Live Reviews

Photo Credit: Johnny Au Coming to Australia all the way from Benin in West Africa is the beautiful, the wonderful Angélique Kidjo. She’s a Grammy Award winning artist who has been described as “the undisputed queen of African music” and is no stranger to our shores, returning this past week to play Bluesfest in Byron…

At this point, I feel I’ve said everything there is to say about the great Gary Clark Jr, yet once again I find myself at one of his concerts in absolute awe of his talent. The way he makes everything look so effortless, the way he moves along that guitar and makes us move in…

The line up for today’s A Day On the Green at Bimbadgen Winery in the Hunter Valley has a stellar line up featuring a plethora of talented musicians. The venue appears to be practically sold out as there isn’t much green left to sit on, the regular general admission punters always arrive early to grab…

Put together each year by the popular music aggregation site The Hype Machine, Hype Hotel has become a mainstay of the annual SXSW music festival. Every time the Hotel returns, it gets bigger and better, and this year was no exception, taking over a massive warehouse on the East side of town. One of our…

With the release of their second album Smoke + Mirrors, the gents from Imagine Dragons returned to our shores for a very brief visit to give us a taste of their new songs live at an exclusive predominantly fan populated event at The Star Event Centre.

When it comes to international popularity, it might be fair to argue that the Americana scene is the strongest it’s been in some time. Not that they’re perhaps the best examples of the genre (nor from the South), but nonetheless, the popularity of artists like Hozier and Mumford and Sons has helped solidify the sound…

A full capacity show on a Friday night was something I half-expected for Falling In Reverse. Having struggled to set foot in Australia because of visa issues, it was a dream come true for many to see frontman, Ronnie Radke in the flesh. Waiting in line is always a tease and the struggle getting into the…

Day 2 of Soundwave brought in more Sydney goers compared to Saturday’s festivities. With the lineup being catered to mainly pop punk fans as well as the metalheads too, it was riveting to see what the second day had in store. I liked the idea of spending my weekend at Soundwave; it was like taking a holiday…

”Fkn Insane! Sexy Amazing. Dance like nobody is watching. I’m off-chops right now, loving everybody. This is sick! 2 Chainz is lookin 4 my booty cos I got a big booty. Do you want to go out with me then break up right before Drake? We love Future!” These were just a few of the…

There were nostalgic memories of my teenage years as I stepped into the Factory Theatre on Wednesday night for one of the many Sidewaves happening in Sydney. The venue filled up quickly and once the lights dimmed, I knew that the madness would commence in a matter of minutes. Making an extravagant entrance, The Devil Wears…

Like anything deemed “popular” in contemporary music today – especially by such mainstream media as Triple M – it’s fair to say that the Foo Fighters are a band that you either love or you hate. Though they hardly inspire the same sort of vitriol of, say, Nickelback, they certainly have their detractors. But being…

It’s been almost five years since we last saw Spoon in Australia, as part of the Groovin’ The Moo tour, off the back off their 2010 record Transference. A lengthy hiatus followed, resulting in the emergence of projects like Britt Daniel’s Divine Fits, who made it down here as part of Laneway a couple of…

It’s not often you get to see two living legends collaborate on stage together; less so given we live in Australia. But some two years after Paul Simon and Sting conceived the idea to bring their bands together and hit the road, their well oiled, impressive production showcasing the best songs of their careers has…

After I had the privilege of enjoying the heavy beats and the amazing sounds of Caribou at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday night, I headed up to the Oxford Art Factory to see another Laneway act parading their wares in Sydney, 28 year old American folk artist Angel Olsen. The talented vocalist based in…

It was an overcast windy afternoon and Sydney Harbour was a little choppy as we made our way out to The Island. Just like the harbour, British garage rock duo Royal Blood are also making waves on the music scene.

It was one of the most anticipated Laneway sideshows – so anticipated, in fact, that even drummer Brad Weber’s family flew down from the USA to see the concert. And like so many artists before him who have stepped foot onto the stage, Daniel “Dan” Snaith couldn’t help but bring note to the occasion, “I’m…

The sun is setting over the spectacular Sydney Harbour and we’re aboard The Island, a fully kit out barge awaiting the arrival of Mark Ronson. Even though he’s running a little late, the wait is well worth it and he subsequently made up for his tardiness triple fold.

Being an avid goer of Soundwave for six years, every year I’ve always been happy with the turnout of the event. This year, the festival panned across two days which was something I wasn’t used to, but then again, this meant that it would bring me more time to explore the talented bands out there. Going to…

It’s been exciting to see Spookyland re-emerge in recent months, off the back of the band’s latest EP Rock and Roll Weakling. It feels appropriate to consider the EP something of a new start for a project that didn’t quite take off back in 2010, when it was essentially the solo effort of Marcus Gordon….

More Australian music followed Courtney (read about her in part one) with Angus and Julia Stone taking the stage to play tracks from their latest self-titled album and old favourites like “Big Jet Plane” and “For You”. The duo played well, accompanied by a four piece band. But their down tempo tracks didn’t quite match…

With 13,000 punters from Singapore and around the Asian region descending on the iconic Gardens By The Bay, yesterday saw St Jerome’s Laneway Festival take place for the fifth consecutive time in the city, with organisers selling out tickets for the first time ever. On arrival, punters are handed a bottle of water sponsored by…

It’s all too rare to see an artist genuinely doing something that seems to run against what is “popular”, or deemed “sellable” for either commercial or “indie cred” success. Underneath the demeanour of any artist is the drive for success, and though one would assume Canada’s Jaron Freeman-Fox is no different, when it comes to…

It was Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s first ever Sydney show on Monday night – in the country acting as a support act to The Kooks. The support act for Catfish, however, were Sydney group Food Court, who proved themselves a tight outfit, bringing forth some surfy vibes – think Wavves and you’re on the right…

Pictured: La Femme (Photo by Larry Heath) It was a relaxed atmosphere under the hot Summer sun on Saturday, as families, Francophiles and Festival fans got their spots under the umbrellas and on top of the hay bales that scattered the rarely used (but very well suited) site of St. John’s college for Sydney’s second…

As part of the Sydney Opera House ‘Music At The House’ summer series, Icelandic artist Ásgeir would regale Sydney audiences with his indie-electro-folk sound and play two shows at the iconic landmark venue on the same night, an early evening and later evening show. We took in his second performance, and boy was it a magical experience.

It was a dusty start for punters on the second day of Festival of the Sun, as the weather shined on us once again. Most were slow to hit the stage as they tried to wash their hangovers away – some quite literally with the ocean just metres away. A little late to enter ourselves,…

Following the cancellation of Blur at this year’s Big Day Out, the group’s lead singer Damon Albarn called time on their reunion shows to release his debut self-titled album Everyday Robots. The album, while well received, essentially ensured that Blur wouldn’t be making it to Australian shores anytime soon. But hope remained that Albarn –…

It never ceases to amaze me how some bands manage to stay far below the radar of the average music fan. In spite of no less than six critically acclaimed full length records, international touring (including a visit to Australia for Harvest Festival back in 2011) and ticking all the boxes that an “underground success…

We partnered with hotel brand Ibis to start a music reviewer program which will gave one lucky winner the opportunity to review Stereosonic Festival in Brisbane earlier this month. The winner, Michelle Gianotti, looks back at her experience: The second weekend of Stereosonic’s epic 2014 stopped in at none other than Brisbane’s RNA Showgrounds. The…