Live Reviews

“The Year was 2005,” said former Saturday Night Live (SNL) star and head writer (now host of Late Night) Seth Meyers, as he reflected on his friends – and former SNL co-writers and stars, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer, aka The Lonely Island – arrival on the infamous show. At first, the rest was…

If you’ve wished to see the pinnacle of lyrical songwriting with a pragmatic twist, you definitely need to find yourself listening to an album of Deborah Conway. Alongside her long time partner, Willy Zygeir, the two have crafted some sensation works over the past twenty five years. Sunday night was an opportunity to hear these…

Out the front of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, is held an annual concert series, “Rockin’ at the Knox”. With artists like Beck, Collective Soul and Hollerado playing the event in recent years, it attracts an eclectic lineup of performances to say the least. This year was no exception, with yesterday’s event…

On Saturday night, New York trio Yeasayer hit Toronto, Canada for the third date of their Erotic Reruns North American tour – celebrating the group’s fifth full length record of the same name. Along the ride for the first few weeks of this tour are Olympia based outfit Oh, Rose. The Washington quartet reeked of beauty;…

Sunday marked the end of Bonnaroo and the blistering heat and weathered faces of those in attendance made the freezing temps of day one seem like ages had passed. But the sun and lack of shade didn’t keep the thousands of fans from winding down Bonnaroo with an eclectic mix of headliners ranging from American…

If Bonnaroo is known for one thing it is that is has a little everything for everyone. Saturday was the prime example of what one day at Bonnaroo can be. On one stage you had the Grammy award-winning country superstar Kacey Musgraves who embodies everything about the Tennessee music spirit. On the other, you had…

This years edition of the Barunga Festival had as always a very strong lineup of First Nations musicians and close friends. As with the last couple of years Justine Clarke has worked with the local kids for their moment of fame on the main stage. This year with the aid of Serina Pech, they produced a…

There’d almost be nothing as satisfying for a band than releasing one of the year’s best releases to only follow it up with a sold out home town show just weeks later. For Sydney two piece Polish Club, this is exactly what they’ve managed to do in the past month. Playing to a loyal and…

Something was very different about Bonnaroo 2019 as opposed to other years. Visible clouds were following festival goers around the concert grounds and campsites. These mists, usually are expected to be smoke billowing from people partaking in certain festival extracurriculars, but no, that was not the case this year. With temperatures dropping just shy of…

If you’ve ever seen a performer such as Sharon Van Etten, you’d understand the term ‘smooth operator’. This was something that was seemingly obvious at Hamer Hall on Tuesday night as Sharon closed up the Australian leg of her Remind Me Tomorrow tour. Along for the ride was Melbourne’s vert own BATTS, who proved to…

Over the weekend I headed to Flagstaff, Arizona for the city’s 7th Annual Blues & Brews Festival – unsurprisingly, a celebration of Blues music and, well, beer. This year marked the first year that the event, which is held in the cooler, mountainous region of Arizona, a few hours north of Phoenix had been expanded to…

UK outfit Rudimental closed out the rescheduled Australian leg of their massive “Toast To Our Differences” world tour in style at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Sunday night, helping to elevate their fantastic album Toast To Our Differences to even greater heights. Joining the band to bask in the musically driven madness of the Melbourne crowd,…

If you had never been to a Seth Sentry show, you would probably be unprepared for the shenanigans, or at the very least you’d know his personality was inclined towards them through his music. Seth has been away from the touring circuit for awhile but, alongside the release of his recent single “Wrong One” seemingly…

Normally when I write an article about a gig I’ve seen, a lot of what I talk about is very subjective to my own experience. I’m sure there’s been times where I’ve written things that others haven’t agreed with. This article isn’t going to be one of them. What follows is totalling and utterly objective:…

Vanfest has drawn to a close for another year, proving itself as one of the best regional festivals Australia has to offer. Taking place in Forbes, a five-hour drive west of Sydney, the festival is a hike to get to but well worth the effort. This year, the line-up included some of Australia’s finest talent…

It it feels like Sydney trio Middle Kids haven’t stopped touring the globe over the last few years, you’re probably not wrong. It’s been one success after another for the group – and a lot of it has been happening quietly overseas. Currently, the troupe are on the road in North America supporting Local Natives,…

If Langata, Crooked Colours’ sophomore album was enough to get the dance juices pumping in your system, then their live performance of the album would have almost sent a person over the edge. The night opened with Sydney via Perth duo, Kayex. Their raucous brand of electronica was not lost on the burgeoning crowd, as slowly…

Vivid Live has always had the ability to pull off some major coups when curating their line ups. Their 2019 edition was no different. In celebration of Spunk Records’ 20th Anniversary, enigmatic Townsville act The Middle East made their return to the stage after an eight-year absence. While there were some magic moments in the…

Last night in Toronto, Canada, iconic New York group The Strokes officially kicked off their 2019 tour – their first since 2017. The headline show was a part of the band’s “global comeback” that also saw the group play a surprise, intimate warm up show in Los Angeles earlier this month. The gig, which kicked…

Pure pandemonium took over the Sydney Opera House on Thursday when sixteen-year-old pop protégé Ruel graced the stage. The electricity of nervous girls was reminiscent of the One Direction Up All Night concert tour when the boy band first blessed Australian shores. Needless to say, Ruel’s trajectory is looking to be a similar superstardom with…

Back in 2009, a band by the name of Passion Pit – hailing from Boston, Massachusetts – made waves around the world with their debut LP Manners, just as their debut EP Chunk of Change had done the year prior with tracks like “Sleepyhead” and my personal favourite, “Cuddle Fuddle”. But Manners was truly a…

Identity in music is something all artists must have. Having people know who they are is a massive positive, but for a lot of acts, it isn’t the be all and end all. For most artists though, knowing who they are is intrinsic to their success and self-satisfaction in their work. For Nick Murphy his…

The Great Escape has come and gone once again in Brighton, showcasing some of the world’s most exciting up-and-coming acts, alongside established stars who once were emerging acts at TGE themselves: Foals, Lewis Capaldi, surprise act Shame and even Australia’s own Confidence Man who attracted some of the biggest lines of the week. But ultimately it’s…

Coming to the end of her tour as part of the 2019 iteration of Groovin’ The Moo, Danish act MØ swept through Sydney’s Metro Theatre, thoroughly dominated her set and treating her fans to a couple of surprises and more than a few sing-a-long moments. Opening up the night was L.A rapper Duckwrth. Also finding himself in the country as part…

Ahead of The Rapture’s long awaited return to the stage for the Just Like Heaven festival in Long Beach, CA (details HERE), on Monday night they played an intimate hometown show in Brooklyn, New York – a one night only performance that served as their second time on stage together since 2012*, as well as…

Sweeping across the country as part of the annual Groovin’ The Moo national tour, Norweigan act AURORA hit up Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and proceeded to showcase why she is truly magical on stage, despite singing some tracks with some not-so-magical themes. Opening up the night was 2019’s first break out act, Byron Bay’s Tones and I. Having…

In the country for a string of sold out shows, Jungle played their second Sydney show of the tour and brought the Enmore Theatre crowd to life with their own brand of downbeat dance music. Playing their second Sydney show of the tour (after a headlining slot at last week’s Bad Friday Festival), the seven-piece lords…

Fresh off the release of the first part of their two part record Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, UK quartet Foals are on a world tour that tonight saw them play Toronto venue Rebel supported by Canada’s Preoccupations and Atlanta outfit Omni. First up, three piece Omni were singing songs with entertaining lyrics like…

Marrickville was turned into a grungy experimental boombox as Bad Friday Festival rolled in. The annual event held each Easter Good Friday was celebrating its 10th anniversary with a killer line-up featuring The Avalanches, DMA’s, Jungle, DZ Deathrays and more. But, importantly in a time where the political climate of live music festivals is souring,…

Coachella’s second weekend may have been rich with performances from some of the music industry’s biggest names, but no other event garnered as much wide-eyed curiosity as Kanye West’s “Sunday Service”. An extension and validation of all the Sunday Service sessions that have been drip-fed to us over the past few months, portraying an invigorated…