Cries of hip hop being “dead” have been around for over ten years, but they’ve never rang more true than in 2026. Last year, hip hop, for the first time since 1990, had failed to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. That’s not the death-knell some claimed, but it marked a…
On Monday night, American folk artist Sam Beam (better known by his moniker Iron & Wine) arrived in Brisbane to a sold-out Princess Theatre as part of his first Australian tour since 2018. The folk troubadour delivered his inimitable brand of lo-fi acoustic song writing, this time in its most exposed form. Performing completely solo,…
Punk. What is punk? Is it just loud music? Nope. Authenticity? yes! Activism? yes! Self-advocacy? yes! Being labelled as ‘difficult’? well apparently! Think Grace Tame, Eileen Gu, Malala Yousafazi – women supporting women, smashing glass ceilings, expectations, and absolutely the patriarchy. Relentlessly. Tirelessly. One critical, loud message at a time. They are punks, role modelling…
The Sunday rain couldn’t keep eager concertgoers away from 170 Russell in Melbourne, where Broadside, This Wild life, Hot Chelle Rae, Cartel and Anberlin rolled into town for Destroy All Lines’ An Emo Extravaganza. Announced late last year, there was lots of hyper surrounding this event. Still, a last-minute venue downsize for Melbourne hinted that…
There’s nothing like a good Irish pub show to get your evening off to a grand start. The Shamrocks have finally made their way to Adelaide to show how to do exactly that. The six Irish lads, including two sets of brothers have an instantly likeable energy about them. Raymond Walsh created the Shamrocks back…
Enmore Road was full of alfresco diners last night, many of them meeting with friends ahead of seeing Morcheeba at Enmore Theatre. No doubt, their conversations went something like this: “I remember listening to the Big Calm album in my room at Uni!”, “Me too! It reminds me of my first love, job, heartbreak, trip…
There are pop tours that feel like victory laps – and then there are the ones that feel like reclamations. On the opening night of her Australian Tits Out Tour in Brisbane, Kesha’s return to the stage felt firmly like the latter: messy in places, minimal in production, emotionally raw – and undeniably hers. The…
Sydney side ‘Wispers’ came together last night to celebrate their shoegaze queen, as Wisp performed her first ever Australian headline show. Who are they? A fun, diverse group of fans who have latched onto her over the last couple of years. A mix of OG fans from her 2023 viral TikTok moment, along with OG…
On an overcast night in Sydney, the red headed wonder Ed Sheeran brought nothing but sunny times, party tracks and love songs to the Accor Stadium crowd as part of his Loop world tour. Support for the night came in the form of Aaron Rowe, Mia Wray and Vance Joy. While admittedly only catching the…
With the summer festival circuit not as strong as it once was, the ability to see international acts like Lucy Dacus has become harder to come by. Luckily for Australia, Dacus is currently touring with Laneway Festival and managed to sneak in a headline show at the Sydney Opera House in support of her 2025…
In town as part of Laneway Festival, Wet Leg returned to Sydney and delivered an electric and super tight headline slot at UNSW Roundhouse. On the back of their second album, 2025’s brilliant Moisturizer, the English act showed everyone in attendance just how far they’ve come along in the few short years they’ve been tearing up…
After announcing a line up that would go on to sell out in minutes upon its release, the Sydney leg of Laneway Festival 2026 was primed and ready to deliver a day that could go down as one of the greats. With the weather gods delivering a mixed bag for the festival – from rain…
Any complaints about Sydney’s nightlife vanish after a night at Carriageworks nowadays. It’s become the Inner West’s iconic warehouse-style venue, perfect for raves (as we witnessed with the The Works, kicked off by none other than Underworld) And so it’s no surprise that to see South Korean DJ and effortless cool-girl Peggy Gou set up…
I can’t help but think of Nicholas Hope in Bad Boy Bubby every time I watch a video of Nick Cave performing. The oddly obscure “classic” is the kind of hard-watch that leaks from the more unflinching corners of the Australian psyche. But unlike similarly disquieting films, such as Snowtown and Picnic At Hanging Rock, Bubby’s…
It has been a minute—or perhaps closer to twenty years—since I last stepped foot into a university bar, but the vibe is one that seemingly holds true through the ages. Walking through the stunning, rain-washed grounds of Sydney University as the bells of the War Memorial Carillon rang out and the sun shone finally, there…
On a Saturday night with some of the worst weather Sydney has seen in a while, The Last Dinner Party put their best feet forward and delivered an intricate, fun and overwhelmingly brilliant set as part of their From The Pyre world tour. Returning to Australia 18 months on from their inaugural tour, the English…
We might be one week into the year, but there’s every chance we’ve already seen the set of the year, in the form of Turnstile at their Hordern Pavilion headline show. Yes, it’s a big call considering there’s a plethora of festivals ahead of us, a multitude of announced and unannounced tours coming our way,…
Returning to the country for the first time in three and half years, Joy Crookes took to Sydney’s Enmore Theatre stage to deliver a smooth, sultry and genuinely funny set in support of her second album Juniper. In town performing on a selection of new year’s festivals, the English artist was in fine form as…
Underworld may be the biggest name on the lineup for a new Carriageworks live series, simply called The Works, but make no mistake about it: the headline is intelligent curation and the art institution’s wondrously well-suited warehouse. Over the next few weeks, Carriageworks will kick the new year off with a series of classic warehouse…
The wind, music and good times were at an all-time high on the fourth and final day of Beyond The Valley 2025. The Day 3 fatigue was shaken off with attendees eager to get back into high spirits and ring in the New Year in the best way possible. It was a much cooler day,…
Beyond The Valley Day 3 arrived with a noticeable and welcome shift in pace and temperature, which was exactly what the festival needed. After the chaos and intensity of Day 2, Tuesday felt like a collective exhale. Attendees were obviously still keen on partying like there’s no tomorrow, but there was a calmer, more…
Day 2 of Beyond The Valley came and went in a hot, dusty haze. Most of this week is a haze, really- that odd time between Christmas and New Years when you have no clue what day it even is. Except this time, it’s filled with live music, great food and the best vibes. The…
The end of the year is nigh, and the Australian summer sun has finally decided to make an appearance, just in time for Beyond The Valley to kick off today. Day one was off to a cracking start with tops of 28 degrees and a gentle, cool breeze. This is my first year attending the…
The over-the-top beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake that dominated pop culture last year is still paying dividends for at least one of its participants. Following his viral Super Bowl performance, which centred around Kendrick’s now-signature Drake diss “Not Like Us”, the Compton emcee’s star has puffed right into the stratosphere. He now commands some…
Lewis Capaldi played to a sold-out Melbourne crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, 10 December, as his world tour finally saw him gracing Australian shores for the first time in five years. With the release of his album Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent in 2023, Capaldi had plans to play in Australia…
When asked how to describe the Meredith Music Festival, my camping neighbour, Phoebe, told me it could be summed up in one word: “collaboration.” Examples abound: Campers negotiating space and interacting with their neighbours. Jostling for prime couch position on the banks of the Amphitheatre Supernaturale. Improved wi-fi access at the Meredith township (making for…
Whilst Lady Gaga – in her first Australian bout of concerts in over a decade – claimed that the evening’s rules were to either “Dance or Die,” Brisbane really had only one choice when being enveloped by The Mayhem Ball; “Put your hands up” and dance! Gaga perhaps overdid it on how many times she…
Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their landmark album How To Save a Life, The Fray returned to Melbourne on Sunday night for a sold-out show at The Forum. The venue was packed to the rafters, buzzing with those looming end of year vibes, and the crowd itself was surprisingly mixed. Clusters of twenty-somethings made up…
Melbourne weather really turned it on for Good Things Festival, my favourite Friday of the year. Under the beaming sun at the iconic Flemington Racecourse, this year’s instalment was something special. With headliners Tool, Weezer and Garbage locked in from the start, the lineup was one of the strongest since the festival launched in 2018,…
It feels that November, despite being Aus Music Month, has been dominated by the Poms. Fresh on the heels of Oasis selling out stadiums and making every second middle-aged man cry about a band they never thought they’d be able to see live again, Sam Fender has returned to our shores and delivered a set…
