Music

Sydney Festival Live Review: Regurgitator’s Pogogo show is as manic as their regular gigs, except they’re swapping swearing for sugary highs

If you’ve seen Regurgitator perform live you know that their shows are high energy ones. They’re also partial to a great costume and some interesting visuals. Their children’s show, Pogogo has all these same ingredients. The big change however, was that the content of the songs was less G-spot and more G-rated. The trio performed…

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Interview: YUNGBLUD (UK) on uniting fans, romantic gestures and a special Australian release.

Dom Harrison, or YUNGBLUD, is a raucous 22-year-old from Doncaster who exudes restless passion – he literally cannot sit still when talking about his fans or his music. Speaking to Dom, it’s instantly striking that he genuinely just wants to connect. He has no time for stats or materialistic achievements: building a community is paramount…

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Live Review: Sir Elton John pledges $1m to Australian bushfire relief fund at joyous Sydney concert

An emotional Sir Elton John addressed a packed out Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney last night, expressing his admiration for the firefighters battling Australia’s current bushfire crisis and pledging $1 million dollars to the relief fund. It was but one of many moments of sincere and heartfelt speeches from the legendary artist during his first…

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Lizzo makes history at Bonnaroo 2020 while a few Aussies get set to head to Tennessee

Bonnaroo’s 2020 lineup brought big surprises and a really big moment in the history of the festival. Lizzo will be the first female headliner in its 18-year history. This marks a major moment for the Tennessee festival, and Lizzo isn’t the only lady leading quite the feminine movement at the top of the lineup; Miley…

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Here are all the Bushfire Appeal concerts happening in Australia

While Australia continues to deal with the alarming bushfire crisis across the country, and the world begins to take notice (and, for some, action), the local music industry is coming together to raise necessary funds to help. We’ve rounded up all the bushfire appeal concerts we could so you can try attend as much as…

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Live Review: Jon Hopkins’ sophisticated rave at the Sydney Opera House

Much like 2018’s widely acclaimed Singularity, a Jon Hopkins live show is defined by the tense relationship between order and chaos. Not chaos in the random sense, but a tightly controlled and wildly frenetic disruption to fundamental sonic throughlines, steered by the gifted musician to transcend the typical IDM experience. If anyone had their doubts…

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Sampa the Great, Skegss, The Chats and more Aussies join epic Coachella 2020 line up

Sampa the Great, Skegss and more will be part of the growing Australian presence that has been nudging its way onto the Coachella platform these past few years, joining the iconic music festival for its 2020 edition. Set for two weekends across April 10-12 and 17-19, the world renowned music and arts festivals will once…

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Live Review: Beyond The Valley Music Festival – Day Four, Lardner Park, Victoria (31.12.19)

Beyond the Valley’s final day saw the ups and downs of the 2010s come to an end, and the festival organisers made sure it happened in style, bringing some of the best producers and musicians out for a well-versed closing day. While it could be argued that Tyler, the Creator was a bigger hit than…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Music and Arts Festival ft. John Farnham + Vera Blue – Lorne, Day One (28.12.19)

One of the main attraction of the Falls Festival site in Lorne is the scenic rain forest setting in the Otways. However, as catastrophic conditions of high heat, winds and thunderstorms were predicted for the third day of the festival, the organisers made the decision to cancel the festival to ensure the safety of festival…

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Live Review: Beyond The Valley Music Festival Day Three, Lardner Park, Victoria (30.12.19)

The third day of Beyond the Valley seemed to go off without a hitch, regardless of the misinformation and rumours floating around the internet. It meant that there was an interesting atmosphere floating amongst the revellers, caught between a strange sense of angst and excitement for the main stage acts slated for the evening, namely…

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Contributor’s Poll: The AU Review’s favourite gigs of 2019

In no particular order, we asked our contributors to share their favourite gigs of 2019. Here’s what they had to say about the gigs that stood out for them in 2019: BRUCE BAKER Iggy Pop at Bluesfest (Easter Long Weekend) I’d seen him at the BDO in 2011 and was disappointed. His performance at Bluesfest…

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Live Review: Beyond The Valley Music Festival Day Two, Lardner Park, Victoria (29.12.19)

Known for its beautiful sweeping valley, green hills and exotic stage designs, Beyond The Valley’s sixth iteration started off the second day of the festival with a whimper and then a bang as the rising heat and music fused for a memorable day. The constant heat and wait for festival entry seemed to frustrate guests,…

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Re-Discovery: 40 of the best songs from the last decade you need back in your life

We’re excited to introduce a new Spotify playlist, designed to take you down memory lane, looking at a selection of songs that you might have forgotten about, or missed when they were first released. Our first Re-Discovery playlist looks at the last decade, taking you through some of the best music between 2010 and 2019….

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Track of the Day: Rick Sextant “Mingle with Kringle” (2019)

We bring your our final Track of the Day for the year.  It is only fitting that we finish with a Christmas song. Or perhaps it isn’t. Nonetheless, here goes. Enjoy the catastrophe that is Rick Sextant’s ode to the festive season, entitled “Mingle with Kringle”.     Feel free to follow Rick on twitter in case…

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Tour Diary: Stu Larsen takes us through his South American tour

It’s been a couple of days since Stu Larsen wrapped up his South American tour, including taking on a support slot with Passenger. This self-styled musical nomad never stays in one place for long, have been on the road for nearly twelve years, moving across five continents. And his talents don’t stop on the stage…

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Photo Gallery: Paul Kelly – Making Gravy – The Domain, Sydney (14.12.19)

Paul Kelly and friends enriched our lives again at the Domain in Sydney, for the latest edition of Making Gravy. It was a quality line-up, with Thelma Plum, Kate Miller-Heidke, Marlon Williams and Courtney Barnett lighting up the stage. This event is the pre-cursor to Christmas in Sydney, with Paul Kelly giving us an uplifting…

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All aboard as Paul Kelly’s Making Gravy train pulls into Sydney

It’s a pretty amazing thing to see an artist who’s been around for 35 years continually reinvent themselves while managing to engage both the newest and oldest of fans. Returning for the third year of his Making Gravy tour, Paul Kelly brought along a heap of musical friends to well and truly welcome in the…

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Track by Track: Kilns take us through their debut album You Can Bet Your House on Me

Last month Melbourne indie-rockers Kilns released their beautiful debut album “You Can Bet Your House on Me”.  It’s an album that regularly visits themes of relationships, their fragility but is also joyous. Guitars riff and vocals soar with some sweet harmonies. There is also some sweet humour in there as well. It’s hard to believe these…

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Live Review: Dead Prez are still bigger than hip hop – Metro Theatre, Sydney (11.12.19)

Sincere motivational rhymes about veganism and leading a healthy lifestyle may have been the last thing you would have expected from a dead prez concert. That is, if you thought the anthemic chant of their signature hit, “Hip Hop”, was nothing more than an infectious hook. The now veteran duo of stic.man and M1 don’t…

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Track of the Day: Fragile Animals “Waiting” (2019)

Brisbane / Sunshine Coast trio Fragile Animals have released their latest single “Waiting”, and we are pumped to have it as our track of the day. It’s a wonderful amalgam of genres. Shoegazing is front and centre, but there’s a splash of indie rock and a smidgin of 80’s Manchester. The song was written by frontwoman Victoria…

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Guest Post: Bootleg Rascal take us through their top regional venues

Sydney’s Bootleg Rascal are bringing the party to regional Australia! The Booty Camp: Summer Vacay Tour will hit metro and regional venues from January next year, featuring 17 emerging artists and their very own sideshow alley, packed with crowd participation games. “Touring in more remote areas has always been something close to our hearts,” says guitarist Jimmy Young. “We…

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Interview: Tyde Levi (AUS) on “Flying So Far”, touring with Troye Sivan and Hanukkah.

You might have come across Tyde Levi as “Troye Sivan’s younger brother” – a distinguisher synonymously attached to most of Tyde’s work. However, that tagline is quickly becoming irrelevant as he solidifies himself as his own accomplished artist, having released a handful of alt-RnB tracks with a cumulation of over 2 million streams on Spotify. His…

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Track of the Day: Maz Green “Moving Slowly” 2019

Our track of the day comes from a rising star in Melbourne singer-songwriter Maz Green. With the country literally burning around us, Maz has addressed many of the issues facing us in her sophomore single, “Moving Slowly”. Her debut single was “Somewhere Else”and was released earlier this year. Maz explains the inspiration for the song:…

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Photo Gallery: Fairgrounds Festival – Berry (06.12.19 – 07.12.19)

The 2019 Fairgrounds Festival has come and gone and it was another cracking edition. This is truly a festival for all ages, catering to a wide variety of music tastes.  Female artists were well represented at this festival. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. The Friday night started strongly, with Clews and Hatchie up on…

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Track of the Day: Klue “Coming Home” (2019)

Fresh from another life over in Europe, Klue has zipped back to Sydney for the summer and is celebrating with the celebratory “Coming Home”. The Aussie-born producer, also known as one third of True Vibenation, has caught our attention numerous times with his slinky, summery productions and penchant for pulling in inflections of jazz, tropical…

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An entire year of Scottish music and arts is coming to Australia for 2020

They might not be bringing the wild landscapes and unparalleled whiskies (although there will be some of that) with them, but the great country of Scotland will be sending some of their best musicians and creatives over to Australia for “The Year of Scotland”. Charmingly abbreviated to (#)YOSA2020, the year-long 2020 program will build a…

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Live Review: Ziggy Alberts and Kim Churchill at Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth (01.12.19)

There couldn’t have been a more fitting venue than the back lawn at the Fremantle Arts Centre for the two bare-footed boys from Byron, Ziggy Alberts and Kim Churchill. It’s a venue that Alberts had always had on his bucket list to play, and he finally did it – to a capacity crowd – on…

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NLMAs 2019: Electric Fields named Australia’s Best Live Act; female musicians win all instrumentalist trophies for the first time

Last Wednesday night, at 8 simultaneous events around Australia, the winners of the 2019 National Live Music Awards were revealed, with the awards once again highlighting the strength and diversity of the Australian Live Music Scene. Electric Fields were the big winners of the night, with three trophies, including the night’s two biggest artist awards…

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