Laneway Festival, Saturday February 4, Footscray Community Centre

0 Comments. 702 Views. Posted 7 Feb 2012 @ 10:57am.
  A great festival is meant to cement the zeitgeist of the times and properly represent those in attendance. If this is the case, we’re living in a fairly atmospheric world, heavy on complacency and light on knock-out punches. And the punters are more than happy to ride that wave.   Laneway Melbourne didn’t get the most auspicious of starts, with train delays early in the day meaning many missed out on two of the days heavier acts, local heroes (and soon to be legends) Total Control and the urgency of Brisbane axe and drums duo DZ Deathrays, a killer one-two punch if there was one... Read More!
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Big Day Out, Sunday January 29, Flemington Racecourse live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 465 Views. Posted 7 Feb 2012 @ 10:52am.
  Ah, Big Day Out. We meet again. As I was just getting over our hot date from last year, you’ve come around to greet me for another year. And, as always, you delivered me with some humour, a stack of fun and that extra bit of skin colour. Thanks for that, by the way.   Big Day Out is one of those festivals that always keeps me entertained. If not for the weird and wonderful array of... Read More
Falls Music And Arts Festival, December 28-31, Marion Bay live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 397 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 1:36pm.
The word ‘invigorating’ is often used by many die-hard Tasmanians as an apparent flattering synonym for ‘fucking cold and windy’. I used to live there, so I can tell you right now that the latter description is far more apt. Either way, I’d been hearing stories about the previous years’ glorious weather each day of the Falls Festival and was hoping for more of the same, because, die-hard ‘... Read More
Sugar Mountain Festival, Saturday January 14, The Forum live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 835 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 12:31pm.
  Peering out from side of stage, there was a sea of faces gazed upon John Maus as he took to The Forum main stage – some bemused, some perplexed, few nodding along. Opposed to the intimate enclosure of The Corner on the night previous, it felt as though we were witnessing King Kong tear through a run of retro-tinted pop numbers. Soaking himself with water and sweat, Maus revelled in his... Read More
Falls Music And Arts Festival, December 28-31, Lorne live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 432 Views. Posted 17 Jan 2012 @ 4:27pm.
I awoke on the first day of 2010 after five straight nights of partying (volunteer staff had to be there an extra night) and said to myself “never again”. It’s not that Falls isn’t a great festival – in fact, it’s probably the best of its kind – it’s just when such hedonism starts to involve such physical endurance, existential crises are triggered. After a year off from Falls, a stellar lineup... Read More
Meredith Music Festival 2011 live, review, festivals.
0 Comments. 2,718 Views. Posted 13 Dec 2011 @ 2:44pm.
Well, that was a special one. We braced ourselves, mentally and gumboots-wise, for what was set to be a storm to rival that of the infamously soggy 2008 incarnation. It seemed like everyone overcompensated when the weather turned out to be as perfect as you could hope for, with a rubberband effect ensuring the hardest party-hard mindset imaginable. The lads from populace local outfit King... Read More
Splendour In The Grass 2011, Friday July 29 – Sunday July 31 - Woodfordia live, review, music, festivals.
4 Comments. 1,676 Views. Posted 9 Aug 2011 @ 11:50am.
It was a strange lead-up to this year's instalment of the country's biggest music festival. The event took place once again in an ostensibly temporary location which, apart from strange liquor laws resulting in mid-strength drops being the soup du jour, was well-received last year. There was an abundance of theories as to why this was the first time in a long time that tickets failed to sell-... Read More
Wild Flag : Romance review, single, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,545 Views. Posted 3 Aug 2011 @ 3:05pm.
Ex-Sleater-Kinney members Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss have teamed up with Mary Timony (Helium) and Rebecca Cole (Minders) to form Wild Flag. They recorded Romance live at SXSW last year and added studio vocals later, giving their debut single a dirty and immediate lo-fi sound. Weiss pounds the drums like an unruly thug while Carrie barks through a cute, surf-infused garage rock number,... Read More
Sugar Mountain Festival at The Forum Theatre live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,883 Views. Posted 21 Jun 2011 @ 11:51am.
You know this whole music festival business is getting out of hand when a singular, lowly autumn weekend in Victoria plays host to more than a couple of big name-baiting musical jamborees. Though the inaugural Sugar Mountain Festival and the well-established Cherry Rock take place less than half a day and half a block from each other, the two sit well and truly at polar opposite ends of the... Read More
Rock The Bay at The Esplanade Hotel live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 2,341 Views. Posted 8 Apr 2011 @ 11:58am.
  This was the third annual Rock The Bay and it did not disappoint. It continues to be the best showcase for the consistently stunning array of talent in the Australian alternative rock realm. The only difference between this and previous years was the presence brain-dead bogans and – surprise surprise – a couple of fights broke out. Luckily they happened outside and the police contained... Read More
Golden Plains at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre live, review, music, festivals.
5 Comments. 2,750 Views. Posted 23 Mar 2011 @ 2:08pm.
Despite rising well before sunrise and sporting a shiny staff pass on the dash of the ute, it was a case of another year, another failed attempt at snaring a spot in the elusive Bush Camp. Though we enjoyed a non-existent wait in the usually arduous car queue, yet again we found ourselves unfurling the tent and propping the deck chairs up in the Ringwood area of the relatively unsheltered Top... Read More
Falls Festival Day Three live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,195 Views. Posted 28 Jan 2011 @ 9:00am.
  A new day, more heat, more people huddled like basketball-jersey-wearing sheep (my Rodney Stuckey jersey stays firmly in my bag) under the tents and The Soft Pack suffer mightily for the lack of punters. They’re power-pop done right, and despite heat that would turn Kate Moss into a melted-plastic pile, they fuzz out the early arvo nicely. The traipse to The Village for Graveyard... Read More
Fesitval Review : Mona Foma Hobart live, review, arts, festivals.
0 Comments. 3,023 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2011 @ 2:05pm.
Don’t eccentric millionaires make life so much easier? There are many David Walsh stories, like that’s he’s an instinctive maths genius who devised an insanely complex system of winning on horse races. Whatever the case, organisers at his Museum of Old and New Art, and its Festival of Music and Art (MONA FOMA, or MOFO), only have to worry about keeping him happy.   It... Read More
Falls Festival Day Two live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 988 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2011 @ 9:00am.
Having unfortunately experienced the sounds of the copulating occupants of the tent next door, and with the usual ‘fuck it’s hot in a tent of a morning’ taking place, it was a very warm Falls morning that greeted us on the morning of December 30. The Middle East sound pleasant enough, as does Ash Grunwald – Break Out gets its usual elated Falls response – but with... Read More
Raggamuffin essentials, review, festivals.
0 Comments. 38 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 2:00pm.
What: Raggamuffin 2011   Web: www.raggamuffin.com.au   When: January 25 (Perth), January 29 (Brisbane), January 30 (Melbourne), Date TBC (Sydney and Macquarie).   Where: Perth: NIB Stadium Brisbane: Pine Rivers Park Melbourne: Sidney Myer Music Bowl Sydney: TBC Port Macquarie: TBC   Who: Mary J. Blige, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest, Sean Paul, The Original Wailers, The Black Seeds... Read More
Hobart's Festival of Music and Art (MOFO) essentials, review, festivals.
0 Comments. 8 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 1:56pm.
WHAT Hobart’s Festival of Music and Art (MOFO)   WHERE For this festival you’re going to have to head right down under; this one's in Tasmania! Only a short plane ride from Melbourne, or a slightly longer boat trip, Tasmania is stunningly pretty and has a lot of other fun stuff for you to do, particularly in the summer months, so it’s well worth the hike!   WHEN... Read More
MOFO and the launch of Museum of Old and New Art essentials, review, arts, festivals.
0 Comments. 24 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 1:53pm.
 Boys and girls, it’s time to check to see if any of the budget airlines have cheap flights to Tasmania in January, because you are not going to want to miss this.   Sex, art and rock and roll are all on the menu for Mono Foma, affectionately termed MOFO, Hobart’s Festival of Music and Art, back for its third year running in 2011.   From January 14 - 20 curator and ex... Read More
Golden Plains review, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,253 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
"All I'm saying is, if you can't beat someone up, don't date me." There I was, lone grandma under an umbrella in the midst of rain-heavy poncho crowd trying to understand the appeal of Tex Perkins. My mate Bree says it comes down to the arm span, which he is wont to demonstrate at frequent intervals during the set. Bree says Tex is the archetypal Australian male, ripe with testosterone... Read More
Splendour in the Grass 2010 review, festivals.
0 Comments. 733 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
Hightailing it up the Bruce Highway, it’s clear from the temperate climate awaiting southern voyagers that 2010’s Splendour In The Grass will be different. It not only boasts an incredibly extensive, quality lineup, it’s relocated from its usual home of Byron Bay to the Woodfordia site outside of Woodford (and we may’ve superimposed Duelling Banjos on some of the places... Read More
Meredith Music Festival live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,402 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
Friday: Nothing quite can describe the tingling sensation that the initial walk down into the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre evokes.   After a big drive then waiting in the queue, and having to set the fucking tent up, it’s both a feeling of relief and excitement like no other.   After a trip to the Meredith Community Tucker Tent (which has expanded into a Tucker Shed... Read More
Golden Plains review, festivals.
0 Comments. 899 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
Y’know, while I like the ladies and all, Jeffrey Lewis kinda managed to get me to love the bastard. Amongst the rain, the booze and the Pavement, he and his Junkyard remain the freakin’ highlight of Golden Plains. It’s early Sunday arvo, and the sun is finally out after a night of constant rain – mud is everywhere (though, it’s not as bad as Meredtih ’08),... Read More
Sonisphere Festival review, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,141 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
History was made on a sunny Polish day as 120,000 metalheads invaded a massive airfield in Warsaw to witness the ‘Big Four’ play together for the first time. After 30 years competing to be the biggest name in metal, finally Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax could put their differences (and to a lesser degree their egos) aside and accept their position in the Big Four.  ... Read More
Shine On Festival live, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,787 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
Mother Nature was rather un-agreeable dealing out a full hand of rain, cold, wind, and an immeasurable amount of mud in the beautiful setting of Lexton, Victoria for the Shine On music festival. The long rolling hills were carpeted in green grass and speckled with spectacular trees over 300 years old. About 3,200 people were through the gate on Friday, ready to forge on for the weekend. Many... Read More
Good Vibrations review, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,049 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:23pm.
It’s a sunny Sunday at Flemington Racecourse’s ‘The Nursery’. Walking in at an irresponsible-for-a-reviewer 4pm thanks to waiting for a cab for half an hour, calling up the cab company to find out he somehow has already picked us up and then having to wait another 20 minutes for a different cab. (We decided to go with a different cab company the second time round, not... Read More
Splendour in the Grass 2010 review, festivals.
0 Comments. 874 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:20pm.
Splendour In The Grass, from the bottom of my heart, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.   I'm gonna start this with the annoying stuff, just to get it out of the way. In fact, it is so minimal I'm going to do it in list form:   Bad thing #1: The fuzz and their hounds. Bad thing #2: The security guards and their buzz-killing ability. Bad thing #3: Whoever's idea it was to eat those... Read More
Ja Rule In! Soulja Boy Out! news, review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 1,526 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:20pm.
Soulja Boy is will no longer be appearing at Summerbeatz but in his place will be none other than the ultra prolific Ja Rule! To date, Ja Rule has sold over 35 million albums worldwide and has performed in concerts to adoring fans all over the world for the last decade. Ja Rule’s commercial success reaches far beyond the music studio. Ja Rule will be performing all his hits including Livin... Read More
Face The Music 2010 review, music, festivals.
0 Comments. 779 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:17pm.
If you’re into everything music then I’m sure you attended the Face The Music Conference last weekend. And what a conference it was! With international speakers, live showcases, networking opportunities and more, it was an exciting and jam packed two days.   Hosted by youth music organisation, The Push, Face The Music 2010 allowed music fans to talk to 70 music industry guests... Read More
Review: The Shine On Festival live, review, festivals.
8 Comments. 1,965 Views. Posted 20 Jan 2011 @ 12:17pm.
  Mother Nature was rather disagreeable dealing out a full hand of rain, cold, wind, and an immeasurable amount of mud in the beautiful setting of Lexton, Victoria for The Shine On Music Festival.The long rolling hills were carpeted in green grass and speckled with spectacular trees over 300 years old. About 3,200 people were through the gate on Friday November 21, ready to forge on for the... Read More