Live Reviews

Unknown Pleasures pioneered late 70s post-punk, it was birthed from the ashes of the decaying musical scene at the time, and became the pinnacle of Joy Division‘s success. Forty years on, co-founder and bassist Peter Hook sought to revisit the melancholic atmosphere that is the Joy Division live experience, with a series of tribute shows…

Imagine a night where you can see 3 amazing bands for just $7? Well this is the concept behind Stop Start’s $7 Social Club at Melt Bar in Sydney. They even give you a free CD on entry! Awesome much? Tonight saw Hungry Kids of Hungry from Brisbane headlining the night, and Pluto Jonze open…

Melbourne’s Paris Wells has made quite a name for herself a skilled songstress, with talent well beyond her years and a collection of tracks with quality few can match. And now, with the Mushroom Music Publishing behind her, Paris has arrived in Sydney to preview her new album, the brilliant Various Small Fires. And tonight,…

When the St Jeromes Laneway festival premiered in Melbourne in 2004, it created headlines throughout the Australian music industry – an amazing mix of musicians playing to a crowded laneway (Caledonian lane); a day people would continue to talk about well beyond its 2nd incarnation. Years later, it’s not so much a laneway festival anymore,…

I entered the Spectrum to the sweet sound of Melbourne duo Owl Eyes. Lead singer Brooke Addamo accompanied by the slick guitar moves of Geordie Hewitt proved a powerful combination. Unfortunately I only heard the final track, but it was a cracker. And having listened now to their debut EP, I have to say that Brooke’s voice…

In 1850, Jack Daniels came into the world and would grow up to become a semi-decent whisky maker. In 1972, the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street album came into the world and would grow up to be regarded as one of the best ever. The celebration of the former was marked by a special…

Having arrived at Rosemount not having heard anything of the first two bands in the bill, I had goosebumps before I got through the door with the haunting strains of Scott Nicholas paired with the lustful soul of Gabrielle Harter drifting down the alleyway. It took me a while to reach for my camera as…

Two short weeks ago I don’t think I would have expected to be saying the following sentence: Klaxons are back, and sounding better than ever. Both on record, and as tonight’s show at the Enmore Theatre proved, on stage, too. For the first time since they formed, and rode the 2006/7 Myths of the Near…

We’re all for supporting the local arts scene here in Sydney, and so is the Oxford Art Factory. So tonight, the venue lent a hand by holding a fundraiser for a soon to be launched art space in the city – The Paper Mill. A few bands came along to show support, too, as the…

Well, this was one way to spend a Wednesday evening. Hot off the heels of the success of their last installment, Guitar Hero is back with Warriors of Rock. They celebrated the forthcoming launch with a party at the Oxford Art Factory – complete with a Guitar Hero jam, the “characters” of the game playing…

PVT (previously Pivot) performed to a room of hot and sweaty fans, eager to witness the band play their latest album, Church With No Magic, for the first time in Sydney. With a new approach to match their new name, PVT’s latest leaves a lot more room for Richard Pike’s crooning vocals, an addition that…

Radar Radio and Jim Beam have joined forces with The Gaelic Club in Sydney to present ‘Freshly Cut’ – a showcase of “some of Australia’s best upcoming artists”. Tonight, in it’s fifth installment, Sydney based Lions At Your Door celebrated the launch of their latest single with a spectacular show alongside fellow locals Paper Moon…

Tonight was night three of Laura Imbruglia’s Excelsior Hotel August residency, and the first time I’d ever had the opportunity to catch the singer/songwriter in action. Following on from “Country Laura” and “Acoustic Laura”, tonight she was in band mode, performing as a three piece, with support from locals Machine Machine. The five piece set the night off with a polished…

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Killing Heidi’s Elle and Jesse Hooper. In the early 00s, it was hard to avoid their music, but as the scene changed, and their audience grew older, so did they, essentially disappearing from the scene after the release of their third album in 2004. It was at…

Hip Hop fans young and old filled the Hordern Pavilion to capacity on Wednesday night, there to experience the legends of the genre in the flesh: A Tribe Called Quest. For some in the room, tonight was not only a night they’d waited almost two decades to experience, but a night they perhaps never thought…

As Andy Bull just finished mixing his new EP, The Phantom Pains, he has given a bunch of Sydneysiders the unique privilege to hear some of his new materials at Raval in Surry Hills, Sydney. It is also only a few days after Triple J, the nationally-networked Australian radio station, aired his new song “Dog”, featuring…

As I entered the Splendour grounds for the final day – exhausted, aching, sunburnt – I couldn’t help but feel quite at a loss as to what my life would be like without sleeping in an overheated van, experiencing such amazing music in the middle of nowhere. It has truly been an outstanding weekend I…

All girl rock bands are not only few and far between in the current live music scene, but I think it’s fair to say that they’ve always been a rarity. Enter Creepers, a five piece Sydney band, made up entirely of talented females, two of which kick the shit out of the drums quite frequently….

When attending Splendour in the Grass, one part of the day quite difficult to make it in time for is anything pre-Noon. Two bands who fit into this category conveniently joined forces for a wonderful evening at the Oxford Art Factory, and my final Splendour in the Grass sideshow for 2010. Having regretfully missed a…

Here’s a scrawling of memories regarding a gig at the lovely Factory Theatre in Sydney that involved a certain formido Leporidae – Frightened Rabbit to quote the Latin. I arrived a little late and missed the start of support act Sierra Fin. However, the group showed some nice enthusiasm, especially drummer Frosty who used his…

Broken Social Scene is a group that masters the art of musical collaboration, a talent which has shaped the constant development and diversity of sound which exists in their music. With the ubiquitous dynamic between its varied and multiple members, and the resulting sentience in their sound, Broken Social Scene have become one of the…

48 hours or so after Splendour came to an end, I return to Sydney slightly under the weather, with the memories of an excellent weekend that passed by all too quickly. Thankfully, the sideshows continue around the city and the country, keeping our live music withdrawals at bay – at least for the moment. The…

The wonderful fortnight of Splendour in the Grass sideshows continued last night with the sole international hip hop artist to get a spot on the lineup: Canada’s K-OS. Catching him briefly at Splendour and being blown away by his set at Good Vibrations many years ago, I had eagerly anticipated his sideshow. I arrived at…

From the minute I entered the venue on day two, I found myself feeling much more a part of the festival atmosphere than I did the day prior. What would go on to happen today and the next would prove Splendour 2010 to be the best festival I’ve ever attended in the Southern Hemisphere –…

Just two days ago, the Metro Theatre was faced with a dark divide: on one side were the loitering, cigarette smoking hipsters; and the other, groups of chubby middle-aged men joking loudly and drinking VB. It’s moments like these which bring a tear to my eye, proud of music’s role in bringing all sorts of…

After hearing about the epic 6 hour delays some punters encountered entering the camping area in the later hours of Thursday evening, I couldn’t help but be thankful I had elected to stay in a hotel in Brisbane for the first night. Thankfully, the delays were down to between 1 and 2 hours by the…

“No-one told you to come to my concert, and that’s what I appreciate the most. There’s no sheep in this crowd.” -Richard Ashcroft, prior to his embarrassing Splendour fiasco. Ashcroft is the soul of an era once past, one of the few britpop legends managing to survive with the same dignity they once possessed. His…

Pop audiences in Australia have never really embraced big, outdoor festivals (remember Rumba?), but Paperchase Touring seemed to have found a winning format of late with R&B/urban mini-festivals at Acer Arena such as Supafest and Winter Jam. This time it’s called Winterbeatz, and it boasts Ne-Yo, T-Pain, Outkast’s Big Boi and Fatman Scoop. Arena doors…

Opting to enjoy a night in Brisbane rather than at the Splendour campgrounds, I headed along to the Troubadour to catch up and coming bands Blame Ringo and Montpelier, who tonight were celebrating the launch of a tour around QLD and Northern NSW. With the exhaustion of an extensive touring schedule yet to kick in,…

As I entered the Hordern Pavilion beer garden, I found my ears telling my feet something they didn’t expect: RUN. There was a sound coming from the stage that simply sounded amazing. It wasn’t The Temper Trap, no – it was way too early! It was a band from North Wales (via London) called The…