The Australian Open is hosting a $500,000 Fortnite tournament and you can enter

Margaret Court Arena will play host to a massive Fortnite tournament for the second time in the space of six months. The Australian Open, the nation’s biggest and popular tennis event, is running on a pair of tournaments, the combined prize pool of which comes to $500,000. The first 500 players to register on the…

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Tech Review: HyperX Alloy FPS RBG Mechanical Keyboard gives you speed and accuracy in the colours of the rainbow

I like the HyperX Alloy FPS range of mechanical keyboards, that much is fairly Well Documented by now. It’s also getting harder to review them because, to be perfectly honest, there isn’t exactly a ton of variation model-to-model. Part of this is that HyperX already make a bloody solid board. It isn’t broke, so there…

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Album Review: On I am > I was (2018 LP), 21 Savage emerges victorious despite all odds

21 Savage has, for the past few years, stood as a divisive character in modern hip hop. Though, regardless of countless criticisms he has definitely become an established figure on the scene – becoming one of the most commercially successful and well known members of the early soundcloud-rap renaissance of 2016. As a result, following…

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Live Review: The Vaccines radiate their punk persona in Melbourne

Twenty Nineteen is finally at our feet and to mark the moment, The Vaccines flew across the entire globe to give Aussies something to remember during the first week of the new year. The English group appeared at The Croxton Bandroom (Thornbury) alongside Newcastle band, Vacations, and left the sardine-packed crowd drenched in a sublime blend of both perspiration and…

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Rainbow Six: Siege scratches an itch Overwatch seems to have forgotten about

In mid-November 2018, popular Overwatch streamer and former pro player Brandon “Seagull” Larned posted a video to his YouTube channel titled The State of Overwatch. In it, Seagull breaks down a number of criticisms of Overwatch as a game at present. He takes issue with the state of the game’s ongoing GOATS Composition meta and the abundance…

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Hotel Review: San Francisco’s Hotel Zephyr sticks out at Fisherman’s Wharf

You’d be correct in assuming that San Francisco claims some fantastic boutique hotels across all price ranges. After all the city has long been known as one of the most creative and free-spirited in the U.S, and it’s hotel scene has benefited greatly from all that openness. From the beatnik throwback of Hotel Boheme and…

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Photo Gallery: Beyond The Valley Day Four – Lardner Park, VIC (31.12.18)

The final day of Beyond The Valley brought the fun with PNAU, English powerhouses The Kook’s, Ball Park Music and Remi all there to celebrate the chiming of the new year!

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Film Review: Eighth Grade (USA, 2018) is an empathetic, uncompromising & honest piece of work

Teenage films have been quite a huge staple for me in the past decade. Whether they would be quality films (like Heathers, Stand By Me), plain fun (Mean Girls, Easy A, Say Anything etc.) or just plain silliness (Porky’s, American Pie), this reviewer has always found some enjoyment for entertainment reasons as well as nostalgic…

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Photo Gallery: The Vaccines + Vacations – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne (03.01.19)

The Vaccines played their first Falls Festival sideshow at the Croxton Bandroom with support from Vacations to a huge crowd, playing hit after hit song. Photos by Rebecca Houlden.

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Opera Review: La Bohéme is all at once decadent and tragic at the Sydney Opera House

A world of starving artists, love at first sight, decadence and jealousy – so sets the scene for Puccini’s formidable La Bohéme. The performance begins with four friends, each a poor artist, struggling to survive another winter. By the end of the first act Rodolfo, a poet, has fallen in love with Mimí, a seamstress,…

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Travel Deals: Flights around Europe are going for as low as £5 right now

Every so often European budget carrier Ryanair drop their places to ridiculously low prices, opening up the continent to eagle-eyed budget-minded travellers quick enough to take advantage of the flash sales. It happened a few times last year, and these flashes are seemingly getting more and more common. There’s actually one happening right now. And…

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Live Review: Beyond the Valley Day Four – Lardner Park (31.12.18)

The final day of Beyond the Valley continued the trend of an eclectic festival focussing on the enjoyment of all the participants with countless acts across multiple genres as electronic heavyweights Duke Dumont, Dom Dolla and Yotto stood alongside Indie rock juggernaut The Kooks and Australian sweethearts Ball Park Music. The final day hit the…

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Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (USA, 2019) is a fitting end to a coming of age saga

When Cressida Cowell’s book series How To Train Your Dragon was developed into a film, its success took the world by storm and spawned a number of television series, short films, video games and even live performance shows. Now the third, and final film installment has arrived with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival (Day 3) ft. Chvrches, Amy Shark, Interpol, Jack River and more – Byron Bay (02.01.19)

Day 3 of the Falls Festival at Byron Bay featured Chvrches, Amy Shark, Interpol and Vance Joy. Toto had the crowd singing along to Africa, The Vaccines rocked and LPX – the side project of Lizzy Plapinger from MS MR delivered a truly joyous set. Other highlights included Bishop Briggs, Jack River and Tired Lion from…

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Live Review: Field Day delivers a great New Years Day celebration in Sydney’s Domain

On New Years Eve, parties at Watson’s Bay, the fireworks in the city and NYE In The Park festival divide Sydney party goers. However, on New Years Day there is no competition. Field Day at The Domain Is the best celebration in the city and arguably the country. Field Day hosts a huge electronic and hip hop lineup,…

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Book Review: Jacqueline Raposo’s The Me, Without is a self-help guide that subtracts the negative from the positive

In 2005 Nigel Marsh wrote Fat, Forty & Fired about his year embracing life away from the office. In some ways, Jacqueline Raposo’s The Me, Without: My Year on an Elimination Diet of Modern Conveniences is cut from the same cloth. Raposo’s book is both memoir and a case study into her failed life at…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival (Day 4) ft Bishop Briggs, TOTO, Catfish and the Bottlemen & more – Lorne (31.12.18)

The final day of the Lorne Falls Festival heralded in the New Year with an energetic performance by Catfish and the Bottlemen. During the day Odette entranced with beautiful tunes, Bishop Briggs snarled and prowled and there was a huge sing-a-long with Toto‘s perennial hit song “Africa”. John Goodridge was there for the AU Review…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival (Day 2) ft. Catfish And The Bottlemen, First Aid Kit, DMA’s and more – Byron Bay (01.01.19)

Day 2 of the Falls Festival at Byron Bay was New Years Day. There was no lethargy on display though, with West Thebarton putting on a blistering performance early in the day. Ruel enthralled his adoring audience, and Little May charmed theirs. Briggs delivered the goods in spades, and Soccer Mommy captured everyones hearts. King…

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Live Review: All You Need Is Love was a fab celebration of The Beatles’ famous studio cuts – Sydney Opera House (01.01.19)

The Beatles’ last official live concert was in San Francisco in 1966. They also did one last impromptu appearance on the rooftop of Apple in 1969 to bemused onlookers. This means that many of the band’s more experimental and expansive songs from their studio years have only been performed by tribute acts. The All You…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival (Day 3) ft Hilltop Hoods, Cub Sport and more – Lorne (30.12.18)

The third day of Falls Festival at Lorne ramped up the energy even more with plenty of home grown talent, including Ruel, Amy Shark, Jack River and culminating in crowd favorites Hilltop Hoods. Our photographer John Goodridge was there to capture these snaps    

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Our five favourite moments from Foxtel Arts series- The Day The Rock Star Died

The Day the Rock Star Died returns to our screens soon. The show is a series of half-hour programs and handy little primers to some beloved musicians who are no longer with us. Their story is told through the use of some archive material and interviews with esteemed authors, producers and broadcasters. The AU Review…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival Byron Bay (Day 1) ft. Cut Copy, Hockey Dad, Ocean Alley, Anderson .Paak and more (31.12.18)

The Falls Festival hit Byron Bay on New Years Eve. Unfortunately due to illness, one of the headline and much anticipated acts, Dizzee Rascal had to cancel. Amongst many fine acts to feature were Hockey Dad, Mallrat, Ocean Alley, Cut Copy, Stoker with Anderson .Paak bringing in the New Year. Bruce Baker was our photographer…

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Photo Gallery: Beyond the Valley Day One – Lardner Park, VIC (30.12.18)

joey Bada$$, Client Liaison, City Calm Down & Tash Sultana led the crowd through the first major day of Beyond the Valley 2018/19.  

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Didirri, Vera Blue and Clowns share their favourite music of 2018

Earlier this month, we sat down with Didirri, Vera Blue and Clowns to talk about their favourite music of 2018; potentially the songs they’ll be choosing for the Hottest 100 and some of the albums that excited them over the last 12 months. Photo of Didirri taken at Festival of the Sun by Larry Heath

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Live Review: Beyond The Valley Day Two ft. The Jungle Giants + Boo Seeka + Nicole Millar and more (30.12.18)

Day two of Beyond The Valley topped an already impressive first day! Nicole Millar set the tone for the day, leaving a predominantly young female crowd wondering how she isn’t already an international sensation. Although her song “Blindfolded” received a huge  crowd sing along she proved she has a whole catalogue of feel good pop…

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Photo Gallery: Falls Festival (Day 2) ft Anderson .Paak First Aid Kit and more – Lorne (29.12.18)

The second day of the Lorne Falls Festival was a beautiful day starting with the traditional Welcome to Country before launching into raucous sets by Amyl and the Sniffers,  West Thebarton and Slowly Slowly. Briggs, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and First Aid Kit all put on great performances on the Valley Stage. Anderson…

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Blu-Ray Review: Sicario: Day of the Soldado (USA, 2018) succeeds as both a sequel and a stand-alone narrative

Denis Villeneuve shone a light on issues that now seem more rife than ever in 2015’s hard-hitter Sicario. For its follow-up, sub-headed Day of the Soldado, the concerns at hand are more unnerving than before, and whilst the argument of whether or not the original film needed a sequel is still a valid talking point,…

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Arnott’s release Cheese & Vegemite Shapes; win the great snack race of 2018

The rumours were true! Arnott’s have officially won the great snack race of 2018, managing to (finally) funnel a classic Aussie combo into the latest flavour for Shapes. Vegemite & Cheese Shapes is being described as “the spirit of the nation distilled down into a cracker”, and has now made its way onto supermarket shelves…

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Live Review: Beyond The Valley Day One ft. Joey Badass + Client Liaison + Winston Surfshirt and more (29.12.18)

Beyond The Valley (BTV) in Lardner, an hour and a half outside Melbourne has been proving itself to be a hot contender in the battle for the ideal New Years Festival, against tough competition from Falls Festival, Lost Paradise, Field Day and a stack of others. Although Falls generally has the biggest international names, Beyond…

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