Live Reviews

One of the highlights of the Sydney Festival every year are the string of phenomenal, intimate performances that take place in The Famous Spiegeltent in Hyde Park. Helping kick things off last night for 2013 was Brooklyn based talent Sharon Van Etten, who was using Sydney Festival to not only launch her first ever tour…

Sydney Festival time is upon us once again and this year the festival passed on its usual “Festival First Night” branding and introduced us to “Day One: An Opening in Three Acts”, which was a rather artistic way of telling us there would be three events happening in the Sydney CBD on the first day…

Walking onto the stage to an eerie projection and soundtrack, the Swedish duo that make up First Aid Kit – aided tonight by two others and playing in front of a sold out Sydney Opera House crowd – launched straight into the “In The Morning”, before taking us through tracks from The Big Black &…

In the first week of 2013 that begun traditionally with a stellar day at The Domain thanks to Field Day, it was time to kick off the Falls Festival sideshows with a string of events around the city. Though the following night would end up proving the most difficult for clashes, there was plenty on…

Morrissey is an artist whose music has always existed in the periphery of my mind. I wasn’t brought up on The Smiths; rather discovered their music in my late teens. His solo music, meanwhile, was something I knew from song to song, rather than album to album. This wasn’t so much indicative of any particular…

Upon entering a gig where The Living End are playing, you will notice one thing initially – there is always a huge crowd drinking and then you will notice throughout the night the passion that leaks into each punter about this band that reigns above all else and you will find it electrifying. Fans just…

My favourite showcase returned for round two the other night, bringing with it the music of Ivi, Jenna Murphy and Zana Rose, and Rascals & Runaways. Once again, it was a great night of female talent — the kind of event that doesn’t happen anywhere near often enough.

Friday night saw Perth’s Amplifier Bar play host to a collection of local talent, the majority of whom I was seeing for the first time, for the launch of Our Man In Berlin’s video for latest single “Bled Dry” off forthcoming EP Paint The Lies. I unfortunately missed a good portion of opening act Lanark’s…

Tiny little streetside hole in the wall, The Newsagency, prides itself on being a venue for songwriters. A place where music fans can come and enjoy grassroots artists; performing in a lounge room style setting. Even the gig itself was touted as Brendan Maclean’s own personal birthday extravaganza; with a line-up consisting of Maclean’s own friends from…

On my first visit to The Forum (being from Adelaide and all) I walked in and was struck by two things. Firstly, the incredible view of the Roman-style theatre complete with naked statues and a bright, faux-star sky. Secondly, the effortlessly booming, deep, blues beats of support band The Growl. Their name conspicuously missing from…

Birds of Tokyo have been around for quite a few years now. Since their debut in Perth in 2004 and after releasing two EP’s, they released their first full length album in 2006 titled Day One. After extensive touring they released a second titled album, Universes, which was recorded in LA and has won many…

Walking into The Workers Club at 9:30 on a Friday evening doesn’t seem to be the right time to enjoy a band, and I can only guess that this was the reason why we see bAnofee performing to a crowd of about four people. This is a damned shame, because her striking vocals reverberated around…

Getting a music conference right is never an easy thing. There needs to be a balance between keeping things interesting for both musicians and the industry, a variety of panels to make it worth everyone’s while – as well as being unique for the market – great networking opportunities and, naturally, the showcasing of some…

Things looked a little sombre at the Sando to begin with. Normally it’s the rain, but tonight it seemed to be the heat keeping the punters away. I thought I had turned up slightly late, but the lady at the door eased my mind when she told me the opening act had not yet commenced….

Over the last few years, the camp at ARIA have been working hard trying to use their brand to the best of its abilities; extending beyond the awards in an age where sales are down, profits are low and a TV audience is reducing. In 2010 they introduced a concept that saw its nominated artists…

Sometimes it’s the smaller intimate gigs that are the more memorable. Brett Winterford’s show at Perth’s YaYas was one of those shows. Being a Thursday night, the audience was a lamentable one in terms of size. What would have been an already intimate show, became that much more intimate. There was none of the awkwardness…

Number 15 Parramatta Road Annandale has been demolished, and its days as a music space are over. But just a few days ago, at the Block Party in its honour, it was a bustle of crowds, market stalls, and of course, bands — all turning up for one last celebration on site. The setlist included…

I think by now there is little to say about Grizzly Bear that hasn’t already been said. This is a band who consistently push the boundaries of their music and have only gotten better with each and every album they have produced. Some may argue otherwise but no one can argue their consistency in achieving…

It’s a casual sit-down affair at The Rails on Thursday evening, candle-lit, except for those dastardly flashing fairy lights. Support act Mark Gray is local singer-songwriter, who comes armed to face a sold out crowd with a handful of really decent songs and solid guitar technique. But in the face of an increasingly loud room,…

In this AU Review feature, Philippe Perez talks to a couple of Australian music teachers, Rosalind Chia and Tao Kahn (pictured above) and delves into what makes for a good student-teacher relationship musically. There’s normally a process of many years to plug through to become be a master of any instrument. Practice makes perfect, as…

You know those moments when your favourite band plays your favourite song and it’s everything you ever imagined it would be… and more? Tonight was one of those nights where this happened again and again and again. This was the night that Radiohead came and pleased their Sydney fans after an eight year absence. Let…

In what was the calm before the storm, perhaps it was appropriate for San Diego’s Little Hurricane to open up proceedings on Saturday night in New York City, just two nights before the full brunt of Hurricane Sandy devastated so much of the city and its surrounds. For my girlfriend and I, it has been…

If there’s one word that does not fall into the vocabulary for the band Muse, it would be ‘subtle’. This band was always destined for enormous stadium extravaganzas and now “The 2nd Law” tour has exploded onto stages to prove that this trio from Teignmouth are ready to take on the mantle of ‘bigger and…

Tonight at the hot and sweaty Railway Club, tracks like ‘Deep Heat’, ‘Suffocated’ and ‘Fever’ all seem really appropriate. A layered, deep and funky house party album, Deep Heat is rife with glam-rock references, endearing rock star affectation plus a little bit of reggae. It’s a total and planned departure, Oh Mercy frontman Alex Gow…

UK based label Communion have come to international prominence thanks in part of Mumford & Sons, but as they continually prove through showcases at events like CMJ, they are a label chock-a-block full of incredible talent. Friday’s event at Rockwood Music Hall was no exception. Nashville, Tennessee based five piece Foreign Fields (pictured below) were…

As Lucy wasn’t able to catch Weezer on the first day of Austin City Limits, I thought I’d take some time to review their hour long performance at the festival over the weekend! Though I would have undoubtedly first heard Weezer in the mid 90s, and certainly knew a few of the singles, it wasn’t…

It was the final day of the festival and exhaustion had very much set in. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the massive expanse of Zilber Park. Maybe it was the long days, or the mud. Probably it was a combination of all of the above, but suffice it to say it was…

For their official ACL afterparty, Metric (pictured above) were supported by the fabulous Polica, who will soon be heading to Australia for Laneway. Admittedly, their music is nothing mind blowing but their international support is unsurprising; they are a tight act with a stand out lead singer. I have to take a bit more time…

The highly acclaimed duo that is The Civil Wars graced Stubb’s for a special ACL “afterparty” on Saturday. Comprised of Joy Williams and John Paul White, the duo are known for their spirited interplay, beautiful harmonies and catchy melodies – all of which came through in droves during their 75 minute set. It’s perhaps to…

The day was frigid. But the punters were undeterred (and under-dressed), ready to dance the cold away and enjoy a rain-soaked Melbourne version of the travelling circus that is Parklife. Kicking off the day with a bit of Chiddy Bang was a pretty interesting choice. He can rhyme, alright. But only that I don’t usually…