Live Reviews

St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, colloquially referred to as Laneway, has taken on many forms since its inception of what it’s known as now in 2005. It only came to Brisbane in 2007, and marks only one more year short of a decade of the highly anticipated Brisbane event. This year, the big honchos were Beach…

The streets of Northbridge were packed on Saturday night with people soaking up the colour of the Perth Fringe Festival, so it was great to see a crowd still come out in force for local grunge rockers Tired Lion. Bringing out their usual bravado, it was a great night for the always excitable Jack Rabbit…

Wednesday marked a momentous occasion in folk/country history, as Gillian Welch and musical partner Dave Rawlings presented their first ever concert in Adelaide. Apparently it had been a long time coming – the duo managed to completely sell out Her Majesty’s Theatre. The crowd was large, and made up almost entirely of either people in…

In the country to tour his third studio record Vestiges and Claws, which was released a year ago this month, Sweden’s José González made his Sydney Opera House debut last night, accompanied by a four piece band. José, who is no stranger to our shores either in solo or Junip mode (the project that preceded…

There’s really only one unwritten rule for music reviewers: never gush. Well, strap yourselves in, because I’m about to break that rule and break it hard. James Bay and his band picked me up and shook me completely out of my critique’s headspace. Rather than being there for the expressed purpose of reviewing the show,…

I find Adam Lambert so incredibly sexy. I know that’s a weird way to start a review, but it’s true. So what does one do when they spend two hours at The Original High concert wanting to rip the star’s clothes off? You hold onto your ovaries and realise what an incredible singer and, surprisingly,…

“Samsung: Sound + Vision” was a debut collaborative music and visual arts project by Vice and Sydney Opera House principal partners Samsung Electronics Australia, taking over the iconic Concert Hall to showcase the marriage of music and technology, as well as the local and international artists involved. Perhaps the strongest element to this project was…

After the atrocious weather Sydney copped leading up to the weekend, it wasn’t shaping up to be the ideal time to hold an afternoon courtyard event. But come Sunday morning, the rain decided to play nice and blue skies and sunshine were welcomed, just in time for the crowds to start pouring into Sydney’s Black…

Ah, St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, we meet again. In this year’s edition of the acclaimed indie music festival, organisers pulled out all stops when it came to righting the wrongs of yesteryear – and have duly redeemed themselves. In 2015, much was made about the mismanagement of crowds, the poor choice of the placement of…

There’s plenty to be said for a band who sells out Melbourne’s Corner Hotel quicksmart, and have people scrambling for tickets right up until show day. It’s no surprise, however, that Holy Holy managed to pull it off. This band has been turning heads since they dropped debut single “House Of Cards” a little over…

If the first thing you hear when you walk into a venue is Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman”, chances are you’re in for a pretty good time. That’s exactly what happened when Walk The Moon, supported by The Griswolds, hit Melbourne’s Forum Theatre for a night of dancing, bright lights, and genuinely…

On a Saturday night in Adelaide, The Gov played host to two bands who have, over the past year, formed a bromance that has taken them right throughout the United States and now, to Australia. Walk The Moon and The Griswolds have a dynamic that clicks so well together and when you see both bands…

Announcing their tour for early 2016, The 1975 frontman Matty Healy claimed “only the most dedicated [fans] will get a ticket”. After seeing their sold-out show on Thursday night, I agree with him – there was a line stretching long into the street hours before the gig started, with some people arriving at 6am to…

Returning to the gem of Melbourne music venues for a sold-out show, exclusively to their “true fans” at Festival Hall, it’s easy to see why British rockers The 1975 are welcomed back so eagerly. As I walk down Melbourne’s La Trobe Street, it’s not hard to tell who will be joining me at the concert…

Hitting Melbourne’s Palais Theatre for her first Australian headline show, Halsey, with LA singer/songwriter BØRNS in tow, put on a show of great control, yet brimming with untapped potential. However, the easily 95% female crowd didn’t seem to mind, spending the entire hour-long performance screaming and singing along to every word, a testament to the…

Delivering an electrifying and varied blend of blues, rock, soul and R&B, Gary Clark Jr. put on a brilliant show at the Sydney Opera House on Monday, 4th January. By no means holding back on the more amped up numbers due to the choice of venue, Gary Clark Jr. was well and truly in fine…

An annual piece in Sydney’s calendar, the Sydney Festival’s opening Domain concert has replaced the city-wide Festival First Night with the focus on one big act at The Domain. With previous years sporting artists such as Brian Wilson, Chaka Khan, Grace Jones and Manu Chau, it was a somewhat odd but welcome choice to this…

Brisbane-based The Creases arrived on stage with no fuss or introduction and set to warming up the crowd at 170 Russell prior to The Maccabees‘ Falls Festival sideshow. Despite a litany of technical glitches – including microphones attempting to electrocute them to the point they needed to protect themselves with shirts from their merchandise line,…

Kieran Hebden’s Four Tet project has long been at the core of contemporary, experimental music, delivering some of the most meandering and diverse productions of this past decade, displaying a rare ability to direct emotion with subtle shifts of melody and rhythm. We’ve seen it on albums like Rounds and There is Love in You,…

As day three kicked off, there were thousands of live music fans in Byron Bay who had so far done just two things in 2016; dance and drink in the sunshine. Punters at the Falls Music and Arts Festival were treated to more great weather, as temperatures stayed in that exquisite sweet spot of the…

Just a few weeks ago the strong contingent of hip-hop releases that kept coming throughout 2015 ended with the likes of Pusha T, who gave us Darkest Before Dawn, a ten-track prelude to his now highly anticipated third album King Push, which should be coming later this year. As strong as his first solo album,…

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a reason The Falls Music & Arts Festival won our festival of the year for their 2014 event at the recent AU Awards, and it wasn’t just a one-off. With the line-up boasting a stellar and eclectic hoard of musicians and acts, expectations were high for three days of magic,…

You can’t have a conversation about hip-hop in Detroit without special mention to Slum Village; though the group’s line-up may have changed over the years, they are still an essential part of the city’s sound and play a big role in keeping the legacy of J Dilla, a former member, alive and well, in turn…

“We’re here to make you feel good and that’s it” – Leon Bridges, addressing the sold out Metro Theatre as part of his debut Australian tour. Leon Bridges is a consummate performer; something rather extraordinary given the Texan has only been on the scene for 2 years and one record (the brilliant Coming Home). But in…

Fuzzy’s Field Day is one of Sydney’s biggest remaining festivals. Held on New Year’s Day, it’s promoted as a day to ease into the New Year with a spot of live music and sunshine. With a fairly solid line-up, made up of several Falls Festival drawcards and a variety of additional acts, Field Day 2016…

The 2015 Falls Festival had a line up that brought together some of the best music of the moment, some legendary live acts, as well as the cream of the new crop. Summer is in full swing, and Byron Bay provided the perfect setting to bring in 2016 with its perfect weather and lush forests….

Perth’s most nomadic festival returned to the city foreshore for the 2015 instalment over the weekend, bringing back previous innovations of the Teepee Village, that super casual boutique vibe and of course some killer artists. Though the weather felt like it was going to be a torturously windy day, the parameters of the festival seemed…

As far as final local shows of the year go, I was happy to be spending mine with some artists I’ve loved getting to know more about through 2015. Wasted Wanderers headlined at Jive, braving the Adelaide heatwave in enticing friends and people keen for some live music out of their air-conditioned homes for a…

One cannot overstate the importance and influence that has been surrounding Big Daddy Kane ever since he stamped hip-hop with one of it’s most endearing styles back in the 80’s. The likes of Jay Z, Common and Black Thought regularly note the impact Kane has had on their understanding of the technical side of emceeing,…

It’s been a fairly solid year for Bad//Dreems – as I write this, the boys prepare for a festival set at Port Macquarie’s Festival of the Sun. Last night, however, they performed their final headline show of the year to one of the more ruthless crowds I’ve been a part of in some time. Hosting…