Rockin’ the Zoo: Ben Folds named as the first artist for 2018 Melbourne Zoo Twilights series

He’s a favourite out this way and as a way for the Melbourne Zoo Twilights series to kick off the campaign for their 2018 season, what better way than to announce Ben Folds as their first artist? Bringing his extensive catalogue of beloved tunes to Melbourne on February 16th, Ben Folds will put his two-part solo show…

Read more

National Jazz Awards finalists announced; $12,000 to be awarded to winner in November

Not too long ago, we delved into the long-established Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues and the accompanying National Jazz Awards. Now in its 28th year, the event is set to draw many to the country Victorian town this November 3rd-5th for a weekend of exemplary live music from some of Australia’s best, as well as some renowned…

Read more

Farm Aid’s continued success as a premier music festival & charity initiative – here’s what we learned

Since 1985 Farm Aid has recognised the work of family farmers in the hopes of revitalising the local economies that depend on the industry. Now in its 32nd edition, Willie Nelson, president and founder of Farm Aid has gathered together a lineup of acts that travel and appear on their own dime, and in turn…

Read more

What’s new in Joss Whedon’s Firefly 15th anniversary blu-ray set?

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since Joss Whedon’s now classic, short running TV series Firefly hit the airwaves. Possibly because so many of us discovered it years later. But with just 14 episodes and a movie (2005’s Serenity), the Firefly universe didn’t expand as much as fans might have liked –…

Read more

Games Review: Total War: Warhammer 2 (PC, 2017) is as close to perfect as the series has ever been

The next time you have a creative project that you feel isn’t coming together quickly enough, I want you to remember that it took Creative Assembly 20 years of rigourous experimentation, honing the things that worked and pruning back the things that didn’t, to get their Total War series to the point where it’s damned near…

Read more

Five films to look out for at the 2017 Jewish International Film Festival

The Jewish International Film Festival is fast approaching, kicking off on 25 October at Classic Cinema located in Elsternwick, Melbourne. JIFF celebrates various Israeli and Jewish themed films in both Australia and New-Zealand. The massive program was unveiled yesterday, and we went through it to bring you back five films you should look out for: Bombshell:…

Read more

Games Hands On: Long Live Terror-Billy in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Now, more than ever, we need a game like Wolfenstein II – a game that doesn’t shy away from making strong, political statements, that deals respectfully with the ramifications of mental illness and PTSD, but mostly importantly – lets you kill a whole bunch of Nazis. If I wasn’t already excited about the title, what…

Read more

Best Brews: Four Points by Sheraton plan on embracing local craft beer scenes around the world

Beginning 1st October of this year, the recently opened Four Points by Sheraton Melbourne Docklands will be taking part in an ongoing global program designed to bring the hotel brands 225+ properties closer to the cultural scenes in their respective cities. And by cultural scenes we mean the tasty dynamic local craft beer scenes of…

Read more

Make Nice: when creative women join forces there isn’t much they can’t accomplish (and other key lessons)

Make Nice launched in 2016 and was born from the desire to push back against the “boys club” which exists within creative industries (most industries, let’s be honest) and show creative women they don’t have to be competitive to get ahead. Women can “make nice” and still be successful. In fact, when creative women join…

Read more

Review: The breathtaking Parrtjima Festival lights up the red centre until October 1st

Touching down on the Alice Springs tarmac I know I’m in a special part of Australia. A town of over 25,000 people, the second largest town after Darwin in the Northern Territory and one largely influenced by its Indigenous culture. Straddling the usually dry Todd River and the Eastern and Western MacDonell Ranges, the town…

Read more

Brisbane Festival Review: Enter the mad cap world of Strut & Fret’s FUN HOUSE

Making its world premiere at Brisbane Festival, FUN HOUSE is a vibrant mix of circus acts, dance, and vaudevillian comedy, helmed by a unicorn and a bunny – who else?! It’s been (perhaps a little awkwardly) marketed as an all ages show, presented as a family friendly sister act to Strut & Fret’s other Brisbane…

Read more

Here’s your first look at Chin Chin Sydney

Shaped into Surry Hills’ 100-year-old Griffiths Teas building, the long awaited Chin Chin Sydney will finally be opening its doors to the public on Monday 2nd October. Ever since it was announced that the Melbourne dining powerhouse would be opening a Sydney iteration, Chin Chin became one of the country’s most anticipated openings. The up-scale…

Read more

Jameson Caskmates announce special limited edition Young Henrys Edition for Australia

Newtown locals Young Henrys and Irish whiskey icons Jameson have just taken their ever-growing friendship to the next level, joining forces to create the first Australian whiskey partnership for the ongoing Jameson Caskmates series. You guessed it – that means a special, limited edition Jameson Caskmates Young Henrys Edition is heading our way very soon,…

Read more

Interview: Fanny Lumsden talks writing on the road and exploring Australia through music

She’s more than a troubadour. In the last two years, Fanny Lumsden has been travelling the country and abroad learning more and being inspired by her surroundings and the experiences she’s been having along the way. With her sophomore record Real Class Act, out now, Lumsden has continued to carve out a hot spot for herself within the…

Read more

Tour Diary: Sam Buckingham brings home highlights from a huge Americanafest in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee. Five years ago I happened to come here for a week. Which turned into two. Which turned into three. Which turned into a five year ache to return and write songs with some of the best, play music in iconic venues and be inspired by the overwhelming respect for songwriting in this town….

Read more

Single of the Day: PINS “Serve The Rich” (2017)

Mancunian five piece PINS have stormed on to our radar with their punchy new tune, “Serve The Rich”. From the onset, in the edgy guitars, it’s unsurprising to learn that Jamie Hince of The Kills had a part in producing this new single; “Serve The Rich” is unashamedly cocky and is delivered with a considered snarl….

Read more

Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Slowly Slowly strip down & reimagine new single “Aliens”

Bringing renewed vigour to their sophomore record, Melbourne’s Slowly Slowly have continued to whet the appetites of their fans with their newly released single, “Alliens”. The slow burner sees Slowly Slowly’s Ben Stewart at his best, writing lyrics that tug at the emotions while offering an insight into the candid nature of the process for himself along…

Read more

Our first impressions of Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider reboot

With the first trailer for the new Tomb Raider adaptation out in the wild, it’s safe to say that Warner Bros. Pictures is taking into account Square Enix’s reboot of the Tomb Raider line of games as a heavy source of inspiration when it comes to the story and Lara Croft herself. The first thing…

Read more

Let’s explain that ending of Twin Peaks: The Return

When Twin Peaks: The Return was first announced, I sort of just assumed it’d be like everything else 2017 has had to offer: another helping of char-broiled butts. Why should the return of Twin Peaks, the most significant and artful television endeavour of all time, be anything but a let down? Lynch hadn’t made anything…

Read more

PlayStation Australia is giving away four IRL Platinum Trophies, but you’ll have to work for them

Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia is kicking off a new competition called PlayStation Plus Platinum Hunters. The goal is for players to unlock every trophy within four specific games.

Read more

Games Review: NBA 2K18 retains its crown as the king of basketball simulation

The NBA 2k series has dominated the basketball simulator landscape for about a decade now and, with NBA 2K18 finally on our shelves, it’s safe to say that this series still holds the crown. Quite simply, this is the best NBA game you can play right now. Coming up against the NBA Live series for the first…

Read more

Games Review: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Switch, 2017) is one of the Switch’s better ports

Another day, another port for Nintendo Switch, but that’s ok, we were all worried we wouldn’t be getting what Nintendo promised us, a more mainstream console with third-party support. We got it, and here’s another solid example of their new ethos — Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2!

Read more

The cast and first trailer for Isle of Dogs is peak Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom) returns to the silver screen this April with Isle of Dogs, a stop-motion adventure – his first return to the style since the acclaimed Fantastic Mr. Fox. And this weekend the first trailer for the star-studded project dropped. Isle of Dogs tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, a 12 year…

Read more

The inaugural Australian Music Week Film Festival unveils incredible international program

The first ever Australian Music Week Film Festival arrives at the end of next month, set to screen an impressive array of World and Australian Premieres across two venues from October 31st until November 3rd. The festival accompanies the annual Australian Music Week conference, which takes over Cronulla Beach for three days just outside of…

Read more

Games Review: NHL 18 (PS4, 2017) is a solid sim that is content to rest on its laurels

NHL 18 wants to be a mirror to this year’s Stanley Cup — no bells, no whistles, no brawls or bullshit, just great skillful hockey. That’s what it wants, and it’s a noble goal, but sadly the puck never quite finds the back of the net.

Read more

Flight Review: How does Delta’s Sydney to LAX Service (DL40) compare to partner Virgin Australia?

If you fly regularly to US with Virgin Australia, as I do, chances are you may have ended up on a Delta aircraft on one of your trips; with the two carriers codesharing services across the Pacific, providing ticketed passengers for either the option to fly with the other. I recently did just that, flying…

Read more

Melbourne Fringe Festival Review: SELF is a must-see (Performances until October 1st)

Michael Ralph is one of Australia’s leading choreographers, always striving to create work that is ground-breaking, fresh and relevant. As part of this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival, Ralph has gifted audiences with a 60-minute dance piece that explores every facet of an artist’s psyche. It is appropriately titled SELF, and stars none other than musical theatre heart-throb,…

Read more

Matt Moran’s three-level Barangaroo restaurant is opening in December (Sydney)

Featuring three distinct levels, Barangaroo House will be one of the biggest openings to date for the ever-growing precinct, led by none other than Matt Moran in partnership with Solotel, the group behind some of Sydney’s biggest venues including Aria, Chiswick and Opera Bar. It’s been a long time coming, with the project in the…

Read more

Suntory release the super premium Yamazaki Mizunara 2017 Edition in Australia

Harnessing the unique characteristics of Mizunara, a rare Japanese oak, Suntory Whisky have been able to make a huge leap forward in their whisky making. The newly released Yamazaki Mizunara 2017 Edition promises to highlight the unique properties of the uniquely Japanese tree, presenting whisky lovers with a blend created from a selection of single…

Read more

Merivale’s The Paddington is going Cuban for a limited time only (Sydney)

Celebrating the people and street culture of modern Cuba, Merivale will be using The Paddington to host a temporary transformation, filled with Que Bola feasts and Havana club cocktails. Across three nights, the popular Paddington gastropub will be taking on the character often credited to Cuba’s festive hospitality scene, with the crux of celebrations happening…

Read more