Obliterarti, Smokestack Orchestra and New Jack Rubys

Live at the beetle bar

This was actually test of uploading from my new Nokia N8 to blogger by pixelpipe. It seems to work.

Here then is the rest of the nights entertainment featuring Obliterati, Smokestack Orchestra and The New Jack Rubys at The Beetle Bar. The Beetle Bar is becoming popular and so it should.

Obliterati - Live @ The Beetle Bar - 03 Dec 2010

Smokestack Orchestra - Live @ The Beetle Bar - 03 Dec 2010

New Jack Rubys - Live @ The Beetle Bar - 03 Dec 2010

Undead Apes Vinyl Launch

The Troubadour should have closed that night. I can't imagine the final night would have been half as good as this one; drunker and longer maybe but if I want to cry in my beer over music I'll watch the X-Factor final again.

OK you're right, I won't ever do that again. And actually I'm just pissed off I wasn't fast enough to get a ticket to the Final Night. But I did see the Final Night of X-Factor and I did cry in my beer. Dear god, the inhumanity.

But on Saturday night a seriously smashing time was had by all. Not as emotional as last weeks Vegas Kings send off which was sad but in a good way. You can't be sad watching Undead Apes. Undead Apes are what happened when a a couple of punks took power-pop out into the carpark and convinced it to harden the fuck up. How could the love child of Sekiden, Dick Nasty, Gazoonga Attack, and every band Adam Scott has ever been in be anything but great.

I bought the T-shirt and the Vinyl. You should too. And they are doing dates in Sydney and Melbourne to support the release so keep an eye out. I videoed Taxes on my new Nokia N8 and it looks good and now it is HD as well.



Also I'm looking forward to the Nova Scotia album in the new year.

Pastel Blaze - Live @ The Troubadour - 20 Nov 2010

Nova Scotia - Live @ The Troubadour - 20 Nov 2010

The Sips - Live @ The Troubadour - 20 Nov 2010

Undead Apes - Live @ The Troubadour - 20 Nov 2010

Vegas Kings Have Left The Building

Hell, pretty soon the building will have left the building. And what better way to start the death watch on The Troubadour than the Final Vegas Kings show of all time.

Words cannot describe, photos cannot show, and recordings cannot let you hear the passion the Kings unleashed on the room last Saturday night. The Vegas Kings are masters of their art. Angus is so solid behind the drums but inventive and light on his ... feet? Pete is the soul of the band and gives so much that by the end of most shows I've seen he is drained and mumbling outside trying to light a cigarette through the sweat. Ben is straight up one of the best guitarists I've ever seen and writes and sings the best murder ballads and bar songs in Australia. And "Flying Jesus Judo Kicks" is one of the Top 5 songs to come out of Brisbane ever.

No, really.

It was also the final show for Geese as their drummer moves to Melbourne. The other members all play in other bands around town so life goes on. Geese had an interesting take on garage/surf/stuff.
Geese - Live @ The Troubadour - 13 Nov 2010

Negative Creep is a Nirvana covers band from Mansfield if you know what I mean.
Negative Creep - Live @ The Troubadour - 13 Nov 2010

Narwhals is a thinking persons surf music. Personally I think they are better than the Phantom Surfers if not as entertaining a stage show.
The Narwhals - Live @ The Troubadour - 13 Nov 2010

And then there was the Kings. Everything you ever loved in a Vegas Kings show plus an occasional bass line. How did he do that? Gets very messy at the end when Pete invites the audience up on stage for Flying Jesus Judo Kicks then realizes his mistake.
Vegas Kings - Final Show - Live @ The Troubadour - 13 Nov 2010

Bitch Prefect at Woodland and Deadshits Motel.

First time at Woodland and it is impressive. Lots of space good layout. Stage up off the ground. Lights. Air con. Bar. Everything you need really. With the Troubadour and Globe closing we need new venues so the timing couldn't be better.

Having been away from live music for about two weeks I realized about 30 sec into Teen Ax just how much I missed really loud distorted guitars. I thought it was great.

Teen Ax - Live @ Woodland - 05 Nov 2010

One of the best sets I've heard from The Deadnotes and The Legend. All very new songs that will undoubtedly be developed further.

The Deadnotes w The Legend - Live @ Woodland - 05 Nov 2010

Young Romantix didn't do much for me but they were entertaining enough.

Young Romantix - Live @ Woodland - 05 Nov 2010

Bitch Prefect from Adelaide were great. About the only thing I'd heard of theirs was 'Bad Decisions' and when it finally came along in the set it felt like filler. I love this.

Bitch Prefect - Live @ Woodland - 05 Nov 2010

And the next day at a BBQ they played again. Meat Thump came along and struggled with tiny amps and bad leads but there is one absolute stunner in there.

Meat Thump - Live @ Deadshits Motel - 06 Nov 2010

Bitch Prefect were even better than the night before.

Bitch Prefect - Live @ Deadshits Motel - 06 Nov 2010

Lazy Sunday Afternoon with The Brews Brothers

Brew Brothers is a local micro brewery that for a small fee lets you use the equipment to brew 50lt lots of your own brew. It is cheap and good, two very important qualities in beer.

Plus they have a room upstairs that they hire out and occasionally bands play there. Like this Sunday afternoon.

The Shrewms - Live @ The Brews Brothers - 24 Oct 2010

Main Street Brats - Live @ The Brews Brothers - 24 Oct 2010

Meat Thump - Live @ The Brews Brothers - 24 Oct 2010

Ironside also played but I had to leave early. I did however see them later that night in the semi final of the band comp at Ric's. They won the semi but missed winning the final by some three points.

Ironside - Live @ Rics - 24 Oct 2010

Most Sundays aren't this much fun.

Mirah at The Hanger

I sweared I wouldn't wait so long between posts. I was giving you all the chance to click on this link

Pay for Brendan's Concert Ticket in 2011 So I Can Hear Them Too

Go ahead. I'll wait.

Thanks.

Epithets tonight were mainly Nick Smethurst and were a great way to open the evening.

Smallgoods led in and I didn't realize how much I liked male harmonies.

Mirah was not as exciting as I thought she might be. Very good quirky pop from an engaging performer in a great atmosphere but didn't get to the next level for me.

A very relaxed and friendly night at the Hanger. Gonna miss it so bad.

Smallgoods - Live @ The Hanger - 22 Oct 2010

Epithets - Live @ The Hanger - 22 Oct 2010

Mirah - Live @ The Hanger - 22 Oct 2010

Help Me WIn This Thing

So I have entered a competition on the dreaded Facebook wherein if I get the most likes for my Favourite Gig I win $5,000 towards gig costs. And believe me that may just cover next year. It wouldn't have covered last year and I would have a couple of hundred bucks left over at the end of this year.

I do hate picking a Best Of so I just went for an old standard, The Drones @ Splendour in 2008. Well worth listening to.

So please have a vote. Tell your friends, I have bugger all of them but you may be well liked and respected in your community, who knows.

If you aren't on Facebook you could join, vote then leave. No one will know.

And where do you get a chance to vote for something like this and actually get something back. I mean, you think I'm just going to go to the same shows I would have or do you think I would drastically increase my consumption of said shows to levels unheard of in this town.

Exactly.

So go here and Like it.

The Drones @ Splendour 2008

Thank you all. Even if you don't vote.

Ari Up R.I.P.

The Slits were a beautiful thing. Cut remains one of my favourite LPs from the punk era and to me was a much more interesting take on reggae than any of the other bands of the time. One of the best things to come out of that era was the acceptance of women in rock [we could argue all day but that is my opinion]. Slits were at the front of that.

I only saw them the once in 2007. They apparently had a poor reception at Golden Plains but in Brisbane on my birthday they were just fine and I couldn't have asked for a better present.

In memory then

The Slits - Live @ The Zoo - 10 March 2007

Dead Meadow

at The Globe. I like the Globe although the sloping floor kills my calves after a couple of hours.

Slug Guts played a great set. The expanded lineup with vocalist and sax adds a lot to the sound. Very swampy.

Dead Meadow play stuff that could easily become indulgent. They avoid this altogether and play short songs that never over stay their welcome. It did not seem like 1hr 20min. That is always a good sign.

I also would like to thank Robert McManus and the Heathen Skulls organization for bringing these guys [and other bands like OM] to Brisbane. Too many tours never make it for whatever reason [I don't pretend to know why they don't get here] but if Dead Meadow can be made to work you have to wonder.

Slug Guts - Live @ The Globe - 15 Oct 2010

Dead Meadow - Live @ The Globe - 15 Oct 2010

Smudge

First up was a Tailor Made For A Small Room, a pop duo from Tokyo via Melbourne. They have a lot of fun and the audience are happy to go along for the ride. A great way to start the night.

Little Scout are playing a lot recently and the practice does them good. Always enjoyable and I hope they can take it to the next level.

Smudge have been around a while but I haven't seen them before. Any time they want to come back I'll be there. Classic pop will never die.

Tailor Made For A Small Room - Live @ The Troubadour - 09 Oct 2010

Little Scout - Live @ The Troubadour - 09 Oct 2010

Smudge - Live @ The Troubadour - 09 Oct 2010

Open Frame

Open Frame Festival over two nights upstairs at the Powerhouse. Relaxed setting, beautiful quad sound and some of the finest music around. This was probably best event I have been to this year.

The stand out for me was Nadja. So heavy. I wrote somewhere they were like Sunn O))) with melodies if you can have melody in ambient doom metal. The super first song lulls you into a false sense of security before the second kicks in and really crushes skulls.

But seriously there wasn't a bad set in the show.

Pimmon - Live @ The Powerhouse - 06 Oct 2010

Aidan Baker - Live @ The Powerhouse - 06 Oct 2010

Sun Araw - Live @ The Powerhouse - 06 Oct 2010


Nadja - Live @ The Powerhouse - 07 Oct 2010

Lawrence English - Live @ The Powerhouse - 07 Oct 2010

Grouper - Live @ The Powerhouse - 07 Oct 2010

Piklet, Toy Balloon, and Epithets

Epithets are Nick Smethurst band and get along nicely. Toy Balloons have improved a lot since I last saw them and do electronic funk thing which description is so far off the mark that you will be surprised I said it.

Piklet with her band are excellent. Like Piklet only with a band.

Epithets - Live @ The Clubhouse - 02 Oct 2010

Toy Balloon - Live @ The Clubhouse - 02 Oct 2010

Piklet - Live @ The Clubhouse - 02 Oct 2010

Vegas Kings Third Last Show? and the bloody Undead Apes again

plus Boy or Astroboy and BMXRays. Boy or Astroboy are a bunch of local luminaries doing vocal less surf rock. Who'd have guessed. And good they are. BMXRays are three piece power pop punk with a sense of humour. What could possibly go wrong.

Yeah the Undead Apes again. You may be bored but I feel blessed.

Vegas Kings do what they do so well it seems effortless if very sweaty. Ben is one of the best guitarist in town. Couple more shows and they retiring. I will miss them.

Vegas Kings - Live @ The Step Inn - 18 Sept 2010

Undead Apes - Live @ The Step Inn - 18 Sept 2010

Boy or Astroboy - Live @ The Step Inn - 18 Sept 2010

BMXrays - Live @ The Step Inn - 18 Sept 2010

Useless Children, Undead Apes, and Pastel Blaze

Undead Apes are getting better every time. Useless Children are quite a good noise band from Melbourne. Pastel Blaze are old school punk i guess.

Pastel Blaze - Live @ Burst City - 10 Sept 2010

Undead Apes - Live @ Burst City - 10 Sept 2010

Useless Children - Live @ Burst City - 10 Sept 2010

Pretty Boys then Do The Robot

In town at Rics the see Pretty Boys. The up to the Hanger to catch Do The Robot. Still not well so I missed the rest Ninety Nine :)

Pretty Boys - Live @ Ric's Bar - 11 Sept 2010


Do The Robot - Live @ The Hanger - 11 Sept 2010

New Christs and Hits at The Troubadour

Always good value the New Christs and Hits keep on coming. I was not well and had to leave aftyer 40min of the New Christs. Sorry :)

Birdbrain - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Sept 1010

Hits - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Sept 1010

The New Christs - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Sept 1010

And Ends Here

after Frankly! I trudged through streets still on fire to the train to South Brisbane to get to Burst City again. It was this or Powderfinger. I think I chose wisely.

Geese - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

Sulphur Lights - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

The Nugs - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

Leftwaffe - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

But seriously it is possible to have too much reverb on vocals. i would suggest that when the audience has no idea what you are trying to say for banter or station announcements or whatever the hell is occurring between songs then that is probably too much.

The Weekend Starts Here

Burst City is fast becoming the place of choice for a night out. Cheap, cheerful, under regulated. And usually a well thought out band list. Tonight I missed Fabulous Diamonds as they were running a bit late and I was to see them the next day at Frankly. The set they played was apparently harder than the Frankly set. That would have been influenced by the supports from Blank Realm and a very heavy Slug Guts.

Deadnotes - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

Blank Realm - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

Slug Guts - Live @ Burst City - 03 Sept 2010

Frankly! It's A Pop Festival 2010

Laurence English is one of Brisbane's Living National Treasures. ROOM40 is his place of work and it is unfailingly interesting if not really great. He curated this festival and it all fit together so well. I missed Crayon Fields but here are the rest of the acts. High Places and Surf City were my highlights.

For best results listen with headphones.

Fabulous Diamonds - Live @ Frankly! 2010 - 04 Sept 2010

Guy Blackman - Live @ Frankly! 2010 - 04 Sept 2010

Surf City - Live @ Frankly! 2010 - 04 Sept 2010

High Places - Live @ Frankly! 2010 - 04 Sept 2010

Xiu Xiu - Live @ Frankly! 2010 - 04 Sept 2010

Grateful Beasts with New Microphones

They work real nice. Grateful Beasts consist of Otto and Redbeard. Otto is a guitarist from The Hymies. Redbeard is from other stuff. To be honest the best bits are when Otto plays guitar. They have played twice and Otto is moving to Melbourne. This was pretty much a rehearsal.

Grateful Beasts - Live @ Rics - 01 Sept 2010

Tiny Spiders, Undead Apes, And Broken Microphones

This was my first visit to the new Clubhouse. It is in a room under a pub and quite spacious, nice area in general. Looking forward to more shows there. The sound system is OK I guess. But the FOH is set to one side and on the night the sound guy was a bit slack in adjusting once the set was started. In the Tiny Spiders set he wandered out to the floor about two songs before the end and wandered back and twiddled something and suddenly I could hear the vocals.

Undead Apes were great. Really looking forward to their recorded output soon.

Tiny Spiders - Live @ The Clubhouse - 27 Aug 2010

Undead Apes - Live @ The Clubhouse - 27 Aug 2010

and then my microphones died. So i went home and ordered some more. This was Friday night at 10.30pm in Brisbane. I ordered from Sound Professionals in New Jersey where it was 8.30am Friday morning. Paid for the UPS Express delivery. Followed the package as it went from NJ to Louisville KY to Honolulu to Sydney where it arrived at 12.30pm Sunday. Then it took till Tuesday morning to move the last 1000km.

But I'm ready.

Kirin J Callinan

Actually a good crowd for a Sunday night and why not? Two of Brisbanes finest plus Kirin J Callinan. Kirin is cabaret I guess is about as good as I can describe it but with shards of guitar occasionally jammed in the underbelly.

This was close to a perfect gig.

Per Purpose - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Aug 2010

Los Huevos - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Aug 2010

Kirin J Callinan - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Aug 2010

Meredith McHugh has gone to Baltimore

but she gave us a going away present.

Opals & Poole is Meredith and Adrian Diery on ukes and guitar with percussion. Quite beautiful.
Opals & Poole - Live @ The Hanger - 20 Aug 2010

Big Nation is a mixture of BigStrongBrute and Carry Nation.
Big Nation - Live @ The Hanger - 20 Aug 2010

Seja has help from Meredith and Renae on drums.
Seja - Live @ The Hanger - 20 Aug 2010

Hear Turnpike rehearse many of their famous songs
Turnpike - Live @ The Hanger - 20 Aug 2010

Seaplane also played up.

PVT, Seekae, and Axxonn

PVT launched their latest CD at the Zoo. An impressive set from Axxonn featuring songs by golly instead of one piece with a couple of movements.

Seekae were hot and cold for me. The songs with live drumming were the best. A couple of purely synth tracks were fairly aimless and sounded like collections of riffs with nowhere to go.

PVT were great. Some complained that the new material is weaker than the old stuff. I thought it was pretty much all up to their old standards.

Axxonn - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Aug 2010

Seekae - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Aug 2010

PVT - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Aug 2010

Pretty Boys CD Launch at The Prince of Wales

Support band Perhaps Maybe are purveyors of Pony Rock. Still not sure what that is. Seems to be a mixture of nu-metal, punk, hardcore and soft toys [all of them ponies].

Perhaps Maybe - Live @ The Prince Of Wales - 13 Aug 2010


Pretty Boys played most songs they know in the style we all love; loud, wet, and fast.

Pretty Boys - Live @ The Prince Of Wales - 13 Aug 2010

Dave McCormack at The Vanguard

Courtesy of Mr McCormack here is a recording of his set at The Vanguard last month.

Dave McCormack - Live @ The Vanguard - 29 Jul 2010

Darren Hanlon

Darren Hanlon played at The Globe. Gympie came to town to cheer him on. I really like Darren Hanlon. He writes with humour and intelligence about the big things and the small things ad he has nice tunes.

Darren Hanlon - Live @ The Globe - 07 Aug 2010

The Grates Go To The Ekka

For out-of-towners the Ekka is the local Agricultural Show/State Fair or Exhibition shortened in the Australian way to Ekka. So to attract the youngsters they have a concert series and last Friday night The Grates were in town taking a break from writing their next album in an undisclosed location somewhere in the USA.

The new stuff sounds pretty good. So does the old stuff. Pae's voice takes a few songs to warm up she is then in good form for not having performed much at all over the last few months.

Local youngsters Ball Park Music have some good songs and are great support.

Ball Park Music - Live @ The RNA Show - 06 Aug 2010

The Grates - Live @ The RNA Show - 06 Aug 2010

Young Liberals and Dollarbar at The X & Y Bar

Dollarbar don't play very often so when they do it's worth going. Tonight it's the cut down version featuring Dale Peachy, Scott Brique, and a/the? Peachy brother. Cute Girls Have the Best Diseases and Red Cars Go Faster finish off a fine set.


The Young Liberals - Live @ The X & Y Bar - 05 Aug 2010

Dollarbar - Live @ The X & Y Bar - 05 Aug 2010

Splendour In The Grass Day 3

Mess Hall have a great festival set. For some reason a lot of people bad mouth We Are Scientists and Ash. No idea why. They are both perfectly fine pop bands. Surfer Blood should be as entertaining. Broken Social Scene don't feel tired at all. Passion Pit were a lot better than I expected. Mumford & Sons do nothing for me I'm afraid. The Pixies still have it. I'm glad I came. I hope I make it back to the tent.

Surfer Blood - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Mess Hall - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

We Are Scientists - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Ash - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Broken Social Scene - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Passion Pit [Last 3 Songs] - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Mumford & Sons - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

The Pixies - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 01 Aug 2010

Splendour In The Grass Day 2

Band of Skulls were my find of the festival. The Drums really ought to re think their stage act. Tame Impala are great. The Strokes are actually quite good. If I drink enough mid strength beer will I eventually stop feeling my feet. God I hope so.

Band Of Skulls - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

Philadelphia Grand Jury - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

Tame Impala - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

The Drums - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

Wolfmother - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

Florence & The Machine - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

The Strokes - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 31 Jul 2010

Splendour In The Grass Day 1

Woodford is a great site. But it is big. And the roads are long. So I ended up spending longer stretches at the Main Stage than I might have at Byron Bay. Today however I got to all three stages. Skipping Girl Vinegar started dead on 11.00am which as chance woulds have it is when the bars opened. I missed their first song.

A language warning on the Foals or Seven Bells recording. Some pilled up bogan wandered back from the front and decided I would be the perfect person to appreciate his dance style which mainly involved elbowing and generally knocking me around no matter where I stood. And believe me I tried to move out of his way. Anyway I eventually told him to go away. He did. I leave it in for that full sensurround experience.

Skipping Girl Vinegar - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 July 2010

Joy Formidable - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 Jul 2010

Violent Soho - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 Jul 2010

School Of Seven Bells - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 Jul 2010

Foals - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 Jul 2010

Midlake - Live @ Splendour In The Grass - 30 Jul 2010

Omg It Was Heavy

Sunday night and I should be in bed getting ready for work. But hell, really loud heavy noise is on offer. Except for Lichens who has to be heard to be believed. Om were not as Psych as I thought they would be and were almost trancelike in places. Really good show from all of the acts

No Anchor - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 18 Jul 2010

Blarke Bayer w Black Widow - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 18 Jul 2010

Lichens - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 18 Jul 2010

Om - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 18 Jul 2010

Then on Monday night after 4 nights in a row I fell over before Lichens began but did get Andrews, MacManus, & Stern and a very distorted 'look ma, no instruments' set from Die On Planes.

Die On Planes - Live @ The Step Inn - 19 Jul 2010

Andrews, MacManus & Stern - Live @ The Step Inn - 19 Jul 2010

What a weekend.

Can I Get More Rock In My Foldback

Actually, No, I don't think you can.

With this Brisbane set Violent Soho finished their short Australian tour before taking off back to the US for Lolopalooza and a few other shows. They could not have gotten any tighter than when they left for the US last year but the experience of months solid touring combined with a backline** provided by Tym's Guitars gave them a whole new dynamic. They were frighteningly good. So I have it here for you now. The supports I got [part of the Butcher Birds and Scul Hazzards] will go up later.

So grab it, headphones on, turn it up and go.

Violent Soho - Live @ The Zoo - 24 July 2010

If this link does not work please let me know

**As Tym said
"My good friends were playing a sold out show upstairs from my shop in Ann st, Fortitude valley in Saturday night so we decided the only way to go was to set up a full backline of Tym speaker cabs.
We had 7 guitar 2x12's, 2 bass 4x10's, the 6x10 and the full Lemon 120W with matching 4x12 cab on stage with a silverface Bassman 100, a Mesa Boogie Mk III, a Marshall JCM800, a Marshall JCM 900 and an Ampeg SVT1000 .......... ALL RUNNING.
The sound was incredible , really. "

And it was.

Bursting With Super Wild Goodness

Friday and Saturday night were bigger than big at Burst City and The Hanger. I am now convinced that the top five bands in Brisbane are Blank Realm, Loomer, Kitchen's Floor, No Anchor, and yeah, your band.

So on Friday night at Burst City we saw

The Seizures - Live @ Burst City - 16 Jul 2010

The Sips - Live @ Burst City - 16 Jul 2010

Southern Comfort - Live @ Burst City - 16 Jul 2010

Blank Realm - Live @ Burst City - 16 Jul 2010

Best sets I have seen from The Sips and Blank Realm. The Seizures are promising. Southern Comfort were better tomorrow night and while the start of songs was a bit slow they usually got into a nice groove by the end.

On Saturday night at The Hanger we got

Kitchen's Floor - Live @ The Hanger - 17 Jul 2010

Loomer - Live @ The Hanger - 17 Jul 2010

Southern Comfort - Live @ The Hanger - 17 Jul 2010

Super Wild Horses - Live @ The Hanger - 17 Jul 2010

Super Wild Horses play snappy tight tunes, look fabulous and if there is any justice they be a big thing.

Sunday and Monday nights were rather more brutal as you will see. And no I'm not happy with the headline either.

Happy Birthday X & Y Bar

I like the X & Y Bar but then I'll like any place that supports local music but it helps that the sound is OK, the beer is cold and the A/C works.

I missed the Thursday night show with Sulphur Lights, Birds of a Feather, and Otto's new band Grateful Beasts who apparently were very good.

Did get there on Friday night for sets by Seja and Dave McCormack.

Seja - Live @ X&Y Bar - 09 July 2010

Dave McCormack - Live @ X&Y Bar - 09 July 2010

And on Saturday night Phil Smith & The Lights supported Dan Kelly & His Dream Band

Phil Smith & The Lights - Live @ X&Y Bar - 10 July 2010

Dan Kelly & His Dream Band - Live @ X&Y Bar - 10 July 2010

House Party

at Latrobe Tce.

First up a solo set from Glenn Schnau, of Per Purpose and Kitchen's Floor. I liked this a lot.

Glenn Schnau - Live @ Latrobe Tce - 03 July 2010

A short sharp set from Gutters who reformed for the weekend.

Gutters - Live @ Latrobe Tce - 03 July 2010

Science in a lounge room is really loud and the drum sound is really loud. I'm looking forward to recording them in friendlier surroundings.

Science - Live @ Latrobe Tce - 03 July 2010

Conwae of/is Extra Foxx and his material is pretty good solo or with backing. It sounds simple but it isn't. Well maybe it is, whatever. Lots of audience interaction. We all had a real good time.

Conwae Burrell - Live @ Latrobe Tce - 03 July 2010

A Quiet Week

Oh, I was out a lot but I was not well and apart from Saturday night at the Yusef concert I didn't last past the first or second acts.

At The Hanger on Wednesday night to see Mick Turner I walked in just as Ghost Notes finished and asked Cam the drummer how it went and he said 'that was twice as good as any set we've ever played' and for the rest of the night everyone is like 'did you hear Ghost Notes Wow etc'. Next on were Opals & Poole featuring Merideth ex-Rational Academy and I believe one of the Hazzards of Swimming Naked among others. Nice soft ambient melodic stuff. Gos I hate labels. Mick Turner was enjoyable but a little too relaxed for me. It seemed to meander a bit. But then I was not well and left before his last song. Annoyed now that I didn't ask someone how much were the prints on display as I quite liked a couple. At $60 I later discovered they would have been a steal.

Opals & Poole - Live @ The Hanger - 23 Jun 2010

Mick Turner - Live @ The Hanger - 23 Jun 2010

Thursday night and I Used To Skate Once Vol 6. is an Art Happening where you can pay $500 for a very nicely painted skateboard deck while listening to a variety of local bands plus Songs from Sydney. Unless you're me who didn't have $500 or the strength to last past Per Purpose. Per Purpose are really good.

Per Purpose - Live @ The Outpost - 24 Jun 2010

Almost Invisible #4 was a co-production of Incremental Records and God Hates Brisbane that over two nights features a range of local ambient/drone/noise acts of whom I saw two on the first night before I got sick etc.

The Entire Asian Population is I think one of the best ever band names. I don't even think it is wasted on two skinny white guys improvising over loud drone riffs for 20 minutes. I caught up with Ghost Notes after missing them on Wednesday night. I particularly liked the band's use of the Trumpet.

The Entire Asian Population - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 25 Jun 2010

Ghost Notes - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 25 Jun 2010

On Saturday I was all set to go to as much as I could stand of either Almost Invisible #4 night two or Vegas Kings/Undsead Apes double header when I was offered two tickets to Yusef [Cat Stevens]. So Debbie and I went to the Ent Cent and saw Yusef. We saw him when he was last out [in 1972] and he hasn't changed all that much but that is not a bad thing. There is only so much you can do with his material and the backing band he had this time complimented the music very well. I guess timeless is as good an adjective as you will get for his simple but beautiful melodies. Took me a day to edit out the coughing noises.

Support was Noxshi fronted by his son. A psychedelic blues band who would not have been too out of place supporting him in 1972 but I mean that is a good way.

Noxshi - Live @ BEC - 26 June 2010

Cat Stevens - Live @ BEC - 26 June 2010

BUMS

Brisbane Underground Music Scene was a fortnightly free magazine published during the early 1990's. Last night at The Zoo some of the bands got together and played one more time. Also on sale was a compilation of the first 10 issues of the magazine. The problems seem to be much the same still; punter apathy, lack of venues, the need to leave to succeed. Then again they could throw a camping 'festival' like Cavedwellers; $20 for 10 bands, BYO booze food and tents just turn left north of Kingaroy and it's 23km along the Wondai-Chinchilla Rd, you see the quarry on the right go 1km down the road opposite, look for the stage. Try that these days.

So, the bands. The show started at 7.00pm and I got there about 8.15pm and missed the first few bands. Alien Virus were finishing as I walked in and they sounded pretty solid.

On the night my favourites were Purple Avengers, a slightly psychedelic band, and Chopper Division, more mainstream but with some edge. Toxic Garden Gnomes had the crowd dancing with their take on RHCP style rhythm and Minnesota Triplets [I should have seen it coming] played one Husker Do, and one maybe two Sugar tracks as well as a bunch of pretty good songs of their own.

The crowd was good with a mix of people out for the first time in 15 years and young people who should never have heard of these bands. Missing entirely as far as I could see was anyone from currently playing bands except Tim Stewart.

Way Cool Junior - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010
The Incredible Strand - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010
Purple Avengers - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010
Minnesota Triplets - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010
Chopper Division - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010
Toxic Garden Gnomes - Live @ The Zoo - 19 Jun 2010

The night was recorded and filmed by the organizers so keep an eye out for it.

Sounds Like Brisbane

Sounds Like Brisbane is new venture by a group of Brisbane labels to promote Brisbane music. A launch of sorts occurred last evening in two lanes in the CBD. The sound in each was surprisingly good. I was impressed with the Island Court space when I finally found it. The building on the Island houses a nice coffee shop and someone suggested the spare space on the ground floor was to become a venue.

Most of these bands you have heard here before. They are here again because I like them.

Finally got to see Last Dinosaurs and they are impressive for young kids. Maybe a little slick for someone so young but I suppose it's a necessity if you are being groomed for success. If that sounds like I'm putting them down it isn't meant to. They are an organic band rather than some of the manufactured crap that gets pushed out and their songwriting is promising. I hope they do well.

Halfway I am pretty sure I've seen/heard before but I don't seem to have recorded it. This is usually how I remember unfortunately. I have a soft spot for country rock. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is one of my all time favourite records. It was the soundtrack to the morning of my wedding. Blondie was to have been the soundtrack to the reception and John Woods a ZZZ presenter put together a really nice mixtape of then current [1979] punk/new wave stuff but after about three songs the guests revolted and made the DJ play something they knew. And we hand't even gotten to Razar.

Meanwhile back in 2010 here are some top pop combos for your listening pleasure.

Nova Scotia - Live @ Burnett Lane - 18 Jun 2010
Butcher Birds - Live @ Burnett Lane - 18 Jun 2010
Last Dinosaurs - Live @ Burnett Lane - 18 Jun 2010
The Rational Academy - Live @ Island Ct Lane - 18 June 2010
Halfway - Live @ Island Ct Lane - 18 June 2010

Wiley Reed is not a top pop combo. He's a blues man. I first heard Wiley Reed playing after dinner at a restaurant The Cork & Fork up on Petrie Terrace in the early 70's. I waited there for a year or so so I heard him a lot. I had trouble finding the Island Court stage so I only got the last few songs.
Wiley Reed - Live @ Island Ct Lane - 18 June 2010

Pretty Boys

At the Step Inn tonight. No messin'

Pretty Boys - Live @ The Step Inn - 17 Jun 2010

Unconvention Brisbane

You can read all about the Unconvention here. I went and really enjoyed the whole thing. I learned a lot about how this music industry operates. I also may have found someone who can help me with the Copyright thing so it was $20 well spent. I can't believe the whole thing cost $20.

If they have one of these things in your local area you really should go.

At lunch on Sunday we watched a couple of High School bands play. Short videos of each are on the Unconvention web site. Here are the full Freak Morice set and two of four songs by Calais.

Freak Morice - Live @ Unconvention Brisbane - 13 June 2010

Calais - Live @ Unconvention Brisbane - 13 June 2010

Dropbears Benefit and More

A number of local musicians have a social AFL football team known as The Dropbears. Apparently their skill levels range from OK to not OK at all really but they keep going back each week for more punishment. You think they'd get enough of that in the bands. Anyway, they needed money for after game refreshments probably so they put on a show. I gave them $10. They gave me this.

Midget Pillion - Live @ The Step Inn - 11 June 2010

Undead Apes - Live @ The Step Inn - 11 June 2010

plus Seaplane who were very good indeed.

Meanwhile downstairs there was another show and I alternated between them. As a consequence some of the sets are short by one or two songs as the coordination between the two rooms was slightly off. I'm not complaining, they were separate shows after all. I gave these guys $8. They gave me this.

Tiger Beams - Live @ The Step Inn - 11 June 2010

Running Guns - Live @ The Step Inn 11 June 2010

Butcher Birds - Live @ The Step Inn - 11 June 2010

A good night.

Lincoln le Fevre

Quiet Thursday night and quite a small crowd at the Troubadour and three solo acts; Lincoln le Fevre from Tasmania, Tash Parker from north Western Australia via Melbourne, and Ben Salter.

I enjoyed it. The artists seemed to be enjoying themselves and the drunks were having a great time.

Lincoln le Fevre - Live @ The Troubadour - 10 June 2010

Tash Parker - Live @ The Troubadour - 10 June 2010

Ben Salter - Live @ The Troubadour - 10 June 2010

God Hates Brisbane

Awesome. Just awesome. No Anchor are probably my favourite Brisbane band right now. Every time I hear them they get better.

The whole lineup is great. Get amongst it. If you don't know the bands they are all loud and/or heavy except maybe Cured Pink who is loud and beaty.

*Room Of Inordinate Awesome *

8:30 The Entire Asian Population
9:30 Die On Planes
10:30 Cured Pink
11:30 Turnpike

*Room Of Glacial Abyss *

9:00 Ambrose Chapel
10:00 White Bears of Norway
11:00 AXXONN
12:00 No Anchor

Ironside

At the Troubadour with Young Liberals and BMXRays in support. Young Liberals set was plagued by me forgetting to change the settings from Saturday nights set by Mardi Lumsden at the Museum. Don't worry they recorded it themselves for a live release.

BMXRays were impressive and Ironside were good solid fun. Nice quiet Thursday night out.

BMXRays - Live @ The Troubadour - 03 June 2010

Ironside - Live @ The Troubadour - 03 June 2010

Fine Colors

at Ric's Bar some time ago. You need to listen to these with headphones. The Bass in particular on the Fine Colors recording is really booming and distracting over speakers but under phones the sound is a lot clearer and you can hear the vocals.

Support by Velociraptor at their shambolic finest.

Fine Colors - Live @ Ric's Bar - 19 May 2010

Velociraptor - Live @ Ric's Bar - 19 May 2010

Mardi Lumsden & The Rising Seas

The Old Museum is much nicer than I thought it might be. The sound is good. I came into the room and thought gee thios is so big and high but it came out fine.

Before I got there I had been in the Valley and caught a few songs from Texas Tea at Ric's and I include them here as support for Mardi Lumsden & The Rising Seas who launched their new LP. I really enjoyed the night.

Texas Tea - Live @ Ric's - 29 May 2010

Mardi Lumsden & The Rising Seas - Live @ The Old Museum - 29 May 2010

RIP Label Party

On a busy Saturday night I see part of Bed Wettin' Bad Boys and Dead Farmer but catch the whole Royal Headache set. They are all good but my favourite of the night was Royal Headache.

Royal Headache - Live @The Valley Mall - 29 May 2010

Dead Farmers - Live @The Valley Mall - 29 May 2010

Bed Wettin' Bad Boys - Live @The Valley Mall - 29 May 2010

Scraps @ Burst City

Sunday arvo at Burst City. Kitten Party kick off with a short set of atmospheric dream drone.

Science are pretty great. I end up sitting to the side near the guitar amp to get the guitar sound better so the vocals are low and aimed away from me.

Arse Shaped Box are a Nirvana covers band and are Matt and Glen from Kitchens Floor, Harry from Loomer, and Robbie from one incarnation of ExtraFoxx and undoubtedly other bands on vocals

Scraps is back. i never knew she was away. Welcome back Scraps. One girl, some keyboards and more reverb than you can poke a stick at. I liked it.

Kitten Party - Live @ Burst City - 23 May 2010

Science - Live @ Burst City - 23 May 2010

Arse Shaped Box - Live @ Burst City - 23 May 2010

Scraps - Live @ Burst City - 23 May 2010

Alice In Wonderland

The old George Cinema in George St is now the Tribal Cinema. Tonight we see a 1920's silent version of Alice in Wonderland with a live soundtrack by IO3 who are Tam Patton, Heinz Riegler, and Laurence English. Very smooth. The movie is great.

IO3 - Live @ Tribal Cinema - Alice In Wonderland - 21 May 2010

Chris Bailey & Ed Kuepper

The second of three shows in Brisbane. Apparently there are Bailey people and there are Kuepper people. Total bullshit really.

Chris Bailey & Ed Kuepper - Live @ The Troubadour - 20 May 2010

The encore was a very nice cover of Melanie's 'Lay Down' and I missed it because of mechanical failure. My finger hit the go button once not twice like I told it to.

Pond

Another storming set from Loomer to kick off then Pond from Perth. Utterly great swirling psych pop. I loved it.

Loomer - Live @ The X&Y Bar - 12 May 2010

Pond - Live @ The X&Y Bar - 12 May 2010

Hanger 10.7

I seem to miss the start or end of Running Guns sets which is a pity cause they are pretty damn good. As are Swamplords.

TTT reminded me of Gang of Four then Talking Heads. This is a good thing.

Running Guns - Live @ The Hanger - 15 May 2010

Swamplords - Live @ The Hanger - 15 May 2010

TTT - Live @ The Hanger - 15 May 2010

Wipedoubt

I went along to see The Mercy Dolls but Ric's lied about the set times on Facebook so I missed them entirely. I only realized this when the stage was demolished after Wipedoubt finished.

Wipedoubt - Live @ Ric's Bar - 14 May 2010

Alasdair Roberts and Heinz Riegler

played at The Judy. Heinz continues to refine his songs and I'm really looking forward to an official release. I really enjoyed Alasdair's performance. His humour and warmth really lifted his songs. It really didn't feel like 90 mins before he finished.

Heinz Riegler - Live @ The Judy - 09 May 2010

Alasdair Roberts - Live @ The Judy - 09 May 2010

Celibate Rifles [but not much]

All garage all night but I was seriously overworked and couldn't make it to the end. I heard only the first four songs of the Rifles set but they include a couple that don't get aired much so grab it if you like the Celibate Rifles.

The supports were great. Haven't seen New Jack Rubys for a while and they didn't disappoint.

New Jack Rubys - Live @ The Step Inn - 07 May 2010

Lobster Prophet - Live @ The Step Inn - 07 May 2010

The Prehistorics - Live @ The Step Inn - 07 May 2010

Celibate Rifles [4 songs] - Live @ The Step Inn - 07 May 2010

Jazz

James Sherlock and West End Composers Collective played last night at The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts [aka The Judy]. James has released a CD and kicked off the evening with a short solo guitar performance then he joined the West End Composers Collective for an hour of modern australian contemporary music with a jazz slant. The Performance Space is very nice acoustically and it all came out quite well.

James Sherlock - Live @ The Judy - 07 May 2010

West End Composers Collective w. James Sherlock - Live @ The Judy - 07 May 2010

Tumbleweed

had a great time. Supported by youngsters Hytest and less youngsters The Meanies [happy 21st birthday guys] they played for 1hr 40min odd and not a dud in it.

The Meanies - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 02 May 2010

HyTest - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 02 May 2010

Tumbleweed - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 02 May 2010

The Bats

supported by The Deadnotes w The Legend!. After The Deadnotes we wandered outside to the Mall top catch Digger & The Pussycats.

Deadnote and The Legend - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 Apr 2010

Digger And The Pussycats - Live @ The Valley Mall - 24 Apr 2010

The Bats - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 Apr 2010

We saw the Bats last year at Primavera and I got the first 3 minutes before I guess I pulled a plug and the rest was flatline. In a strange twist of fate when I turned the recorder on in the Troubadour the batteries were flat and I did a quick change missing the first 3 minutes of Supersonic. Pity I didn't keep the three minutes from last year.

Marl Karx at The Cubbyhole

Was an album launch but I think the band is actually not playing anymore. DIY lo-fi noise and pop is about as close as I can describe the night. Knee Chin lived up to my expectationsafter the house show. Heart Flew's distortion peddle does nothing for me but they were still good. Pity bout Marl Karx.

Marl Karx - Live @ Rosie's - 30 Apr 2010

Cured Pink - Live @ Rosie's - 30 Apr 2010

Heart Flew Like An Arrow - Live @ Rosie's - 30 Apr 2010

Kitten Party - Live @ Rosie's - 30 Apr 2010

Knee Chin - Live @ Rosie's - 30 Apr 2010

Ben Salter

played a solo sat at Ric's. He was still playing when I left after 1hr 20m. Didn't feel like that long at all.

Ben Salter - Live @ Ric's - 29 Apr 2010

ZZZ Carpark

really it's the ZZZ parking space. One car tops. But it's a lot of fun.

Main St Brats - Live @ ZZZ Carpark - 24 Apr 2010

Dirty Bird - Live @ ZZZ Carpark - 24 Apr 2010

Bob Log III and more

Two shows at the Step Inn, upstairs Bob Log III with Boondall Boys in support. Downstairs Giants of Science are supported by Booze Hag, Speed Racer, and The Mercy Beat. Only partial sets from Booze Hog and Mercy Beat. Booze Hog are stupidly great.

SpeedRacer - Live @ The Step Inn - 23 Apr 2010

Mercy Beat - Live @ The Step Inn - 23 Apr 2010

Booze Hag - Live @ The Step Inn - 23 Apr 2010

The Boondal Boys - Live @ The Step Inn - 23 Apr 2010

Bob Log III -- Live @ The Step Inn - 23 Apr 2010

Burst City

I have no idea what 'Burst City' means. It's a hall; old school. Wooden floor, brick walls, high ceiling. Acoustics and PA are average. Today everything [except Abdojaparov] is loud so I have no idea what they are singing about.

Forty Five - Live @ Burst City - 18 Apr 2010

Dick Nasty - Live @ Burst City - 18 Apr 2010

Abdoujaparov - Live @ Burst City - 18 Apr 2010

One Shot Salute - Live @ Burst City - 18 Apr 2010

I found out what it means

Turnpike and Sweet Dreams

Went to see Abdoujaparov but had to leave early. I am seeing them again this afternoon at Burst City so they will be here later.

But great support sets from Turnpike and Sweet Dreams

Turnpike - Live @ The Step Inn - 16 Apr 2010

Sweet Dreams - Live @ The Step Inn - 16 Apr 2010

FantasmaBAnco used my audio over her video. The result is quite good.

Dave McCormack

Long night. Started at Ric's to catch The Sunburys a local pop rock act along the lines of You Am I. I left before they finished but only missed two songs.

Then across the road to The Troubadour For Dave McCormack show. First support is the lovely Kate Jacobson doing what she does best; making people cry but in a good way.

Ed Guglieimino & The Show. Ed is a great songwriter and this set shows that.

Dave McCormack. Dave's material is timeless. I think I've said that before but I can listen to Dave over and over and every time it's like the first time. I love it.

Then stayed for the late show with The Young Liberals.

The Sunburys - Live @ Ric's - 17 Apr 2010
Kate Jacobson - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Apr 2010
Edward Guglielmino & The Show - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Apr 2010
Dave McCormack - Live @ The Troubadour - 17 Apr 2010
The Young Liberals - Live @ The Troubadour - 18 Apr 2010

Gareth Liddiard

His solo tour kicks off in Brisbane with Ben Salter in support.

Ben's set is occasionally subject to crowd chatter. I'm really considering getting a STFU I'M LISTENING t shirt. Ben is also joined for a couple of songs by his Gin Clubmate Connor MacDonald. I had to leave before the set finished and left the tape run as I went outside rather than cut it off.

Gareth Liddiard {The Drones} as he is continually referred to in the press for this tour was great. Only one new song tonight but with his back catalogue no one complained. Even the crowd shut up. There was a great interview recently with Gareth in The Vine. Can't wait for the new releases from both Gareth and The Drones.

Ben Salter - Live @ The Troubadour - 15 Apr 2010

Gareth Liddiard - Live @ The Troubadour - 15 Apr 2010

And I'm old enough to know who Blondin was but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

Hey Pirate

"hey pirate, you've been reported. universal music was particularly interested"

this is the text of a message left by anonymous. Thanks anonymous. I assume you reported my blog to all and sundry record companies round the place for some reason. Christ knows what that reason is. Anyone in a band would have the balls to tell me or if not, just do it and not post rubbish like that.

i'm happy to take down any recordings that people object to. I do it as soon as asked.

95% of the recordings on this site are from bands who are fully aware of the recordings and are more than happy for them to be here or who are known to be 'taper friendly'. The other 5% like I said I'm happy to remove if anyone asks. The blog is primarily for Brisbane bands and if it gets closed down by universal believe me it will be back up in a short period of time featuring brisbane bands.

In the meantime you need to get a life you sad arsehole.

Del Toro say Goodbye For A While

Adam, the guitarist, is off to Norway for two years so he had a party at the Hanger.

Carl is guitarist with The Narwhals. Tonight he and his acoustic guitar played alone. Some quite beautiful passages here.
Carl Monticone - Live @ The Hanger - 10 Apr 2010

Threepiece No Anchor is becoming the heaviest band in Brisbane. In this set you can actually hear the vocals. But on the downside the Fender is a little louder than the Rickenbacker but could be just my ears.
No Anchor - Live @ The Hanger - 10 Apr 2010

I have a t-shirt. Says "Play Music / Turnpike"
Turnpike - Live @ The Hanger - 10 Apr 2010

This is why we will miss this band. Thanks for a great party Adam. See you in a couple of years.
Del Toro - Live @ The Hanger - 10 Apr 2010

Butcher Birds

Support was Mother & Father. They wear their influences on their sleeve.
Mother & Father - Live @ The Step Inn Front Bar - 09 Apr 2010

Butcher Birds get better all the time.
Butcher Birds - Live @ The Step Inn Front Bar - 09 Apr 2010

Vialka

deserve their own entry. Descriptions are useless but somewhere describes them as a turbo folk micro-orchestra. The drummer is a show on her own. If they come your way go see them. Seriously.


Vialka - Live @ Ric's Bar - 09 Apr 2010

Eddy Current Supression Ring

People ask me how the Eddy Current gig went the other night and now I reply "Do you like Eddy Current cause if you do it was fucking fabulous and if you you think they are 'ok i guess' then you wouldn't have enjoyed it". No one has actually said they hate the band but a lot seem to 'just not get it' and a surprising number of them, seem to be musicians. Weird. Given up trying to rationalize why I like these guys so much. Pretty sure someone else will like it.

Plus Screamin' Stevie doing what only he can do and a great set from Kitchen's Floor.

Screamin' Stevie's Australia - Live @ The Zoo - 08 April 2010

Kitchen's Floor - Live @ The Zoo - 08 April 2010

Eddy Current Supression Ring - Live @ The Zoo - 08 April 2010

East Coast Blues & Roots Festival 2010

Thanks to Matisyahu for the opportunity to record his set. I have seen him once before in a festival set and this makes two. One day I'll get a chance to see his concert set. I love this guys music a lot.

Matisyahu - Live @ East Coast Blues & Roots - 02 Apr 2010

While I was there I took the opportunity to also see

Ozomatli - Live @ East Coast Blues & Roots - 02 Apr 2010
Rodriguez - Live @ East Coast Blues & Roots - 02 Apr 2010
Jeff Beck - Live @ East Coast Blues & Roots - 02 Apr 2010

Browning Street and Rosies and I still missed Deaf Wish

First to Rosies on Friday night where I saw

Swamplords - Live @ Rosies - 26 Mar 2010

Chinese Burns - Live @ Rosies - 26 Mar 2010

and told myself that I would see Deaf Wish at the house party on Saturday night so it was OK to go home early.

So Saturday and first to Browning Street Studios [actually a rehearsal room but at least air conditioned]

Sunshine State - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 27 Mar 2010

Sleepwalks - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 27 Mar 2010

Do The Robot - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 27 Mar 2010

Baryshnikov - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 27 Mar 2010

Nice pop rock from Baryshnikov. Power pop from Sleepwalks who get better all the time.

Then off to a house party to see Knee Chin, Per Purpose, Blank Realm, Loomer and Deaf Wish. Would the house be able to withstand the power of that lineup. Well the PA couldn't to start with and I have two very nice karaoke sets from Knee Chin and Per Purpose if anyone knows the words. As it was approximately a sauna by his time me being weak I went home. Apparently the PA got fixed and Deaf Wish played a blinder of a set then split up. FML eh?

Later in the week I went along to the new Rics and saw Running Guns. I like them. Rics is better than it was actually. There i said it.
Running Guns - Live @ Ric's - 31 Mar 2010

Jandek

The Hi-Fi Bar and it was relatively gentle to the bands tonight.

Black Widow with Joel Stern make noise that is hypnotic and complex but easy to listen to. I'm never sure what to say about music like this. I find it dfficult to see the overarching patterns if there are any so I can only enjoy the moment.

Lost Domain were great. The singer getting more frantic [much nicer word than unhinged] as he went along with support from some deadnotes. Lotta fun

Blank Realm I keep getting mixed up with noise bands i guess because of their name. They are actually a pretty good rock band though that may be based just their choice of material on the night.

Jandek I know largely from his earlier acoustic work so tonight was a revelation. Quite electric and in parts almost rocking. His backing band were really good. I am pretty sure the bass guitar didn't open her eyes the entire set. If you know Jandek or if you don't it doesn't make much sense me trying to describe it so you best listen for yourself. This was one of my top shows of the year so far and for surprise it will be hard to beat.

Black Widow w Joel Stern - Live @ The Hi-Fi Bar - 21 Mar 2010

Lost Domain - Live @ The Hi-Fi Bar - 21 Mar 2010.

Blank Realm - Live @ The Hi-Fi Bar - 21 Mar 2010

Jandek - Live @ The Hi-Fi Bar - 21 Mar 2010

Golden Plains 2010

i was hoping it hailed sunday night. my hire car wasn't covered for hail so we left after dirty projectors. missed calexico and cruel sea. the rest for me was like this

royal headache - not too bad would look for again.
lou barlow solo set at inspiration point. - pretty damn good but windy and why the fuck do people come all the way over from the main stage to stand down the back and talk. the recording is full of crowd noise and wind oh so much wind noise. if i can clean it up i'll post it at a later date.
monotonix - jesus my arms are still aching. was near front to start with. band started on platforms on crowd side of barrier a la lightning bolt. after 1st song band decided to move drum kit off platform into crowd and i find myself standing in front of him holding back the red sea. mics did not pop out of ears so set is basically me going ah fuck what the fuck jesus fuck fuck off etc while singer, guitarist, and eventually drummer surf above our heads. plug finally pulled before someone gets killed. was extreme fun. never want to do that again. i have no idea what they sound like.
the big pink - pretty good but anticlimactic after monotonix
antibalas afrobreat orchestra - upbeat afrobeat but strangely dis-engaged/un-engaging. known anti taping so i can't post sorry. someone else might though.
pavement - rough round the edges but magic soon enough
dinosaur jr. not as loud as i expected but clear as hell. really really good.
super wild horses. sound a little unbalanced but they get into it. crowd enjoys it for a wake up set
jack ladder - was back at camp packing tent in short dry sunny period. campers next door ask what the fuck is that noise. probably a bad time for their style.
jeffrey lewis & the junkyard - good fun
wooden shjips - fucking brilliant. crowd favourites. got the shoes up big time.
space invadas - pretty average UK soul band.
nashville pussy - absolute fun.
dirty projectors - really disappointing. 6 charlies in search of a tune. some enjoyed them but most people were very 'mehh'

did not tape space invadas, dirty projectors, jack ladder
The Big Pink - Live @ Golden Plains - 06 Mar 2010

Super Wild Horses - Live @ Golden Plains - 07 Mar 2010

Royal Headache - Live @ Golden Plains - 06 Mar 2010

Pavement - Live @ Golden Plains - 06 Mar 2010

Nashville Pussy - Live @ Golden Plains - 07 Mar 2010

Monotonix - Live @ Golden Plains - 06 Mar 2010

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - Live @ Golden Plains - 07 Mar 2010

Dinosaur Jr - Live @ Golden Plains - 06 Mar 2010

Wooden Shjips - Live @ Golden Plains - 07 Mar 2010

So much rain. Does it ever not rain at meredith?

Raekwon

Raekwon has a deep catalogue that he obviously wants to give to the fans but this translates to few songs longer than about 2m30sec with the explosion sound chopping stuff just as you get into the groove. I'm listening to Cuban Linx II as I write this and it is brilliant stuff. And I don't get the same feeling even from the songs that are just as short. Translation to stage is I guess any artists problem.

Have no fear, what I heard was great and Raekwons chat with the crowd is good natured and he seems to be enjoying himself in Australia and on stage tonight. But the short songs are annoying for me. The crowd however went wild so what do I know :)

To be honest on the night I preferred the performances by The Optimen and Lazy Grey. Both DJ's are really interesting with DJ MCE behind Lazy Grey the standout for me. And 30min of the intensity of Lazy Grey [and half of Brothers Stoney] was worth at least half the entry price so I'm ahead really.

The Optimen - Live @ The Step Inn - 19 Mar 2010

Lazy Grey - Live @ The Step Inn - 19 Mar 2010

Raekwon - Live @ The Step Inn - 19 Mar 2010

Yo La Tengo

This was one fantastic concert. But it shows up the sound in the Hi-Fi Bar. I went doen the front so I could get decent guitar sound and I got that but after a few songs I realized that the vocals were coming from behind me about 15 feet up in the air. I suggest you listen with headphones. Brilliant bands both but Yo La Tengo are sublime but I feel I haven't done them justice.

Songs - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 16 Feb 2010

Yo La Tengo - Live @ The Hi-Fi - 16 Feb 2010

Special thanks to David [crankingamps] who provided the ticket for tonight.

Hanger 10.4

This was probably the best Hanger show for the last couple of years. Every band was in top form. The audience was into each band and was cool. It was cool [in the temperature sense and that means a lot].

Probably the best Loomer set I've seen. They get better all the time.

Loomer - Live @ The Hanger - 13 Feb 2010

Caught Ships set a wicked groove and Ben wanders through the crowd. That's me he says "haven't seen you for a while etc" to in the middle of the set. At the time I had plugs in and all I could say was 'i can't hear a word you're saying'
Caught Ships - Live @ The Hanger - 13 Feb 2010

Equipment problems don't phase the audience even if they seem to piss the band off but really I am finally starting to get these guys and when they fly they really do go.
Kitchen's Floor - Live @ The Hanger - 13 Feb 2010

What can I say about these guys except they must really be a mind fuck in Hobart. But they cover a Hobart songwriter in a song which include the brilliant couplet "but i'm sleeping on a mattress in your kitchen and sooner or later you're gonna hafta eat" so at least there's two of them I guess.
Paint Your Golden Face - Live @ The Hanger - 13 Feb 2010

This is why The Hanger exists. This is why the Hanger is so great.

Oops

I really did forget these guys in my rush before I went south. From the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart show, the supports

Toy Ballons - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Feb 2010


Crayon Fields - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Feb 2010

Ed Kuepper @ GOMA

My only visit to Up Late @ ATP6. And what a night. Ed Kuepper & The Kowalski Collective with support from Littel Scout now with 50% more Tickle but on the night 100% less Kovic.

Ed Kuepper & The Kowalski Collective - Live @ GOMA - 12 Mar 2010

Little Scout - Live @ GOMA - 12 Mar 2010

Noise From All Sides @ Rosies and Tom's

First the gig I forgot to post. Birushanah came to Rosies with supports local and other. Excellent stuff.

White Horse - Live @ Rosies - 13 Feb 2010

Teargas - Live @ Rosies - 13 Feb 2010

No Anchor - Live @ Rosies - 13 Feb 2010

Birushanah - Live @ Rosies - 13 Feb 2010

Then just last weekend Robert Inhuman as Realicide brought the noise to Tom's backyard at Sonic Boom #1,000,000. Along for support was Ambrose Chapel. Such fine young men.

Ambrose Chapel - Live @ Sonic Boom 1,000,000- 14 Mar 2010

Realicide - Live @ Sonic Boom 1,000,000 - 14 Mar 2010

Dollar Bar

Big Night. Three gigs Five Bands. X Beers.

Sabrina Lawrie - Live @ The Alhambra - 26 Feb 2010

Drowned Out - Live @ The Hanger - 26 Feb 2010

Giants Of Science - Live @ Belly's Birthday - 26 Feb 2010

Dollarbar - Live @ Belly's Birthday - 26 Feb 2010
Dollar Bar are utterly great. Really.

This is Belly

 

He is currently traveling round Australia doing the Pavement tour as a paying punter. I am off now to Golden Plains and have promised him the Pavement set. I sure as hell hope nothing goes wrong. Does he look like a man you want to disappoint :)

HEALTH

HEALTH are very good. Their drummer I could watch all night. To some extent i had to cause the rest of them regularly disappeared to the floor to play with pedals. Tom Hall as Axxonn gets better every time I see him and Stature;Statue who I haven't seen for a while are better than ever.

Axxonn - Live @ The Step Inn - 25 Feb 2010

Stature Statue - Live @ The Step Inn - 25 Feb 2010

Health - Live @ The Step Inn - 25 Feb 2010

The Thin Kids

For 40 minutes there The Thin Kids were probably the most important band, if not the best band in Brisbane. Consisting of Jerry [Everett[The Legend!]True]Thackray, Ed Googely Woogely [any relation to Natalie Embrougely Woogely?], [Jim Beam Me Up]Scotty Regan, and that little chick on the end there, they deconstructed rock music then reconstructed it as grunge would have sounded if Mrs Mills had been Robert Johnston. Either that or it was a joke. I liked 'You're Not On The Guestlist, You're Not Coming In!

But first
The Lonely Sea & The Sky - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 Feb 2010
then
Velociraptor - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 Feb 2010
who are as good as they say
then
The Thin Kids - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 Feb 2010

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

have nice songs. I was disappointed with their stage presence though.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Feb 2010

The Five - Show 4

I love good surf music.

Here's The Five

 

The Five - Set 2 - Live @ The JOynt - 19 Feb 2010


The Five - Set 1 - Live @ The JOynt - 19 Feb 2010

Boat Cruise

was fun. Must dio it again. Chinese Burns are a great band. In fact they are as good as any of the bands Adam Scott is in and that is damn good believe me.

The Narwhals - Live @ The Boat Cruise - 14 Feb 2010

Chinese Burns - Live @ The Boat Cruise - 14 Feb 2010

Sweet Dreams - Live @ The Boat Cruise - 14 Feb 2010

Wednesday 13

This was not as metal as thought it might be. More Alice Cooper. But he was fun.

Wednesday 13 - Live @ Club 299 - 12 Feb 2010

Housekeeping & A Plea For Help

David, who seems to have tried to download everything I have, has pointed out a few invalid links, and unavailable files in this blog and in There Is Always A Past. So I have fixed the following links in their original posts and here they are

In Primavera 2009 this Sleepy Sun set used to point to the Carsick Cars set.

In My Trip To Spain Part One - Not Primavera 2009 this Baju Banton set used to point to the Chesterfield Kings set and this Kylie Minogue set used to point to the Ivan Julian set. This may explain why absolutely no one has so far downloaded either .

Over at There Is Always A Past the following links have been corrected

Joan As Policewoman - Live @ The Globe - 11 Oct 2008
The Sips - Live @ The Step Inn - 10 Nov 2007
Wolfmother - Live @ GOMA Warhol Up Late - 12 April 2008 The Wolfmother set is a zip file and it contains the songs split in mp3 format.

And now a big ask. The link to The Grates - Live @ The Troubadour - 24 June 2008 is dead. The file has disappeared from megaupload [this is not unusual] and worse I can't find it or the original file on my archives [this is very unusual]. If anyone has downloaded it and still has a copy I would appreciate it if you could let me know. I would like to complete the collection again. Have no idea how this happened. You can emeil me on exkingjohn at gmail dot com

New stuff coming later today.

Thank You Everyone

The blog has been around for 18 months or so now and I have been recording for three but I've only had decent stats on how many downloads there have been since I started using Mediafire in Jan 2009. Today I have just cracked 10,000 downloads since I opened the account. All the files on megaupload are still getting regular activity as well but the stats they give are crap but I guess the total between the two is about 15,000.

I dunno if 10,000 is big or small to tell you the truth but it sounds good. And in case you are wondering I made a grand total of $ ZERO from it since I started. Believe me there are people who think I do this for money. No, this is fun.

Hanger 10.1

The Hanger was packed for a long night. I watched the first two bands.

Jackalpac, a young five piece pop/art rock group with lots of potential. I have taken out the embarrassing bits to protect their reputation.

And Ghost Notes, formed after Mass Migration broke up. I really enjoyed Mass Migration and Ghost Notes continue in a similar vein of ambient post rock.

Jackalpac - Live @ The Hanger - 06 Feb 2010

Ghost Notes - Live @ The Hanger - 06 Feb 2010

Scul Hazzard Returns

to Brisbane after 2 years in London showing the locals how to make noise. And boy did they get even better while they were away. Steven Smiths guitar work seems much more focused and the sound is cleaner and more powerful for it.

Great support sets from Quiet Steps, Kitchens Floor, and Turnpike. Kitchens Floor I have seen a couple of times now and each time I am initially terrified they are going to collapse in a heap in front of me but each time they warm up to it and if they eventually do in fact collapse in a heap it's been worth the ride. Does that make sense? This is why I am an accountant, not a writer.


Quiet Steps - Live @ The Step Inn - 05 Feb 2010

Kitchens Floor - Live @ The Step Inn - 05 Feb 2010

Turnpike - Live @ The Step Inn - 05 Feb 2010

Scul Hazzards - Live @ The Step Inn - 05 Feb 2010

Laneway Brisbane 2010

The lineup this year was not bad. Not great but enough to keep interest. Echo & The Bunnymen pulling out the day before was greeted with alarm by more than a few people who seemed to be buying tickets just to see them. Dirty Three stepping up to replace them was a good thing because at least it saved me the choice of Echo v Black Lips. Having seen Dirty Three just last week and not seen Black Lips before I was going to see Black Lips. Of course all this is of little interest to you dear reader because my mics died sometime between Wild Beasts and Daniel Johnston.

All I have for you is Wild Beasts, part of the Daniel Johnston set and Eddy Current Supression Ring. The Daniel J and Eddy Current sets are recorded through the DR-07 internal mics and while the instrumentation is clean the vocals are a little echoey.

I post them because I have them.

Wild Beasts - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Daniel Johnston - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Eddy Current Supression Ring - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 29 Jan 2010

Dirty Three and Laughing Clowns

To finish off the 4 day weekend [and me] Dirty Three played Ocean Songs [1hr 40min] and Laughing Clowns played History of Rock n' Roll Volume One [1hr 05min].

Started at 8.00pm, 30min break between bands and i walked out at 11.30. Absolutely exhausted. Absolutely thrilled.

Not much you can say about these two bands. You just have to listen to it.

The Laughing Clowns - History Of Rock n' Roll Volume One - Live @ The Tivoli - 25 Jan 2010

Dirty Three - Ocean Songs - Live @ The Tivoli - 25 Jan 2010

i heart hiroshima say goodbye

With Susie Patten re-locating to Berlin for a while this may be the last i heart show. ever. bugger.

Kick off with bigstrongbrute whose music is big and strong but hardly brute.
bigstrongbrute - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
Next is Dick Diver [Melb] whose every now and then reminded me of Television for some reason though the connection is clearer in the rising slide progression in Future Self Ver. 2. This is a good thing. Marquee Moon is probably my all time favourite LP. And the non-Television stuff is fun too.
Dick Diver - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima played two sets. One for each CD. Tuff Teef and The Rip. And an encore. Matt Somers was not well. At times he strained to sing at all. At one point he dropped a song from the set and Susie asked for suggestions. I was louder than the rest so they played Feel It which I first heard in Jamies Carpark in April 2006 [also I think the first time I saw the band] As an aside that was also the first time I saw Scul Hazzards when they were a 5 piece. Scul Hazzard are back from a long visit to Europe [two years?] and playing in early Feb. That, I am looking forward to oh yes.

Anyway two albums of seriously great pop music. The more I listen to The Rip the better it gets. And it's even better live. The vibe at the show was great. It was an all ages show and kids aren't too cool to dance at all. I loved it. I will miss the band.
i heart hiroshima - tuff teef - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima - The Rip - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010
i heart hiroshima - Encore - Live @ The Powerhouse - 24 Jan 2010

Lovers Of Modern Art

released their new CD on Friday night and were supported by The Cheats [Melb] and The Horrortones [Bristroit]

The Cheats played to a small early audience and apart from the vocals on the cover of Ballroom Blitz did a fine job.
The Cheats - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Jan 2010

The Vegas Kings were supposed to support but Angus the drummer had a touch football accident so The Horrortones stepped up to the plate and hit it hard in their stead. They claimed that they hadn't rehearsed at such short notice but they were recording on Saturaday so I imagine some work had been done. In any case thought they played just fine. Unfortunately they didn't and asked me not to post the recording. I look forward to the double 7' single with gatefold sleeve featuring a popup of the band.

Went for walk to Clubhouse and heard a couple of songs from Moon Jog
Moon Jog [Two Songs Only] - Live @ The Clubhouse - 22 Jan 2010

Lovers Of Modern Art played an enjoyable set of indie pop. Silas the keyboard/theramin player entertained the crowd throughout.
Lovers Of Modern Art - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Jan 2010

Swamp And Surf

A packed Saturday night at the Zoo with local band Swamplords headlining a twang packed bill.

Keep on Dancin's started the night. Moody reverb drenched ballads.
Keep On Dancin's - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Two thirds of the way through the excellent Running Guns set I checked my gear and ... nothing... new batteries dead. Change, get last two songs.
Running Guns [Two Songs Only] - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Down the newsagent, new batteries, back for the Sulphur Lights who were a little too reverb drenched tonight for the sound system but still an enjoyable set.
Sulphur Lights - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010
Finally Swamplords. I had seen only the Shit! Life! performance and was looking forward to this. That cemetery set was a lot more relaxed than this but I really enjoyed the performance. Looking forward to how they develop.
Swamplords - Live @ The Zoo - 23 Jan 2010

Jay Retard R.I.P.

 

Jay Reatard - Live @ Golden Plains - 9 Mar 2008
Jay Reatard - Live @ Laneway Brisbane - 31 Jan 2009
Jay Reatard - Live @ East Brunswick Club - 7 Mar 2008
Jay Reatard - Live @ Primavera 2009