Author: Larry Heath

While in Sydney on tour with Ben Folds, UK singer songwriter Lucy Rose stopped by AU HQ to take part in our acoustic sessions series. Performing her enchanting track “Floral Dresses” on our couch, a track you can find on her Something’s Changing record – out now! Catch Lucy on tour at the following dates with Ben Folds and…

Going to a Manchester Orchestra show is quite the unique experience. They truly attract fans of all ages, demographics and genre persuasions. The emo kids are there. The hard rock kids are there. The contemplative Bob Dylan fans are there. They’ve managed to take their music and not so much make it “commercial” or “mainstream”,…

After being rumoured for years, and first known under the title “God Particle”, the third film set in the Cloverfield universe has been released today on Netflix in a surprise move from Paramount Pictures, who had long planned the film for a cinematic release. The film, which we now know is called The Cloverfield Paradox,…

It has to be one of the best live venues in Australia – a stage in the heart of Taronga Zoo, best accessed by ferry, with a virtually unimpeded view of the harbour behind it. But it never hangs around for long. Thankfully, however, the 2018 Twilight at Taronga concert series returned on Friday night,…

In his second visit to our shores on the Pure Comedy tour (he was last here in July for Splendour in the Grass), Father John Misty delivered what has become something of an annual sermon to a packed Enmore Theatre in Sydney. In it, the great J Tillman leant primarily on his 2015 release I…

While in Sydney last week with the Foo Fighters, Weezer drummer Pat Wilson took some time out to hang with us and catch us up on everything Pacific Daydream, and where the new album has taken the beloved US band since. With their music always maintaining a distinctly Californian sound, Wilson weighs in on this otherwise classic Weezer element, “I’m proud…

On 11th January, Virgin America made its final flight under the callsign “redwood”. It’s now flying as “Alaska”, as Alaska Airlines moves towards the completion of its merger with the much loved airline. This said, the airlines continue to each fly with their respective branding and flair, at least until April 25th (though it will take…

Wearing an Oxford Art Factory t-shirt – where the iconic frontman last performed in Sydney – Dave Grohl and his fighters of Foo returned to Sydney last night, thrilling audiences in their ANZ Stadium debut with a rollicking 3 hour set that proved as much a trip down memory lane as it was a celebration…

Branded as being situated “between Hollywood and the Hills”, the Kimpton Everly – which opened in August- is in an unbeatable location. A block away from Hollywood and Vine, the building sits right behind the classic Pantages Theatre (where Disney’s Aladdin is playing to March 31st) and the iconic Capitol Records building. Right next to…

Across two stages and three days, punters who attend the remote Air Festival in Indonesia appear destined to experience an event unlike any other. Now in its fourth year, the event merges underground dance music culture with ceremony and sacredness, promising a three day experience ” in which friendships are forged, hearts are opened and…

Recently linking up with New Caledonia Tourism, Australian band Crooked Colours headed out to the South Pacific hotspot as part a new destination marketing campaign established to boost the number of Australian travellers out to the area. Crooked Colours wound up recording music inspired by their travels and even locked down a music video when…

After months of speculation, the 90th Academy Awards finally have their nominees – with The Shape of Water dominating the tally, sitting with an impressive 13 nominations. And no film even comes close to matching its domination. Sitting behind it, with eight nominations, the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk has some out swinging with a Best…

It was Christmas night in Abu Dhabi, and a surprise Business Class upgrade at the gate (thanks to my Platinum Velocity Status and an overbooked aircraft) was nothing less than a Christmas miracle. It’s nothing short of a dream for a 14 hour flight – among the longest in the world. My first time flying…

Out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week, the critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049 is set to impress audiences all over again with its incredible story and visuals. One of those impressive visuals, was the inclusion of Sean Young – just as she looked in the original. This was achieved thanks to CGI and a double,…

When the original Blade Runner was first released in cinemas in 1982, it made waves for its stunning cinematography and special effects, moody and now iconic soundtrack from Vangelis, and its truly innovative adaptation of a short story from sci-fi writer Philip K Dick; the rare instance where a film has outdone its source material….

Earlier this week I caught up with Producer Geoffrey Wexler, who talked about Studio Ponoc’s first feature, Mary and the Witch’s Flower. Comprised of ex-members of Studio Ghibli, we talk about creating the film in the shadow of the iconic Japanese animation studio’s legacy, creating strong female characters and working with an incredible English cast. We…

In June 2017, one of the most influential and celebrated albums of all time – The Beatles‘ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band – celebrated its 50th Birthday in the USA. As a self-confessed Beatles obsessive, I took to the skies and headed to the permanent Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas, Love, which…

I recently had the opportunity to spend a day in Abu Dhabi, on my way home from Canada. Flying with Etihad, who base themselves out of the U.A.E. Capital City, a stop-over couldn’t be made easier – and is indeed encouraged for visitors to the transit hub. With my bag checked through to Australia, I…

When flying around Asia, the difference in price between budget carriers (Scoot, Tiger and Air Asia) and everyone else can be staggering. On the day I was flying, you were looking at flights one-tenth the price to fly with Air Asia versus Malaysian Airlines, or an indirect competitor. So the question is, for a short…

At the Golden Globes last weekend, Director Guillermo Del Toro accepted a long overdue Best Director trophy for his latest effort The Shape of Water, which has been something of a surprise award season favourite around the world, topping both the Globes and BAFTA nominations lists (among others). In the speech, which brought the film’s…

With their fourth record A Fever Dream, Manchester outfit Everything Everything delivered what ended up being my favourite release of 2017. Taking what they’d done with Get To Heaven, the band refined it into a perfect body of work; an album in the classic sense of the word, a well articulated effort that embodied everything…

Run the Jewels – the acclaimed project of US rappers El-P and Killer Mike – are currently in Australia for their first tour of our country in three years, and their first since the release of their third LP Run The Jewels 3. The duo were quick to point out how much bigger the shows…

Kim Churchill is no stranger to the Australian festival scene. Easily one of the country’s most popular and hardworking performers, Churchill found himself home from Europe and back into the swing of things earlier this month, hitting the Festival of the Sun stage in Port Macquarie. We checked in with Kim as the weekend rolled out! It’s always…

Dear Seattle were quick to emerge in 2017 as one of the new bands to be keeping an eye on and as the shows continued to grow in quality and crowd attendance, these young guns really demonstrated their chops as a live act. Out at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie, we sat down with the…

We always have a great time with The Preatures; longtime fans of the Sydney band, we’ve loved watching their rise from local favourite to nationally beloved live band. Their latest album, Girlhood, has seen The Preatures continue to step into their own light and as a live band, their shows have been second to none. Catching up…

Festival of the Sun this year brought some stellar sets of music to Port Macquarie; for some, it proved to be the start of the final run of shows for the year and for others, it was a playground on which new material to be tested on. For one of the country’s most acclaimed hip hop…

Port Macquarie’s Festival of the Sun – over a weekend packed with festivals around the country – helped kick off the Summer Festival season in style earlier this month, coinciding with the start of Summer holidays for many university students. The event, which has taken over the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park on the beaches of…

As with every year, Port Macquarie’s Festival of the Sun provides a stage for not only some of Australia’s best known talent, but the fresh and emerging faces of our music scene, to show off their skills and continuously cut their teeth as live performers. This year, we met Mild West, who took out the triple j…

Starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal, Victoria and Abdul is Stephen Frears’ latest film, chronicling the unlikely friendship of Queen Victoria and her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim, in the late 1800s. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray this week, and to get some more perspective on the project, I caught up with British…

On Friday, after a couple of 15 second teasers sent tails wagging all over the internet, the first full length trailer dropped for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. After feasting our eyes on it for the first time, we had the chance to catch up with the film’s director, J. A. Bayona, to talk about lending…