Bliss N Eso
James Hotel - 29/4/06 By Dave Williams I haven’ t seen a hip-hop night “go of f ” like this since I saw Public Enemy in concer t in ‘88. Tickets had sold out quickly, and the r o o m f i l l e d u p e a r l y.
After The Fall
Republic Bar - 02/06/06 By Duncan Ewington
Augie March
Republic Bar - 25/05/06 By Ian Murtagh
Balfour Street Blues Progression and Nathan Weldon
Irish Murphy’s 31/5/06 By Carl Fidler
First up were Launceston crew, Altrueism, who have improved vastly since I saw them at the last Freakshow. It w as g reat to see locals getting suppor t, with the front of the sta ge packed. Their beats still have room for sophistication, but on the whole were smooth and funky, and the crowd liked it.
By the time Augie March got to the stage even more people had stuffed themselves into the packed space. You know a band’s really made it when an over-weight, middle-aged man with a moustache is onstage tuning all their instruments and getting everything ready for them. This guy had roadie written all over him. But regarding the show, to be honest, there wasn’t one sucky moment at all. They played tighter than I expected them to, and maintained all of the appeal and energy of their studio albums, if not more. Thankfully, front-man Glenn didn’t feel the need to grace us with long drawn out song intro’s, and treated us to a nice mix of not just new material (though there was plenty) but a nice healthy portion of their back catalogue. There was rarely a song that wasn’t greeted by a cheer from the hungry audience, and I was blown away by just how smooth they were, changing from country to rock to dark melodic romps through styles I don’t even know the name of.
A good friend of mine, Andrew, was down from Sydney this week, so I star ted this evening with a glorious roast dinner at his parent’s house. All the trimmings, including Yorkshire pudding! Thank you so much Patricia.
Glenn did his usual mini hissy-fit if the band stuffed something up, which I found delightful rather than scornful. Most of the comments came from drummer Dave Williams, which was refreshing, while Glenn preferred to cock his head to the side and stare at the back wall. Being a singer myself I was constantly amazed at how sweet his voice was live and at how effortlessly he was able to manipulate it. Tender one minute, bold as brass the next, the band’s momentum just didn’t stop. Highlights were definitely the single “One Crowded Hour,” and Glenn’s soulful solo version of “There Is No Such Place” during the encore. They played a good solid set and promised to come back, ensuring that their fans didn’t go home disappointed. Probably one of the best gigs I’ve been to all year, and not surprising that both nights sold out. I’ll be looking forward to catching the Augie March train the next time it stops in Hobart.
I met Liam recently at a Streets Alive workshop and heard a couple of his songs which I really liked (concise with enough pop sensibility, catchy melodic hooks with a hint of ear th blues), but the band kind of blurred them for me.
Bones & Koma
Pound 4 Pound - Matt Hoffman
The Nation Blue + Supports
Out Right Cure
I was nicely inebriated by the time I rocked up to the longestablished party zone of Salamanca place. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait in the long line of people hanging to get in to Syrup, so we scarpered up the stairs to check it out.
The second Pound 4 Pound night was a short night for me. I had to bail early due to other commitments. But by the time I left, it had been a very good one, and if things kept improving at the rate they were when I was there, it would have gone on to be a great one.
The 28th of April in Launceston will go down in history as the day Tasmania’s finest band, The Nation Blue, made its return to Launceston for the first time in years to play their psycho blend of punk/post hardcore. First on stage were Disconnect lads
I was sober, so in watching opener Eskay and later Matt Hoffman, I wondered - how do you best judge a DJ gig? Is it solely by the actions of the DJ who is present? Or is it an amalgamation of all the elements that make a good night in a club? The music, the women, the alcohol, the atmosphere… One could almost argue that a DJ is not a musician at all, but an “atmosphere creator”. To use an artistic metaphor, the DJ creates the canvas, and the punters paint on it. From what I normally listen to, you could call me a metalhead. I’m used to going to a show and watching musicians playing music with instruments in hand. So if you reduce it down to one person, and combine all those instruments into a pair of decks, how is the atmosphere changed? Hmm…
The Scandal. It was the first time I’ve seen these boys in a long while and they truly proved yet again why they are one of the best bands in the state still. You couldn’t have asked for more with The Scandal, but Blacklevel Embassy left me wanting more.
This was possibly one of the biggest concerts of its sort in some time. A big sound and light system, massive stage, and no alcohol meant it was a little different to the usual boozy cramped pub conditions that most of the bands are accustomed to. The line up was huge, and featured varieties of punk and metal, and anything in between ending in “core”. The aim of this show was to raise money and awareness for action against suicide. The bands playing consisted of Zero Degrees Freedom, Separatist, Stand Defiant, Abacinate, Ball Point, Lady Crimson, Solar Thorn, Branded Left Handed, and The No No’s.
The club didn’t really start to fill until about two o’clock, which is unfortunately when I had to leave. But the slow start meant that there was really nothing to distract me from taking in the gig. In between taking photos, I started pondering where do DJs sit in the realm of live music? Is a DJ even live music? It depends. A big part of “live” performance is the effect the audience has on the performer, in what they hear and (often more importantly) what they see. So with that in mind, I don’t consider a normal DJ set “live”. But when I see a DJ feeding off the audience, analysing their reactions and playing off them, that is when a DJ’s set becomes “live”. The second DJ to play Pound 4 Pound, Matt Hoffman was very much “live”, which is definitely a good thing.
I haven’t felt that sorry for a bass rig in my life. I didn’t realise it was possible to get those types of tones but TNB were doing it and keeping us all enter tained. The singer/guitarist’s abuse towards his guitar is just something to be seen…from emo throws to smashing it into both the floor and roof.
After flitting between venues like a busy social butterfly (thanks Empire, Moe grizzly & Trout), and bloated on a full stomach of greasy fish and chips, it came to the crunch to get down to work snapping some pictures for this issues social pages. First stop was the ol’ Republic Bar, where coincidently After The Fall were playing a sold out show. Not really being a fan of their style meant it was to be a bit of a tedious gig. But all the youngsters high on pop music, mixed with random bogans, turned out to be an amusing crowd combination to watch, and as I found out later on from the staff there had been a higher level of violent out-breaks and messy puke situations then per usual. The beer eased my ears (and excellent ear plugs) as After The Fall worked their way through their set of energetic rock pop. They played all their well known Triple J songs which the crowd seemed to really lap up and shake their striped tops and fringes to. I wandered around taking random photos of all the beautiful people who were more then happy to receive their 15 seconds of fame. Before I knew it, it was all over. So it was time to guzzle down some more intoxicating liquids to fuel me for a long night and onto the next stop.
Syrup - 2/6/06 By Duncan Ewington
I was greeted by the usual banal sound of doof-doof; people dancing hard, getting their sleaze on, and generally getting fucked up. Ah...night clubbin’…we’re night clubbin’... I hadn’t been to this establishment since they scrapped the Saturday Arvo Live Music Sessions (which is a real damn shame), and by the looks of things, nothing had changed. This particular night the style was provided by Bones & Koma in the “progressive” Breaks variety, which I take is the style that House was to the 90’s and Breaks is to the 00’s – popular dance music. It’s a pretty repetitive, uninspiring, and boring genre to me, but by looks of the crowd they were really getting into the groove. Drugs are possibly good for one thing I guess. It was getting pretty late, and my wallet was getting light, so it was time to break out and go rest my weary ear drums. It was time to try and sleep off the onset of a hangover, and get ready for another big night of bright lights and loud music.
James Hotel - 6/5/06 By Tom Wilson
Unfor tunately, after a wonderful evening and a few glasses of wine I was late for the gig and only caught the last song of Nathan Weldon’s set. The por tion I heard sounded great and Nathan’s a hot player, but I need to hear more, before I can make any real comment. Sorry mate. I was, however, present for the entire set of The Balfour Street Blues Progression. They’re basically roots music with a guitarist/singer (Liam), lead guitar, djembe and har monica.
For what was their second or third gig though, Blues Progression put on a good show and the crowd absolutely loved them. Liam’s got some great songs and clever ideas, but they’re a little lost in the mix at this stage. The boys just need to refine their par ts a bit and add some more definition to the sections, and then the songs will shine through.
James Hotel – 28/4/2006 By Ryan Cooke
BLE came on stage and blew everyone away with their great stage presence and just general noise, but their set came to a halt way too soon, which saw them walking off stage after twenty-five minutes. The Nation Blue was finally up and didn’t disappoint at all; from the opening chord the building was shaking and the crowd were pumping.
And he wondered why he broke two strings in two songs. Nation Blue’s set came to a close way too soon but what can you do? Hats off to the DCR kids for putting on another quality show.
Next up w as Phrase. While the crowd had truly come to see Bliss N Eso, Phrase w as my pick for the night. Clear and strong, energetic and slick, backed by DJ Fla g rant, who w as c learly a “cut above” , P h r a s e s t r o d e a r o u n d t h e s t a ge l i ke a m a n possessed, spitting his stories, bent on mass exhilaration. After Phrase, DJ Fla g rant kept the beats bangin’ out, building anticipation for BNE. They hit the sta ge in a rush and the room w as soon bouncing, ar ms and hands bobbin g to the rhythm. They held nothing back, and were soon sweaty masses of energ y, pumping out tracks from “Day Of The Do g” and previous work. After more than an hour, and two encores later, the crowd would have taken as much as they could get, but it had to come to end, sometime. Overall, a wicked vibe and no hassles – just what I w anted.
City Gate, Mornington - 26/5/06 By Duncan Ewington
We rocked up to catch glam metal act Lady Crimson ripping out some screaming guitar solos amongst a heavy crowd of head bangers (it hurt my neck just watching!). Bare chests, leather, long hair, and make up! These guys were fun, and considering they were all born in the 80s, it truly seemed like they had all lived it the first time round. Glam metal is on rise again, and Lady Crimson is riding the wave to acclaim. Politician Paula Wreidt gave a little speech about suicide and prevention, and then it was time for Psycho Surf-a-billy band The No No’s for their own brand of horror-inspired upbeat zombie rock. Branded Left Handed followed with some hard and fast tunes which increased the pace for the rest of the night. Although I was unable to stick around to check out the rest of the bands by all reports they went off! There was a decent turn out, which is good when the venue’s out of town. Out Right Cure did an excellent job providing an opportunity for an all age crowd to see some of the harder music acts circulating Hobart, as well as raising money to prevent youth suicide. Thanks to all the bands who donated their time and all the people who supported the event.
TasMusic Showcase James Hotel - 2/6/06 By Tom Wilson
I walked into the Reality as I’d done hundreds of times before to find punters lounging around on several couches wreathing the corner stage, with the flames of tea lights flickering in the shadows like fireflies. Imagine my surprise. I never thought the Reality would ever look like a jazz club. Was I at the right gig? But that’s the thing; it wasn’t a “gig”. It was a showcase. Opening the night were Carl and Glenn of The Dead Abigails, and after a short but warm announcement welcoming their audience, they played an acoustic/electric collection of their hits and B-sides. Exactly why its taken me this long to realise that Carl’s melodies are some of the strongest I’ve heard from a Tassie act (and this is after seeing them over a dozen times), I’m not really sure. Very, very impressive. Next up were 3 Weeks Late, and…well…apart from noticing some decent drumming towards the end of their set, I really can’t remember these guys at all (I was sober, by the way). Maybe it was the commercial edge to their sound (which sounded more than a little intentional), or maybe it’s my fault for listening to Meshuggah on the way to the gig. Their audience seemed to dig them, though. Last were Fell To Erin. I’d never seen them before, so their distinctly textured take on rock was new to me, and was also largely enjoyable. Let’s just say that I’m kicking myself for not getting a pic of their frontman mid-rock move. They were a good note to end the night on. To sum it up, the club looked great, the turnout was promising, and the music was, for the most part, great.
The Go Set! Sir Veto
Queens Head - 18/5/06 By Duncan Ewington After getting a short peek at The Bad Luck Charm’s support Moe Grizzly at Trout, we made the short hop down to Queen’s head. We arrived to a small crowd, the usual seedy old crew, and a few younger people milling about. The band playing, who I thought were the support, turned out to be Sir Veto. I assumed they were playing a few covers, but it was later revealed as original material. Hmmm, it really didn’t seem all that original, and sounded quite a lot like the regurgitated bile that’s played on commercial radio all day long. I don’t like to be harsh, as generally I want to review things I like, but I was very unimpressed. I found out later that Sir Veto had won an award last year and received a massive recording fund, which changed my mood from unimpressed to appalled. I was amazed by the fact that there’s a lot of groundbreaking original and talented bands in Tassie, and this run-of-the-mill music scored the group big bucks. Anyway we didn’t stick around too long, and zipped back to Trout for a short but sweet set of The Bad Luck Charms’ original music. They finished all too soon, so then it was off to The Republic for the last of The Go Set...
Republic Bar - 18/5/06 By Duncan Ewington
The Whitlams + iOTA
After freezing my arse off on the short but icy walk down through North Hobart from Trout, we were welcomed to the warm surrounds of The Republic Bar where the crowd were in a punk-rock frenzy, whipped up earlier by Hobart’s finest pop-punkers Ballpoint, and the sweethearts of garage rock, The Roobs. Obviously they’d set a high standard for fun, so the crowd went crazy for The Go Set’s energetic and upbeat folk-inspired punk rock.
Tim Freedman and Terepai Richmond – half of The Whitlams, also known as the “halfwits”, as Tim said jokingly, performed to a “V.I.P” audience at Devonport’s Spurs Saloon on Thursday night.
What can you say about a band that incorporates a bagpipe and a mandolin into the mix? Either you love it or hate it. In my case, I’m always keen to see and hear a bit of variety, so it was refreshing for me. The Go Set were inspiring to watch, and really involved the audience. The precedent was fun times, and by the looks on people’s faces that’s what was had by all. I really enjoyed the last song where they got the crowd and all the members of both Ballpoint and The Roobs up on stage for a combined finale. The Go Set have been touring hard, and their visit to Tas this time was no exception, so they gave it their all. I was surprised later to find out they played at Lauderdale’s Foreshore Tavern the next day to a very well received audience, which was then followed by the unsurprising last minute double-booked cancellation at The Lewisham Tavern on the Sunday. If you like your music fun, fast, and folksy, then the next time The Go Set tour (which probably won’t be too far away) go check ‘em out, as you won’t be disappointed.
Spurs Saloon - 01/06/06 By Tina Anderson
Support act, iOTA, opened up the night and from his very first words I was hooked – his voice sounded amazing! He has a great, powerful vocal range. He sounded like a cross between Eddie Vedder and Diesel, yet the music he created was really different and hard to describe. The Whitlams are in Tassie to help promote their latest album, Little Cloud, which was released two months ago. There wasn’t a great gathering at the concert; I’d say around 100 people. Tim joked that it was a V.I.P concert and for people to drag their chairs up close so they could stare into their eyes. With Tim on piano and Terepai on drums, they played a mixture of tunes from the old and new albums, from “No Aphrodisiac” to a song about Gough Whitlam. There were a few songs that got Tim bouncing up and down on his seat like, “Thank You”, and then there were the quieter moments, with nice and laid back songs like “Keep The Light On”, one of my favorites. They kept mixing it up to keep the audience entertained. IOTA joined the lads for a couple of songs including their latest single, “I Was Alive”. I still can’t get over his amazing voice! By the last song audience members finally got up onto the dance floor to groove to the music. Overall it was an entertaining night of great music. PAGE 19