Live Reviews

When I heard that Robert Schneider was making his first ever trip down under, I found myself asking… like, Rob “The Hot Chick” Schneider? But on second glance I realised that it was, in fact, the famed lead of one of my favourite bands, Apples in Stereo! This was one rare acoustic performance I knew…

Hopetoun Hotel once again showcases some of the city’s best talent. Danimals, The Laurels and Songs are three of the hottest bands in Sydney right now, and they blew the roof off the venue, in front of an – as expected – sold out crowd. The following The Laurels have, in particular, is quite astounding…

If you know where to look on a given night, the city of Sydney offers some great “secret” shows in warehouse spaces around town, often free, and often (eventually) shut down by the cops due to noise complaints. And it’s on this Saturday evening where I found myself in a Surry Hills Warehouse, watching a…

Tonight, the Hopetoun Hotel outsourced its Headline act to Japan, and with some local support by their side, provided an evening of some interesting musical treats. I unfortunately missed opening act Virgo Rising, but I hear great things about the Sydney band, and will definitely endevour to catch them at a later date. Skullsquadron, up…

While I can’t say I’m as big a fan as some of the others in the room, Ben Folds has been at the top of my “to see” list for quite some time, and not only did he not disappoint, but provided me with one of the most memorable evenings I’ve ever had the pleasure…

SPECIAL REVIEW FEATURE(S): TWITTER FEED For Australian fans of Wolf Parade and their many side projects (Frog Eyes, Handsome Furs, Sunset Rubdown etc.), it’s been a hard run over the years, with not a single visit to our shores. Until now. Behold! The first Australian tour of Handsome Furs, Dan Boeckner’s side project with wife…

  The last time I attended an iTunes LIVE gig at the Apple Store, it was last year’s now legendary performance by The Presets. Many of those who had been lucky enough to make it inside had been waiting all day. Last night’s Paul Dempsey performance, however, was far more low key – patrons able…

It’s always interesting to see how a crowd will react to a band they probably haven’t heard of, especially when that crowd is full of people in the fashion and art industries. In other words – people who don’t really consider themselves “into live music”. Last night’s launch of the new fashion-focused “Tangent Magazine” was…

The fantastic concept that is The JD Set has returned to our shores for a second round, showcasing an audience’s pick of relatively unknown bands (Brittle and Starting Sunday) alongside one of Australia’s most popular acts (Faker)… All for free! The way they ran the ticketing system was fairly simple: register for tickets online, bring…

SPECIAL REVIEW FEATURE(S): TWITTER FEED As the crowd began to filter into the Enmore, lone support act CATCALL, formerly of Kiosk, took to the stage, performing “Be My Earthquake” to open her half-hour-or-so set. Reasonably catchy, the song was enhanced by a rarely seen 3-piece backup band. While other songs were brought down by the…

While touted as the “debut [V] Live event”, today’s event was always going to be a hard reminder of the days when Channel [V] ACTUALLY brought regular live music to the streets of Sydney. Free events, usually at Fox Studios, showcased some of the world’s hottest properties (Foo Fighters, Incubus, The Dandy Warhols and Queens…

SPECIAL REVIEW FEATURE(S): TWITTER FEED While their appearance at Splendour in the Grass, was touted as an “exclusive Australian appearance”, Bloc Party have managed to fit in a few “secret” shows along the route. On Friday night, they appeared at the Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay for the pre-Splendour party – in which they,…

As I entered Manning Bar, it was immediately clear that tonight would be a unique evening. Donning newspaper hats, a good 500 people had taken over the dance floor, sitting down, cross-legged, slowly sipping away on their beer. Yes, tonight these 20-somethings would all be singing along to tunes from their youth. And with the…

On the cusp of yet another last-minute cancellation from Ajax (okay, perhaps that’s a bit harsh… I only know of one other time he’s done that in Sydney this year), some may have been a bit disappointed to hear his replacement, Act Your Age, hitting the main stage decks on arrival instead. But after some…

In a line up rivalling Sydney’s recent Come Together festival (and then some), a huge list of talents took over the Metro Theatre this weekend, providing Sydney with 7 hours of quality music. A mini-festival by any standard… and all for $40! Can we “Save FBi” every month? THE JEZABELS were just getting things warmed…

Personally my favourite of all the “Save FBi” gigs this month, The Ivy League brought quite a few amazing acts out of the closet, freshly dusted, to perform for us tonight. Arriving just in time to catch the end of crowd-pleasers Cabins, I once again found myself thoroughly enjoying their set, and was heartily disappointed…

While I can’t say I was ever a huge fan of the Wu Tang Clan growing up (sacrilegious I know!), I certainly have always been able to appreciate the impact they made on the world of hip hop, something which continues today – both as a collective (sans the late ODB) and in their assorted…

It’s quite a rare occasion in which one can be self aware they are witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime event. Simon & Garfunkel playing the stages of Sydney almost 40 years after they first split up is one such moment. For myself, it’s the first opportunity I’ve ever had to see the legendary duo, and it will…

While it might seem like we at theAUreview are covering a fair share of Mum events of late, such simply reflects the talent being showcased here on a weekly basis. As much as we reviewers love live music, it’s a fair effort to convince us to attend a gig on a Friday night, especially if…

As Sydney’s groundbreaking Vivid festival draws to a close, tonight marked the end of the Creative Sydney portion of the event, during which some of Sydney’s finest artists came together to showcase the musical talent of the city. The event, appropriately named “Songs of Sydney”. How this worked (in fast-moving fashion), was that a house…

The first in a long line of FBi fundraiser gigs, OK! Relax have presented Sydneysiders with a gig at 3pm on a Monday? God bless the long weekend. And special thanks to the Queen in this case. And a bunch of quality bands for just $10? Well that’s the icing on the (Queens) cake! Arriving…

Although one of the more (seemingly) obscure artists on the Luminous bill, the electronic stylings of Jon Hopkins (not to be confused with conductor John Hopkins) have made their way into most houses across the world, thanks in major part to Brian Eno and Coldplay (with the instrumental beauty of “Light through the Veins” featured…

After months of hype and anticipation, Brian Eno’s Luminous Festival has finally arrived; the main feature of Sydney’s groundbreaking festival of light, sound and culture – Vivid. Late last week, the festival kicked off with the lighting of the Opera House Sails, and the opening of Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings Exhibit. I highly recommend…

Mum is one regular Sydney night which consistently delivers an exceptional dose of local rock into the consciousness of the city. And tonight was no exception. The night launched with Halal, How Are You? – a difficult-to-describe rock band whose lead singer, Zac, has become infamous for taking off his shirt and climbing over everything…

It’s fair to say that few people are willing to make the trek out on a Tuesday night to see a group of unknown local acts; but this fact hasn’t stopped Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel from putting on one such night. Dubbed “Tuesday Night Live”, groups of local acts play in a relaxed environment, where…

When it comes to those hip hop groups considered “influential”, it would be fair to say that few pack the punch they used to. For some, untimely deaths/murders are to blame. Differences and arguments broke others apart. But most simply no longer produce the product that made them so popular and influential in the first…

It would be hard to argue that this year’s V festival lineup was anything to get excited about. With The Killers headlining the festivities, it had nothing on the Pixies and The Smashing Pumpkins of previous years, reading like a very average British festival. And a last minute set change, which caused The Killers to…

It goes without saying that there has been no band who has even come close in matching the success Kings of Leon has seen in Australia this past year. And all it took was one song. In January of last year, still riding the wave of “ONLY BY THE NIGHT”, the Kings of Leon were…

Following the disasters which ravaged Queensland and Victoria in February, the worst in our nation’s history, it became clear that we as a community had to join together to do something – anything – to not only immediately assist those in peril, but financially assist any and all organisations which would keep these sort or…

While last month’s “The Big O” may have been something new for Sydney Uni students, Beachball is a long-running tradition for the new semester. While the internationals are missing, a fantastic showcase of local talent is always on offer. This year, Van She and Wolf & Cub were given the honour of headlining the Manning…