Big Night Out

First to the Judy for No Anchor CD Launch. Heinz Riegler opened and his new material is beautiful. Very beautiful imagery and simple playing to showcase it. Still developing so maybe later there can be before and after comparisons but until then ou just have to take the word of anyone who has seen him recently; It will be worth the wait. So looking forward to seeing it hit daylight.

Closely followed by Laurence English on hand pumped harmonium or similar and electronic drone effects.

No Anchor did well in a room that is effectively a concrete box. Brutal.

No Anchor - Live @ The Judy - 21 Mar 2009.mp3

And so to The Step Inn for Miss Jess's Birthday bash though the bands did not know before hand that is what it was. She got to see her three favourite bands. Mine too.

I missed Nova Scotia but saw Sekiden.

Sekiden - Live @ The Step Inn - 21 Mar 2009.mp3

Also Seaplane. Again looking forward to the new CD which will be even better than the first.

All in all a great night. 5 and a half worls class acts for $25 plus beer. Where else but Brizvegas.

Del Toro & Hazzards Of Swimming Naked

at The Troubadour. Good fit.

Hazzards Of Swimming Naked - Live @ The Troubadour - 11 Mar 2009

Del Toro - Live @ The Troubadour - 11 Mar 2009

Golden Plains 2009

Best.
Festival.
Ever.


till Primavera.

Saturday

Took me 15 min to work out these guys weren't taking the piss.

Brant Bjork - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 [61.75 MB]

The Black Seeds - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 52.93 MB

Black Mountain redeemed stoner rock somewhat.

Black Mountain - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 [59.14 MB]

Mogwai - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 76.91 MB

Sunday


Luluc - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 29.81 MB


Pivot - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 59.36 MB


My Disco - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 65.73 MB

Tony Allen - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 68.09 MB

Nowhere near my best recording but a wonderful set from The Drones
The Drones - Live @ Golden Plains - 2009 70.13 MB



New equipment is now fully operational. I learned a lot at this festival, specifically during Deafwish, Dan Kelly, Jim White & John Doe [jeez they are funny guys] and Gary Numan. Still playing with the Church set and if I can do it justice I'll post it later.

Ceremony

Walking past the Globe having missed a ticket to The Fumes I chanced upon this celebration of all things rock, hard rock. Headline with a band named Ceremony and you know there is going to be a Cult influence. Haven't had a night of music like this since i was a young boy.

1989 - Live @ The Globe - 27 Feb 2009 [48.33 MB]

Chamberland - Live @ The Globe - 27 Feb 2009 [51.56 MB]

Ceremony - Live @ The Globe - 27 Feb 2009 [41.84 MB]

Catchup Day

Some older stuff I missed first time around for various reasons including i r disorganized.

From the Meridith trip, the Beaches performances at Northcote supporting Ten East and on their own at the festival.

Beaches - Live @ The Northcote Social Club - 11 Dec 2008 [48.26 MB]

Beaches - Live @ Merideth Music Festival - 12 Dec 2008 [55.85 MB]

A lovely quiet set from McKisco at the Hanger

McKisco - Live @ The Hanger - 21 Feb 2009 [43.71 MB]

The ever popular Nova Scotia at Ric's

Nova Scotia - Live @ Ric's - 05 Mar 2009 [57 MB]

Afririmpo

About all I got from ATP was the Harmonia and Dead Meadow sets posted earlier and I have managed to clean up this one. I am happy too. Afririmpo was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.


Afririmpo - Live @ The Powerhouse - 16 Jan 2009 [51MB]

Dave & Ben at The Powerhouse

Dave McCormack - Live @ The Powerhouse - 15 Feb 2009

Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side - Live @ The Powerhouse - 15 Feb 2009

words escape me tonight. Enjoy.

Laneway 2009 Brisbane Alternate Version

Went pretty well actually. The new site was laid out very well and all three stages were next to each other but no noise bleeding between them. Cheap draught beer and, early in the day at least, real mixed drinks. No lineups for food, toilets etc. Sound was OK on the covered stage and in the dance stage inside but the street stage was not real loud unless you were right up near the front.

Lineup was promising. Most delivered. The three that didn't for me were No Age, The Hold Steady, and Girl Talk.

No Age may be great and under the right circumstances could be fun. On the day the sound was dreadful. The guitar was a wash of noise. Underneath you could hear something interesting trying to get out but overall they were disappointing.

The Hold Steady are terribly over rated I think. Pretty standard stuff. The bass guitar amp broke down halfway through the set and we waited for what seemed like forever while the band noodled around and the roadies tried to fix it. Seemed excessive to me. Why the singer didn't just give him his guitar and let him improvise, it's not like he was using it. They are supposed to be professionals. I took the opportunity to visit the first aid tent for headache pills.

Headache under control I went round to the other stage to see Girl Talk to finish the night off. And it did too. One guy on stage with a Mac and maybe a couple of other buttons on a big desk that seemed to be more for him to stand on than work at. I generally don't record guys who play recordings, no matter how inventive they make it sound. Dunno why, I just can't bring myself to do it. The only way he could think to make it interesting was to get 30 people on stage to dance around. You could play "Spot The Muso" cause most were from bands that had played earlier but the sound was terrible at the back so I went home.

Before all that though I saw Still Flying, Pivot, The Drones, Spiral Stairs, and Jay Reatard who all played great sets. The Drones had gear problems as well but that which does not kill them makes them stronger. Spiral Stairs was much more entertaining with a full band [who are Gersey but I still know the guitarist from somewhere else]. Still Flying were fun and for serious stuff Pivot impressed me no end. The Pivot drummer is so good.

Jay Reatard played a long set and I loved it. The sound was average on the street stage but it I'll go again. Except I now hear he will not be appearing at Primavera in May. Damn.

So anyway, because one [or more I suppose, it isn't specific] of the acts has complained I can't give you the recordings.

Spiral Stairs

Spiral Stairs for those who don't know is Scott Kannberg one time member of Pavement. Heavy shit to carry round or what. Last night he and Darryl, a guitarist from Melbourne [who i swear I have seen in some other band] did a show here supported by Nova Scotia. He will appear tomorrow with his band at Laneway Festival.

I liked his music and look forward to seeing him tomorrow.
Spiral Stairs - Live @ The Troubadour - 29 Jan 2009.mp3 (84.98 MB)


Nova Scotia supported and the crowd was quiet. They work better to a more lively audience I think but I haven't seen a bad show from them.
Nova Scotia - Live @ The Troubadour - 29 Jan 2009.mp3 (54.72 MB)


These are soundboard recordings. Soundboard recordings can be brutal.

All Tomorrows Parties

in Brisbane was great. Having three separate indoors concerts and one outdoors day long worked well except for the cost. I missed Michael Gira but saw the rest. For me the revelation was Afririmpo. Big fun.

Recording was screwed by gear failures so I can only post the bits without too many glitches. The main problem is occasional drops in volume in the right channel. I have 'fixed' the recordings where I could and the problem is drops in volume not spikes so you shouldn't hurt your ears.

I'm still working on some so I'll add as they become available. Here's the first batch.

Harmonia - Live @ The Powerhouse - 13 Jan 2009 [106.91MB]

Dead Meadow - Live @ The Powerhouse - 16 Jan 2009 [69.17MB]

Neil Young and My Morning Jacket at the BEC

First saw MMJ at Big Day Out. I went to see the first three songs then off to the Drones. Here are the three tracks.

Three songs by My Morning Jacket at 2009 Big Day Out Gold Coast

Then to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre [BEC] on Wed night. It's a barn. The sound was full of mud. The MMJ set actually sounds better on tape than in real life because of the in-ear mics I think. On the night I could not understand a word being sung. Neil Young started out the same but they eventually got it right.

Both acts were great. Personally what I saw of the MMJ BDO set was more fun as I suppose befits a festival set but I'd be more than happy to see them again in concert.

My Morning Jacket - Live @ The BEC - 21 Jan 2009

Neil Young is ... um ... Neil Young. Is he too old for this sort of thing? I don't think he grew old, I think he grew up. I look forward to hearing the Prodigy's "Greendale" in 20 years time. Actually , no I don't.

Neil Young - Live @ The BEC - 21 Jan 2009

And below, a new feature, previews of songs from sets. Lets see how it works. If you like the idea let me know.

I Have Been A Naughty Boy.

Nothing posted since 29 Nov 2008. Haven't I seen anything since then??? Well, not really. Lord knows I tried. One day the truth about Meredith 2008 may come out but lets just say I'll never buy a cheap tent again, and showerproof =/= waterproof. I do have tickets for Golden Plains though [please don't tell me it rains there in March OK?]

I also totally forgot to put up The Lucksmiths CD Launch show at The Troubadour in early November so here it is.

The Lucksmiths - Live @ The Troubadour - 08 Nov 2008 [112.09MB]

From the Meredith trip I have Ten East at Northcote.

Ten East - Live @ Northcote Social Club - 11 Dec 2008 [84.28MB]

From the Valve Christmas Party here are

Del Toro - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Dec 2008 [38.96MB]

Sekiden - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Dec 2008 [61.3MB]

An Horse - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Dec 2008 [54.88MB]

i heart hiroshima - Live @ The Zoo - 20 Dec 2008 [71.16MB]

and a special treat, The Horrortones at the MereNoise Xmas Party.

The Horrortones - Live @ The Troubadour - 19 Dec 2008 [67.72MB]

There were a few other bits and pieces of support bands and a couple of sets I need to do stuff with first so keep an eye out.

I didn't go to Sunset Sounds mainly because after buying tickets to BDO, Neil Young, Laneway, Golden Plains, ATP Brisbane Riverstage [plus Harmonia, Fuck Buttons, Dead Meadow, and Afririmpo side shows], Laughing Clowns, Europe [the place], Primavera 09, and probably Roskilde 09 if someone buys the cat, I just couldn't afford it. I am looking for cheap places to sleep in Spain in June if anyone can help :)

So I have been busy I suppose. Come back next week.

More Narwhals and It's A Woelv

I saw this some time ago. It was good. This is Wolev.




Woelv - Live @ The Powerhouse - 30 Nov 2008.mp3 (43.46 MB)

much better looking than The Narwhals


The Narwhals - Live @ The Powerhouse - 30 Nov 2008.mp3 (40.28 MB)

Clockcleaner On Fire at Rosies

Sorry but it had to be said.

Thursday night was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

It started out OK with sets by local bands Z Rays and Slug Guts. Seen Z Rays before and had the same problem again; vocals. The first time i saw them I couldn't see the stage very well and it was about halfway through their set before I realized they weren't an instrumental band. They really should talk to the sound guy.

Missed the first song or two from Slug Guts but their sound was more balanced. I enjoyed their set though the second last song did go on a bit. Will see them again.

Snake Run was 10 minutes of straight up punk. Loud fast and incomprehensible. They are good at it. I just aren't really interested in it. There was a recording glitch at about 7 min and I lost about 20 secs of their set. There is a quick fade in/out so the jump isn't too disconcerting.

For me, Clockcleaner were disappointing. The high pitched guitar sound was promising during the warm up but once the songs started it all turned into a mush especially with the amount of reverb in the vocals. Apart from that I thought the songs just weren't that good.

Mind you most of the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves. Especially the hard core fans down the front. So much so that during a cover of Divine Hammer [it's not easy to turn that song into a dirge but they were trying real hard] one of them decided that the only way to show his appreciation was to light a fire at Sharkeys feet using the toilet paper another guy had liberated earlier.

Much hilarity ensued until someone thought to use the powder fire extinguisher firstly with a quick shot at the fire, then emptying the rest into the air. Minutes later we [everyone in the building] are on the sidewalk watching the fire brigade enter the not quite towering inferno. I learnt two things; that powder tastes like shit, and people who light fires for fun are beneath contempt whether they have a 'problem' or not.


The Z Rays - Live @ Rosies - 27 Nov 2008 49.24 MB
Slug Guts - Live @ Rosies - 27 Nov 2008 30.98 MB
Snake Run - Live @ Rosies - 27 Nov 2008 14.78 MB
Clockcleaner - Live @ Rosies - 27 Nov 2008 52.82 MB

The Narwhals

Went to the Troubadour with every intention of staying all night but managed to catch The Narwhals only before illness struck and I crawled home to bed. But enough of me. Here's the Narwhals. They play instrumental garage/soulish things.

The Narwhals - Live @ The Troubadour - 22 Nov 2008 [56.85MB]