While she was in the country last week for Splendour in the Grass, I took rising star Bishop Briggs – fresh from celebrating her birthday – around Kings Cross, on a cold Sydney afternoon. You’re in town for Splendour, and a few sideshows – including one where you’re supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen in Wollongong!…
Earlier this year, at Canadian Music Week, just after the event won at the Canadian Live Music Awards, I sat down with WayHome Music Festival’s creative director Ryan Howes. The event, which takes place this weekend (July 28th to 30th), will see a massive lineup descends an hour out of Toronto, Canada. We spoke about…
If there’s one thing that 2017 has taught us, it’s that Nazi punching is back in style. Given that’s the case, Wolfenstein II has arrived with most fashionable timing. If you’re like me, and you love a good Nazi maiming, then this is the game for you. Last week, The Iris was given the opportunity…
From international touring comedians to rising local stars, Bris Funny Fest is back for its second year and it’s bigger and better than ever before! With over 50 shows to choose from, the festival will take place in various locations around Brisbane from the 2nd-20th of August. A Game Of Thrones improvised parody, a pleasure…
A group of teenagers come together for a party on the beach. But come morning, a fifteen year old girl is dead, raped and then beaten to death. The work of late playwright Nick Enright, Blackrock follows the aftermath of this terrible act, as the party-goers explore their guilt, whether as perpetrators or as bystanders,…
The new production of Blackrock, a play written by Nick Enright some 20 years ago, opened at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane last night. Its opening coincided with the acquittal of four men found not guilty of the gang rape of a fifteen year old girl in the Blue Mountains; it’s clear this horrifying narrative is as…
The Actors Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, charitable organisation who has been providing financial and practical assistance to professional performers since 1944. They support individuals who are unable to work due to illness, injury or disability. This charity recently held a fundraising night at Dendy Opera Quays where they screened a recording of the 2015…
In Theatre Works’ latest showing, Frankenstein gets an 180-degree turn in a shadowy and modern portrayal of a horror icon, however, this portrayal felt overly simplistic despite the theatrical reframing. This premier season directed by Phil Rouse tells the gothic story by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley flipping gender and turning to a somewhat contemporary angle by…
Dumpling favourite Din Tai Fung has announced two exclusive one-night-only degustation menus for August, both on the same date with one being in Sydney and the other being in Melbourne. The set menus will feature a whopping 18 courses for guests, including various new dishes never seen on Din Tai Fung menus before, sitting alongside…
Matt Moran’s Paddo Inn Bar & Grill has whipped Sydney’s iconic Paddington Inn into shape. The celebrated celebrity chef has always been reliable when it comes to a good ol’ fashioned pub refurb, so his re-focus from the venue’s up-scale pub grub to a more casual grill has unsurprisingly been a hit with the locals….
Wine enthusiasts have long known that specialised distributors are the way to go, a gateway to experiencing some of the best drops that local bar or restaurant may not have on the menu, while also taking away the painful hours of research (and the ever-stressful opportunity cost) that comes with trying to find the best…
With his 2015 debut album Eons, Jim Lawrie was quick to establish himself as a songwriter and performer who needed to be on more music fans’ radars around the country. Bringing together some lovely folk tendencies with classic rock sensibilities that has proven to resonate so well with live audiences in particular, Jim Lawrie’s music generated the…
You know that old rule your mum used to tell you: ‘If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all’? While it sure is nice to be spoken to politely, Sigur Rós must have listened really well to their mums, as they played the nicest and most awe inspiring of sets you’ll…
New Zealand’s Raiza Biza takes to the mic in acknowledging the strong women in his life with the appropriately titled, “Strong Woman”. The single is charming in nature, strong and anthemic in delivery – a great step further into the spotlight from the hip hop talent continuing on the rise. The official music video we’re premiering…
New Alvvays is always great. Heh. Bad pun made, moving right along… The new album from the group is coming this September 8th in the form of Antisocialites and today, we’ve really been enjoying their new single “Dreams Tonite”. The Toronto group shine on the track, which displays an awesome progression in rhythmic and songwriting technique, as…
Non-headliners ruled Splendour in the Grass this year, and if anything defined the festival for 2017 it was that interest is shifting towards locals who are giving it their all, swiftly outshining headliners for what has become the proving ground for many a homegrown musician over the years. As a festival, Splendour is one of…
Continuing our interview coverage from our time with Royal Blood in Sydney recently, Mike and Ben talk more on the development of their live shows and preparing for some of their biggest festival appearances yet, notably CalJam alongside Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. “I think with another 10 songs that we get to play, obviously the set is going…
The Jezabels are one of Sydney’s ultimate favourites, that should really go without saying. In August, locals will have the opportunity to spend some proper quality time with the group. Over seven nights, the band will be making their mark on the newly reopened Lansdowne Hotel for an unprecedented residency. Kicking off on Monday, August…
Our condolences go out today to the family of Dr Yunupingu, the Galiwin’ku community and Gumatj clan – who have lost one of their prominent and most beloved members – as well as Skinnyfish Music, who helped to cultivate one of the most treasured careers in Australian music. Dr Yunupingu, who passed away in Darwin on Tuesday, was…
The Bronx have come crashing through with the reveal of their fifth studio album, aptly named V. Retaining everything punk and chaotic the band has become renowned and beloved for the world over, the new record sees the LA-based group entering a new chapter in the wake of Jorma Vik‘s 2016 departure. What we’ve heard first up from…
Time helps build a cult of personality; a paradigm in which how you remember things can be altered dramatically from how they actually are. With more than six years since their last visit, plenty of time has passed since LCD Soundsystem had the chance to play to a Sydney crowd. And while the music industry…
Perth based sextet Make Them Suffer are back with their glorious third studio album, Worlds Apart. I will be honest, heavy deathcore is not my norm. But, as an angsty teen growing up in a depleting economy where a Thrasher T-shirt is more than my rent, I still find myself turning towards the choleric, emotion dripping genre…
An episode sandwiched by a brutal storm, one literal and one figurative, “Stormborn” was a momentous series of events which has moved this narrative further then many would have expected. As I mentioned last week, the time for economical storytelling is upon us, and so every – well, most – sequences are going to count…
In the third and final film of the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy, we pick up not long after where the previous film left off. The apes are here to stay and it’s only when they come up against a battalion of soldiers that the tentative truce between humans and apes is destroyed and…
David Lowery is a filmmaker whose work I have enjoyed due to thenrestrained approach to his direction, his way of humanizing his characters and his sincere, honest approach to storytelling. Whether it be a small-scale story like Ain’t Them Bodies Saints or a commercial film like the recent Pete’s Dragon, his directorial and screenwriting touch is…
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming, the largest pop culture event in Australia, has dropped a massive announcement for their November tour which will be hitting Brisbane (November 10-12) and Adelaide (November 18-19) in November this year. As Game Of Thrones currently heats up our tv screens, one of its ex-alums, Finn Jones, now fresh from…
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) kicks off next week, and along for the ride will be a slew of special guests for a run of red carpet events, Q&As and more. It all kicks off on 3rd August when the cast and crew of the MIFF Premiere Film Fund supported Jungle will walk Grey…
Bright, the action – packed blockbuster from David Ayer (Suicide Squad) will hit Netflix soon in one of the streaming services biggest ventures to date. Will Smith and Australia’s very own Joel Edgerton and Lucy Fry will star. Set in an alternate present-day, the thriller follows two cops from very different backgrounds. Ward, a human…
What better time to test out a travel camera than while travelling? I took Panasonic’s tiny mirrorless Lumix DMC-GX850 on a cruise to put it to the test in all the difficult lighting conditions that travelling brings, and it held its own – for the most part. I’ve included several images I took on the holiday…
Chris Gethard is an American comedian and talk show host. He has written jokes for an NFL player and completed a writing stint on Saturday Night Live. His HBO special, Career Suicide is presented by the one and only, Judd Apatow and it’s a funny and sobering look at depression, addiction and suicide. We put…
