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.