Live Reviews

It’s hard to believe a year has passed since the last Culture Collide – one of the industry’s youngest BIGSOUND-esque showcase events, now in its third annual edition, put on by Filter Magazine – yet here we are once again, running straight from the airport (and along flight from Sydney) to Los Angeles’ trendy Echo…

Some comedians are just strange. When two comedians run on stage dressed in skin coloured spandex, with two massive faux testicals hanging low, singing a song about diarrhea, you can’t help but think this. You also start wondering, “what would a dinner conversation be like with Tim and Eric?” and “what drugs were they on…

If you accidentally ended up at one of the many mainstream events that were on this past weekend, and are looking to reclaim some indie cred, read on. Sydney’s first Stamping Grounds Festival was held on Sunday at Manning Bar, featuring 20 of the freshest bands we’ve got, with something for everybody. Really, I stayed…

The balmy late-September air fills Darwin’s stalwart live music venue, the Railway Club, as it one again goes through an on-again, off-again relationship with its air conditioning. Instead, a small upright fan does what it can. It’s special night for live music. Dappled Cities launches their Lake Air tour, and the weekend also marks the…

Kicking off a phenomenal rock n’roll triple bill at the Annandale Hotel (where else?) were Sydney’s own Doc Holliday Takes The Shotgun. The band may as well be a love affair with artists like Nick Cave, Iggy Pop and Jon Spencer, featuring a similarly enigmatic frontman (Jack Booker) with plenty of talent, swagger to boot…

When Snow Patrol come to town, you always know you’re in for something special. Throw in the “exclusivity” of an event like the Debit Mastercard series and indeed you have something truly unmissable. Tonight Snow Patrol fans were treated to a “stripped down” version of the band, performing as a three piece as they played…

When Sound of Seasons released “The Sheltered” a few days ago, I was impressed enough to think, ‘I should check them out.’ Coincidentally, they had a show at The Lair this weekend, so I went along to see if the single was a one-off success, or just a taste of how good the band was….

In Macy Gray’s first tour of Australia in twelve years – her last when On How Life Is made her a household name – a sold out crowd at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night proved that this was a tour that fans had indeed been holding out for for a long time. In…

While I’ll admit that the pun in the title convinced me to go as much as the idea of a night of female talent did, the abundance of the latter was the reason I stayed. Lily So & Co, Lucy B, Miss Little, and Rainbow Chan might have only played six song sets, but together…

The first time I speak to Tim Rogers on the phone, he’s delightful; the dream interviewee. Upbeat and charming, he calls me ma’am a lot and answers discursively; seguing smoothly from the book he’s reading about Russian poetry, to baseball and a conversation he recently had with his ex-wife about the Irish-Jewish tradition of mourning,…

Being the first time that I’ve ever been there, I was surprised with Ding Dong Lounge being a little smaller than I expected. Lit like a sixties hippie club with a nice large bandroom which can be identified in a way as “out the back” felt cosy and inviting in a mysterious sort of way….

Heading to The Grace Emily on a chilly Thursday night to see Tim Hart of Sydney’s Boy & Bear, there were two words I definitely didn’t expect to hear that evening (or ever, really): “testy” and “pop”. Yes, “testy pop”. Uttered at least twice by the Sydney indie-folk singer, songwriter, guitarist and, well… amateur comedian….

Before I headed along to The Standard on Thursday night to see New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die!, who we have featured many times over the years on the AU review, it occurred to me that I’d never before witnessed the explosive trio. For shame, I told myself… for shame. So it was with little hesitation…

Some nights I think we all deserve to hear a bit of good music – especially given the amount of boring, soulless tripe that many radio stations subject us to. Last night at GoodGod Small Club was one such evening that allowed Sydneysiders that very priviledge, treating us to one of Sydney’s finest emerging talents,…

I’d like to start this article by thanking Music NT, AUM and the traditional owners of the land – the Larrakia people – for being wonderful hosts and inviting myself and Johnny up for what was a fantastic weekend in Darwin; our first ever visit to the top end. I was struck by the strong…

This idea all came out of having a “Super Sweet 16” sort of event as a combination for my own birthday and the websites. I would get it sponsored, give everyone gift bags and have my favourite musicians play – in full – my favourite album of all time, The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour. What…

Following a stellar performance at Splendour in the Grass over the weekend, last night UK group Django Django played the first of TWO massive sold out shows at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney. It’s hard for me to say much about this band that hasn’t already been said; they’re simply one fantastic live act….

Another year, another Splendour in the Grass – though this year we seem to have gone back in time, with the festival returning to its Byron Bay home for the first time since 2009. This brief trip down memory lane will forever be remembered as a muddy affair, with today’s 30 minute downpour – hail,…

Though you tend to regret it the next morning, the joy of ending your weekend with a stand out concert never goes unwelcomed. This past Sunday night, Sydneysiders were treated to a stellar triple bill at the Oxford Art Factory featuring Sydney’s OAF residents The Falls, Brisbane’s The Trouble With Templeton (Thomas Calder performing solo…

As founder of the AU review, most weeks I’m invited along (or I invite myself along) to a variety of musical and arts based events around Sydney. Some weeks I take up these offers, while other weeks I stay at home like a hermit, going through the hundreds of daily emails we receive here at…

I write this review as I recover from a two and a half hour onslaught of hilarity, brought (finally) to Sydney by the one and only Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie aka the Flight of the Conchords, with a very special and an unexpected appearance from someone who’s no stranger to our city, Arj Barker….

Thursday night saw The Bakery open its doors to the public for Jumpclimb’s WAMi Showcase, the fourth in a series of showcases highlighting the breadth and variety of the West Australian music scene. Bastian’s Happy Flight ended a two month live hiatus to open the night with a set chock full of 80s style synth…

The Bakery played host to the final showcase of the WAMi Festival on Friday, with The Wire magazine organising a showcase filled with some of Perth’s best emerging talent; all of whom happened to be launching something, be it a single, album or music video. The Warning Birds kicked off proceedings to an already ample…

A new day, a new approach. Through no fault of my own this day was hard to follow owing to overlapping set and a hefty does of indecisiveness. This saw a rapid-fire approach for the first half of the day before settling in entirely at the main stage for the night. Pete Holmes Comedian Pete…

Day two of Song Summit brought with it some fantastic panels, and closed up with an amazing night of music. The talk which brought the masses in was a surprisingly insightful conversation with Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden, who’s in town as part of the immensely successful TV show The Voice. Madden was a surprisingly good…

The final day of music for me on this trip quite appropriately kicked off with the annual Aussie BBQ at Heebie Jeebies. With the stage in an outdoor beer garden (right next to the BBQ), the weather had us nervous but thankfully the overcast sky stayed just that; the rain keeping at bay. This kept…

The second day of Liverpool Sound City kicked off in a Bombed Out Church, where you have to sign a waiver to get in. Basically, if the roofless building collapses, they’re not responsible. I must say I’m a fan of the setup. Oliver Tank (pictured above) was playing when I arrived, and his melodic tunes…

Last week saw Kim Churchill‘s national tour roll into Western Australia, with a selection of dates, including Saturday night’s show at Fremantle’s Norfolk Basement. The venue’s intimate nature providing perhaps the perfect setting to see the evenings two acts at work. Sometimes keeping things simple is the right way to go. Sometimes you just need…

We arrived at London’s Cargo Bar just in time to catch Brisbane’s Inland Sea, who were playing today as a nine piece, opening with a beautiful a cappella number. I still don’t know how they all got over here, but good on ’em for doing it. They’ve been sounding fantastic at every show. Screamfeeder’s bassist…

After a week in New Orleans and an expedition to Brighton for The Great Escape, my musical May adventures have come to an end in the UK city of Liverpool (no stranger to musical celebration with streets of Beatles related memorabilia) for the annual industry conference and festival, Liverpool Sound City. Like The Great Escape…