Live Review: Gary Lightbody flooded with fan-mail at Snow Patrol’s first Sydney show in years

“Someone passed me a note so damn right I’m going to read it, and if anyone else wants to pass me a note then I’ll read that fucking note too”, shouted Snow Patrol’s affable frontman Gary Lightbody after reading aloud what appeared to be an invitation to a comedy gig in Sydney. A fan had…

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Lollapalooza Day Three: Aussies Tash Sultana, Amy Shark & Vera Blue shine alongside Vampire Weekend and The Weeknd in Chicago

On Saturday Lollapalooza forced its festival goers to make their toughest decision yet. It was a choice between two very different type of Weekends or one of the biggest DJs in the world. The Weeknd earned top billing on this years lineup, but it was the long awaited return of Vampire Weekend after a 5…

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5 reasons why you need to experience Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour at least once in your life

We got the chance to experience Taylor Swift in Toronto this weekend, and in anticipation of her imminent tour of Australia, we’re counting down the 5 reasons its a show not to be missed… and a look at the songs she played along the way. Indoor fireworks!! Selling out Toronto’s Rogers Centre two nights in…

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Photo Gallery: Taylor Swift + Charli XCX + Camila Cabello – Rogers Centre, Toronto (03.08.18)

Toronto was home to the incredible stadium Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour featuring Charli XCX and Camila Cabello last night, and ahead of her October/November tour in Australia, our photographer Anthony Smith captured all the action:  

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Review & Photos: Tank and the Bangas shine at their Lollapalooza Aftershow – Thalia Hall, Chicago

Lollapalooza aftershows can be tough tasks. Spending 10 hours in the hot sun if Grant Park can be exhausting and quite taxing. So then to turn around go across town and strap in for another 2 and a half hours of music can be quite the challenge. Luckily, Tank and the Bangas played a set Friday…

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Lollapalooza Day Two: Post Malone, Bruno Mars, The National, Brockhampton and more highlight Friday’s best

The second day of Lollapalooza was jam packed with much variety and some of the hottest names in music today. The three headliners couldn’t have provided more variety and something for everyone. Dillon Francis played the EDM main stage Perry’s, while Bruno Mars and National played the main stages on the North and Souh ends…

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Lollapalooza Day One: CHVRCHES, Travis Scott, Khalid, Arctic Monkeys & all the highlights from Grant Park, Chicago

The 2018 edition of Lollapalooza kicked off Thursday in Chicago’s Grant Park with a jam packed lineup of today’s current pop sensations. Lollapalooza this year seems geared to the new wave of artists and not so much the big names of yesteryear, The Weeknd is slated as the first name on the bill this year,…

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Jane Fonda to attend Australian premiere of Book Club

Transmission Film has announced that actress Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie, Barbarella) will attend the Australian premiere of her upcoming comedy Book Club. Starring alongside Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Mary Steenburgen  (Step Brothers) and Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown), Book Club centres around Diane, played by Keaton, widowed after 40 years of marriage. On the contrary, Vivian, played by…

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Three Australian Films Have Been Selected for the Venice Film Festival

Three films have been selected as part of the 75th Venice International Film Festival program, which will run from 29 August to 8 September, 2018. The three films selected include Jennifer Kent’s (The Babadook) highly anticipated second feature film The Nightingale, alongside two virtual reality films The Unknown Patient and Awaneva. Director Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale is…

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Splendour Interview: Woodes (Australia) talks evolving her live show for “Change My Mind” & her favourite music

In our final interview from Splendour in the Grass 2018, we sit down with acclaimed Townsville artist Woodes, who is just about to hit the road on a tour in support of her latest single “Change My Mind”. We talk about the track, her experiences touring with City Calm Down and how her live show…

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Splendour Interview: Woodes (Australia) talks Nils Frahm, Sigur Ros and evolving the vision of her live show for “Change My Mind”

In our final interview from Splendour in the Grass 2018, we sit down with acclaimed Townsville artist Woodes, who is just about to hit the road on a tour in support of her latest single “Change My Mind”. We talk about the track, her experiences touring with City Calm Down and how her live show…

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Seven things to do in Edinburgh during the world’s best Fringe Festival

Kicking off on Friday, the Edinburgh Fringe is widely regarded as the world’s best Fringe Festival, which shouldn’t be all that surprising; it just so happens to be in one the world’s most vibrant and exciting cities. While the Fringe will give you more than enough to enjoy  Here’s just seven things to do in…

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Review: You will never look at your kitchen sink in the same way again after STOMP at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre

Using everyday items such as brooms and buckets, the eight performers who make up STOMP create their own soundtrack, a hybrid of noise that form a melody which will see you tapping your feet in no time. Incredibly theatrical, no words are spoken for the duration of the performance yet the cast are able to…

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Exclusive Track Premiere: Sometime Sonny “Have a Heart” (2018)

Brissy has long been home to talented songwriters and this week, Sometime Sonny proves once again that belongs in this tight crop of musicians producing some great music out of the east coast. His new single comes in “Have a Heart” – melodic, catchy from the onset and confidently delivered, Sometime Sonny (project of songwriter Dave Campbell)…

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Exclusive Single Premiere: Sometime Sonny “Have a Heart” (2018)

Brissy has long been home to talented songwriters and this week, Sometime Sonny proves once again that belongs in this tight crop of musicians producing some great music out of the east coast. His new single comes in “Have a Heart” – melodic, catchy from the onset and confidently delivered, Sometime Sonny (project of songwriter Dave Campbell)…

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The importance of events like Indie-Con Australia in today’s music climate

Last Thursday and Friday, Adelaide hosted members of the local and national music industry for the Indie-Con Australia conference; two days of panels and forum discussions on matters that are particularly important within and to the independent music sector. Attendees were able to learn more about business development, online music services and the reach of global publicity,…

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Film Review: Summer 1993 (Spain, 2017) is an illuminating and nuanced look at the mindset of a child in mourning

It is perfectly reasonable to believe that the majority of the world sees cinema as a temporary reprieve of the burdens of the outside world. We all see enjoyably bombastic things that would never occur in real-life like dragons, magic, aliens, sea creatures; features that are proven to provide examples of powerful cinema. But on…

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Win a copy of the spy thriller Damascus Cover starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Hurt on Blu-Ray

In this dramatic thriller, a veteran spy is sent undercover to smuggle a chemical weapons scientist and his family out of Damascus. Within days of arriving things start to go wrong; he’s being followed, his partner doesn’t show up, and a mysterious group of men are trying to kill him. Soon, this supposedly routine mission…

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From peak Nic Cage madness to “this year’s Moonlight“: 8 films not to miss at MIFF

Tomorrow, the Melbourne International Film Festival kicks off, running through to August 19th. As every year, there are hundreds of screenings – but here are just 8 we think are unmissable this year: Mandy When Red Miller (Cage) met Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) he instantly fell in love. Unfortunately, so did Jeremiah (Linus Roache). And when…

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Aussies in Edinburgh: Rhys Nicholson on his new Fringe show Seminal

Aussie comedian Rhys Nicholson is on his way to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, and en route he kindly answered a Q&A for us about the show he’ll be performing there – Seminal. Here’s what he sent back, and everything you need to know about the show… Who are you, and what is your show? It’s me, Rhys…

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Splendour Interview: Tim and Sam of Cub Sport (Australia) on coming-of-age with BATS and getting married without a wedding band

I’ve known Cub Sport for a long time now. The beauty of running this website has been getting to know bands from their earliest incarnation – in respect of this band, that was “Cub Scouts” (or “Tim Nelson and the Cub Scouts” even before that), and going on adventures together like riding on elephants in…

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Games Review: WarioWare Gold (3DS, 2018): It’s Wario’s World, We’re Just Living In It

WarioWare Gold is the latest in a long line of bizarre, microgame collections that can best be described as Dada art. Gold is the culmination of 15 years of WarioWare goodness, featuring the best microgames of the past, and brand new microgames for the future. You’ll be glad to know that it’s lost none of…

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Film Review: Knock (France, 2017) fails to embrace the dark satirical properties of its source material

Based on the oft-adapted French satire Knock by writer and poet Jules Romains, this name-same feature fails to embrace the dark satirical properties of its source material and instead plays out all too predictably and implausible. At the centre of the film is a suitably charismatic turn from the reliable Omar Sy, and had Knock…

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Win a copy of the gripping thriller A Quiet Place starring Emily Blunt on DVD

A Quiet Place is a taut and original thriller that follows a family who must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) are determined to find a way to protect their…

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Win a Blu-Ray copy of Nicolas Cage‘s latest: the futuristic sci-fi action thriller The Humanity Bureau

The year is 2030, the world is a wasteland, and in a desperate attempt to restore society, the Government has created The Humanity Bureau – whose job is to assess and remove citizens deemed to be a burden on the system. When veteran Agent Noah Kross (Nicolas Cage) is sent to investigate the case of…

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Tech Review: The Plantronics RIG 500 Pro Esport Gaming Headphones are practically perfect in every way

The Plantronics RIG 500 Pro Esport Gaming Headphones, the latest refresh of Plantronics’ longrunning RIG 500 line, are about as close to the perfect gaming headset as any I’ve ever used. I would like to preface this review with a sole caveat: while the headset I was given by Plantronics with which to conduct this…

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Details revealed for The Morrison’s sixth annual “Oyster Festival” in Sydney

Now in its sixth year, The Morrison Bar and Oyster Room’s celebratory, month-long “Oyster Festival” plans to spread plenty of events throughout the entirety of August. From 1st to 31st, there’s going to be plenty of oysters shucked around the expansive venue, with the Morrison team expecting to serve more than 17,000 of those shelled…

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Gaming Review: Sonic Mania Plus (Switch, 2018) offers more of an already good thing

Look, I reviewed Sonic Mania when it launched last year. I found it to be a breath of fresh air in a series comprehensively and aggressively starved of it for decades. It was the kind of modern update that walks an incredibly fine line, paying homage to what came before and pushing the property forward…

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Splendour Interview: Matt Caughthran of The Bronx (USA) talks Trump and a return to Australia in October

One of the groups to make an exclusive appearance at Splendour in the Grass over the weekend were The Bronx, who hit the main stage in support of their latest album, BRVNX (or The Bronx – V). Not long before they hit the stage I briefly sat down with the group’s frontman Matt Caughthran, to…

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Games Review: Sonic Mania Plus (Switch, 2018): Must go faster

Look, I reviewed Sonic Mania when it launched last year. I found it to be a breath of fresh air in a series comprehensively and aggressively starved of it for decades. It was the kind of modern update that walks an incredibly fine line, paying homage to what came before and pushing the property forward…

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