Live Reviews

Ah, FBi Social. There are few places I’d rather be on a Thursday night. And tonight was no exception, with Adam Lewis’ Radiant Live returning with a vengeance thanks to headliner Richard in Your Mind. But first up were some very special guests from Melbourne, avant-pop duo Hammocks and Honey. The duo – Prudence Rees-Lee…

With the loss of Robert Crumb to theoretical assassins, the highlight of the Sydney GRAPHIC Festival inarguably belonged to Gotye, and his hyped ‘animated album preview’ for Making Mirrors. Though in our books, this was always the highlight of the weekend. Playing to two sold out Sydney Opera House crowds, it’s clear that Gotye has…

Today I seemed to spend just about my entire day wandering the halls of the Sydney Opera House, immersed in a world of graphics, music and art. From the free talks in the Western Foyers to the Independent Games Festival in the same location, there was plenty to see and do even if you didn’t…

One of the unsung champions of the Sydney live music scene is The Lansdowne Hotel, essentially opposite Sydney University on City Road. Those of us who went to Sydney Uni remember the venue more for the $5 (now $7-15) meals (that would usually keep you there well beyond lunchtime) than for the music. But in…

Every now and then an intimate Sydney venue gains a coup – a rare, raw performance from an internationally recognised artist. Even rarer is when this artist happens to be Australian. Wednesday night at Tone, this was exactly what took place when New York based Daniel Merriweather took to the stage for an intimate, acoustic,…

As I write this article, Sydney’s Boy and Bear are representing Australia (alongside An Horse at the iconic Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago, USA. But just a few days ago they celebrated the launch of their new album Moonfire with a hometown intimate gig for iTunes Live at the Apple Store on George Street. As is…

As I entered the festival grounds for day two, rushing to see Lanie Lane (only to discover she had finished her set early), I noticed something: The dress code at this year’s Splendour in the Grass seemed to include furry animal hats. They were everywhere! Anywho, the silver lining in missing Lanie was that I…

In my final day of Splendour in the Grass for 2011, it was the main stage calling: with one of my favourite bands playing (Pulp), I was determined to get a spot early in the day. And so I did! But unfortunately this meant I was going to miss bands like Young The Giant, The…

After a long journey up from Sydney, it was finally time to embrace the sweet sounds of Splendour in the Grass for 2011, which had returned to Woodford for the 2nd consecutive year. Unfortunately, the usual logistical delays of picking up our campervan kept us from enjoying some of the early sounds of the day,…

The bellowing Jack Ladder seems to be one of those guys quietly working hard to sound more mature every time I see him live. His swagger on stage is really refined, and you’d be mistaken if you had transported yourself to the early new wave scenes of the 1970’s and 80’s. Jack’s guitarist – Kirin…

What was all this talk about Modest Mouse only playing new songs at On The Bright Side? I just saw the setlist then and it was pretty much ONLY old stuff. Just because it’s super old and you don’t know what it is, doesn’t a new song make! Pfft. Anyway, for one reason or another…

I remember being so impressed when I heard my first post rock song – “Sleep” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It changed my musical life and brought a whole new perspective on listening. Music was more than just a 3 piece band and a vocalist. This new genre was an exciting and uncharted area for…

After having taken some time away from music, Dan Sultan was back in Adelaide performing over two nights, with Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow. Sultan’s popularity is such that Thursday night’s gig sold out and a second show was added. These shows were more of a double bill, than a traditional support and main act gig,…

I made my way into the Oxford Art Factory just in time to catch one of my favourite Australian groups, Adelaide’s Wolf & Cub. It had been a while since I’d seen the four piece, so it was a pleasure to see them back in action – 2 drums, 1 guitar and 1 bass working…

Psych, ‘gaze and more wall of noise descriptions, and no room to move as well. That’s all I thought about at this gig really. I mean I shouldn’t be surprised. This whole night screamed guitar noises from the rooftop. The Sun Blindness were the band to slide into one of those moody sets full of…

In the biggest promotional coup that Sydney has seen since Oprah came to town, last night Lady Gaga exploded onto the Sydney “Monster” Hall stage for what was no doubt the loudest, most extravagant event the venue has seen since Margaret and David argued about some films during the Sydney Film Festival. The stage design,…

As soon as I walked through the doors, Sal Kimber and her band The Rollin’ Wheel showcased slight tinges of country and folk here and there. Not quite fully being a part of that genre though, and making a statement that they were their own sound. I seem to adore more double basses when I…

I suppose with this gig reviewing kind of caper, you’ll get to see something that is slightly bizarre, out of your comfort zone, and just plain weird. I shouldn’t be so freaked out by it by now, but occasionally, something comes along that makes me wonder, “what the heck was that?”. In part this is…

The final day of Glastonbury brought with it baking hot sunshine to dry out the remainder of the mud. A stark contrast from this year’s damp start. Opening proceedings on the Other Stage was Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan. Mangan offered up a fantastic performance for a fairly modest but enthusiastic audience. It was a performance…

Saturday brought with it the prospect of better weather and another day chock full of great entertainment and fantastic music. Heading across to the Acoustic Stage for rising folk star Benjamin Francis Leftwich (pictured below) I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day. Leftwich managed to draw a sizeable crowd given the…

Friday started off well enough, though grey clouds hung ominously above the Somerset farm. Even without the rain, navigating the festival grounds was becoming more and more of a challenge as the mud began to slowly take over the site. I started the day at the Park Stage, the furthest away of the main stages….

Day two started off ominously enough with an early morning shower, however with it soon easing off, the threat of a potential washout was averted for another day. Being only Thursday, the main stages of the festival were still not open – the festival officially runs across the weekend Friday to Sunday. But there’s more…

Having had the opportunity to catch

I’d like to preface this article with something I feel is important: I have a feeling that the following article may come across as disingenuous to some. Trying to “suck up” to the people behind the new venue. Some may suggest we were paid for the article. But neither is the case. I very much…

It’s that time of the year again! “Summer” has hit the Northern Hemisphere and the UK’s largest and most famous music festival is back for another year. Anyone expecting a repeat of last year’s scorching sunny weather,had such hopes dashed immediately on arrival; though the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the thousands of…

There was a touch of trepidation going to The Heart of St Kilda concert at The Palais. Many of the acts weren’t really musicians that I would go out of my way to see a full concert over. It was a slightly odd feeling in all honesty, in that we were supporting a good cause…

For some reason the advertised Lehmann B. Smith did not perform… or did he? From what I could gather, Kes Band played instead (although I might be totally confused here – a quick search saw that Lehmann is part of Kes Band, but I’m pretty sure a couple songs were played from the last Kes…

I was expecting a night of surprises and nuttiness with this night of some odd sounds at The Tote (well, when isn’t there nuttiness at The Tote?), and I got more of the latter than the former. However those surprises and nuttiness at the end of the night were not something to take really in…

This was the second of the Women Of Soul nights featured at The Toff, the first night last week was a stellar showcase of voices and I was hoping that we’d be stepping up the uber-fun soul and funk vibe of last week. I walked into the gig misjudging the start and missed a few…

As part of Vivid Creative Sydney and in conjunction with the third day of the Sydney Film Festival, Friday night at the MCA celebrated the relationship between film and music with the Australian premiere screening of the Pop Art film LBF (Living Between Fucks), followed by the live stylings of Kids at Risk and Fergus…