Live Reviews

Reasonably bearded Seattle based six piece Fleet Foxes had an amazing 2011. Releasing their sophomore LP Helplessness Blues to rave reviews around the world – hitting Number One in Norway, Number Two in the UK, Number Four in the US and Number Six on the Australian Charts – and touring the globe relentlessly, including a…

Waking up later each and every day seems to be a regular thing for me these days. It happened at Meredith, and it’s happening at Woodford. The third day is upon us and I was up at the sunny dawn of 8am. The previous two days saw me awake at the fairly reasonable hours (if…

Heading through the gates in the pitch black of night and then pitching the tent up in those conditions wasn’t the most ideal start, but it’s kind of the way with these things. I guess I should be used to it by now, considering I’ve been to Meredith, Splendour and many other camping festivals ever…

When it comes to music festivals in Australia, so many are too keen to expand, try and make more money and move away from their roots. Though still arguably boutique, in many cities there isn’t a laneway to be seen at the Laneway festival (not that this is necessarily a bad thing, in this particular…

When you watch Dave Grohl running around the stage, wearing a massive grin, you can’t help but imagine he’s channeling his 15 year old self, going – “hey buddy, look how cool it is! Your dreams are totally do come true!” Maybe that’s how Dave has kept it real all these years. But however he’s…

The night opened up with Kill City Creeps, a band who have spent the last six months working hard to make their mark on the Sydney seen. Made up of ex-Dolly Rocker Daniel Darling and two-thirds of Dora Maar, the band play old fashioned (perfect for any 60’s beach party) rock and roll in every…

Homebake returned to The Domain over the weekend for the first time since 2009. It was missed by all of us in 2010, but its year away was understandable in all respects. Though its 2011 installment didn’t sell out, the crowds were massive, energies were high and the music was killer. Here’s a look back…

Hibernian House was taken over on Friday night by two wonderful young singer/songwriters. First up was Patrick James, a surprising young talent whose eloquent folk music may have fit well on the Garden State soundtrack – especially the closing track “Burn Away”. A beautiful track, all it was missing was a montage. “Carry On” opened…

Heavenly Sounds is a new initiative to place beautiful contemporary music in Churches and Cathedrals around Australia. In its first effort, the organisers sent Seeker Lover Keeper and special guests on a tour of 12 such venues around the country, selling out every show along the way. Tonight we found ourselves a third of the…

Last night the final Russian Standard Vodka Live at the Chapel event for 2011 took place in Newtown, with the first ever double act for long running series. Two of Australia’s finest live acts, PNAU and Eskimo Joe, shared the altar (so to speak) for a very entertaining evening of live music, in the acoustic…

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The hugely successful national run of Tim and Neil Finn tribute concerts – They Will Have Their Way – continued last night with a sold out show at the Sydney Opera House, the first of three at the venue. The show sees seven well regarded Australian artists – Seeker Lover Keeper (Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann…

Heading through the strange venue that is The Buffalo Club, I felt I was in some sort of strange vortex of time between war-time Australia and a fashion palace that was dimly lit for an accidental hippie. Regardless, the venue provided an unusual backdrop for some slightly unusual music (maybe not too unusual if you’ve…

It’s barely been two years since an “intimate showcase” featuring Florence and the Machine was just a run of the mill gig for the London based band. Indeed, the meteoric rise that has led Florence Welch and her band to this point – the release of their second record Ceremonials – has been a joy…

What better way to spend Remembrance Day than by celebrating the classic songs of Nick Drake, performed by a wonderful selection of artists from around the world and accompanied by a remarkable thirteen piece ensemble. The night, titled Way To Blue, after the Drake song of the same name, was curated by Joe Boyd, who…

Being fashionably late is no longer fashionable. I find this out when I arrive as soon as the 3rd or 4th song from The Letter String Quartet and the venue is nearly full already. As soon as I walked through the door, this collection of strings had me captured. The tones which the four players…

My final day of CMJ was spent admiring the music of Australia from afar. Though I was at The Delancey for the entirety of The Aussie BBQ, I once again enjoyed little-to-no music as I undertook a pile of interviews on the roof. You, however, will be enjoying those soon. That said, I did catch…

A group of young talents from the other East Coast capitals took over The Standard in Sydney last night, officially celebrating the debut LP of Ball Park Music, Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs, released in September. Fellow Brisbanites The Jungle Giants opened up proceedings, one of the latest additions to the indie pop regiment coming out…

The third day of CMJ proceedings was primarily occupied by a slew of interviews I had to undertake (you’ll be seeing them online soon) and the CMJ College Day and College Radio Awards, which saw college radio personalities and stations recognised for their talents and hard work. Sounds Australia were behind the day itself, putting…

In my fourth day of CMJ, I made tracks to catch up with 1,2,3, a band from Pittsburgh who were heading into James Iha’s recording studio (complete with Smashing Pumpkins memorabilia), Stratosphere Sound, to lay down a few live tracks as part of the Fred Perry Artists Lounge sessions. They were quite the tight band……

Rat vs Possum may be the support for tonight’s Melbourne Festival show at the Toff in Town, but their party-time set doesn’t waste time, even with people who just want to stick to the walls of the venue. Their live shows in more recent times have moved away from their tribal, thunderous vibe to a…

This night was a night for the clock. Considering I ordered dinner at 8:00pm, it was a bit of a disaster to not see anything at my table after half an hour waiting. And I waited some more. In the end, I would like to thank the East Brunswick Club kitchen for making me miss…

For those of you who haven’t been keeping tabs on our coverage of the Los Angeles based festival Culture Collide over the last week, let me bring you up to date. From last Wednesday night until Saturday, a series of live events took over a variety of venues in the Echo Park/Silverlake area of Los…

And the music continues! We kicked things off on day two with the Dutch Impact Party and enjoyed the sweet sounds of bands from The Netherlands. Unfortunately we missed Death Letters (more on them later in week), but made it just in time to see the energetic performance from De Staat. Their brand of heavy…

My third night at Culture Collide was a rather brief affair due to other engagements, but I got to catch some fantastic performances from a couple of bands I know very well, and a couple others I didn’t know much about at all… First up were Netherlands based duo Death Letters. With both members under…

Following a special evening of Culture Collide celebrations on Wednesday night, which included the LA premiere screening of Nirvana: Live at the Paramount (which literally had people cheering in their seats), a special DJ set from The Rapture and some entertaining dancing courtesy of Playstation Move, the festival officially kicked into gear last night with…

I normally don’t head to hip hop shows. After tonight, I probably won’t head to another hip hop gig for a while. For starters, it was a very cold, very uninviting night to head on out to a gig for. I had been put in a bad mood by security already (note to self: don’t…

When it comes to up-and-coming female vocalists, no one can match the rise of New Zealand born, Melbourne based Kimbra, who tonight sold out the Metro with ease. I arrive slightly late but just managed to catch “Limbo”, off her debut album Vows, which would of course be the focus of the set. Despite the…

Another week, another venue is born (though some may argue reborn) and another takes it’s final breath (Tone, at least in it’s current location). Yesterday saw the launch of The Standard at Kinselas, in what used to be the Lo-Fi Collective art room. Embracing it’s early 90s NYC warehouse heritage, which featured bands from around…

On Friday night Perth band The Brow Horn Orchestra launched their debut EP. Yeah that’s right their debut EP. Though given the scale on which they launched their latest creation, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were releasing their second or third album. The Brow clearly does not do anything by half measures – with…