Live Reviews

Live Review: Run The Jewels prove to Melbourne why they are Kings of Hip Hop

Run the Jewels – the acclaimed project of US rappers El-P and Killer Mike – are currently in Australia for their first tour of our country in three years, and their first since the release of their third LP Run The Jewels 3. The duo were quick to point out how much bigger the shows…

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Festival Review: Liam Gallagher, Peking Duk & The Kooks provide a fitting close for Falls Byron Bay

Entering the last day of Falls Festival Byron Bay, you could sense festival fatigue was starting to hit the masses en masse. The campground was quieter for longer in the morning, the toilet blocks were giving off a lovely earthy odour, and security started to be less hands on than they’d been in the previous…

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Festival Review: Flume headlines a massive New Year’s Eve program of music at the Falls Festival in Byron Bay

Here for its 25th instalment, the Falls Festival has become a staple diet for the many punters up and down the east coast of Australia who enjoy listening to quality tunes to bring in their new year. Returning for its fifth edition at the North Byron Parklands, Falls managed to put in place what has…

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Festival Review: Dune Rats find Scott Green, Camp Cope shine on New Year’s Day in Byron Bay

With heads pounding and only the cicadas and Kookaburras making noise, the eerie silence of a camp ground at 6am on New Years Day is something to behold. Making the seemingly genius decision to get up early and have a cold shower was the kick start needed to get 2018 underway. What wasn’t envisaged was…

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Live Review: YelaWolf proves he is one of hip hop’s most unique emcees with rousing Sydney show

Just hearing YelaWolf spit a verse live is a show in itself. The Alabama emcee has an innate talent for the kind of machine-gun rap very few can do so well, making it look easy as he confidently, and clearly, spins verse after verse with head-spinning proficiency, jumping from word to word without ever losing…

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Live Review: Muse return to Australia with a scaled back production, but same high octane live show in Sydney

After four very long years, Muse made an extremely welcome return to Australian shores at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night for their first of only two shows in the country this year.  Having skipped Australia on the recent Drones World Tour, it was wonderful to get the opportunity to see them on this…

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Live Review: Noname ends Australian tour in Melbourne, leaving an impressive mark on a sold out crowd

Armed with her acclaimed debut album Telefone, Chicago rapper and recent Australian live music scene debutant Noname attacked her final show in the country (her second sold out show in Melbourne) on Monday with the finesse and confidence of an artist older than her 25 years. Noname’s 170 Russell show was kept tight, with the music wrapping…

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Live Review: British India play to their strengths at huge Sydney show at The Metro Theatre

British India returned to The Metro with songs from their latest album Forgetting the Future and two support acts, Deadlove and Planet, in tow. First support act Deadlove were loud and energetic, their set could be heard from the bar at The Metro. Playing to a small crowd that gradually grew throughout the set, the…

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Festival Review: The Pleasure Garden lives up to its name in St. Kilda

The Pleasure Garden is what I imagine tea with the Mad Hatter would be like. Sitting on a couch in the middle of a garden, sipping on gin, greeting people dressed as exotic birds who offer you lollipops whilst Fat Freddy’s Drop plays in the background. Add Hula Hoops, delectable street food, a smooth musical…

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Live Review: Paul McCartney leaves a packed AAMI Park Stadium grinning from ear to ear

Wednesday marked the second and final performance of the legendary Sir Paul McCartney in Sydney, as he continues his One by One Tour around the country. By now, you’ve likely heard just how brilliant these shows have been, cramming in upwards of 40 songs in 3 hours – the vast majority of those tracks Beatles…

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Live Review: J Cole and his Dreamville crew put on Australia’s hip hop tour of the year

Ari Lennox, EarthGang, J.I.D and Bas. North Carolina emcee J. Cole, now one of the most commanding names in hip hop, is certainly chiseling his Interscope imprint Dreamville Records into something truly impressive, and positioned to grow well beyond 2018. It’s nothing new for a successful rapper to start fielding and fostering their own roster…

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Live Review: Jack Johnson impresses despite rainy conditions on the Sydney Opera House steps

For this writer, seeing Jack Johnson live has been fourteen years in the making. I vividly remember being at a family-friends’ house and their youngest son playing Johnson’s break out track “Taylor” on repeat (or near enough) for the entirety of the night. Little did I know that in 2017 I’d get the chance to…

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Live Review: Gordi’s brilliance as a live performer shines at sold out Oxford Art Factory gig

It is always great seeing artists you’ve followed for a while finally receive the recognition and sold out venues their skills deserve. In this instance, it was the brilliant Gordi who got to sell out a hometown (sort of) show and show off to the Oxford Art Factory crowd just why she’s been copping a…

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Live Review: Art show or pop concert? Sia makes her return to Melbourne with massive AAMI Park gig

FIVE years since gracing Australian stages, Sia has made a monumental come back with a performance like no other- transforming Melbourne’s AAMI Park into a brooding arthouse. After critical success touring North America, the Nostalgic For The Present Tour saw the Adelaide born singer play her first arena concert, the first of three performance to…

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Festival Review: No Spilt Milk to cry over in Canberra as Lorde headlines stellar festival event

On Saturday, the 25th of November, the Spilt Milk festival brought its A game with the weather, location and acts. Commonwealth Park in Canberra was beautiful with the lush green gardens in the sunshine with everyone’s sunny outfits to match. Starting early was Mallrat looking super cute in a green baby dress with the moves to…

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Live Review: Sampa The Great reigns supreme at St. Paul’s Cathedral for Melbourne Music Week

Saint Paul’s Cathedral has been playing host to some of Melbourne’s most talented artists over the last week. The 126 year old neo-gothic church, located in Melbourne’s CBD, proved to be a striking backdrop for the centre of Melbourne Music Week and promised a music experience like no other. On Friday, the cathedral saw Sampa…

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Live Review: Drake’s ‘Boy Meets World Tour’ comes to an end in Melbourne in the shadow of a dying sun

Hip hop shows are a funny thing when the artist transcends in popularity. It’s an issue I have with many of these big name arena gigs, but it’s also an issue I’m well aware of not changing any time soon. In place of deep, great, cuts of music, comes an emphasis on ensuring the ‘turn…

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Festival Review: A Weekend in the Gardens overcomes torrential rain in delivering a night of prime Aussie hip hop

Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens endured one hell of a beating on the weekend as it, along with the rest of the city, was battered by torrential rain and storms for most of Saturday afternoon. A Weekend in The Gardens, which had previously run the night before (headlined by Paul Kelly), was teetering on the fence of…

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Live Review: Drake’s audio-visual live show is something to behold, even for the non-fan

In the midst of restarting his current Boy Meets World tour down in Australasia, Drake took to Sydney for his first Australian show of the tour, fitting his exceptionally designed stage show into the Qudos Bank Arena where he will perform a total of three times over the next week. Foregoing any traditionally big name…

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Live Review: Khalid shows great potential beyond “Young, Dumb and Broke” at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion

A few months ago I happened to hear a song called ‘Location’ that was filled with soulful lyrics to a cool beat and became obsessed with a nineteen year old singer from Texas named Khalid (pronounced Kuh-Leed) who has recently blown up on our radio stations and in our charts. On Tuesday night I had…

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Festival Review: Jen Shyu amazes, Christian Scott divides & a Melbourne trombone reigns at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues

The sun shone down strongly on Wangaratta as the numbers poured into the regional city for the 2017 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues. Any hints of rain that may have lingered on the drive out from Melbourne were done away with quickly, as the festival lasted out three sun-drenched days with international and Australian musicians…

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Live Review: Canada Down Under takes over Sydney’s Leadbelly with Scenic Route to Alaska and more

Last night Newtown’s Leadbelly saw a Canadian invasion, with some of Canada’s top rock and country acts gracing the same stage that recently housed iconic Australian rockstar Nic Cester. Amy Nelson, Twin Peaks, Dylan Menzie, Louise Burns, and Scenic Route to Alaska were amongst the artists to bring the music of Canada Down Under. With big…

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Live Review: Midnight Oil remind Melbourne of their music’s still-crucial significance at the first of three shows

As someone who grew up on the music of Midnight Oil (as I think most people who came up in the 90’s did), I never thought I would be in the position to see the band perform, much less be in a professional capacity to see the band perform. But there I sat yesterday evening, six…

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Live Review: Bernard Fanning’s Brutal Dawn tour brings out strong numbers to Melbourne’s northside

Piling into the Croxton Bandroom on Thornbury’s High Street on Thursday evening, an audience representing a broad demographic of music fan take in the tones of two of Melbourne’s own, Oh Pep! – a long anticipated return to home turf gigging for Olivia Hally and Pep Emmerichs, who have spent a good deal of the past two years on…

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Live Review: Justin Townes Earle headlines an evening of heartbreak and honky tonk at the Fremantle Festival

Friday night saw the 2017 Fremantle Festival kick off, with events taking place in venues across the port city. Helping kick off proceedings, and taking over the Fremantle Town Hall, were American ‘country’ musicians Justin Townes Earle and Joshua Hedley, as well as local talent Ruby Boots. It also happened to be the last night…

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Live Review: The Nuuk Nordisk Kulturfestival proved to be a confident and vibrant celebration of art and creative Nordic culture

Running from the 16th to 21st October, the second Nuuk Nordisk Kulturfestival kicked off to a passionate start. Celebrating contemporary Nordic arts and co-creation in the northern landscapes, the festival began with a grand parade and opening show at the Nuuk Community Centre with balloons and flags, followed by a selection of outstanding films at…

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Live Review: Alex Lahey throws down a hometown show to remember at the Corner Hotel

“It’s so good to be home,” says Alex Lahey, exerting a big sigh of content. The crowd cheer in response, echoing their equally pleased gratitude towards her return. She smiles. “This is a song called “Wes Anderson”…” and just like that, the packed out band room of the Corner Hotel erupts into a giant singalong,…

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Live Review: Craig David, Ne-Yo & En Vogue bring the energy as “RnB Fridays Live” returns to Australia

Craig David has a new song about Instagram (it’s not good), TLC love Australia so much that they are coming back down under in 2018 (announced via a video package halfway through the gig), and Ne-Yo doesn’t nearly get the credit he deserves as a performer. These are just a few of the things we…

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Live Review: Casey Donovan shines in the spotlight of Melbourne’s Toff in Town

It’s exciting to see how far Casey Donovan has come! If you’ve read her autobiography, you’d know of her struggles and journey she’s taken over the last twelve-years of being in the spotlight. After her recent I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! win; she’s on the road with her Off the Grid…

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Live Review: The Foo Fighters’ CalJam Festival proved to offer a one of a kind rock n roll experience out in San Bernadino

For anyone not in the know, CalJam is the birth child of Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. Debuting in San Bernadino, about an hour and a half drive from LA, the festival hosted a huge lineup including Cage The Elephant, The Kills, Royal Blood, Liam Gallagher and Babes in Toyland. Like any…

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