but this tour is special because she’s playing completely solo at all of her shows. We caught up with Sarah to find out why she’s decided to play solo now, and get the insider information about her new album. I saw…
I didn’t have a real reason to head to Mexico City for a weekend getaway, other than the flights were cheap (from mainland USA) and I love Mexican food. The only real plan I had was to go to the Frida Kahlo Museum… so the rest of our weekend was (naturally) spent exploring, eating, shopping, and drinking. One bonus…
LCD Soundsystem did a run of shows at the brand new venue Brooklyn Steel. The band showed they’re not losing their edge whatsoever. And, we all know. I was there. I have to preface this by saying LCD Soundsystem was my ‘white whale’. My friend invited me to see them at the Hordern all the…
