You’ve seen the shows, now meet the stars!*
• Sci-fi • Movies • Anime Aniime • Games Games • Comics • Wrestling Wrestlingg • Comps • Fun! •
Featuring T at thickets or the door roug h
Richard Horvitz Invader Zimm
Wil Wheaton The Big Bang Theory
Jaimie Alexander Thor
Peter Facinelli Twilight
Brian Bendis Ultimate Spider-Man
Edward James Olmos Battlestar Galactica
Jim Kelly Enter the Dragon
Chandler Riggs The Walking Dead
Melbourne Showgrounds, April 14-15
www.supanova.com.au *All guests confirmed health and other commitments pending. †Must be accompanied by a paying adult. CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU
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o 1130 Burw
544 9758 6m P y l l u u G e erntre erntreegullyhotel.co .a F y w H d o .f www
1 Davey St Frankston Ph 9783 83 7311 www.pierlive.com.au
MICHAEL PAYNTER Fri 13 April - Pier Live (The Pelly Bar) SUPPORTS - Rhymada, Maddison Wilson & Ashleigh Rae
Sat 14 April - Ferntree Gully Hotel SUPPORTS - Ian Rickard, Jesse Mitchell & Jess Szalek
ELECTRIC MARY Fri 13 April - Ferntree Gully Hotel SUPPORTS - Money for Rope, Jo Dawson, FineArtDealer & Vesper Lynn
Sat 14 April - Pier Hotel SUPPORTS - Money for Rope, earl, the sh*t c*nts & the Narrow road
BLUEJU!CE Fri 27 April - Pier Live (The Pelly Bar) SUPPORTS - The Cairos, Loon Lake & Club Crain
KISSCHASY Fri 24 April - Ferntree Gully Hotel
ANDREW W.K One-Man-Party-Tour Wed 2 May - Pier Live
SUPPORTS - Anchors Away, Strangely Attraktive, Jekhyl & Pinwheel
SUPPORTS - Aleister X, Heartless Vendetta, Bad Karma & FineArtDealer
NORTHLANE & FEED HER TO THE SHARKS Fri 15 June - Ferntree Gully Hotel
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
SUPPORTS - Bury the Fallen, Summer of Betrayal, Breaking Tradition
360
(18+)
Sat 16 June - Pier Live
Thur 17 May - Ferntree Gully Hotel
SUPPORTS - Hermitude & Bam Bam
SUPPORTS - Fair to Midland, Twelve Foot Ninja, Involume
PPORTS
& LOCAL SU R E T S A M T E K IC
VENUES, T M O R F E L B A TICKETS AVAIL
ARE YOU AN UNSIGNED ARTIST WANTING TO PLAY LIVE AT YOUR LOCAL?
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IN THIS ISSUE...
10
HOT TALK
14
TOURING
16
CHILDREN COLLIDE
18
BLEEDING KNEES CLUB
19
MARK LANEGAN, STONEFIELD, GEORGIA FIELDS
20
ARTS GUIDE, SING YOUR SONG
22
ART OF THE CITY
23
IMMERSION
24
AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, ALTER BRIDGE
THE BELLS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH P.48
41
THE MEDICS P.48
INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH, BALL PARK MUSIC
42
COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE
48
THE BELLS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE MEDICS
THIS WEEK IN 100%:
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PUBLISHER: Furst Media Pty Ltd. MUSIC EDITOR: Taryn Stenvei ARTS EDITOR / ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR: Tyson Wray EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Nick Taras SUB-EDITORS: Michelle Aquilina, Penny Coulson, Jac Manuell GENERAL MANAGER: Patrick Carr SENIOR ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL CO-ORDINATOR: Ronnit Sternfein BEAT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Patrick Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Luke Benge, Matt Crute, Patrick Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill, Rebecca Houlden, Gill Tucker COVER ART: Luke Benge ADVERTISING: Taryn Stenvei (Music: Bands/Tours/Record Labels) taryn@beat.com.au Ronnit Sternfein (100%/Beat/Arts/Education/Ad Agency) ronnit@beat.com.au Aleksei Plinte (Backstage/ Musical Equipment) mixdown@beat.com.au Adam Morgan (Hospitality/Bars) adam@beat.com.au Kris Furst (beat.com.au) kris@furstmedia.com.au 0431 243 808 Grace Arena (Indie Bands/Special Features) grace@furstmedia.com.au CLASSIFIEDS: classiďŹ eds@beat.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: now online at www.beat.com.au or bands email gigguide@beat.com.au ELECTRONIC EDITOR - BEAT ONLINE: Paddington Wray: tyson@beat.com.au
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FEEL PRESENTS
4TH & FINAL SHOW...
SATURDAY 21ST APRIL NATIONAL THEATRE ST. KILDA ON SALE WEDNESDAY 11TH APRIL
WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, PH: 9525 4611 OR IN PERSON AT THE VENUE BOX OFFICE AND ALL TICKETEK OUTLETS
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PRINCESS THEATRE 19–21 APRIL
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THE VERLAINES
REDD KROSS Touring Australia for the Hoodoo Guru's inaugural Dig It Up! concert series, Redd Kross have announced sideshows, in which they will be performing their debut album Born Innocent and the Posh Boy EP in their entirety. Having survived a continually rotating lineup throughout the '80s, including Circle Jerks' Greg Hetson and Black Flag's Ron Reyes, Redd Kross's audacity and slightly obnoxious demeanour in which they write and perform their music has slowly but surely cemented their position as rock'n'roll visionaries. Having already performed as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series, Redd Cross will be performing in Melbourne for the first time in 19 years, at the Northcote Social Club on Friday April 27 with guests Iowa. Tickets are available from April 13 at the Northcote Social Club and online at Feel Presents.
60 SECONDS WITH… SPELL HOUSE What do you love about making music? We like to hang out in the shed but we became too old to waste time in such an obvious manner, so we started making music as a disguise. We also enjoy creating something between the four of us and watching ideas grow and expand in ways we never expected because of another’s input; there’s something super satisfying in that. What do you hate about the music industry? We’re reasonably DIY at this stage so nothing has gone wrong that can’t be blamed on anyone else but ourselves. We’ll have to wait until a multi-billion dollar record label locks us into a 30 album contract and stifles our creative energies before we have something real to bitch about (... offers welcome). So then, what’s the band name and what do you ‘do’ in the band? Spell House (formerly known as Frames) are four guys creating bizarre sounds in a shed out the back of the drummer’s house. Sometimes we begrudgingly recreate these noises in a live setting for people to listen.
What can a punter expect from your live show? We try to present live shows as more of a flowing, linear “experience” than just single, stand alone songs. Lots of changes in mood, dynamic shifts and pantless musicians for the most part; you should definitely come and check it out for yourselves.
What do you think people will say you sound like? People tend to come away with different interpretation of our music dependent on their own musical preferences, so it seems to be quite personal in that regard. We all idolise various bands (Modest Mouse, Sunny Day Real Estate, At the Drive-In, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, etc.) so we guess it’s only natural that we’re somewhat comparable to them.
When’s the gig and with who? We’re headlining a show at Noise Bar in Brunswick on the Saturday April 14 with some really great supports. Empty Armour is opening the night with some soulful acoustic tunes, followed by Hayden Calnin as main support; he’s recently garnered some well deserved attention from triple j and has been gigging around Melbourne with Matt Corby and the like, so we can’t wait to see him perform.
CNR SPRINGVALE & WELLS RD, CHELSEA HEIGHTS PH 9773 4453 WWW.CHELSEAHEIGHTSHOTEL.COM.AU SAT 5TH MAY
THU 10TH MAY
One of the vanguards of the internationally respected Flying Nun label, legendary New Zealand band The Verlaines, will be gracing our Australian shores this Saturday April 14. They will be promoting the release of their eleventh album Untimely Meditations, and are landing at Yah Yah's. This band are noted for their angular and difficult song structures, wordy downbeat lyrics, and unusual subject matter all contained in often frantic up-tempo playing. Support in the tour comes from fellow Flying Nun recording artist Simon Comber and also from one of Sydney's finest groups CROW, who two years ago released their first album in 17 years. Live music starts at 9pm, with late tunes by Sharky Memorial.
RECORD STORE DAY
"To champion Victorian music," this has been Music Victoria's mission since began in late 2009, working hard to ensure our musicians and industry get every opportunity possible. It's now time to make sure such a cause sticks around, and to do so Music Victoria are holding their very first membership drive. From April 16 to 30, Music Victoria are encouraging all music fans to 'Jump on the Bandwagon' and join their cause, to not only cement their position but to support the growth of Melbourne music community. Your contribution not only supports the organisation, but grants you access to Music Victoria events, personal development workshops, Qantas and Virgin access baggage allowance for musicians, and most importantly, voting rights at the Music Victoria Annual General Meeting, giving you an even louder voice in the improvement of our music community. Memberships prices vary from $33 for individuals to $550 for the Gold, so head to musicvictoria.com.au to check it out.
Saturday April 21, make a note of it in your diaries because it's Annual Record Store Day in Australia. Australia’s record stores are amongst the healthiest, most dynamic and vibrant in the world, around 70% of music bought by Australians is bought as a physical product, in others words a CD or a vinyl record. The joy of thumbing through the racks of CDs and DVDs, choosing a purchase and then reading the cover for the detailed history is still alive and well, so get down to your local record store to experience some live music and appearances from top artists along with special offers, competitions and free giveaways as part of the day’s fun. We've got a special running next week. Eyes peeled.
BLACKCHORDS BUCKLEY WARD Buckley Ward will be launching their new album So Pretend at The Toff In Town on Saturday May 19, and then again at Pure Pop Records on Sunday May 27. Foreshadowed by the single Into The Darkening Blue and title track So Pretend, Buckley Ward's forthcoming album is due for release on Friday April 20 through Shock Records. So Pretend is an album with pop at its heart, and something less definable in its veins. Head along and watch the momentum build.
It’s been a long road since the release of the band’s debut album in 2009 to where Blackchords are right now – preparing to release the first new material in a couple of years and the band are very excited. With the new album due for release in August, a brand spanking new single only weeks away, the band have been itching to hit the stage again and will be doing so to showcase the new material at the Phoenix Public Bar on Saturday April 14 with the help of Tully On Tully, Pony Face and Howl At The Moon. Tickets are $10 for both presale and on the door (if available).
SAT 21ST APRIL
SAT 28TH APRIL
CHOCOLATE STARFISH TIX $30
PEZ TIX $27
THU 26TH MAY
TIX $37
STEVENS, BRAITHWAITE & BARKER TIX $37 Beat Magazine Page 10
With a number of shows already sold out, and the rest on the verge of being so, Feel Presents are proud to present a fourth and final Melbourne show for Henry Rollins. Get in fast and circle Saturday April 21 on your calendar for a chance to see the man in action at The National theatre in St Kilda. Tickets on sale today.
MUSIC VICTORIA
BABY ANIMALS
KERSER TIX $17
HENRY ROLLINS
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SAT 2ND JUNE
ABSOLUTELY 80’S MANNIX/CARNE/RYDER TIX $25
HOT TALK
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THE MAPLE TRAIL The Maple Trail, the solo project of Sydney-based musician Aidan Roberts, will launch his stunning new album Cable Mount Warning at The Gasometer on Tuesday April 24 (Anzac Day Eve). With Cable Mount Warning, out now on Broken Stone Records, The Maple Trail charges forth in a calamitous chorus of layered, epic, bright and summery folk songs. Roberts focused almost exclusively on recording acoustic instruments, and the album was mixed with Liam Judson, long time collaborator and co-songwriter in Belles Will Ring. The result is the most concise and buoyant exhibition of The Maple Trail’s sound to date.
MIKELANGELO & THE TIN STAR SPLIT SECONDS If Split Seconds were a football team their pre-season preparation for the 2012 musical season could only be described as impeccable. Entering the building on the ground floor in late 2010, Splits worked their way into the hearts of local independent music fans on the back of their eminently likeable singles All You Gotta Do and Bed Down. Their self-titled EP released in March 2011 helped secure a place in the 2012 triple j Next Crop alumni, followed by national tours alongside Owl Eyes, The Panics and Jebediah, plus a publishing deal with Native Tongue. Now they're moving on up, releasing their new single Top Floor this April and taking it to the streets throughout May, accompanied by Sydney psych-pop dreamers Underlights, who will co-headline the East Coast Second Light Tour. They bring the tour to the Northcote Social Club on Thursday May 10.
CHET FAKER Smooth-as-butter Melbourne electronica artist Chet Faker has announced a third Melbourne launch, having sold out the first two in a matter of days. Catch Chet launch his brilliant release Thinking In Textures at The Toff In Town in Melbourne on Thursday April 19, supported by I'lls. Tickets are available now from Moshtix. Both the Saturday April 21 and Sunday 22 shows are sold out.
KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD One of Melbourne's most shit-hot young bands are gearing up to release their debut full-length. Armed with Bloody Ripper, the first taste of the upcoming LP, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard will hit the road for a national tour. Since releasing the corker of an EP Willoughby's Beach (which earned the distinction of Beat's album of the week) late last year, the seven-piece have managed to kick arse at Meredith Music Festival, Big Day Out, and most recently, Easter weekend's Boogie Festival. King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard perform at Bar Open on Sunday April 29 and The National Hotel Geelong on Friday May 4.
Q&A
Prolific Sydeny independent label Laughing Outlaw records presents their first label showcase gig in Melbourne, with a great lineup headlined by local surf and western sensation Mikelangelo & The Tin Star. The band will be launching their official clip for a smoking instrumental album track No Sign Of A Pipeline. Other Laughing Outlaw acts featured on the bill are Perth psychedelic pop purveyors The Autumn Isles, Sydey's indie rock royalty Bambino Koresh (showcasing their new album) and local boys Wilder. From 8pm, Saturday May 5, at Northcote Social Club.
THE NEARLY BROTHERS
What’s your name then? Oh. And the name of your band… My name is Mark Snarski and the name of the band is The Nearly Brothers. And what do you do? I’m an exotic dancer and a porn scriptwriter. When did you start doing that? When Kung Fu Secret Agent dancing first took off in the late '90s in Madrid and I was the one that invented the steps. Why did you start doing that? Just got sick of hearing about Sting’s sex life and thought there’s got to be more. Do you think you’re good at doing that? I’m really good at what I do. I would say excellent. If you weren’t doing that, what would you be doing? A Marine Biologist. What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? I get to rub coconut oil on the actresses. And what makes you unhappiest about what you’re doing? Sometimes I have to rub coconut oil on the actors.
What’s you proudest moment of doing what you do? There was a movie that we made called Dream Of The Blue Veiner and I approached Sting to do the soundtrack. It’s kind of a tribute to Open Water but there’s no talk about whose turn it is to do the dishes or if the sharks are good or bad. It’s amazing what you can do with flippers, a snorkel and bubbles. And your least proud? Okay. When we approached Sting about Dream Of The Blue Veiner I told him of my many duties on set. As he was lounging around by the pool at his Tuscany estate in his speedos his eyes lit up with the mention of coconut oil. But it got worse. He started playing his 16th century lute. When are you doing your thing next? I’m currently working on a movie in Australia with one of the most promising actors I’ve met for a long time called Mr Special. It’s called The Bush Ranger. THE NEARLY BROTHERS (Mark Snarksi, Mick Harvey and Martyn Casey) play the Oakleigh Caravan Club this Friday April 13.
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Beat Magazine Page 11
HOT TALK
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GROUSE PARTY
DIVORCED Bang in to Melbourne’s most loved venue for the final bangin’ Divorced show for who knows how long. Probably ages. Also on board is the completely insane Bushwalking (featuring memebers of Fabulous Diamonds, Songs and Kes Band) and the void of Iceclaw. Head along and populate the Tote bandroom and backyard this Thursday April 12.
THE WOOHOO REVUE
OWL EYES
Melbourne’s The Woohoo Revue are back with another installment of absolute dance floor mayhem presenting their new album Moreland’s Ball. Tearing up, down and around the country with a string of tour dates befitting a road hardened band of troubadours, you can catch The Woohoo Revue at The Hi-Fi on Friday May 25. Attending a Woohoo Revue show will transport you to a rampaging after-party at a circus sideshow in a palatial ballroom. You should probably head along if you love fun.
Crystalised, Owl Eyes’ new single, was premiered nationally on triple j last week almost one year to the day since the release of Raiders’ and signals an exciting and confident new direction for her, and if 2011 was a massive year for the girl, then 2012 will surely be gargantuan. Taking a short break between writing songs for her debut album Owl Eyes is set to launch Crystalised’on a short run tour of small, intimate venues including a show at The Toff on Sunday May 20. Tickets available through Moshtix.
f r o n t s p a c e 212a Whitehall St
Ya r r a v i l l e
Ph 9687 0233 www.kindredstudios.com.au Saturday 21st April $8 ENTRY
Doors Open 9pm
KINDRED FRONTSPACE PRESENTS Blues Eyes Cry 9:30 - 10:15
Dirty
Little
10:30 - 11:15
West
Brad Martin Project 11:30 - 12:15
Sunday 29th April 2pm - 5pm
Milton with Ray Pereira SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT KINDRED EXPERIENCE THE SOUNDS OF RAY PEREIRA AND HIS NEW BAND
First Friday of the Month OPEN FROM 7PM RIPON AND KINDRED STUDIOS PRESENT
RIPON OPEN STUDIO
COME DOWN AND PERFORM! ALL PERFORMACES RECORDED AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE $20 PER CD
Sunday 6th May e r n e s t .
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p r e s e n t s
TABLE TENNIS T O U R N A M E N T SIGN UP 1PM - 3PM GAME ON 3PM - 6PM
F U L L $ 5
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S A U S A G E S I Z Z L E A N D T H E ULTIMATE LIVE PING PONG BANDS
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Beat Magazine Page 12
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Grouse Party has cooked up a scarily-good lineup for Friday April 13 at The Cornish Arms, headed by very special guest DJ Adalita. Known foremost for fronting Magic Dirt, and for her incredible solo release last year, it’s a little known fact that Adalita also brings the party jams as a DJ. She’s taking some time out from recording her follow-up solo album, and cutting loose with the local queers at Grouse Party. Also on the bill are resident DJ Ann Ominous, plus Criminal Intense (Karina from Young & Restless) in a late-set dancefloor lockdown. Doors at 9pm with $5 entry before 10pm, and $10 after. Details at grouseparty.com.
N’FA JONES Front man of genre bending Australian hip hop collaboration 1200 Techniques, N’fa Jones is set to launch his brand new solo EP Babylondon in Melbourne, on Thursday April 19 at the Grace Darling, Collingwood. Returning home from London in late 2011 with his new EP in hand, N’fa’s recent travels has seen him teaming up on numerous collaborations with Roots Manuva, M-Phazes, 360 and Draft, whilst producing a spectacle of a stop motion video for his latest single March On. Be sure not to miss N’fa Jones Launching Babylondon along with special guests Remi Kolawole and Tom Showtime. Tickets available from Moshtix.
HOT TALK
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ROYSTON VASIE
THE BOMBAY ROYALE The Bombay Royale launch their spectacular debut album You Me Bullets Love on Saturday May 19 at The Hi-Fi with very with special guests The Bluebottles, DJ Manchild, video artist Abracadabla and the Sapphire Dance Group. This week’s 3RRR Album Of The Week, The Bombay Royale mash up the magic and mayhem of vintage Bollywood with surf guitar, crazy rhythms, outrageous costumes and irresistible dance moves. Throw in two huge screens to transform The Hi-Fi into a sub-continental cinematic extravaganza, and you’ve got a party of Bollywood dimensions. Tickets on sale now from thehifi.com.au. You Me Bullets Love is out now on HopeStreet Recordings through Fuse. Head to hopestreetrecordings.com/ymbl to download the irresistible title track, or listen to the whole album currently streaming at soundcloud.com/ hopestreet-recordings.
IOWA Iowa’s debut album Never Saw It Coming will be unleashed on Friday 20 April, 2012 through Aerial Mines Records. Including breakthrough single Complete Control and current single Panic Attack (currently doing the rounds on community radio nationally), Never Saw It Coming captures Iowa’s raw power in full flight. Iowa will be launching their debut album Never Saw It Coming at Phoenix Public House in Melbourne on Saturday 21 April. Earplugs will be kindly provided by Iowa for this event. Seriously. Tickets available through Moshtix.
60 SECONDS WITH… OSCAR + MARTIN
Royston Vasie get set to release their highly anticipated debut album Tanahmerah in June and are giving you a taste of what’s to come in the way of the catchy first single You Want It Now. Having just returned from a successful national tour with the great Ben Kweller and Manchester Orchestra the band has gained a reputation for being one of the most exciting live acts in the country. To celebrate the band will launch the first single You Want It Now at the Northcote Social Club on Saturday April 28, tickets on sale now.
CASH SAVAGE & THE LAST DRINKS If you missed Cash Savage head up her fine-tuned Last Drinks at the Spiegeltent in March, you missed another milestone in the inevitable rise to glory of one of Melbourne’s signature acts. Already revered in music haunts across Victoria, Cash spent 2011 grooming a tight-knit tour bus of local talent into an impeccably unpredictable blues country outfit. The result is a well-oiled assemblage of sizzling performers, capable of delivering the rousing live experience for which Cash is so widely acclaimed. Cash is no longer one of Melbourne’s best-kept secrets. She plays two special gigs this month: Friday April 20 at the Phoenix Public House with Eddie James And The Prowl and Hounds Hounds Hounds, plus the Caravan Music Club in Oakleigh on Saturday April 21 with The Nymphs.
CLAIRY BROWNE & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes featuring fierce leading lady Clairy Browne and her harmonising girl group, The Bangin’ Rackettes, have been tearing down the house at venues all over the country since 2009. This month, they kick of their national tour for their latest single Love Letter at The Prince with multiple stages, a marching band, special guests and heaps more. It’s all happening on Friday April 27.
Name/Band: Oscar and Martin (Oscar + Martin) Define your genre in five words or less: “Just a couple of guys appreciating architecture.”
some
Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? A lot of people say we sound kind of nostalgic, or sentimental, but in a genuine way I would hope. Describe the best gig you have ever played. This reminds me of a boy I was babysitting recently, he was so sweet and curious and asked so many questions. But every topic we touched on he would always ask what “the best” was, or “number one” and stuff. i had to tell him every moment has its qualities, things aren’t better or worse, they are just different. For instance a really memorable show we once played was when we were playing in a hall, and the power shorted. So we did a makeshift acoustic set (me playing piano and Martin playing a couple of floor toms), and it was heaps of fun even though it was technically a disaster.
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Tell us about the last song you wrote. The last song I wrote is sort of an R&B style vocal I wrote over a Thomas William beat. It’s called Higher Than Me. It’s kind of about not being able to hold back making love, even though you both know you’re just going to hurt each other…well about that sort of thing. Where would you like to be in five years? I’m not sure exactly, I would really like to live overseas. Do you have a pre-gig ritual? If so, what is it? I usually like to find a reverberant space, like a stairwell or car park or something, and just sing for a while. I like to be alone before a show, and I’m usually really weird company if I am around people. Sometimes Martin and I like to do ‘Vin Deisels’ (sit ups) before a show. OSCAR + MARTIN play the Hand Games launch party with City Calm Down and Nakagin/Wooshie on Friday April 20 at The Liberty Social.
Beat Magazine Page 13
TOURING
WHO'S ON TOUR, WHERE AND WHEN
For all the latest touring news check out beat.com.au
INTERNATIONAL JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE Regal Ballroom April 11, Prince Bandroom April 12 DAWES Toff In Town April 12 PETER HOOK The Palace April 12 THE VERLAINES Yah Yah’s April 14 LOU BARLOW Northcote Social Club April 17, April 18 HENRY ROLLINS The National Theatre April 18, 19, 20, 21 SUPAFEST TBA April 21 THE 5.6.7.8’S The Tote April 24 DIG IT UP! HOODOO GURUS INVITATIONAL The Palace April 25 MARK LANEGAN BAND Forum Theatre April 26 AN HORSE Corner Hotel April 27 RED KROSS Northcote Social Club April 27 SIX60 The Hi-Fi April 27 THE SONICS Caravan Music Club April 27 THE EXPLOITED Corner Hotel April 28 CHERRY ROCK Cherry Bar April 29 FU MANCHU The Tote April 30 CITY & COLOUR Palais Theatre May 2 ANDREW W.K. Corner Hotel May 4 ORBITAL Palace Theatre May 4 DEVILDRIVER, DARKEST HOUR Billboard The Venue May 6 THE DARKNESS Palace Theatre May 8
60 SECONDS WITH...
THE GOOD SHIP Describe your sound in five words or less: Porno, country, folk, cabaret. So, someone is walking past as you guys are playing, they then go get a beer and tell their friend about you... what do they say? They don’t walk past, they dance past. And when they go get a beer, they bring it back to one of us, forget about their friend, laugh, shout, sing and dance some more. What part of making music excites you the most? Definitely the performance. We have just finished our
Beat Magazine Page 14
WAVVES Corner Hotel May 9 FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS The Espy May 10 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Corner Hotel May 10 dEUS Corner Hotel May 12 PUBLIC ENEMY The Palace March 15 KAISER CHIEFS Palace Theatre May 16
GOATWHORE Corner Hotel July 6 MELISSA ETHERIDGE The Plenary July 15 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS Belongil Fields Byron Bay July 27 - 29 HANSON The Palace September 14 RADIOHEAD Rod Laver Arena November 16, 17
NATIONAL
THE MACABEES The Hi-Fi May 16 MUTEMATH Corner Hotel May 15, 17 NICKI MINAJ Hisense Area May 18 NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK/BACKSTREET BOYS Rod Laver Arena May 18, 19 BRIAN JONESTOWN MASACRE The Forum Theatre May 19 FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE Rod Laver Arena May 20 BARRY ADAMSON Corner Hotel May 23 S CLUB 7 The Palace May 23 VIVID LIVE Sydney May 25 - June 3 MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND Northcote Social Club May 28 YOUNG GUNS The Hi-Fi May 30 LIGHT ASYLUM Phoenix Public House June 1 SIMPLE PLAN Festival Hall June 2 ZOLA JESUS The Toff In Town June 3 SISTER SLEDGE The Hi-Fi June 7 REEF Billboard June 8 MARK KOZELEK The Toff In Town June 9, Phoenix Public House June 11 THE BLACK SEEDS Corner Hotel June 15 LADY GAGA Rod Laver Arena June 27, 28, 30, July 1, 3
THE MEDICS Northcote Social Club April 13 MY DISCO The Toff In Town April 15 SOUNDS LOUD Queens Park April 15 FAKER The Espy April 14 BALL PARK MUSIC The Corner April 14, 15, 16 LAST DINOSAURS Phoenix Public House April 17, Northcote Social Club April 20, May 2 N’FA JONES Grace Darling April 19 HUSKY Corner Hotel April 19, May 6, Barwon Club April 20 KISSCHASY Inferno Traralgon April 20, Ferntree Gully Hotel April 24 THE MAPLE TRAIL Gasometer April 24 BLEEDING KNEES CLUB Northcote Social Club April 21 TIN SPARROW Grace Darling April 21, 22 CHET FAKER Toff In Town April 19, 21, 22 POND Northcote Social Club April 22, 23 BIG SCARY The Corner Hotel April 24 KISSCHASY Ferntree Gully Hotel April 24 STONEFIELD Northcote Social Club April 24, 25 JOHN BUTLER The Hi-Fi April 24, 25 EMMY BRYCE, KATE VIGO Thornbury Theatre April 26 DZ DEATHRAYS The Tote April 27 BLUEJUICE The Hi-Fi April 28 SAN CISCO Corner Hotel May 1, 2 THE GETAWAY PLAN Corner Hotel May 3
second album (due for release in July) and while it has been a great experience, we’ve all been itching to get back on stage and play together. It’s why we exist. (That, or it’s the sublime adoration and possibility of getting action off some half-cut groupie.) Tell us about the last song you wrote. It was a combined effort with John and Daz, called No Good Deed. We were on tour last year, and approached a hitch-hiker on the highway. He was by all accounts dapper and well presented – possibly in his 80s. After a flurry of ‘should we get him/should we not’s, we drove straight past without a hint of slowing down. Less than a minute later it began to rain biblically. We remained silent for a moment, reflecting on our poor choice. The only logical thing was for us to spend the rest of the journey penning a song on the uke, about him being a nomadic serial killer (though
somewhat reluctant). It then became justified to us, that we did not need to pick him up. How do you stop your pre-gig jitters? They’re frequently too hard to distinguish from sobriety jitters. So put simply, I kill the two birds with one stone and administer a tarty glass of red and whatever else is around. What advice would you give to bands that are new on the
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DAPPLED CITIES Northcote Social Club May 4 GOSSLING Thornbury Theatre May 5 BEN WELLS& THE MIDDLE NAMES The Toff In Town May 9 KIMBRA Palais Theatre May 9 SPLIT SECONDS Northcote Social Club May 10 CALLING ALL CARS The Hi-Fi May 11 JOSH PYKE The Forum May 11 MICK THOMAS The Regal Ballroom May 11 CATCALL Toff In Town May 12 LEADER CHEETAH Northcote Social Club May 19 BOY & BEAR The Hi-Fi May 20 TUMBLEWEED The Tote May 25, 26 LANIE LANE Corner Hotel May 26, 27, 28 TEMPER TRAP The Forum May 29, 30 TZU Corner Hotel June 1 GRAVEYARD TRAIN The Hi-Fi June 1, 2 THE JEZABELS Festival Hall June 1 THE MISSION IN MOTION The Tote June 2 MATT CORBY The Forum June 6 BONJAH Corner Hotel June 8 DEEP SEA ARCADE Phoenix Public House June 8 THE HARD-ONS The Tote June 9 360 The Hi-Fi June 15 KARNIVOOL The Hi-Fi July 5, 6, 7
RUMOURS Ace Of Base, Drake, The Similou, Miike Snow, Hot Chip, The Knife, The Superholics follow-up gig after Boogie. = New Announcements = Beat Proudly Presents
Melbourne music scene? Don’t be arseholes. That doesn’t mean you should have to kiss someone else’s. It’s just called integrity… Arseholes. THE GOOD SHIP bring their Seven Seas tour to the Grace Darling on Saturday April 14 with support from Rapskallion.
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Every Wednesday from 7.30pm Hosted By Jess Maguire (Triple R Breakfaster) & George H $16 pot and parma (or chickpea kofta) specials Table Bookings Advised: 9427 7300
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Beat Magazine Page 15
CHILDREN COLLIDE BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
There’s not a whole lot of difference between the Children Collide that took to the stage on a lowly weeknight at Ding Dong Lounge back in the mid-2000s and the current alternative-radio-dominating iteration. Back then, the band – which consisted of lead singer Johnny Mackay, bassist Heath Crawley, and then-drummer (the band’s second) Steph Hughes – were gaining traction with the success of the single Amphibious, joining the throng of post-Jet, post-Wolfmother Aussie rock acts gaining national attention. That night at Ding Dong featured a fairly balanced lineup of rising talent, but none went on to achieve the success that Children Collide experienced. It’s in this sense that the band are survivors, proving to be one of the select few rock acts of the past decade or so to prosper into the 2010s. With the release of the often-elusive third LP on the horizon, the band have taken what some would see as a monumental setback in their stride, with the band’s fourth drummer, Ryan Ceaser, quitting the band in a candid fashion. You could attribute the band’s steady avoidance of creative entropy to this no-bullshit approach. While the band’s sound has increased to epic proportions, and their experience with a revolving door drummer roster, it’s that tenacity which has carried them from the humble surrounds of Ding Dong and into our current decade – whereas so many others have failed. In the midst of the final tour with Ceaser, Mackay lets us in on the creation of the new record. “That is something that the three of us have together, that drive. Obviously we’re about to lose our fourth drummer, but that drive definitely made him a part of our team. Maybe some bands just don’t have that. For me it’s just something that I can’t not do. And for me to have this avenue and to be able to make a living off it and be able to play for people, it’s something I will always fight for, for sure,” he states. Rather than spew forth the hackneyed cry of “creative differences”, the band laid everything out in announcing Ceaser’s departure. “[Giving a vague explanation] was contemplated, but that’s really not who we are,” Mackay reasons. “Also it would have left room for a lot of really annoying interviews if we had to tapdance around it. There’s really not much more to say on it. He’s a really good dude and one of the best drummers in the country. Just sometimes these things don’t work out on a personal level. Saying that, this tour’s been great.” Historically, it’s around the stage of the third album in which three-piece rock outfits tend to expand their ranks, whether it be in the studio or in the live setting. As Johnny explains, he’s content with the notion of ample onstage real estate. “This album actually has a few extra bits on it where we could actually get someone else in to play. But we’ve always had the extra noises going on in our production. I guess it’s a thought, but I suppose our space dynamic would be pretty weird on a smaller stage – with an extra person there I’d probably end up knocking over their keyboard or whatever they’d play,” he laughs. “But Beat Magazine Page 16
that could be part of the fun, I dunno.” Monument more than lives up to its title, sounding stadium-sized despite adhering to the triptych of instrumentation. “That all comes down to Woody [Annison, producer] really,” Johnny explains. “Woody and I would sit there with three or four amps set up, I’d be pulling out pedals left, right and centre. We’d have up to ten or 12 guitars, maybe more, to choose from. We’d just sort of go through and test the sound. Woody’s done a really great job on the production.” Just as George Martin was unofficially labelled the fifth Beatle, Johnny has no qualms in calling Woody
“IT’S A MASSIVE TURNOFF FOR ME WHEN I HEAR AUSTRALIAN BANDS SING WITH AN AMERICAN ACCENT. THEY GENERALLY SOUND LIKE DICKS.” the fourth bandmate. “In a sense, yeah. We did our second EP with him, as well as pretty much all our demos since then. Not so much on a creative level, but on a production level he’s that for sure.” The concept of a pre-album launch tour can prove to be a bit daunting, with newer material lacking the benefit of familiarity. Though that may be the case for the trio’s current tour, the fresh cuts are going down a treat. “We’re only doing a couple off the record on this tour, but there’s one called Cherry that’s killing it live. Everybody’s just paying attention to it, which feels good,” he beams.
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The first taste of the album came in the form of Sword To A Gunfight, a track which has drawn favourable comparisons to Primal Scream – an influence which may have come about from sharing the bill on the 2011 Big Day Out. “I dunno, I always experiment in a lot of different ways. Whatever I’m listening to at the time seems to come out. That’s sort of what just happened, it wasn’t very conscious. Sword To A Gunfight was written pretty much straight after the Big Day Out tour, and I was just mucking about in my room trying to get a little bit like Bobby [Gillespie]. It didn’t really turn out that much like Primal Scream, but it’s always fun to try and attempt those things,” Johnny ponders. “I’m not a very good emulator, so whenever I try to emulate it always sounds like I’m trying to do something else anyway. There’s probably a lot more early ‘70s German stuff on there more than anything.” Having made mention of that UK and German influence, the band retains a distinctly Australian virtue, one which they hold onto with pride. “I just feel like I sound like a fake dick when I sing with an American accent. I think a lot of people do. It’s a massive turn-off for me when I hear Australian bands sing with an American accent. They generally sound like dicks,” he laughs in his broad Aussie accent. Averaging around one album per year, Children Collide stand as one of the very few modern acts to maintain a prolific output. “I find it difficult to restrain the output,” Johnny states. “I’d put out more albums if it was feasible. I’ve got hundreds of songs sitting there ready to go. I’m not saying they’re all good, but I do write a lot of songs,” he grins. With the current single tour wrapping up before the album’s release at the end of month, the band have no concrete plans for the middle of the year. Obviously, auditioning a new drummer is a foremost priority. “I’m trying not to think about it at the moment,” he states. “As far as we’re concerned, Ryan’s our drummer. And once he finishes, we’ll just sift through the hundreds of drummers who have contacted us so far and choose a small group to have a muck around with and see how we feel. My sister is an organisational psychologist and she does those personality tests on people, and my mum’s been saying, ‘Why don’t you get her to do a personality test on your new drummer?’ Then I have to tell her that it really wouldn’t go down that well,” he chuckles. Already a formidable force on the festival circuit, it looks like the upcoming season won’t disappoint the band’s devout following. “I’d say we’ll do a bunch of festivals. I’m going overseas for a bit, so I dunno what’ll happen there. Then when I get back we’ll do the album launch tour, because what we’re doing now is only the single tour. I’m sure our manager has grand plans, but who knows what they are – I have limited knowledge at the moment,” Johnny reveals in a suitably matter-of-fact way. Monument is released on Friday April 20 through Universal Music. CHILDREN COLLIDE will wrap up their massive Sword To A Gunfight Tour at The Corner on Friday April 13. Unfortunately for fans, the show is soldout.
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Beat Magazine Page 17
BLEEDING KNEES CLUB BY JOSHUA KLOKE
Outside the Liberty Social House, scores of young hipsters smoke their weight in rolled cigarettes, laughing entirely too hard at tasteless jokes. The underground club may be located deep in the heart of Melbourne’s business district, but on this evening, the alley has the distinct feel of a house party that’s just minutes away from imploding. Descending down the stairs into a greasy basement, the hipsters have traded their rolled smokes for cheap cans of lager. And even if anyone had a joke to tell, they wouldn’t have been heard amidst the onstage madness that is Bleeding Knees Club, a Gold Coast trio whose relentless brand of careless punk rock has turned the tiny stage and the band’s adoring crowd on their head. Despite the relatively loose and blithe mood underground, the atmosphere teeters: one wrong move and the whole evening could turn into a bad joke. One right move and Bleeding Knees Club could cement their status as one of the country’s most effective party bands. And Alex Wall, guitarist and vocalist of Bleeding Knees Club, sees no problem with that equation. “It’s how we started. The first show we did was at a warehouse,” says the 22 year-old over a coffee in a Albert Park café the next morning. “It’s a lot more fun. Everyone’s partying harder, there’s nothing pretentious about [the crowd] whatsoever.” It’s the band’s ability to act as the soundtrack to the world’s greatest party which may end up being their calling card. Throughout their short set, they proved effective at making an impact quickly; mid-way through their set, band members fought with their cramped surroundings by attempting to break holes in the ceiling above them with their instruments. Still, for Bleeding Knees Club, it’s not the size of the stage that matters, but the attitude with which you approach that stage. “We’ve played festivals. But even if we get to play larger venues, we’d still go about things with the same approach. I mean, if I had my way, I’d just play house parties everyday,” says Wall. “But in saying that,” chimes in bassist Jordan Malane, seated beside him, “We would have to make sure that we were aware of our surroundings, when playing festivals.” “We really like what the crowd offers at smaller shows. You can’t just walk into the crowd when you’re playing a festival,” says Wall, quite literally. The band routinely made their way into the crowd, only bridging the gap even further between band and audience. “And shows like last night, there’s not a lot of room, so you’re forced to get creative. I was practically falling off my chair yesterday trying to play!” says Malane with a chuckle. After watching their performance at Liberty Social, one could be quickly forgiven into thinking that the band are in it just for the visceral kicks that come with being in a young band. Knowing that house parties are a dime a dozen, I ask them point blank how Bleeding Knees Club view the business side of the music industry and how they plan on differentiating themselves from the hordes of other young acts. “We take that side of things very seriously,” says Malane .“It’s fun doing all these house shows and stuff but if you don’t have a manager and you don’t have people around you that understand what you’re trying to do and support you, then it’s not really worth it. We’ve worked very hard to push ourselves.” “And it’s not like all these punk bands that do things on their own aren’t great,” says Wall. “But you need to get out there,” he continues. “You need to be heard, you need to get your name out there. And we’ve been fortunate to have been able to utilise things like the internet to our advantage. I’ve had tons of people come to our shows, having heard nothing about us before or not even liking the kind of music that we play and really enjoyed the show, because we were able to get it out there. And the shows are actually quite different than the record.” It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Bleeding Knees Club as of late, with their debut full-length, Nothing To Do, dropping to critical praise and tours of America including a stop at South By Southwest. They’re keeping their head above water by throwing all their energy behind Nothing To Do knowing it could be their last. “It certainly was at the start,” says Wall after being asked if the past few months had become overwhelming for the band. “We were getting lots of hype in the beginning, and yet we were trying very hard not to be a ‘hype’ band. Being in a band, you can see why the industry gets to people and becomes too overwhelming to focus. So many of our favourite bands have just made one album, and that’s it.” “It could be cool to just to do one album and call it quits,” laughs Malane, though there’s a hint of seriousness in his statement. “But we’ll see how things go.” “Even while all this industry bullshit is happening all around you, you’re still working towards being able to play good shows, release songs you’re proud of,” he continues. “That’s what you get out of it. It all levels out. You can get bummed out about some things, but after a show like last night, you can stay on a high for a long time.” For Bleeding Knees Club, that high is only just beginning. “Yeah,” says Wall. “If I had my way, I’d play a show every night.”
BEAT BRAG RAVE TONEDEAF PRESENTS
BAD REALITY TOUR 2012
SO
LD
OU
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TUE 24 APRIL WED 25 APRIL
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB DELTA RIGGS KINGSWOOD NORTHCOTESOCIALCLUB.COM
N E W S I N G L E B A D R E A L I T Y O U T N O W F A C E B O O K . C O M / S T O N E F I E L D B A N D
Beat Magazine Page 18
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BLEEDING KNEES CLUB bring the party to Northcote Social Club on Saturday April 21. They also play the allages Sounds Loud Festival taking place at Queens Park in Moonee Ponds this Sunday April 15. Nothing To Do is out now on I Oh You.
MARK LANEGAN BAND BY ANDREW WEAVER
Mark Lanegan is a prolific creator. For all the talk that his latest LP, Blues Funeral, is a marked departure from his ‘usual’ sound, the fact of the matter remains that Lanegan’s choices have always been perverse. Born in November 1964, Lanegan was a drug addict before he was of legal age. He was arrested at 18 and sentenced to a year, but was fortunate to go through a diversion program. It was around this time he met Van Conner and his brother Gary Lee. They formed Screaming Trees in 1985 in Seattle (just as grunge began waving it’s flannel shirt like a flag at the crumbling moshpit), signed to SST, and by their fifth album in 1991 they were part of a major label. Nearly Lost You may have won the band wider exposure, but they were never hugely successful. By the time the Trees broke up in 2000, Lanegan had released a succession of excellent solo albums, culminating in 2001’s brilliant Field Songs. From there he teamed up with Josh Homme, who had played guitar in Screaming Trees for a stint, to be part of Queens Of The Stone Age. Collaborations quickly followed – a long-awaited partnership with Afghan Whig’s Greg Dulli materialised in 2008, three albums were recorded with
Isobel Campbell, and there were works with English electronica duo Soulsavers, and three albums with the Twilight Singers. His last ostensibly ‘solo’ release, Bubblegum, included a host of collaborations with the likes of Homme, Dulli and PJ Harvey. “I enjoy doing all kinds of records,” Lanegan says. “It’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘solo’ album, but I enjoyed it.” There are loops, drum effects, and a lot of different sounds occurring throughout Blues Funeral, as Lanegan experiments in different approaches to making music. It certainly makes for a stylistically different record to the organic sounds of past solo albums. “I didn’t really think about it going in – it’s just the direction that it took. Once I cast a couple of songs in that direction by writing with people who had a drum machine or a synthesiser, it pointed [the whole album] in the direction.” The songs for Blues Funeral came quickly, and were recorded with Alain Johannes – himself a member of Queens Of The Stone Age and a co-writer of the
Lanegan-sung Hanging Tree – in his studio in California. “I don’t know if it was important,” Lanegan weighs up on the album’s spontaneity. “It was just the way that it happened. We were really just starting from scratch… I tend to write a lot of songs when making a record, so that part of it wasn’t really a big difference.” As an artist, Lanegan has prospered by being a maverick, making whatever music that he feels like making with whomsoever he chooses – and Blues Funeral is another fine addition to a collection by a musician who seems tireless. When he tours the record in Australia with the Mark Lanegan band, they won’t try to replicate the sound on record, but the songs will still be notably muscular
when compared to previous solo releases. “We’re not going to play an imitation of the record,” Lanegan expands of his performance plans. “It’s a ‘version’ of those songs and I’ll be playing with four other guys and we’ll be doing them if not note-for-note with the record but with a mix of sound that makes it sound good.”
Speaking to Hannah, it’s obvious that the most exciting and important part of the whole experience are the live performances. As she described it, “it’s just a pure rock‘n’roll show – lots of energy and just really fun.” The band’s electric sound is yet to be further emphasised with their upcoming EP. Having worked with renowned producer Lindsay Gravina (Magic Dirt, The Living End, Rowland S. Howard), Hannah admits that with every new dimension of the band’s progression comes a satisfactory step towards their continuing ambitions. “I feel like our songwriting has improved a lot and we’ve learnt a lot of things from past recordings, but it also does have that same rock sound [that you can hear in] all of our other songs.” One would assume that the Stonefield girls already have their year cut out for them. But everything aforementioned is just the beginning, with the sisters planning on releasing a sophomore record by the year’s end.
“We haven’t gotten really into [recording the album] yet, but we’re aiming to have it done by the end of this year. We’ve started working on it now, but we’re going to finish it in-between touring this EP and yeah, just taking every opportunity that we can get while working hard on writing.” “Once we get the album out, we’re really hoping that we’ll be able to head overseas and tour over there as much as we can. And yeah, just keeping on improving our writing and playing as many shows as we can to hopefully bigger and bigger audiences.”
“I’ve also got plans to record it live, to capture the performance. When everybody is playing together and you feed off one another, you can hear that when you listen back to the recording. That’s something you just don’t get when you layer a song up on Pro Tools. Even if there are a few mistakes, you just have to accept that it’s part of the recording,” she says. This change in direction is to be broadcasted in every way possible, even down to her attire – she will adorn a customdesigned outfit by Jessica Yorston of clothing label Stella Blanche especially for the show. “Lately I’ve been getting really inspired by Bowie, particularly his Ziggy Stardust era, and I’ve been backtracking to ‘90s Bjork too. I’ve also been researching paganism, in particular, moon worship and ancient rites surrounding lunar cycles. Looking at it across a huge spectrum of time, it’s really apparent how much costume plays a part in the way we experience the ritual of live music.
“I’ve never had a stage costume designed before, so I’m pretty excited! And Stella Blanche has this fantastic mashup of sci-fi, mod, and ‘60s Tropicana, so I can’t wait to see what she comes up with,” says Fields. An enchanting venue that seems so fitting for Fields’ sophisticated, quirky pop, she says the opportunity couldn’t have come at a more perfect time in her career. “I feel so lucky to be playing at The Spiegeltent and it’s definitely going to be a special show for me. It feels like it’s the end of a chapter – a perfect way of closing off the orchestral direction and peeking into what might be coming in the future.”
MARK LANEGAN BAND plays The Forum Theatre on Thursday April 26 with Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions. Blues Funeral is now out via 4AD/ Remote Control.
STONEFIELD BY SIMONE ZIADA
What started out as jamming in the family shed soon turned into something extraordinary for Stonefield. Coming from a tiny rural town just north of Melbourne, the four Findlay sisters – Amy, Hannah, Sarah and Holly, were just coming to the end of recording their first EP, Through The Clover, when their mum mentioned that they should apply for triple j’s Unearthed competition. Apprehensive as to whether their song, Foreign Lover, would make the competition cut, the girls – all aged between 13 and 21 – bit their tongues and entered the competition anyway. What did they have to lose, right? And just like they say with any great tale, the rest is history. I spoke to guitarist and second-oldest member of the band, Hannah, about all things Stonefield, and the perks of being in a band with people that share the same gene pool. “We sort of thought that there wasn’t much point [entering the Unearthed competition]. We didn’t think that we had a chance because we’d listened to some of the other bands, and they were all amazing. But we [entered the competition] anyway, and we won it. We were all really surprised and we were really happy with it – hearing our song on the radio was absolutely crazy, and having so many more people know about our band. It was amazing.” From that time forward, the Findlay sisters have only gone from strength to strength, taking their sounds all around Australia, and spreading their love for music and rock‘n’roll across the seas. And with numerous accolades already under their belt, the girls continue to have their sights set on just what’s next on the Stonefield agenda. “I think probably playing Glastonbury has pretty much been the biggest highlight of the band so far. It was a really, really good experience. Supporting Foo Fighters as well, that was really crazy. And just being able to go on tour around
Australia and have people turn up to our shows, it’s all just been amazing.” But as much as the sun has already shone down on the Darraweit Guim foursome, whose music diet growing up consisted of the likes of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, there is still much more to come from these sisters. Their latest single, Bad Reality, has been making its way around triple j radio and iTunes with rave success, further emphasising just why Stonefield are keeping the pure Australian music scene alive. “I think [working with my sisters is] good because we know how each other works, we know when to give each other space. If somebody’s feeling a little bit frustrated, we try and just let them do their thing until they’ve calmed down a little bit, and then we can get back into it. We’ve always been really close, and have always hung out together, so I think we should be fine for a long time,” Hannah laughs. “I feel like [over time] our song-writing has improved a lot and we’ve learnt a lot of things from past recordings – how we could make it better, and little things like that; trying to make everything sound as good as we can get it.”
STONEFIELD launch their single Bad Reality at the Northcote Social Club on Tuesday April 24 (soldout) and Wednesday April 25. Tickets available from northcotesocialclub.com. They also play the all-ages Sounds Loud festival taking place at Queens Park in Moonee Ponds this Sunday April 15.
GEORGIA FIELDS BY CALLUM FITZPATRICK
Playing one final show before she disappears into hibernation to work on her highlyanticipated second album, Georgia Fields will be visiting The Famous Spiegeltent, along with her band and string quartet, to present the lush string arrangements of her first record, along with a preview of what can be expected from her completely new artistic incarnation. It has been a busy couple of years for Fields, which saw the release of her critically-acclaimed, self-titled debut album, a touring schedule which was relentless to say the least, and a performance on SBS’s RocKwiz beside ‘60s crooner Normie Rowe. It’s as a result of these experiences that Fields says she has evolved as a musician and has adopted a newfound confidence in her music. “I feel like I’ve come such a long way since my first album. I look back at it and feel like I was just a baby back then, even though it was only two years ago. It’s been a pretty intense period. I did a lot of solo touring last year, which was good, but also really tough. It definitely forced me to come out of my shell a lot.” Although Fields’ musical roots have always been firmly planted in pop, there has forever been an experimental element to her craft – notably with the use of children’s toys, lemonade cans and a cordless drill being used to spice up her recordings. This is something she says she wants to explore further, without ignoring her long-standing love for all things pop. “I’ve always pursued a very ‘60s orchestral-pop sound
after being inspired by Brian Wilson and The Beatles’ stuff. But recently I’ve been getting into David Bowie and Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ production. But then again, I also listened to a lot of Mariah Carey when I was growing up and I’m a pretty die-hard fan. “I suppose that when I used the drill and the toy, it was just a playfulness I wanted to bring to the songs. I like nabbing little elements from different sub genres and bringing them back to pop.” Fields’ visit to The Spiegeltent will see as much roleswapping as the multi-instrumentalist is famous for – ukulele, to grand piano and electric guitar at the very least. Also, as well as showcasing favourites from her self-titled debut and 2007’s Drama On The High Seas Of Emotion EP, this will also be an outlet to audition material from her up coming sophomore LP, which she says is still fully being realised. “With the new album, there’ll still be a lot of strings, because I love strings, but I’m also hoping to incorporate earthier, grittier sounds, mixed with lots of vintage, sparkly, psychadelic Casio shimmery synths.
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GEORGIA FIELDS will be playing at The Famous Spiegeltent on Monday April 16 from 7pm to 8pm. Tickets to this very intimate performance are available via the Arts Centre website. Beat Magazine Page 19
THIS WEEK: ON SCREEN Girls, it’s time to get those tissues ready. You would have had to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard that the much-loved James Cameron classic, Titanic, is heading back to cinema screens – this time, in three-dimensional. Need a bit more Leo action? Head to IMAX, where the age-old romance of Jack and Rose can be relived within the walls of one of the greatest 3D-viewing experiences that Melbourne has to offer. That’s right, you’ll get to witness those infamous nude-painting, car-fornicating scenes in a much larger, much more dimensional experience. But we all know what that means (spoiler alert), we get to see Leonardo DiCaprio die in a whole new way. On that sombre note, Titanic will be playing at IMAX from now until Sunday April 15.
ON STAGE Do the shows True Blood or Six Feet Under ring any bells? How about Hollywood film American Beauty? Alan Ball is a writing genius, if we’ve ever seen one. And, lucky us, the genius himself is getting ready to bring his work down under with his new play, All That I Will Ever Be. A darkly funny tale of cultural provocation and our eternal search for belonging, the play tells of two young men in contemporary Los Angeles of polar-opposite backgrounds, Dwight and Omar. All That I Will Ever Be will make its way to Chapel Off Chapel from Wednesday May 9 - Sunday May 20. To book, give them a buzz on 8290 7000.
ON DISPLAY Celebrating its 30th year in existence, the Jewish Museum of Australia’s Aleph Bet exhibition kicks off with a family-friendly open day and a latenight opening for all you night owls out there. The exhibition, which was the museum’s first of 2011, is a vibrant, colourful and dynamic double-exhibition that explores the Hebrew alphabet. Best of all, it’s for everyone. Aleph Bet: the artistry and poetry of the Hebrew alphabet, works by Marc Lopez Bernal is a mystical and poetic journey, and one which can be had for nothing in return as the Jewish Museum opens its doors to the general public for free, this Sunday April 15 from 10am-5pm. And for all you nocturnal beings out there, its late night opening will be held on Tuesday April 17 until 10pm.
BEAT’S PICK OF THE WEEK: tinning st. gallery is pleased to present Splitting Image – a group showcase surveying current practices in contemporary collage. Running from Thursday April 12 – Sunday April 22, young Melbourne curator Laura Couttie has amalgamated six local artists who practice in collage; reusing and re-contextualising discovered materials to create new meanings and unexpected realities. Splitting Image showcases the works of established and highly regarded artists Tai Snaith and Lillian O’Neil, alongside a group of young, emerging artists including Zoe Croggon, Rupert Carr-Gregg, Minna Gilligan and Georgia Robenstone. Make sure you head down to Lot 5/29 Tinning St, in Brunswick Thursday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.
FREE SHIT
ALTER BRIDGE: LIVE AT WEMBLEY Live at Wembley is the second concert film and live album by the rock legends Alter Bridge. The DVD was filmed at the band’s largest headline show to date at Wembley Arena on November 29, 2011, and we’ve got some copies to giveaway. Clickety-clack on beat.com.au/freeshit to win.
Beat Magazine Page 20
SING YOUR SONG BY PATRICK EMERY
Like many people, documentary filmmaker Susanne Rostock’s first introduction to legendary singer, actor and performer Harry Belafonte was listening to her parents’ Harry Belafonte records. “So many people have this shared memory of having their parents play them Harry Belafonte – he’s so far reaching in that respect,” she says. It was a memory that Rostock had in the back of her mind when she began work on Sing Your Song, a documentary of Belafonte’s political and social activism, an aspect of Belafonte’s life that tends to be downplayed in comparison to his considerable musical and stage successes. “I actually wanted to call this film ‘This Is Not Your Mother’s Harry Belafonte Record’,” Rostock laughs. As a successful young singer – born and raised in Harlem, New York with a popular profile far broader than many of his African-American contemporaries – Belafonte quickly took a prominent role in the burgeoning civil rights movement, spurred on by politically active artists such as Paul Robeson. The film’s title comes from an instruction offered by Robeson early in Belafonte’s career: “Get them to sing your song and they will want to know who you are”. In subsequent years, Belafonte would emerge as an outspoken critic of South Africa’s apartheid regime and the United States Government’s relationship with the regime. In the artistic field, Belafonte pioneered multi-racial television and film projects, including directing his own television show – Tonight With Belafonte – in the late ‘50s, often battling latent prejudices in the entertainment industry as well as the omnipresent gaze of the American government intelligence and law enforcement community. Rostock concedes that she was only aware relatively later in her life of Belafonte’s political activities. “I actually became aware of Harry’s political activism pretty late in life,” Rostock says. “Although I was quite politically active in my teenage years, a lot of people didn’t know about his politics, even in the black community. I suppose I became aware of Harry’s politics in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” she says. Rostock already knew Belafonte when the singer came to her one day with the concept of a film on his life as a politically active artist. “Harry came to me with all this footage and asked me to help make it into a film,” Rostock says. “Harry had never wanted to make a movie of his
life, but then Marlon Brando – who was a very good friend of his – died, and Harry realised that there was so much history that needed to be conveyed.” With the strong support of Belafonte’s youngest daughter, Gina, also an actress and social activist, Rostock took to the project with vigour, believing that the successes, trials and tribulations of Belafonte would provide hope for younger generations caught in a web of political apathy and economic malaise. “Harry is so inspiring, so I thought the film would provide some hope,” Rostock says. “The film is a very intimate telling of history – you’re really looking into Harry’s journals.”
“HE WAS SO BELOVED – EVERYBODY KNEW HIM. BUT THE GOVERNMENT DIDN’T DARE MESS WITH HIM.” As a young man, Belafonte marched with civil rights protestors in Alabama; as an octogenarian, Belafonte remains active in contemporary causes such as prison reform and education. While the United States has made great strides since the racially-divided structures of 50 years ago, Rostock says Belafonte knows the journey is far from over. “I think he feels that enough change hasn’t happened yet,” Rostock
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says. “Harry is a very optimistic man, but he does feel that a lot more could happen. And he’s right. Even in the education system in this country it’s not required to study the civil rights movement at school, which is a terrible thing.” Like many civil rights activists, Belafonte was subject of government surveillance, much of it orchestrated by J Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Rostock notes that even now, further evidence of the government’s interest in Belafonte is coming to light. “I recently came across these House Committee on UnAmerican Activities files in the warehouse where Harry’s stuff is kept,” Rostock remarks, although Rostock’s attempts to speak to former federal agents did not come to fruition. “You can’t get anyone to speak about it,” she says. “It’s a very shameful part of this country’s history.” Despite remaining under covert government surveillance for over a decade, Belafonte’s career flourished. “Harry’s not a bitter person, but there’s still latent anger there about what he was subjected to,” Rostock says. “He was still able to have a career, and he didn’t lose his livelihood. He was so beloved – everybody knew him. But the government didn’t dare mess with him.” In relation to the entertainment industry, which on one hand continues to fete Belafonte while on the other maintaining the rigid social and racial structures within which the industry had evolved, Rostock says Belafonte remains as focused on change as ever. “I don’t think attitudes have changed a lot in Hollywood,” she says. “How many black films are being made? Harry is still trying to make black films, but there’s still a resistance. It’s marginally better, but given how many years have passed, not a lot has really changed.” At age 84, Belafonte continues to travel the United States and the world, promoting political causes dear to his heart, with no sign of easing up. “Harry has always said, ‘Artists are the gatekeepers of truth’ – I love that statement,” Rostock says. “Harry spoke at my birthday last year, and he stood up and said, ‘I promise you ten more years’, so I’m holding him to that!” Rostock laughs. The Long Play season of Sing Your Song screens at ACMI in Melbourne from Saturday April 14 until Sunday 29 April. For program information please visit acmi.net.au
“GORGEOUS ... SENSUAL” Peter Bradshaw – THE GUARDIAN
“A MAJOR FILM”
Sacha Molitorisz – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
“SUBLIME”
Margaret Pomeranz – AT THE MOVIES
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Beat Magazine Page 21
THE COMIC STRIP FELIX BAR COMEDY
With Tyson Wray. Got news, gossip, reviews, thoughts, tip-offs, complaints, hate mail? Email tyson@beat.com.au or send by ESP before Friday.
IDENTITY
CASTAWAY WITH WARWICK THORNTON This April, writer, director, cinematographer and artist, Warwick Thornton, will join the team at ACMI as he reveals his top five films of all time in ACMI’s popular Desert Island Flicks program. Having developed an extensive body of work as a cinematographer and short film director, with titles such as Green Bush and Nana, Thornton made a splash with his debut feature, Samson & Delilah, winning the Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes in 2009. Hosted by writer, broadcaster, film critic and commentator, Deb Verhoeven, Castaway With Warwick Thornton will make its way to ACMI’s Studio 1 on Thursday April 12. For ticket prices and bookings, head to acmi.net.au.
THE BELLS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH It’s the scariest day of the year that may have just gotten that fraction creepier. The Federation Bells is an installation of 39 computer-controlled harmonic bells, originally created in 2001 by Anton Hassel and Neil McLachlan to mark the centenary of Federation. Now, after more than a decade, the bells have been given a new lease on life, with innovative striker mechanisms, new computer controls and new lids. To help celebrate the eeriness of the event, progressive outfits, A Dead Forest Index and Forces, will provide the soundtrack for the evening. The event will play part of City of Melbourne’s Late Night Programming, and is sure to get people talking. The Federation Bells will be held on the Middle Terrace of Birrarung Marr from 10pm on Friday April 13.
There’ll be one time or another in our lives where we will question who we are, or why we are the way that we are. Identity crises, I believe they’re called. It’s a sensitive issue, and whether it be as an individual or a society, we seem to struggle with the notion of what is or is not acceptable. In Can’t Think Straight’s latest three-series exhibition, the aptly named Identity, creator Jeremy Williams explores the notion of identity through a story of personal discovery, stereotype and censorship. The three parts to the exhibition: Coming Out: Emerging From Adolescence, Dolls and Censored each adding their own element to the exhibition as a whole. Jeremy Williams’ Identity will be shown at Daylesford’s Can’t Think Straight gallery from May 1 – June 30.
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE COMEDY The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has arrived and Melbourne’s best underground comedy room is still celebrating like a boss. Tonight, expect more big-name drop-ins and Charlie’s favourite comics giving you a taste of shows they’ve poured their hearts and souls into. Line-ups are going to be a mixed bag of local, national and international comedians. All for Charlie’s mates rate of only $5. Not to mention cheap piss! 7.30 tonight at Eurotrash Bar 18 Corrs Lane, Melbourne. Get down early for a seat.
COMMEDIA DELL PARTE
AUDI FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS Us Melburnians love our multiculturalism, don’t we? The many facets of contemporary German cinema will be represented by three directors who will be guests of the 11th annual Audi Festival of German Films. Joining the likes of multi-award winning actor/writer/director, Leander Haubmann, will be another highly regarded German writer/ director, Hendrik Handloegten, as well as upcoming director, Alice Gruia, who is currently involved in several theatre and film productions. Get your taste of Gansebraten and the films that brings Germans to the forefront as the Audi Festival of German Films heads to Palace Cinema Como and Kino Cinemas from April 19-30.
GASWORKS CIRCUS SHOWDOWN Not long to go now until we’re presented with eleven acts over three nights, but there can only be one winner. After delving through the mountains of entries received, Gasworks Arts Park is delighted to reveal eleven incredible finalists for Gasworks Circus Showdown. With finalists specialising in a range of circus skills that include trapeze, ropes, contortion, clowning, hoops and more, and hosted by star comedian Nath Valvo, the Gasworks Circus Showdown competition is set to showcase the cream of Australia’s circus talent. So who will be named the Gasworks Circus Showdown? With such a stellar assortment of artists, only time will tell... The two heats will be held from May 2-3, with the grand finale to be held on Saturday May 5. For more information on the event, head to gasworks.org.au.
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL Calling all Rolling Stones fans! This one’s just for you. As part of its Long Play program, our good friends at ACMI are getting ready to present Jean-Luc Godard’s 1968 agitprop music documentary, Sympathy For The Devil. This countercultural mash-up of music and politics has Godard cutting between takes of the Stones in action, recording the film’s classic track, and staged scenes of young revolutionaries’ intent on making their own history. And if that’s not enough, trippy UK gangster film, Performance, in which the Stones’ front-man plays his role as a hedonistic rock star, will also have selected sessions. Sympathy For The Devil will play at ACMI from May 12-30, with Performance showing on May 19, 26 and 27.
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST Are you a creative artist, choreographer and producer? Feel like presenting some projects in some of Melbourne’s most dynamic institutions? Well, this is just the thing for you – it’s simple. Artists propose their project idea and, if successful, a team will work with the artist to develop the work for the people of Melbourne. Artists, groups and organisations that have ideas for creative arts programs are encouraged to apply. EOI applications for the relevant venues are open on these dates: Arts House from now until April 23; ArtPlay from now until June 23; and Signal from May 21 – July 29. Details can be found on the venue websites.
NINA RYAN & MARK FARRELLY
“SMELL MY FINGERS” HOW TO BEAT UP ANYBODY $24.95 The most important book in karate history from the greatest martial artist: The World Champion Judah Friedlander. Finally a Karate book that prepares you for real-life dangerous situations! This book includes chapters on how to beat up Bigfoot, how to beat up someone with one arm, how to beat up someone with three arms, and how to beat up someone on a unicycle. Plus how to beat up street gangs, attackers with weapons, ninjas, dinosaurs, and gangs of street ninjas with weapons riding on dinosaurs! This book contains more than 500 photos! And lots of words! All guaranteeing that you’ll learn how to beat up anybody!
100 FACTS ABOUT PANDAS $24.95 Pandas are irresistible and people think they know a lot about them. But only the true panda expert knows: -The age of a panda can be determined by measuring the distance between its nipples -In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the panda symbol means “notwithstanding” -Prince’s song “Purple Rain” was inspired by the mixed emotions he feels about pandas Smart, funny, and chock-full of panda pictures, “100 Facts About Pandas” will astonish and entertain both animal lovers and everyone who laughed their way through “The Book of Bunny Suicides” and “F U, Penguin.”
MAGNETIC JESUS DRESS-UP! $22.95 Hang Jesus on your fridge door, car door or steel cage! Then dress Him up in a variety of exciting, colourful outfits for hours of playtime fun! This is the original Jesus Dress-Up. Let Jesus hula his way into your heart in a coconut bra and grass skirt, or make Him be the bad boy in His favourite leather pants and skull T-shirt! There’s an outfit for every occasion! One magnetic Jesus, with 31 pieces of magnetic clothing and accessories, and four different magnetic signs for the top of His cross.
MAGNETIC BDSM JESUS DRESS-UP! $22.95 Dress Jesus up in any of these exciting outfits, and then punish Him for all your sins! With magnetic BDSM Jesus you can dress Him up again and again until He just can’t take it anymore! Don’t be shy, you know He wants it just as bad as you wanna be forgiven for it! One magnetic Jesus, with over 60 pieces of magnetic clothing, accessories, and kinky gear, and a magnetic “No Pain No Gain” sign for the top of His cross.
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ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND PHILOSOPHY $24.95 A smart philosophical look at the cult hit television show, Arrested Development. Arrested Development earned six Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, critical acclaim, and a loyal cult following and then it was cancelled. Fortunately, this book steps into the void left by the show’s premature demise by exploring the fascinating philosophical issues at the heart of the quirky Bluths and their comic exploits. Whether it’s reflecting on Gob’s self-deception or digging into Tobias’s double entendres, you’ll watch your favourite scenes and episodes of the show in a whole new way. Takes an entertaining look at the philosophical ideas and tensions in the show’s plots and themes Gives you new insights about the Bluth family and other characters: Is George Michael’s crush on his cousin unnatural? Is it immoral for Lindsay to lie about stealing clothes to hide the fact that she has a job? Are the pictures really of bunkers or balls? Lets you sound super-smart as you rattle off the names of great philosophers like Sartre and Aristotle to explain key characters and episodes of the show Packed with thought-provoking insights, Arrested Development and Philosophy is essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about their late, lamented TV show. And it’ll keep you entertained until the long-awaited Arrested Development movie finally comes out. (Whenever that is.)
HENRY AND GLENN FOREVER $14.95 Starring notorious muscle-bound punk/metal dudes Glenn Danzig and Henry Rollins (with a little help from soft rockers Hall and Oates), “Henry & Glenn Forever” is a love story to end all love stories. Henry and Glenn are very good “friends”; they are also roommates. Daryl and John live next door; they are Satanists. What follows is ultrametal violence and cryfest diary entries, cringing self-doubt and megahilarious emo-meltdowns. “Who knew Danzig was such a vulnerable, self-conscious sweetie pie? Who knew Rollins was such a caring spouse? Who knew Hall and Oates were so infernally evil--yet so considerate?” As the real-life Henry Rollins says of the work, “Has Glenn seen this? Trust me, he would not be impressed.”
AN IDIOT ABROAD: THE TRAVEL DIARIES OF KARL PILKINGTON $19.95 Presenting the Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington: Adventurer. Philosopher. Idiot. Karl Pilkington isn’t keen on travelling. Given the choice, he’ll go on holiday to Devon or Wales or, at a push, eat English food on a package holiday in Majorca. Which isn’t exactly Michael Palin, is it? So what happened when he was convinced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Travel broadens the mind, right? You’d think so...Find out in Karl Pilkington’s hilarious travel diaries.
REAL ULTIMATE POWER: THE OFFICIAL NINJA BOOK $19.95 This book mines the rich psychological ore of being ten years old and on Ritalin as Hamburger misinforms the reader about ninja history, ninja weapons, and ninja philosophy.
The comedy festival has started, which means we’ve got heaps of great names popping down to St Kilda to warm up for their shows! Some of the city’s finest, plus, some national and international names! All very secret! But we promise you, it’s gonna be great! You really never know what big names will drop in to try out something new. Felix Bar is the place to be on a Wednesday night in St Kilda! It’s all happening Wednesday April 11 at 8.30pm for only $12, at 11 Fitzroy St, St Kilda.
Ever wonder if the way that you see something may not be the exact same way that someone else might see it? Well, Mark Farrelly and Nina Ryan have proved just that. Both artists have a clear idea of their reality and, within their polar depictions, are interested in discussing the tensions found within landscapes and surrounding environments. Farrelly, interested in pushing the boundaries of photography through manipulation and collage, is only mirrored by Ryan, whose approach is traditional. Experience the landscape as you know it in two varying ways, as Mark Farrelly and Nina Ryan bring their conjoint exhibition to The Jackson Gallery from April 15 – May 5.
DAVID LOZEAU In five years, David Lozeau has showcased his brilliant work around the world, won several awards at fine art exhibitions, and has been rejected from more artist associations than he can count. He wears rejection letters like badges of honour. His character-driven painting style blends Day of the Dead iconography, ‘50s cartoon cell animation, traditional tattoo imagery, and Southern Californian lowbrow, revealing his unique perspective on life, death, and all the gory stuff in between. The dude is just downright incredibly talented, so make sure you check out his solo exhibition at Kustom Lane Gallery opening on Friday April 20 for three days only.
WILLIAM RICKETTS Come join us in a celebration of William Ricketts in the form of a series of photographic images of his wonderful sculptures. A fund-raiser for William Ricketts Sanctuary, all 12 works on display, (art quality and framed), will be donated by the artist. Anyone donating $50 or more will be eligible to go in the draw to take home one of these original photographs. It’s happening at The Hut Gallery in Ferntree Gully on Saturday April 14 from 1pm.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN: POP REMIX The launch of the nationally touring exhibition of works by Pop Art maestro Roy Lichtenstein will open at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in April. Featuring over 100 works plus film and photographic stills of the artist dating from the ‘50s to the ‘90s, the exhibition explores the artist’s extraordinary development from the intriguing pre-Pop precursor works through to the slick, intelligent and humorous works that stand as icons of ‘60s and ‘70s America. The exhibition will also include newly restored and digitised, rare, candid photography and film components drawn from the Kenneth Tyler Photographic and Film and Sound Collections at the NGA to reveal a fascinating insight into the artist’s collaborative working methods in the creation of a number of his best-known printed series. Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Remix will be on display at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery from Thursday April 19 until Monday June 11. Check out mprg. mornpen.vic.gov.au for more information.
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Get down to the George Lane Bar in St Kilda for another great line up of comics from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This week Craig McLeod will be your MC with This is Siberian Husky, Xavier Toby, Hayman Kent, Jack Druce, Brendan Maloney, Marty Bright, Rhys Jones, Cameron James, Sarah Jones and more. Get in early to secure yourself a comfy couch and go into the draw for some great prizes from Punchline. The room runs on a ‘pay as you like’ basis, so come along and have a great laugh, then pay what you believe the show is worth on the way out. So if you enjoy the show chuck in a few sheckles and show your appreciation. Commedia Dell Parte runs every Thursday 8.30pm at the George Lane Bar.
SOFTBELLY COMEDY LATE NIGHT It’s our first couple of Softbelly Comedy Late Night editions this Friday and Saturday! Come along to see massive names pop in after their shows for a beer and a scorching late night set in a packed room. It’s the biggest secret of the festival and the perfect show to see after expensive regular shows in the festival. It’s four or five big names for only $12! It’s gonna be huge! It’s the hottest ticket in town, so get down early, because it will sell out again! It all happens at Softbelly, 367 Little Bourke St, in the city, this Friday, April 13 and Saturday April 14, at 11pm. It’s only $12!
COMEDY AT SPLEEN Mondays are spectacular at Comedy at Spleen.. especially during the comedy festival when we ALWAYS have surprise guests popping in. We’re not allowed to name them, but you will have seriously messed up if you don’t get a seat to see this lineup. It’s like a mini-gala! It’s the hottest room in town, and seriously, you need to get down super early just to get in the front door! So get in early to guarantee a seat. It’s this Monday April 16, 41 Bourke St, in the city, at 8.30pm.
COMEDY CALENDAR Email tyson@beat.com.au to join this list!
WEDNESDAY Checkpoint Charlie Comedy, Eurotrash, CBD Felix Bar Comedy, Felix Bar, St Kilda The Comedy Gallery, Customs House Hotel, Williamstown Coopers Comedy Open Mic, Station 59, Richmond Death Star Canteen, Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets, Collingwood Rocket Clock (Second Wednesday of every month), Bella Union Bar, Carlton South
THURSDAY Softbelly Comedy, Softbelly Bar & Lounge, CBD Laugh Upstairs Live Comedy, Exford Hotel, CBD The Showcase, The Monastery, Richmond Willow Tales (Last Thursday of every month), Willow Bar, Northcote
FRIDAY Last Laugh at The Comedy Club, Athenaeum Theatre, CBD
SATURDAY Last Laugh at The Comedy Club, Athenaeum Theatre, CBD
SUNDAY Political Asylum (Second Sunday of every month), The Brunswick Green, Brunswick Softbelly Comedy, Softbelly Bar & Lounge, CBD Sublime Sunday Comedy, ONtop Bar, Ormond
MONDAY Comedy At Spleen, Spleen Bar, CBD Local Laughs, The Local Taphouse, St Kilda East The Shelf (currently in hibernation), Toff in Town, CBD
TUESDAY Comed-oke (Open Mic), Melbourne International Backpackers, CBD Underground Comedy (First Tuesday of every month), Sotto e Sopra, CBD The Dan Open Mic Night, The Dan O’Connell Hotel, Carlton The Last Tuesday Society (Last Tuesday of Every Month), Various Locations Blue Tile Comedy, Blue Tile Lounge, Fitzroy
AUSTRALIAN SURF MOVIE FESTIVAL:
THE IMMERSION TOUR
BY GREG KING
“I’m pretty much the only touring surf movie festival that travels on an annual tour,” says Tim Bonython, the director of the Australian Surf Movie Festival, which is visiting around Australia in April and May. Bonython takes a brief break from surfing at NSW’s Avalon Beach early on a Saturday morning to discuss the festival, which this year celebrates ten years. “I’ve made sure that this one is going to be pretty special. It’s one I’ve been working towards for years, with a lot of very unique footage, and I’m pretty excited about how it’s going to end up.” The two biggest inspirations behind Bonython’s choice of career were Bruce Brown’s 1966 surfing film The Endless Summer, and David Elfick’s 1975 film Crystal Voyager, with its combination of visuals and music from Pink Floyd. Bonython grew up in a creative family. His father owned a couple of art galleries, one in Adelaide and one in Sydney. One of their clients was radio announcer John Laws, and Bonython was dating his daughter. He saw a movie camera on the floor, and asked to borrow it. Laws said, ‘If you can make good use of this camera then you can have it.’ Bonython took the camera to Bondi and started shooting. That was pretty much it, he recalls. “I love the ocean. When I was living in Adelaide it was pretty much like no surf at all. And so I discovered surfing, and I’ve used that movie camera to the best of my ability. Just to capture a great moment on film and to show it to the world is a really satisfying experience,” he continues. In 1991 he was commissioned to shoot the Rip Curl Pro event at Bell’s Beach. “That was the beginning of everything, because really that was the biggest surf ever,” he elaborates. “And I was just really lucky to be there. I documented that and took it back to Adelaide, showed it at The Victoria Hotel. We had a crowd of hundreds turning up, lining up around the hotel, and way down the street, and I was pretty much born into the business of showing surf movies on the big screen.” Bonython has also dabbled in music videos, having shot videos for The Screaming Jets and Midnight Oil. But capturing big swells and champion surfers in action remains his passion. In 1998 he shot some incredible footage of the swells off Jaws Maui in Hawaii. He turned the footage into the documentary Biggest Wednesday, which became one of the biggest selling surf videos of all time in Australia. And that was the kernel that eventually grew into the Australian Surf Movie Festival. Bonython would travel around the country with a projector and a PA system in the back of his car, showing his footage at pubs and clubs. He would charge the proprietors $150. Now the Australian Surf Movie Festival screens as part of the Big Day Out, and regularly plays to sell out crowds. Bonython has spent six years putting Immersion Tour together. The project actually had its genesis back in 1996 when he started recording interviews for what was going to be the definitive documentary 13-part series called What Is Surfing. But being the impetuous sort, he would start shooting before he actually had the financial backing and had lots of footage that he needed to show somewhere. 2012 is the tenth year of the Australian Surf Movie Festival, and Bonython aims to make it really special by showing some of the most incredible big wave footage he could lay his hands on. The show consists of two 50-minute halves, with an intermission featuring live acoustic music from some young upand-coming musicians and door prizes. The first part features some incredible footage that immerses audiences in the whole surf experience, says Bonython. “This film is not all about big crazy waves, it’s not about guys riding surfboards – it’s more about what surfing is, and that is really just riding a wave. It doesn’t have to be on a surfboard. You can get the most incredible thrill just by bodysurfing. Some of the most spectacular surfing I’ve ever seen and documented has been on a body-board. Bodyboarders get some of the most incredible barrels and do some of the most exciting manoeuvres. And there’s a five minute segment that I’ve put aside specifically for this film.” The second half of the program looks at 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, who is a household name, and also a good friend. “He’s phenomenal,” enthuses Bonython. “He’s not just an incredible surfer, he’s what they call the full package; he’s everything you could ever want an athlete to be and more. I mean, how many champions in any sport have 11 world titles under their belt? We thought when Mark Richards won four world titles that that was pretty amazing, and was never going to be done again. And not only that, he’s incredibly intelligent, he’s a good-looking bloke, and obviously the girls like that, and he’s a great ambassador for the sport. So in a film like Immersion you want to document the world’s greatest surfer. I’ve been following Kelly for the past 20 years of my career. Last year I had the privilege of documenting him down at Australia’s premier large slab wave in Tasmania, and when you get the opportunity of documenting Kelly it’s a treat. You know you’re going to get some great footage.” The Australian Surf Movie Festival is travelling all over Australia throughout April and May. The Immersion Tour comes to Victoria in early May, where it will play at The Espy on Thursday May 3, Rosebud Cinema on Saturday May 5 and ACMI on Sunday May 6. For more information or ticketing details go to the website at asmf.net.au
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Beat Magazine Page 23
AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL AUSTRALIA
BY JUSTIN WOLFERS
African cinema has been a site of political resistance, historical reflection and cultural celebration for over fifty years now, and thanks to the inaugural African Film Festival Australia, we’re about to get a fresh taste of the complex flavours bubbling within the world’s second largest continent. Festival coordinator Samira Ibrahim sheds some light on what audiences can expect of a festival that merges so many contrasting African cultures into a dynamic, streamlined program. Is it exciting to be showcasing African films that Australians might not otherwise be able to see? Exciting doesn’t even come close to describing how it feels to bring African films to Australian audiences! It is an honour to support African films and to contribute to a more diverse cultural scene in Australia, that allows Australian audiences to learn a bit more about the African continent. Would you be able to give us a little background on African cinema for those that are unaware? I know that the Nigerian industry is thriving… There is a misconception that African cinema is relatively ‘new’ or has only existed since the 1990s. However, African cinema has been alive and kicking for the better part since the 1960s. Incidentally this aligns with numerous African states gaining independence. To understand how colonialism has affected African cinema, Africans in various nations were outright banned from making their own films. When you consider film making as a political tool, this creative expression would have given Africans the opportunity to undoubtedly attack and question their colonial rulers. Thus you can understand why African cinema has a relatively shorter
history than the rest of the world. Was there a particular focus for your choice of films to screen? The only focus in selecting the films to screen was that they showed various interpretations of what it means to be African; films that reinforce that Africa is a continent of over one billion people, and that it is not a country. These films, which offer slices of African experience, rather than presenting vague grandiose narratives of the continent as a whole, manage to challenge, question and decode stereotypical assumptions about the continent, its people and the African Diaspora. There’s a night for African short films as well – what can we expect there? The African shorts session supports upcoming and emerging filmmakers from a number of countries including Australia, Uganda, Sierra Leone and the USA. These shorts dissect a variety of issues from posttraumatic stress experienced by soldiers and civilians, to the alive and kicking music industry in Sierra Leone, to a moving experimental animation bringing to light a tragic incident in Uganda.
Tell us a little about the role of music in African cinema? It would be hard to think about Africa without thinking immediately about its music. African music has played a huge and impressive role in influencing global musical styles. Music in African cinema has been used as a point of discussion whereby audiences can debate issues such as colonialism, development, activism, corruption, love, tragedy and more. Films such as the classic Fela Kuti documentary Music is the Weapon paved the way for more recent documentaries such as Democracy in Dakar, which we are screening in Sydney and Melbourne. Democracy in Dakar is an exploration of the role of conscious hip hop in educating Senegalese citizens about political issues, policies and using music as a way to question politicians and demand accountability.
Sundance Film Festival. It seems that the issues of immigration, passion, and essentially just trying to get by, and make it – are themes that will hold direct relevance to Australian audiences. Was it chosen partly for that reason? There is no way to describe Restless City other than visually stunning, but on a deeper level, it was chosen to remind or maybe educate audiences that regardless of the challenges that immigration brings, at the end of the day issues such as romance, relationship breakdowns and struggling to fit into a new society are shared experiences. The African Film Festival takes place at Red Bennies from Wednesday April 11 - Sunday April 15. For more information visit africanfilmfestival.com.au
The Festival’s opening film, Restless City, is set in New York and has already received a lot of acclaim from
ALTER BRIDGE: LIVE AT WEMBLEY BY PETER HODGSON
It must be hard being in two hugely successful bands at once, but somehow Mark Tremonti manages it. He and two of his bandmates – Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips – do double duty in Creed and Alter Bridge. But the vocal talents of Scott Stapp and Myles Kennedy respectively are not the only factors separating the two acts. Alter Bridge is darker, heavier and more musically adventurous than Creed, and with a two-guitar attack courtesy of Tremonti and Kennedy, they’re able to flesh out more complex arrangements. This was displayed to great effect on their recent Soundwave sets and sideshows, and it’s equally apparent on Live At Wembley – a live album, DVD and 3D Blu-ray cinema experience which captures the band playing to an utterly huge audience in the UK – where they’re treated as royalty. The link between the band’s UK and Australian career trajectories is very apparent to Tremonti, as he explained backstage ahead of the band’s Melbourne Sidewave with LA Sunset Strip glam overlords Steel Panther. “We came down here without knowing what the crowd response was going to be, and it’s just like we’ve been touring here our whole lives,” Tremonti says. “It’s incredible.” But with the Alter Bridge/ Steel Panther extravaganza now a beautiful memory, Tremonti’s mind is on the future. Live At Wembley was released at the end of March on DVD and CD and will hit the stores as a 3D Blu-ray in a few months. “Dan Catullo is a great director,” he says. “It’s very well done. I think we played about 21 songs on there, so it’s a very long DVD, and if you’re a fan of the band you’ll probably dig it!” The timing of the Alter Bridge live material is designed to keep the band in fans’ minds while they concentrate on Creed. “We also have some B-sides we’ve never released that we might put out at the end of the year, to keep people happy. I think there are two or three from the first record and one or two from the second record. And
60 SECONDS WITH…
FUNK BUDDIES Define your genre in five words or less: New Orleans style-street funk. So, um... what is New Orleans style street funk? New Orleans is known to most people as the birthplace of jazz. But as pop music took over the rest of the world, the New Orleans street bands were still doing their thing. They evolved too, as they were influenced by ground breaking funk artists such as James Brown, and Parliament. Bands took the music of the streets into the Bourbon Street clubs. This down-to-earth back-to-basics brass driven funk spawned a whole new generation of bands and musicians, such as Trombone Shorty, Hypnotic Beat Magazine Page 24
when we get back home we’ll start rehearsing for the Creed tour. We’ve already started rehearsing for the tour which starts in April, and we’ll get a new record out whenever it’s ready.” Before then though, Tremonti will release his debut solo album, All I Was. He says that while he’s always sang while songwriting, his natural inclination is to write in his falsetto range, knowing that someone with a higher voice – Stapp or Kennedy – will be singing. But on All I Was he tunes down to bring the pitch of the songs into his vocal range. “Y’know, I just never had the confidence before. I think the more I’ve sang over the years the more I’ve developed the confidence in my voice, and I’m finally ready to do it on my own. But it’s a whole different world.” Tremonti describes the material on All I Was as melody-driven, but heavier than anything he’s released to date. “These are songs. It’s not shred for the sake of shred. It’s not an instrumental record, it’s a rock record, y’know? It’s definitely got some shreddy solos on there, but there are some more tasteful ones as well. The record’s a harder, heavier record
than I’ve done in the past, so most of the solos are kind of pushing it a little bit. But no tapping or stuff like that.” A hardcore guitar obsessive who has studied with the legendary speed demon Rusty Cooley, Tremonti is always open to new equipment discoveries. His favourite new amplifier is the Bludotone Universal Tone, which he likens to amplifiers made by Howard Dumble – a reclusive builder who only makes amps for the players who he deems worthy. “Brandon who makes Bludotones makes all the amps for the oldschool Dumble guys,” he says. “He builds for Carlos Santana, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, and now I got him to build me one of his newest amps. I’ve got a couple on order from him. Bludotones are incredible amps.” Another of Tremonti’s favourite gadgets is the Cornford RK100 amplifier, the signature model for Richie Kotzen, a blues-rock solo artist who has also played in Mr. Big and Poison at times when both
Brass, The Soul Rebels, Youngblood Brass Band and of course, the Funk Buddies. Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? What we are going for is a kind of blend of the heavy groove of the (early) Red Hot Chili Peppers, the energy of Michael Jackson, the rhythm of Tower Of Power, the pelvis-thrusting funk of James Brown (Maceo and Fred Wesley), and the New Orleans heritage of the Dirty Dozen Brass band. We are fronted by brass – we are primarily an instrumental band. A few other bands have tried to go down this road before, but it ended up sounding too ‘jazz’, you know, introspective and self-indulgent. We play funk – music to make people move. What do you love about making music? Exactly that – making people move. We come from a range of musical backgrounds, but this is where everyone's heart is. You can see it on stage. We're having as much fun as
the crowd. What do you think a band has to do these days to succeed? Success is not a fixed idea. We're not out to sell platinum records (we haven't recorded anything yet!). We are not chasing fortune or fame. We just want to play music that makes us enjoy life, and entertain anyone who wants to come and join the party. So what can a punter expect from your live show?
DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION
bands were looking to move beyond their ‘80s hard rock roots into something more mature. “On my solo record I use that amplifier for rhythm and lead. It sounds amazing,” he says. Tremonti has his own line of Paul Reed Smith signature guitars, and the company is preparing a baritone version for lower tunings. He has a few other fun prototypes to play with as well: “I’m real excited about two guitars, one with a fixed bridge and one with a trem coming, with the new crazy robot tuner. The newest technology there is. I think it has 327 tunings or something, and I use alternate tunings all the time so it’s something I’m really excited about. Because I spend half my time tuning the damn guitar and it drives me crazy!” Alter Bridge’s Live At Wembley is out now.
A damn good time. We work very hard to find the line between being simple enough to dance to but intricate enough to listen to. You want to dance? Get up and shake. You want to sit back with pint and chill? That works too. When’s the gig and with who? We're playing this Friday April 13, at 303 in Northcote. We'll be sharing the night with the amazing Captain Groove. So freakin' funky. Otherwise, keep your eye out. We'll be around.
INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
with Christie Eliezer * Stuff for this column to be emailed to <celiezer@netspace.net.au> by Friday 5pm COPPEL TO RUN LIVE NATION Successful tour promoter Michael Coppel is named president and CEO of Live Nation Australasia (Aus and NZ) while the US company has also bought tour company Michael Coppel Presents, which has been responsible for some of the biggest tours in Oz, including Pink, Dire Straits, Metallica and U2. Luke Hede and Roger Field who have run Live Nation’s local operations since it launched, continue as Vice Presidents – Promotions.
MISHELL VREMAN UMBRELLA…
MOVES
TO
After 16 years at Shock, the last as National Media Manager for DVDs, Mishell Vreman is marketing and media manager at Umbrella Entertainment. She’s at Unit 19, 79–83 High Street, Kew 3101. Her contact is mishell@umbrellaent.com.au and 03 9020 5147.
…BAYLIS TAKES OVER AT SHOCK Charles Baylis is Communications Manager – Vision at Shock. He worked in London at BBC Worldwide in marketing and landed his gig three weeks after he arrived. He is at Charles.Baylis@shock.com.au and 03 9205 0954.
SLAM WANTS FUNDING BODY INVESTIGATED The organisers behind SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) called on the Government to hold a full-scale investigation into arts funding body, the Australia Council. It was revealed that the Council awarded over $7.25 million to one classical record label since 2004. Melba Recordings received $750,000 in 2011 alone, just to release three albums. “As members of the contemporary music sector, we are outraged that this amount of funding should be provided to a single organisation outside of the peer review process. The sheer size of the initial grant provided to Melba Recordings is equal to the entire budget of the music board of the Australia Council,” SLAM said.
LONG SERVICE LEAVE FOR MUSICIANS? Musicians and artists should be entitled to a portable long service leave scheme, Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten says. He referred the issue to a House of Reps standing committee to investigate. Shorten’s vision is that people working in music and arts are usually on short-term contracts. A portable long service leave scheme would accrue to the artist rather than an employer. Eligibility would take place after 15 years in the industry.
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE WINS HILLTOPS INITIATIVE Two year old electronic hip hop soul ensemble Run For Your Life won this year’s Hilltop Hoods Initiative. They get $10,000 towards the release and promotion of their debut album, legal advice from David Vodika and Media Arts Lawyers, and a Shure microphone prize pack.
THINGS WE HEAR * New signings: Mel B, Spice Girl turned Australian X Factor judge to EMI Australia, ABC Music has country act Baylou, aka Victoria and Barb Baillie. * Fred Durst has threatened to fire (or has already) Limp Bizkit’s drummer John Otto and DJ Lethal for their “partying ways.” Lethal said that to be thrown out after the band just signed a deal with Lil Wayne’s Cash Money label “isn’t cool. You can’t push away the people who helped you get there.” * Who’d have imagined that UK singer Rebecca Ferguson, who impressed with her showcase in Melbourne, was ill throughout her visit? At the Crosby Stills Nash show, David Crosby made it onstage with bad flu despite doctor’s orders. Quipped Graham Nash, “They gave him some drugs – which he wasn’t unhappy about!” * Joe Jonas told us at the opening of the Marquee Club in Sydney that the Jonas Bros will be back in Australia later this year. * “Australia in July!” New York rapper Azealia Banks tweeted. * At Chocolate Starfish guitarist’s Zoran Romic funeral which drew 1,000 mourners, the band performed their hit Mountain. * Feist picked up three wins at Canada’s Juno awards – artist of the year, best adult alternative album of the year and best music DVD. * Jordi Davieson, teen singer with WA’s San Cisco has officially entered the rock’n’roll pavilion: he had his first bra thrown at him at a rock festival.
KISS OR KILL SIGN DEAD CITY RUINS The Kiss or Kill agency signed Dead City Ruins for management, bookings and PR. The blues-rock-metal outfit which formed in London before relocating to Australia, returns to Europe for dates in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands and England. This follows up a 50date Euro run last year behind their Midnight Killer album. Others on Kiss or Kill’s roster include Internal Nightmare, Scar The Surface, Deliverance We Prey and Netherealm.
RAISING A RACKETTE IN JAIL Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes’ new single Love Letter is an explicit missive from a horny chick to her doofus boyfriend in the slammer. The video was shot in a day in the Old Geelong Gaol, producer Hannah Fox and director Lester Francois changing the sparse conditions to something colourful with a large cast of vampy inmates. When they launch the single at the Prince Bandroom on Friday April 27 they plan to bring on some dancers from the vid. We’d be careful: during the dance sequence, there were a couple of dance injuries including a boot heel to the forehead!
INERTIA OUTSOURCES DISTRO TO SONY DADC From this week, Inertia’s products will be warehoused and distributed by SONY DADC. There are no changes to Inertia’s A&R, production, sales, marketing, publicity and client operations departments.
MANATARMS ARRIVE Chile alt-rockers Manatarms have moved temporarily to Melbourne to play and set up the online release of their third album Turn Into Smoke. “I am very exited about how Aussies are opened-minded and always up for live music” said guitarist JC. Dan Spizzirri Enterprises is launching the South American band at the Espy (Sun April 15) and the Barleycorn (Sat April 21).
PURE POP BENEFIT Pure Pop’s squabbles with neighbour(s) over noise has come to a head. Result: fully enclose/soundproof the courtyard or stop live music. “It’s going to cost a pretty penny,” groans Dave Stevens from Pure Pop. They hold a fundraiser The Renovations at the Prince on Friday May 11. The three bands and six guests artists will be announced soon. “I wonder if the neighbour will chip in considering we’re doing this just for him,” Stevens says.
NO MEAT LOAF ON BOIL After the Meat Loaf fiasco at the Grand Final last year, the AFL cheekily served meatloaf at the launch of this year’s season. Chief executive Andrew Demetriou sniffed, “They’re probably better than he was!” But there was no rancor as the AFL, Frontier Touring (which booked Mr. Meat) and Southern Cross Austereo launched the Live At The Footy program at the Corner last week, which resulted in a tipsy Tuesday for some Beat staffers. This year there will be more games and more bands involved, with Spiderbait playing at the game on the weekend. Last year younger acts like Airbourne, Little Red, Stonefield and the Wolfgramm Sisters played before huge crowds.
LIFELINES Expecting: Take That’s Mark Owen and wife Emma Ferguson, their third. Married: singer songwriter Wes Carr and actor Charlotte Gregg in Sydney and honeymooning in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona and Rome. Hospitalised: Crazy Town singer Shifty Shellshock (and former Celebrity Rehab star) reportedly in a coma. He had been “extremely anxious” about his upcoming court appearance for possession of cocaine. In Court: Sam Aniello Castellano, 22, pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to setting off two homemade bombs at Melbourne’s St Kilda Festival last year attended by hundreds of thousands. Three people were injured. Sued: Kanye West for using Persuaders singer Robert Poindexter’s Trying Girls Out without permission on his Girls Girls Girls from his 2006 mixtape Freshman Adjustment 2. Poindexter wants US$500,000. Jailed: Sunshine Coast didgeridoo player Adrian Ross, 50, to four years’ imprisonment, suspended after 16 months, for maintaining a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old schoolgirl in 2010. In Court: Former celeb drug dealer, ‘Freeway’ Rick Ross, lost a bid to keep rapper Rick Ross from using his name. In Court: Three sons of the founders of hip hop label Sugar Hill Records pleaded guilty to tax evasion worth US$1.3 million.
MADONNA: CHART MILESTONES IN OZ, UK Madonna is the most successful female in Australian chart history, when MDNA became her tenth chart topping album. The Beatles top the overall list with 14 #1 albums, followed by U2 (11). Maddy beat Jimmy Barnes (9), and John Farnham and Bon Jovi (both 8). In the UK, the album’s #1 success gave La Ciccone her 12th chart topper – beating Elvis Presley (who had 11) and becoming the most successful solo artist in British history.
SPEAKERS FOR ‘I MANAGE MUSIC’ WORKSHOPS Clare Bowditch and members of Aleks & The Ramps, Grant Gillies of GaGa Music and Ashley Sambrooks of indie marketing and publicity firm Show Off Services are speakers at the next round of I Manage My Music workshops. These are held over the April 28 and 29 weekend at the Northcote Town Hall (10am to 5pm). These workshops are tailored to the self-managed musician, and scored founder Jen Cloher a finalist’s place in the Australian Government’s Generate investment scheme for inventive initiatives. The first day of the workshops covers how to get started, and funding rounds and grant applications. The second day looks at managing your own release: licensing or self release, how to approach the media, marketing options, and keeping costs down. More info imanagemymusic.com. To book, contact book@ imanagemymusic.com.
BALL PARK MUSIC BY NICK MASON
Brisbane indie-pop troupe Ball Park Music are set to bring their reputable live show back to Melbourne. The 180° Tour, the band’s most ambitious yet, has frontman Sam Cromack in a spin. “The tour’s been a massive step up from where we were previously: bigger venues, more ticket sales and it’s just been quite surreal for us to watch it all unfold.” The group’s growing popularity should come as no surprise: their sensational debut album, Happiness & Surrounding Suburbs, wasn’t ever about to slip by undetected. Fun, occasionally feisty and ultimately infectious, Ball Park Music prevailed as the definitive feel-good group of 2011. “We’re a really high energy band, so even if I bring a really kind of sombre piece of music to rehearsal, because the nature of the musicians in Ball Park Music, they’re going to make it really upbeat and energetic,” Cromack explains. “There’s definitely some miserable songs hiding in amongst all the poppy music, too – Sad Rude Future Dude has some of the miserable lyrics I’ve ever written!” Concerning Cormack’s songcraft, there exists a conscious struggle between light and dark. “I’ve got to admit that I’ve always been a lover of sadness in music but I’m increasingly worried that I’m losing my ability to explore it in my music. Even when I have sad content in my lyrics, I just can’t help but smack it with a two and a half minute pop song,” he muses. “I think I’m losing the ability to make the music sound sad – either that or I don’t have the guts to do it because I just think it’s going to have zero appeal. We’ve become such a ‘radio band’ that I would feel a bit guilty if I
60 SECONDS WITH...
JENNY BIDDLE Define your genre in five words or less: Missy Higgins meets The Waifs. So, someone is walking past as you are playing, they then go get a beer and tell their friend about you... what do they say? “Man, that chick can play the guitar!” Do you have any record releases to date? What are they? Where can I get them? My 2009 studio album called Chest Of Drawers, and my new solo acoustic album, Little Treasures, which I am launching on Sunday April 15! They are available at live shows, jennybiddle.com, iTunes, and bandcamp.
were to deliver a five-minute slow-burner.” Cromack displays a healthy appreciation for pop. “I think it’s a bummer that pop’s become a dirty word in this day and age. To a lot of young people, you mention pop and they just think of Top 40, mainstream artists. Even they cop a lot of criticism – artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry – but sometimes I find their songs more scintillating than some of the watered-down indie-pop bullshit that you hear on other radio stations.” “For me, pop music is essentially The Beatles. I grew up with so much of The Beatles in my life and they’ve set such a benchmark of what pop music was and still is to me,” Cromack explains. “It’s really difficult for someone like myself to take away the influence of their songs – especially early Beatles, where it’s just the most outstanding and most straightforward pop rock. It’s just incredible and I’ve always had such a great appreciation of it.” Ball Park Music have forged a career upon their own pop sensibilities, quickly emerging as one of the nation’s most exciting new acts. Cromack remains diplomatic concerning their stature, however, feet planted firmly on solid ground. “Even though we’ve achieved a lot of things that I When are you releasing your album? Sunday April 15, at the Wesley Anne, supported by Sam Buckingham. What can a punter expect from your live show? They will be watching the marriage between body and instrument, to present a variety of moving folk, countryblues stories in songs, with some mesmerising guitar licks and facial expressions. What do you think a band has to do these days to succeed? You’ve got to do everything yourself as an indie artist these days. Record labels are dying out, as technology has made it easier for musicians to produce music, so you need to fund it, fuel it and direct it. In terms of getting your music out there, reaching a wider audience, and selling music, you need to be a jack of all trades (or have a fantastic manager and team behind you). Not only do you need to write songs and perform them, but book gigs and tour, keep track of accounts, create merch, keep live shows fresh, learn and
fantasised about for years and years – some of the places we’ve played, the artists we’ve played with, or getting in the Hottest 100 and all those kinds of things that I wanted to do since I was very young – all those things have come and gone in the blink of an eye.” Typically, the only way to recapture the same kind of success is to work harder still. “It’s absolutely a slog,” Cromack confesses. “Last week I drove from Brisbane to Sydney, played five shows in a row, then spent another day driving back. I’ve worked every day since I’ve been back and my mind and body feel really fried at the moment. Last night I was pretty much having a meltdown to my girlfriend. It takes a lot of perseverance, I guess, to get up and keep doing it. It’s just really exhausting.” Following the tumultuous evening, Cromack resolved to review the way forward. “We have immediate plans, a lot of touring to finish, Groovin’ The Moo and some other stuff. We’ll start recording our second album.”
“I think I’ve actually reached the point where I need to sort of ask myself what I’m trying to achieve here. I don’t want to just get stuck in a monotonous and repetitive routine of album, touring, album, touring. There’s gotta be someplace to go. I think that’s when you have to get back in touch with the music you’re making and make the music that you want to make. I think perhaps I will be giving that a little more thought now. You become so busy it’s very easy to lose sight of why you do it or what you’re enjoying.” BALL PARK MUSIC play a plethora of shows at The Corner soon: Saturday April 14 (soldout), an under 18s only matinee show on Sunday April 15 from 12.30pm, Monday April 16 (sold out) and Sunday April 29, which is sure to sell quickly. They also play Groovin’ The Moo in Bendigo on Saturday May 5 (sold out). Happiness & Surrounding Suburbs is out via Stop Start/EMI.
find inspiration, say yes to as many opportunities as you can - but know when to say no, do your own branding, graphics, marketing and advertising, use social networking, website development and updates, and nurture your relationship with fans. I’ve found you need to have your fingers in a few pies to stay afloat. I do a mix of pub gigs, weddings, original showcases, festivals, busking and sometimes teaching while plugging away at the admin. What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? When a stranger tells you how your music has changed their life for the better. And what makes you unhappiest about what you’re doing? The sharks in the industry. Anything else to add? I’m making an acoustic guitar at Montsalvat. Almost done! Mega exciting. I’ve posted a blog for the guitar nuts – jennybiddle.com
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COMEDY FESTIVAL FESTIVAL COMEDY COVERAGE CONTINUES CONTINUES COVERAGE
CLAUDIA
DINGO WOLF
O’DOHERTY
WINNING AT LIFE
THE TELESCOPE
After an almost-electrical fire occurred right before opening night, Claudia O’Doherty was understandably nervous in launching her show at this year’s MICF. Her new show The Telescope has quite a bit more “complicated technical stuff” than her previous shows. “It made me on edge the entire show that everyone was going to die,” O’Doherty says. The Telescope tells the story of a monk who commits suicide in the 16th century. O’Doherty describes it as a “confrontational, upsetting, difficult theatre show”. The show is a big step forward from her previous work. “There were no monks or suicide in my other show,” she says flatly. In all seriousness, though, O’Doherty has made a conscious effort to branch out from her last show, What Is Soil Erosion? “I think when you’re writing a new show you just try to make it very different to what you’ve done before,” she explains. “But I’m sure if you were coming to all my shows you’d just think it’s the same. I think [when you’re] writing it you think [you’re] making massive departures, when you’re actually making a natural progression.” The writing process for O’Doherty is pretty simple. “I spend about three months writing a show,” she says. “So I come up with a title and an idea and then I spend about a month procrastinating and then I have a minor nervous breakdown and then I start waking up in the middle of the night stricken with panic. Then I spend two months writing and then making the show all day. It’s a lot of fun.” She’s got a pretty simple method of determining which ideas are funny enough to make it into the show. “If you get a bit like, ‘Oh no I couldn’t do that, it’s too stupid’, then it’s probably good.” She describes her style of humour as “high-concept idiocy”. Generally speaking, O’Doherty’s taste in comedy varies quite a bit. “I think it just comes down to being committed to whatever kind of comedy you do,” she says. “If it’s something the comedian finds genuinely funny, then it’s likely to work. I think when people try to make stuff that they think other people will think is funny, that’s when it doesn’t work.”
&
O’Doherty did only three previews in Sydney of The Telescope before bringing it to the MICF. “It’s still very new, so it’s still quite terrifying doing it,” she explains. “I’ve been really happy that people have found it funny because I think it’s my stupidest show yet.” She plans to take the show around Australia before going to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She believes that for now, the show is “a great opportunity to see something very new, if that’s what you like.” Making her debut at the MICF with sketch theatre group Pig Island in 2008, O’Doherty did her first solo show three years later, Monster of the Deep 3D, which won the Best Newcomer Award. O’Doherty is has been focused on comedy her whole life, and aspired to make “something like Ghostbusters” as entertainment when she was younger. “I have no other skills and this is the only thing I like doing,” she says. “This is my destiny and it’s the only thing I can do.” Her last show involved lasers, which is not your average standup show. O’Doherty doesn’t ‘do’ average, though. “I guess what I do is slightly odder than mainstream comedy, but there are people in every city who like that sort of thing,” she says. “So once they find the show then it’s always fun. If you like stupid things I guarantee a very high level of stupidity.” BY MEGAN HANSON
Claudia O’Doherty performs The Telescope at Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 8.30pm (7.30pm Sundays). Tickets $26/$24, $22 Tightarse Tuesdays and $20 previews from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL PROUDLY PRESENTS
THE
DIRECTED BY ADAM ROZENBACHS
Meet Laura Dunemann and Eleanor Webster – better known as the stand up duo Dingo & Wolf. The quirky duo play two sweet but clueless friends who struggle at life. Unlike many comedy duos, they don’t conform to the ‘straight and ‘comic’ roles. “We wanted to develop a dynamic that is a bit more evenly balanced. Not necessarily having one character that’s comedic and one that’s straight, we think that we can have both,” Laura explained. They most certainly can. “They’re still very different. Dingo’s quite passive, whereas Wolf is very bossy,” Laura explained, taking charge of the conversation in true Dingo form. “We get inspiration from ourselves definitely. I am the bossier one. “The thing for us is that they both fail, they’re both real losers in life but just in different ways. We think they’re both really great comedic characters that we enjoy”. The enjoyment is palpable when watching these two girls perform on stage. While they don’t break character, their energy is very honest and compelling. Their characters are only loosely based on their own failings. “Inspiration comes form a really varied pool. We do stupid things that are great for Dingo & Wolf but we also get inspiration from other people we see on the street, or people in the media,” Laura explains. “A range of people that we come across can inspire our writing, we really think that there’s a bit of Dingo & Wolf in everybody,” Laura elucidates, alluding to humanity’s collective tendency to fail at times. With a background in acting these ladies are utterly superb with timing and structure. Their training is apparent from the moment their performance begins. “We’ve really had to commit quite a bit to Dingo & Wolf. Eleanor is pursuing an acting career and does a bit of dramatic acting whereas I’m interested in comedic writing and going in that direction. We’ve both got our own little side projects that we are passionate about and want to pursue singularly as well.”
TOM GLEESON GOOD ONE
Despite recently becoming a father for the first time, Tom Gleeson still has a lot of energy to spare. He’s known throughout Australia and worldwide for shaking off what can easily be perceived a nice guy demeanor for an energetic live show, in which he takes a critical look at the everyday occurrences around him. He’s a comedian’s comedian, in that he doesn’t resort to cheap tricks or effusive cursing as a means to get his point across. “I get annoyed by very peculiar things,” he says. “I’ve been getting really annoyed by Coke and how they’ve named all their cans. Now it takes me a really long time to choose a can of Coke because I can’t just choose a can and drink it. The whole point of Coke is that it’s homogenous and you don’t have to think about it. I don’t want to worry about having to drink a Robert or a Fiona or whatever. And I’m stuck there for ages thinking about what kind of Coke I’m going to drink!” Just then, the sound of his daughter becomes impossible to ignore, and he steps away from the phone. Gleeson seems to have settled the manner. Perhaps now he can add “Diplomat” to his ever-growing resume. “My new baby girl, her best friend is a square piece of fabric. I think she’s just had a falling out with it.” Gleeson may have deflated the situation with ease, but with a portion of his live show dedicated to some of the inane, trivial matters that he faces in society, it’s worth wondering: has he faced any resistance from his social circle about being included in his act? “I’m very charming. They drop their guard, they forget. I get what I need
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They clearly enjoy working together very much, their friendship runs deep and this gives off a lovely intimate vibe during their performances. When I ask if the dynamic of bossy and passive is based on anyone they knew, they laugh in unison: “yeah it’s based on ours.” Dingo & Wolf are back this year for the Comedy Festival and their show Winning at Life promises to be about the polar opposite. “Dingo & Wolf are running a motivational and life coaching seminar. They feel like they’ve got a lot to tell their audience about how to win at life and the best way to live. They’ve decided to put on a lifecoaching seminar for the audience,” says Laura. Eleanor jumps in and explains, “They’re really not qualified to be running a workshop.” “It gets quite off track,” Laura agrees. They may not be winning at life, but they are succeeding greatly at comedy. They are an absolute treat to watch. This is one workshop you won’t want to miss. BY TESS WOODWARD
Dingo & Wolf perform Winning At Life at Three Degrees until Saturday April 21 (except Mondays). Tickets are $13-$18 and can be purchased from 3dcomedy.com.au/bookings, at the venue 0417 651 538 or at the door. They also perform at the all-lady best of showcase Upfront on Tuesday April 17 at the Melbourne Town Hall.
and I’m out of there,” he chuckles. “People don’t really care,” he continues. “I do talk a lot about my personal life, but I have a rule, and it’s a very simple rule: I only do it so they sit in the audience and watch it, and enjoy it.” Becoming a parent for the first time certainly has changed Gleeson’s home life, and it’s also had an impact on his act as well. But Tom Gleeson, in a classic self-depreciating manner, wants the world to know he hasn’t gone soft. “[When] people see this year’s show, they’ll see that within the first 20 minutes I’m just talking about the news and current events. And friends have told me that I’m making desperate attempts to stay edgy. I’ve taken a hard line on some stories, because I want to let the audience know that I’ve still got it.” BY JOSHUA KLOKE
Tom Gleeson performs Good One at Victoria Hotel until Sunday April 22 at 8.15pm (7.15pm Sundays) and at Melbourne Town Hall from Monday April 2 until Monday April 16 at 7pm (Mondays only). Tickets $30 Saturdays, $28/$26 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, $24 Tightarse Tuesdays and previews, from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
MARY
TOBIN
PRESENTS
STEPHEN
K AMOS R E T H G U A LIS MY
AGENDA
★★★★★ JIMMY JOHN FOTHERGILL McGHIE ★★★★★
★★★★★
JOE ROWNTREE
29 MAR - 22 APR
★★★★★
TUES,, WED & THURS 7PM HI FI BAR FRI & SAT 7.45PM SUN 7PM CAPITOL THEATRE SWANSTON ST (OPP ( MELB TOWN HALL))
“blessed with a mellifluous voice and a gift for parody like no other.” ★★★★
“Blisteringly funny Brit is at the top of his game” HERALD SUN APRIL 2012
HERALD SUN APRIL 2012
29 MAR–22 APR TUES-SAT 7PM, SUN 6PM
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE, THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL 29 MAR – 22 APR (DATES & TIMES VARY - CHECK PROGRAM) FRANKSTON ARTS CENTRE THUR 12 APR 8PM TEL: 03 9784 1060 WWW.THEFAC.COM.AU
BOOKINGS 1300 660 013 COMED COMEDYFESTIVAL.COM.AU DYFESTIVAL COM M AU www.marytobinpresents.com.au
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Beat Magazine Page 43
COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES HANNAH GADSBY
HANNAH WANTS A WIFE Hannah Gadsby’s profile has risen significantly over the past year with her weekly TV gig on Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight. Recently, In Gordon Street Tonight hosted the first mass same-sex TV wedding. “It was great fun to be involved,” says Gadsby of the special event. “When we first started, I said, ‘This is cool; this is fun’, but on the night I kind of realised a few times how much it meant to the couples to publicly express their commitment to each other, so it went from something that’s a bit of fun to something quite moving. So it was really cool – it was a wide variety of people. It varied from quite young people to people who have been together for a decade and been through everything together, and people who had moved countries to be with each other.”
How important is it to her to have gay marriage legalised in Australia? “I think it’s important for Australia because it’s fundamentally a human rights issue,” says Gadsby. “If being gay is not illegal, then giving equal recognition to gay relationships is kind of paramount.” Ideas for Gadsby’s new Comedy Festival show, Hannah Wants A Wife, started to sprout this time last year. “I was being silly,” she laughs, “and Farmer Wants A Wife was on television.” With a thriving fan base and several marriage proposals on the ’net, surely the revered Tasmanian-born comedian wouldn’t have any trouble meeting lovely ladies? “There’s this idea... but I’m kind of a bit busy, so I don’t really get to indulge.” Wife-searching aside, Gadsby’s new National Gallery of Victoria tour is Mary. Contrary, which explores the significance that religious and Christian painting holds in Western art history. “It was what people painted for centuries and centuries, so to understand Western art, you have to understand religion,” says Gadsby. “That’s how I kind of got into it – not through any interest in religion,” she laughs. “So for a long time, I’ve had a fascination with that and I love the Virgin Mary – she’s kind of a cool character in art and I thought I’d do an exploration of her.”
Gadsby also holds a degree in art curation, and says that art’s been a love of hers since growing up in Tasmania as a child: “I love visual history and working out the world through visual is kind of a passion of mine. I guess I was a bit of a dreamer about a bigger, wider world; a sophisticated world and art certainly.” As for her greatest comedy inspiration: “Bill Cosby – I like him because he can talk slow.” Gadsby will also be performing at the all-girl comedy bonanza, Upfront, which is sure to be one of the festival’s highlights. Fans have always admired how unique and humble Gadsby is – how important has it been to stay true to herself? “I don’t have any other option,” says Gadsby, “so basically what led to this is a complete lack of any other talent. Being comfortable with yourself is something that, I think, comes with age...we all go through a bit of trauma... “I’d been doing comedy for about three years before I thought, ‘This is what I’m doing with my life’. You take opportunities as they come and you hope that it will last because I don’t have any backup. Working hard and getting stressed is the only way,” she laughs.
Hannah Gadsby performs Hannah Wants A Wife at Victoria Hotel until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7pm (6pm Sundays). She performs Mary. Contrary. at NGV International on Sunday April 15 and 22 at 3.30pm, and you can also see her perform as part of the all-girl comedy bonanza, Upfront, at Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday April 17, which kicks off at 7.30pm.
BY CHRISTINE LAN
KATE MCLENNAN HOMEWARD BOUND
It’s a Thursday night in January and Kate McLennan is on stage in a comedy room in Melbourne. She’s talking about post-break up yoga and her dad, affectionately known as Pockets, among other things. Confident and charming, the audience can see they’re in expert hands and howl with laughter at the end of each sentence. It’s a storming set she delivers, her lines zing and her characterisations are beautifully observed and masterfully performed, and although not the headline act for the evening, she has by far and away the best crowd response of anyone on the bill. Kate McLennan has that effect on audiences and critics alike. If she’s not winning awards like, most recently, last year’s Comedy Star on The Rise, given to her by The Age’s M Magazine, then she’s being nominated for things like the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s top honour, the Barry Award. And the reviews are just as impressive. She’s only a week into her 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival season of Homeward Bound, and already she’s collected a four and a half star review from the Herald Sun and Arts Hub gave her four stars. Homeward Bound, which she first performed at Melbourne Fringe last year, tells the story of the end of her four-year relationship with her “muso” boyfriend and moving back in with her parents for a year. McLennan says there’s not much about the break up in the show for two reasons: she didn’t want an audience sitting there listening to her “bang on about it” and, personally, didn’t want to be “dragging myself back through all that again”. “I address the break up once, just to contextualise why I moved home. So I guess my journey in the show is getting back on feet again and putting my self-esteem back together, so it’s more about that and then about my family and their storylines that were running parallel to mine at that time,” she says. Those stories include her sister’s impending wedding and her father’s recovery from prostate cancer, interwoven with letters she’s written for her baby niece. “My sister had just had a baby, so it’s set in the first year of her life and her development, learning to talk and crawl and walk so that’s her little journey as well,” says McLennan, who is also performing in the Kids Comedy Club during the day over the school holidays. Her previous shows, such as the award-winning Debutante Diaries, have been character-driven pieces, but Homeward Bound, her first solo show in three years, sees her talking about herself and her family in a way she never has before. “Mum and my sister were worried because they’ve never had to deal with me talking about them before, but now they’re used to it. Dad loves it, he loves being spoken about on stage; he thinks it’s great,” she says. They’ll need to get used to it, as the prolific McLennan is already working on ideas for her next show, and has plans for a book based on their family holidays. Together with writer Kate McCartney, last year she was awarded the Kit Denton Fellowship for a television series idea they are currently writing which shares a similar premise to Homeward Bound in that the main character winds up single and back in the family home. The difference with this family, however, is they’re all clinically depressed. “It’s pretty dark” says McLennan. “There’s a lot in there that I don’t think will have ever been on screen in Australia before so we’re looking forward to that. Mum and Dad can’t watch that one though – they’re definitely banned from that one!” BY JOANNE BROOKFIELD
Kate McLennan performs Homeward Bound at Victoria Hotel until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7.15pm (Sunday 6.15pm). Tickets $26/$24, $22 Tightarse Tuesday and $20 preview via Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
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BEAT’S COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER
COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES TOM GAYNOR THE COMEDY ZONE
Runner-up in the 2011 Raw Comedy competition, this year Tom Gaynor was selected to perform at the Comedy Zone. The Comedy Zone showcases a selection of the best of who they perceive to be the best young comedians in the country. This is only Tom’s second year in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and he had already been bestowed with this honour. Getting to the finals of Raw Comedy is a pretty huge deal as well. Tom seemed pretty chuffed to have gotten that far. “I have a lot of good friends from Raw Comedy, I was on TV, a girl inboxed me a picture of her boobs which was awesome. So yeah it’s been really good, I’ve had some great comedy opportunities from it,” Tom confesses. “I was on top of the world at that point.” He said it wasn’t only the highlight of his career but also that, “it’s probably going to be the peak of my life. It’s been downhill since then and I can see that downwards spiral continuing.” Tom doesn’t only enjoy comedy for the perks (or perky breasts, rather). “I just enjoy it and I enjoy mucking around with people and being on stage mucking around with the crowd. It’s a fun
thing to do so I guess I was drawn to that.” He speaks very highly of the Comedy Zone, and rightfully so. It is a fabulous collection of fine young comedians: Khaled Khalafalla, Laura Hughes, Dayne Rathbone and Damian Power. They all went through to their Raw finals that year and it was incredibly hard to select just one winner. Thankfully they are all able to keep performing, as they truly are a talented bunch. “Everyone’s really good so we all push each other to do better and support each other. It’s a really good environment.” The Comedy Zone is directed by the exceptional Adam Rozenbachs this year. “He gives great advice. Even though I dismiss it all, that’s just because I am rubbish at comedy, he’s lovely though”. Tom is being a little modest here as he is very far from rubbish. You don’t get through to the grand-finals of Raw if you are rubbish. There were 1100 entrants the year that Tom entered. He ponders for a moment and corrects himself. “I still suck pretty hard at comedy so I do really appreciate any advice. Anybody who has advice for me, I take.” Tom looks up to the more senior comedians. He explains that it’s the little that keep him going. “I think it’s a great moment when somebody you really respect has something good to say about
you. One of the first times I came off stage Greg Fleet said, ‘Hey that was really good man’ and he may not have meant it but when people like that say things to you it’s great. Sam Simmons said, ‘Hi Tom’ the other day and that was good enough.” Encouragement can be necessary when embarking on the challenging career choice that is stand-up. Tom admits it has been rough at times. “I’ve done so many dumb things on stage. There was a guy who had a tattoo and I was mocking him I suppose. It was a tattoo with just numbers across his chest. I said, ‘What’s that buddy, can’t remember your own phone number?’ He replied, ‘That’s my brother’s army number and he was killed in Afghanistan’.” Oh dear, that would effectively quell any laughter in the room. Tom continues, “I don’t know if he was telling the truth but I felt absolutely terrible and the room fell pretty silent.” Tom sounded just the slightest bit pained when recalling this story, but made a speedy recovery concluding: “It’s alright though… He was a bit of a dickhead anyway.” Tom has just moved to Melbourne to study screenwriting. Keep an eye out for Tom and feel free to inbox him raunchy pictures. I have it on good authority that they will be very well received.
BY TESS WOODWARD
Tom Gaynor performs at The Comedy Zone at the Trades Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 9.30pm (8.30pm Sundays). Tickets are $18.50-$22.50 and are available from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
TEGAN HIGGINBOTHAM MILLION DOLLAR TEGAN
I don’t know if you recall exactly what you were doing on November 17 last year, but Tegan Higginbotham was being punched in the head. “I got a bit of a black eye and my nose bled a little bit but there was nothing serious, no permanent damage,” she says. “My neck was really sore but I think that just happens with everyone after a boxing match,” she says. No, that’s right, not an unprovoked violent attack but an organised boxing fight she spent eight weeks training for as a willing participant. For many, it would be a thought too insane to ever even contemplate but Higginbotham saw it as “too good an opportunity to pass up”. “It was in front of 1500 people in a proper big arena fight space so I went for it,” she says. Higginbotham, who usually performs as one half of sketch duo Watson alongside Adam McKenzie, has parlayed her pugilism into ‘Million Dollar Tegan’. “It’s a completely true story,” she says of the stand-up show she’s performing in Spleen Bar’s new upstairs venue as part of the 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. “It’s just a story about training up for that and what the experience of actually fighting somebody was like,” she says. Boxing has held its appeal with the 24-year-old since she was a young girl. “I was always a rough and tumble kind of tomboy when I was younger and used to watch boxing movies with Dad and I’ve always found the sport really appealing,” she says, adding it wasn’t until she’d seen the Hollywood film Million Dollar Baby that she “clicked” and realised it was an option for women as well. So when the opportunity came up to fight against Megan ‘Crossfire’ Cross, was the comedian in her thinking, ‘This will be great for material’ or the little girl who grew up watching the sport who wanted to do it? “It was kind of more the boxing side of me. I mean, I love comedy but I don’t know if I’d get punched in the head again for the sake of just a joke. I really wanted the experience of boxing and I really like pushing myself and seeing how far I can go, so yeah, it was definitely more the girl in me that had been watching boxing,” she says. The show opened last week and has already earned itself a four star review from the Herald Sun. Higginbotham says the show has wide appeal and this has been reflected in her audiences so far. This is her sixth Comedy Festival. Originally, she wanted to act but she got her first taste of comedy as part of the Class Clowns program while still in high school and hasn’t looked back. “The first school holidays after I finished school I was heading up to Wagga Wagga with Adam McKenzie and that’s where we practised our first show,” she says. She’s performing with him again during this festival in Shakespeare Fight Club, being joined on stage by Cameron McKenzie and Liam Ryan. “That’s a very silly show,” she says. “Basically, we take all the best fight scenes from all the Shakespeare plays and just play around with them and re-enact the best fight scenes.” Although she’s been trained to fight, audiences won’t get to see her do any of that in this show. “No, I don’t actually bring out my boxing skills but we’ve got a sword fight and some really cute little different fight scenes in there so it’s nice,” she says. And if you’re wondering if being punched in the head hurts? Yes it does. “It never hurt in training, and when we were practice sparring everything was safe but in the actual fight, yeah it really did. People said that it wouldn’t, the adrenalin would be pumping and all that sort of stuff but yeah, they lied. It really hurt.” BY JOANNE BROOKFIELD
Tegan Higginbotham has her final performance of Million Dollar Tegan at Spleen Bar this Saturday April 14 at 5.30pm. Tickets $18/$15 for concession, groups of four through Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
BEAT’S COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER
45
COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES
GLENN WOOL
MARK THOMAS EXTREME RAMBLING (WALKING THE WALL)
Corruption, refugees, arms dealing, dam building, torture, antiterror legislation, human rights violations, mental illness, and – wait for it – tax law, are not the usual fare in comedy, but Mark Thomas has tackled them all in a career spanning almost 30 years. Combining the funny with the factual, Thomas has made a name for himself in the UK as a comedian, presenter, political activist and investigative journalist, campaigning, protesting and, he’ll proudly tell you, actually affecting real change in some instances as well. This Melbourne International Comedy Festival sees him making his Australian stage debut with Extreme Rambling (Walking The Wall), although he has appeared on Australian television as regular segment presenter back in the mid-90s for Andrew Denton. Rambling is a British colloquialism meaning hiking, and in 2010 Thomas decided he might like to go for a ramble along the Israeli barrier in the West Bank. “Curiosity and devilment and because no one else has done it,” he says when asked what motivated him to risk such a thing. The wall is close to 750km long and took him and cameraman Phil Stebbing eight and a half weeks to walk. “Some days you’d literally do two kilometres and get arrested and other days you’d do 20 or 25,” he says of the journey that also involved him getting tear gassed and stoned. The result has been turned into his fourth book, a yet-to-bereleased documentary and the stage show, which has already been seen by 50,000 people in the UK. Although brief snippets of the footage are used in the show, which runs for two hours with an interval at Trades Hall (“it’s bloody marvellous,” he says of the venue), Thomas passionately delivers the part-lecture, part-travelogue cranked to 11. It doesn’t take him long to be dripping in sweat, as he embodies each of the characters he encounters along the way (the fixer, the builder, the soldier are just some of the colourful cast populating the tale). He consistently elicits laughter from the audience but sprinkles facts throughout, some which are genuinely shocking and delivered with the appropriate gravity. “Some of it isn’t funny,” he tells Beat on the phone from his hotel room. “When you talk about the checkpoints, you have to be honest about it and just be truthful to the situations. And that’s where the comedy comes from, from the honesty of the situation.
NO LANDS MAN You’ve got to apply the same thing when things are horrible. You know, there are some bits which are really nasty and you have to be accurate about it,” he says. Thomas says he’s often asked about the ‘controversy’ but he doesn’t see things in those terms. “For me it’s always been about just going, ‘This is an issue that needs to be addressed’ and it’s as simple as that,” he says. For Thomas, Palestine is one of the moral issues of our age. “In the same way that apartheid in South Africa was a moral issue, in the same way that Burma should be a moral issue,” he says. “It’s a situation where one people have a different set of rights legally than another group of people and it’s determined by their ethnicity and we call it racism and it’s wrong,” he says emphatically. “It’s not controversial to say that”. Coming from a family of miners and preachers, Thomas says he’s always been politically active. “When I was born I came out of the womb clutching a placard, demanding more rental space,” he chuckles. It was seeing a Brecht production as a kid that first introduced him to the power of theatre, and he hopes audiences will engage with the debate as a result of seeing Extreme Rambling. “I remember being amazed that you could go into a theatre, think one thing, see a show and come out thinking another. And I think that’s always informed what I do”. BY JOANNE BROOKFIELD
Mark Thomas performs Extreme Rambling (Walking The Wall) at Trades Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7.30pm (Sundays 6.30pm). Tickets $25- $31.50 through Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
When people ask stand up comedian Glenn Wool where home is, he tells them ‘an airport’. “They think I’m kidding but I’m not,” he says. “It’s where I understand everything. I travel so much I know airports, like I hit them like I’d hit a town, and I go, ‘Oh, well that’s where you can get a massage if you have a long layover’ and, ‘That’s where you can get a meal that’s not just sodium’ and, of course, ‘There’s the bar’,” he drawls in his Canadian accent, which quickly develops into a knowing chuckle. As a long-standing regular on the international comedy circuit, he’s upgraded frequently, due to the amount of travel he does. “It’s one thing they don’t tell you about first class, if you order a drink, they won’t keep your glass empty”. But with his long hair and metal-inspired sartorial aesthetic, he says he’s often on the receiving end of “that look”, the one that basically asks, ‘What the hell is he doing here?’ “I get it from people who have made solid decisions in investments in their life and they’re good Christian folk, with pleated pants and a tucked in shirt, and here I come. You can tell they just want to see my travel number: ‘and he travels more than I do? Really?! Ok?’” he says, in a voice camply parodying their mild-mannered outrage. It’s been three years since Wool, previously a regular visitor, has performed as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He’s spent his fair share of time in the sky since we’ve seen him last, travelling to Ireland, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and more. A divorce three years ago has seen him move from England, his adopted homeland for a decade, and after signing to a major Hollywood agency, he did relocate to LA for a time. He says he returns there for pilot season, though, recently shooting one for the History Channel. He has to “add another flight to my life” to return there shortly for a couple of re-shoots, but it’s not a place he calls home either. These days, travelling with cabaret performer girlfriend ‘Lady Carol’, life is lived out of a suitcase. Or, more precisely, “two big bags of all our shit”. His latest stand up show, No Lands Man, touches on life as a global nomad. It starts when he got “railroaded at Indonesian customs”, who were accusing him of having cocaine on his hands. “They hadn’t. I was just travelling light with long hair,
on my own,” he says over a meal in Melbourne. He was then taken into a back room, but “I will go no further. The show has to play out,” he says as to what happened next. He will say that once he realised what was going on, he smiled, “and that’s what the show is about, all the different things that could have made me smile on that day”. Before revealing that in the show, however, he also covers other topics. “There’s a little bit of LA in there, there’s a story about Iron Maiden, a 20 minute bit on beavers – yes, as in the creatures,” he says, which does trigger some discussion about the other type of beavers. “It’s touched on in there,” he admits. Wool, who started stand up 18 years ago, has now been performing No Lands Man for around a year and he’s realised it also has a strong current of protest running through it. “What is a legitimate protest and what is a weak protest?” The best protest he says, is “the ultimate thumbing of the nose to authority” but given it’s how his story in the Indonesian customs backroom ends, he’s not prepared to say what it is. Guess we’ll have to see the show to find out. BY JOANNE BROOKFIELD
Glenn Wool performs No Lands Man at Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 9.30pm (Sunday 8.30pm). Tickets $25-$31 from Ticketmaster, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
ROSS NOBLE NONSENSORY OVERLOAD
“I realised if you’re at home you can get quite a lot done,” reflects Ross Noble. Known for both his hugely popular surreal, stream of consciousness material and an obsessive work ethic, Geordie comic Ross Noble has gigged and toured relentlessly since he first appeared on stage as a teenager two decades ago, having to be smuggled through the comedy club kitchen due to the fact he was underage. His monster tours, with so many dates it was tiring just scrolling down through them all, have been the bedrock of his success both here and in the UK in the ensuing years as his profile and audience have steadily risen to the point he is one of the biggest selling acts pretty much anywhere he shows up. “I always had that thing of constantly working, that’s what I loved doing,” he says on the phone from Townsville where he is, once again, working. But last year, he uncharacteristically took a break. “I took last year off, for the first time since I started stand-up, I actually took a bit of time off and spent a bit of time at home and went off and did other things,” he says. Although British, Noble, who is married to an Australian and has a young daughter, had been calling Australia home until the 2009 Black Saturday fires destroyed their house and every single thing they owned. “Considering how many people died, in the big scheme of things we were actually quite lucky,” he says, although the way he searches for and then stumbles over his words when talking about it leaves no doubt as to his own trauma. “Now we live in Kent in the South of England where it’s damp everyday and when everyone complains about the horrible shitty weather, it doesn’t bother me at all,” he says. His Melbourne International Comedy Festival run of shows, part of a larger national Nonsensory Overload tour which started in February and will keep him busy until May, sees Noble not only returning to Australia after an extended absence, but returning to stand-up. “It’s been a bit weird but it’s one of those things when you go away, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, and there were loads of things that I didn’t realise you don’t really miss until you get back and you go ‘oh yeah, I forgot about that’,” he says fondly of returning here. The same applies to his time away from stand-up. “I’ve come back with a sort of renewed energy,” he says. Not that he took a year off to lie on a couch. “Because I had a load of time off, loads
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BEAT'S COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER
of things that I would never normally be able to do, I was able to do, because I didn’t have to shoot off,” he says. That includes traversing England on the back of a Triumph motorbike, television crew in tow, as his Twitter followers made suggestions as to where he should go next. He also competed in some motorbike races. “I went off and rode in Africa and went out to the desert, I went to this crazy dirt bike race in Transylvania,” he says. He did a handful of gigs, one being a “big outdoor comedy festival” that ran over three nights to 7000 people a time, performing with Eddie Izzard and Tommy Tiernan. There was some tele (“a topical news things”) and Noble also made his first foray into acting. “I’ve just made a film as well. It should be finished in the next few weeks,” he says. Not wanting to give away too much detail at this stage, he will say that it’s a horror film and he plays a dead killer clown that has returned from the grave. “I think it’s going to be one of those films it will either be massive or have one of the biggest cult followings you can imagine,” he predicts. Until that hits screens, though, Noble is now “back at my day job, doing what I do. Talking bollocks and making people laugh”. Welcome back Ross. JOANNE BROOKFIELD
Ross Noble performs Nonsensory Overload from Monday April 16 until Sunday April 22 at The Palais. Tickets $44.90/$34.90 via Ticketmaster online or 1300 660 013.
BIG WEEK BIG WEEK OF LAUGHS! OF LAUGHS! openING this week!
PART-IMPROVISED, PART-HONED, PART-PERFORMANCE, PART PARTY.
THE HORNE SECTION
LATE, LIVE AND LOUD! â&#x20AC;&#x153;No other act even comes close to the hilarity and talent of the Horne Section. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;? HERALD SUN
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE FESTIVAL CLUB, STAYS AT THE FESTIVAL CLUB...
[UK]
OPENS THURSDAY
MELB TOWN HALL FROM 10 APR TUE-SAT 8.15PM, SUN 7.15PM FROM $25.50
[UK]
Keyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back. With a sensational new show.
OPENS THURSDAY
AUSTRALIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BEST STAND-UP-AND-COMINGS IN ONE SHOW... GET â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;IN THE ZONEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;! TRADES HALL TUEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SAT 9.30PM, SUN 8.30PM TIX FROM $18.50
TIME OUT LONDON
Tim FitzHigham Gambler
[UK]
A show about the 10 greatest bets in history â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gut bustingly funny.â&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Side-splittingly, jaw-hurtingly funny. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;?
The Scotsman, UK
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Subtle, shambolic, occasionally moving and gloriously funny.â&#x20AC;?
ARTS CENTRE MELB FROM 12 APR TUE-SAT 9.30PM, SUN 8.30PM FROM $25
MELB TOWN HALL FROM 10 APR TUE-SAT 9.45PM, SUN 8.45PM FROM $25.50
NO LANDS MAN
â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;
MASTERSLUT
[UK]
CHORTLE, UK
GLENN WOOL
Direct from Off-Broadway and her US tour!
2009 EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARD
Tim Key
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The God particle of alternative comedy.â&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The clearest view there has ever been into the comicsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; minds. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;? THE SCOTSMAN
WINNER
2012 CHORTLE AWARD BEST SHOW
Hats off to the 101ers, and other material
TOP COMEDIANS GET THEIR NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN TOPICS AS THEY WALK TO THE STAGE...
VICTORIA HOTEL TUE, THU, FRI & SAT 11PM, SUN 10PM MELB TOWN HALL MON 7PM FROM 9 APR ALL TIX $20
WINNER
Simon Munnery
Expect the unexpected from the Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best
THE
EVENING STANDARD, UK
Chortle, UK
THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY COMEDY BONANZA
THE HI-FI DOORS TUEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SAT 11.15PM, SUN 10.15PM TUEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;WED $10, THUâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SUN $15
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Painfully funny.â&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;INTELLIGENT, PLAYFUL, QUIRKY, OBSESSIVE AND ORIGINAL FUN. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;? FORUM THEATRE FROM 10 APR TUE-SAT 7PM SAT 6PM FROM $27.50
Hosted by Paul Provenza (The Aristocrats)
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rock ze hausâ&#x20AC;? an evening of Eurotrash variety and live cabaret
[UK]
GORMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S
$1 = 1 comedian, makes good cents!
SUNDAY HAUS PARTY
Star of GRANDMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOUSE and NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT FROM 12 APR TUE-SAT 10PM, SUN 9PM FROM $25.50
WEDNESDAY 10 COMEDIANS FOR 10 BUCKS
DAVE
[UK]
[CAN]
THE SCOTSMAN, UK
TIME OUT SYDNEY
THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT TIX FROM $25.50 TUE-SAT 8.30PM, SUN 7.30PM
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 9.30PM, SUN 8.30PM
VICTORIA HOTEL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 8.30PM, SUN 7.30PM
[UK]
Strictly limited return season!
[USA]
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rock â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roll hysteria meets sharp and brilliant comedy. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;? TIME OUT, UK
WINNER
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brilliant. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x20AC;? HERALD SUN
All the rigmarole of haute cuisine without the shame of eating.
WINNER
2012 CHORTLE AWARD BEST SKETCH COMEDY
Only 4 guests per show.
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 8.30PM, SUN 7.30PM
[CAN]
"#$%& '(
VICTORIA HOTEL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 9.45PM, SUN 8.45PM
Me and my brother in our pants, holding hands
2012 CHORTLE AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN COMEDY
[UK]
All tix $15. Reservations essential. laconcepta@comedyfestival.com.au
Paul Foot
[UK]
Still Life
â&#x20AC;&#x153;COMIC BLISSâ&#x20AC;?
5
THE GUARDIAN, UK
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Makes live comedy thrilling.â&#x20AC;? EVENING STANDARD, UK Â
SHOWs only PRINCESS THEATRE FROM 17 APR TUE-SAT 7.30PM TIX FROM $25
MELB TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25.50 TUE-SAT 7PM, SUN 6PM
ALEX HORNE
SWEDENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FUNNIEST EXPORT
David Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Doherty CARL-EINAR H) (*&R is Looking Up HAND [IRL] LUGGAGE
[UK]
SEVEN YEARS IN THE BATHROOM â&#x20AC;&#x153;Clever, truly crazy, surprisesâ&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Outrageous and originalâ&#x20AC;? HERALD SUN
â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the most ingenious nights of comedy youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ever see. â&#x20AC;?
HERALD SUN
HERALD SUN
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25.50 TUE-SAT 9.45PM, SUN 8.45PM
FORUM THEATRE TIX FROM $29 TUE-SAT 7.30PM, SUN 6.30PM
BOOK NOW!
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 8.15PM, SUN 7.15PM
MELB TOWN HALL TIX FROM $25 TUE-SAT 7.15PM, SUN 6.15PM
endearin
comedyfestival.com.au 1300 660 013
CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU
Beat Magazine Page 47
THE BELLS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH – FORCES
BY THOMAS BAILEY
Bells, by and large, are a huge part of our lives. They let us know when dinner’s ready. They alert imprisoned children as to when school is over for the day. Famously morose author Edgar Allan Poe even wrote a poem about them. On the artistic front here in Melbourne, there are, of course, the Federation Bells in Birrarung Marr. Consisting of 39 individual computer-controlled harmonic bells, the Federation Bells were installed in 2001 by Anton Hassel and Neil McLachlan to mark the centenary of Federation. Having just been renovated and retrofitted with state-of-the-art metronomic hammers, computer controllers and new lids, the bells are ready for their closeup. Enter the creative folk at City of Melbourne’s Late Night Programming. They’ve come up with a corker of an evening to celebrate the Federation Bells’ new lease on life: The Bells of Friday the 13th, a multi-media extravaganza featuring two of Melbourne’s most progressive art-rock acts, A Dead Forest Index and Forces, creating new musical works for the re-invigorated bells.
Alex Akers, vocalist and producer for minimalist electroindustrial outfit Forces, is on the phone with me to talk about this most intriguing project and to shed some light on how one goes about writing music with these 39 bells in mind. “There was no audition,” Akers informs me when I ask how Forces got involved with the project. “From what I can tell, the people at Melbourne Music Week were talking about [the project], and it was primarily from not getting to have done the Ceremony Project for the City of Melbourne; they had said they wanted to do something on Friday the 13th.” I mention to Akers that I’m curious as to how the bells work, and what they’re made of. “I don’t know what the
composition of the bells are, as far as the metal or the alloy,” he admits, “but I do know the media process goes through video simulators. Now, I didn’t build them, but essentially we’re going to be interacting through them as if they were a standard instrument. “Basically there’s a velocity,” he continues, regarding the bells’ sensitivity. “You can trigger the bells with varying degrees of intensity – they’re really very responsive.” The prospect of performing Forces’ music alongside the bells in the expanse of Birrarung Marr is something that fills Akers with more than a little enthusiasm. “It’s perfect for us, cause we love doing outdoor stuff and we enjoy doing stuff late at night!” he gushes. “And there is going to be a bit of a surprise in regards to the staging, and there are a couple of elements that are just coming together now. It’s going to be as visual as it is going to be auditory, and hopefully it’s fun as well!” Akers, who had lived in London for a few years, joined forces with his longtime friend and drummer Thomas
THE MEDICS
“It can be very inspirational. Playing Big Day Out and Laneway Festival was very cool because we got to see a bunch of bands that we’d only heard about, but were finally able to check out live. We were all digging a band called Washed Out and Toro Y Moi as well. It really helped our writing as well, believe it or not.” It’s indeed believable that bands with a certain growing aesthetic like those mentioned could influence The Medics. Their bare-bones take on rock is able to stretch and grow with ease, heard in no small part on Griffin, one of the cuts they’ve released from their upcoming debut full-length. “With a song like that, Kahl, our rhythm guitarist, he brought in the original pieces to the song and we spent much longer than usual jamming that one out. But someone always bring in the lead parts and we all just piece it together from there. I find we’ve got pretty good chemistry when it comes to song writing. It can be tough to smooth these ideas we have for songs down to four minute numbers, but we always manage to find ways to do it.” In speaking to Thomas, it’s evident that he’s chomping at the bit to get the record released, as any pause in our conversation finds him coming back to the subject of the record. “It’s sounding really good,” he says of the record. “I’m very excited to get into it, release it and tour it. It’s been around for awhile, but we just got the masters back. We
spent the day driving around and listening to it in the car, and it sounds so good. I’m really happy with the recording process, looking back on it.” It’s then put to Thomas the fact that the car is where Bruce Springsteen listens to the different takes on new recordings in his car before making the final call. He is, of course, happy to hear that, all things considered. “After the first mix, I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t really on board,” he continues. “Things weren’t in the right positions, but we were able to go back and listen to it and make better decisions. And I’m happy we did that.” Taking their time has worked well for The Medics. After a summer spent honing their craft on festival stages, the
BY JOSHUA CLOKE
Between appearances at some of Australia’s most reputable festivals, it was a big summer for The Medics. Though they originated from the far north of Queensland, the band has slowly established themselves as mainstays in the Brisbane scene. And after a summer spent gigging at Big Day Out, Laneway and Festival of the Sun, the band is ready to use the experiences they had over the summer for the betterment of the band. “It’s always very cool to watch how bigger bands cover the space onstage at these festivals,” says bassist Charles Thomas, reached on the phone from his home while he relaxed with a cup of tea.
Beat Magazine Page 48
DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION
Henderson after returning to his hometown of Melbourne. “We’d been friends for many years, but until he joined the band, I was a solo electronic project. I felt I had to step away from the synthesisers, and I just wanted a band! Tom’s a pretty interesting character, and his knowledge of arcane scores of music is pretty compelling and deep.” When asked what the writing process for him and Henderson was like in a conceptual sense, Akers says, “I guess we just started texturally, and I knew that we were gonna try and incorporate one or two songs that were part of Forces’ repertoire. But I mainly wanted to create something on a pretty vast scale – and that we were going to be recreating them in this vast crop of bells!”
band is now ready to get personal and expansive at the same time. And as Thomas concludes, things could only be just beginning for The Medics. “We’ve had the songs on the album recorded for almost a year. I reckon we’ve got the potential to put out another record, very soon. But still, with this record, I feel like it’s the first step. It’s the very foundation of what’s to come with this band. I’m really excited about it.”
FORCES and A Dead Forest Index help to unveil the renovated Federation Bells in Birrarung Marr for The Bells of Friday the 13th on Friday April 13. Admission is free. For more information, visit federationbells.com.au.
THE MEDICS take their chances with luck on Friday April 13, bringing the You Build Walls Tour, celebrating their second single Joseph, to the Northcote Social Club.
CORE
PUNK, SKA, HARDCORE NEWS, REVIEWS AND GOSSIP BY EMILY KELLY: EK1984@GMAIL.COM
I went away this Easter with a bunch of friends and proceeded to consume my bodyweight in rum and chocolate. As per our usual tradition we took it in turns to choose albums to submit one another to. This is usually tear-free considering we all share spectacular taste in music, but the fun and games came to a dramatic halt when one participant declared they had no preference in music… ever… in their life. This person could choose any song they wanted and they simply professed to not really liking any song in particular and for never really deriving any real importance or enjoyment out of music. My head just about imploded. Imagine not having excellent music to punctuate all those wonderful phases in your life. Sometimes I look at my record collection and marvel at how each album has a story to it. Each represents a moment in time; a car ride, a dancefloor, an entire evening. And then there are the albums that somehow change your disposition and the entire trajectory of your day. Case in point – The Weakerthans. I look at the world differently having studied John K Sampson’s lyrics and if you put his music on in any given environment, you’re likely to experience a far sweeter perspective on even the most mundane moments. Speaking of life affirming music, exciting news arose last week regarding local acts The Smith Street Band and Anchors. The two Melbourne-based bands were confirmed as part of the first round of acts announced for The Fest 11 in Gainsville, Florida. The festival celebrated its tenth anniversary last October, featuring Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls and Against Me and drawing a huge Aussie contingent. Onno Cro-Mag and Roger Miret (Agnotic Front) have formed a record label called Strength Records. The pair have commented “Strength Records stand for honesty, dignity and friendship. It will go back to the times when hardcore and punk was pure and without bullshit”. There are already two releases planned for the label including an album from Belgian old school warriors Hard Resistance. Frankie McLaughlin, frontman of Sydney’s folk punx The Rumjacks has apparently been jailed for 16 months on charges relating to domestic violence. The band cancelled scheduled performances when news broke but there has been no official comment from band or management. Brisbane band Road To Ransome have announced an EP and a run of release shows this winter. Their EP Meanwhile In The Sky is available now and you can catch the guys play an all ages show at Musicland on Saturday June 30.
Sydney band Buried In Verona will release their third album via UNFD this June, followed by a headlining tour with The Plot In You, In Hearts Wake and Silent Screams this June. The tour hits Melbourne’s Next nightclub on Thursday June 21 followed by Ringwood OLP on Friday June 22.
CORE GIG GUIDE Wednesday April 11: Veil Of Maya, The Storm Picturesque, Stories at Karova Lounge, Ballarat The Smith Street Band, Let Me Down Jungleman, White Walls at The Old Bar Thursday April 12: The Hawaiian Islands, Let Me Down Jungleman, Green Green Green, Stockades at Gertrudes Brown Couch Summerset Avenue, Far From Nowhere, Storm the Sky, Good Will Hunting at Next Deez Nuts, Phantoms, The Bride, Hallower, Brooklyn at EVs Youth Center, Croydon Hailgun, Old Skin, Degenerates, Master Beta at Bendigo Hotel Friday April 13: Veil Of Maya, The Storm Picturesque, Stories at Phoenix Youth Center Deez Nuts, Phantoms, The Bride, Trainwreck, Earth Caller at Gershwin Room, Espy Severed Oath, Empire, Battlemode, The Rosetta Stone, Take Your Own at The Bendigo Super Best Friends at The Brunswick Hotel Margins, Fourteen Nights At Sea, Yolke, Dumsaint at The Old Bar Bellusira at Evelyn Hotel Peep Tempel, Mesa Cosa, The Jackals, Kremlings at The Tote Saturday April 14: god bows to math, El Alamein, MEdicators, Franco COzzo, Stockades at Irene’s Warehouse Deez Nuts, Ennui Breathes Malice, Nicholas Cage Fighter, Rise From Ruin, Like Royalty, A Call To Arms at Karova Lounge Hand Of Mercy, Belle Haven, Rise From Ruin at Bang The Worst, Stranglehold, The Hard Targets, Razorcut at The Bendigo Sunday April 15: Admiral Ackbar’s Dishonourable Discharge, No Ones Home, Cruntburgers and more at The Gasometer
CRUNCH! GARSED SITS IN WITH ZPZ Melbourne progressive rock fans were treated to a special performance on Friday: guitarist Brett Garsed sat in with Dweezil Zappa’s Zappa Plays Zappa for a few extended jams. Garsed – who’s back in Melbourne these days after years of lording over the LA fusion scene – is probably best known for his work with John Farnham, but he’s a brilliant artist on his own right too. Check out his current album Dark Matter, which showcases his mind-bending fusion chops and sense of melody. He’s been known to work with the likes of prog legends Planet X too.
KENEALLY & PARTRIDGE NEARING COMPLETION
LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL GOOD SHIT WITH PETER HODGSON: CRUNCHCOLUMN@GMAIL.COM
GIG ALERT: THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS
An Aussie metal supergroup of sorts, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms will launch their debut album at The Central Club in Richmond on May 5. The band features guitarist Conny D and vocalist Pitzy Van Crew from Spasticator, Inferno guitarist Alex Doukas, Black Majesty/Steve Turner/Eyefear bass player Evan Harris, and drummer Ricky Evensand (ex-Soilwork, Black Majesty, Toehider). Doors open at 8pm, entry is $15.
ALBUM
Multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally was recently in town for the G3 tour, where he performed double duty in Joe Satriani and Steve Vai’s bands (he used to be in a band called Z with Dweezil Zappa, and before that he was Frank Zappa’s last ‘stunt guitarist’). He also plays guitar in the live incarnation of Dethklok. Keneally is currently working on Wing Beat Fantastic, a collaboration with XTC’s Andy Partridge, which is working its way onto several ‘most anticipated album of 2012’ lists. I can’t wait to hear what these two have come up with. Partridge is a master of melody and evocative wordsmithery, and Keneally is a ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalist who combines aspects of everything from Zappa to Radiohead. If you haven’t heard Keneally before, dig into his albums Sluggo! and Dancing first.
GIG ALERT: HELLRIDERS
Iron Madness, British Steel and Pegazus will be riding into Musicland in Fawker on Saturday April 21. Together they are the Hellriders and they say they will put on a show straight from the depths of hell. Which sounds good to me! Doors open 8pm, entry is $20.
PENNYWISE RELEASE FIRST TASTE OF ALL OR NOTHING In the lead-up to the release of new album All Or Nothing, Pennywise have made the track Let Us Hear Your Voice available on Soundcloud. The album is their first with new singer Zoli Téglás (Ignite), who stepped in following the departure of longtime vocalist Jim Lindberg. All Or Nothing is out on April 27 via Epitaph.
CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU
METAL, HEAVY ROCK, CLASSIC ROCK
GIG ALERT: NE OBLIVISCARIS Welkin Entertainment & Metalobsession.net present Ne Obliviscaris’ Portal Of I Australian tour, in support of the band’s debut album. It’s taken a long time for this one. Lineup changes, worldwide acclaim for a threesong demo half a decade ago, a 15-month battle with the Department of Immigration to secure a long-term visa for guitarist Benjamin Baret... and as of May 7 Portal Of I will finally be in your hands. It’s seven songs and over 72 minutes of brutal, and it’ll be performed in its entirety during the tour. Friday May 18 at The Corner Hotel (18+) then Saturday May 19 at The Castle, Dandenong (all ages). Check out the song And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope from Portal Of I on YouTube.
GIG ALERT: FAUX FIGHTERS Australia’s self-proclaimed “most rockin’ and devilishly handsome Foo Fighters tribute,” The Faux Fighters, are plying their trade at The Pelly Bar (Pier Live) in Frankston on Friday April 20. The action kicks off at 8:30, with the band promising Grohl-penned anthems aplenty and a triple axe attack. Frontman Dave Growl has some serious guitar chops, having taken home the top title at the Demon Rock-Off guitar contest at Rockstar Bowling list yer, at which yours truly was a judge, so I can certainly vouch for his Grohl-like Awesome Rock Power. Check out their website, thefauxfighters.com
Beat Magazine Page 49
MUSIC NEWS
YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE
For all the latest news check out beat.com.au
THE BONNIWELLS The Bonniwells smashing out a mini two date residency down below in The Grace Darling cellar bar tonight and next Wednesday April 18, featuring reverb, fuzz, pop gems, drums, yelling, energy, echo, grooves, #1 hits, fuckin' idiots and guitars. Their good, good friends High Tea will be joining them tonight only.
TEENAGE MOTHERS
SINE SiNE are Melbourne's most exciting dub-reggae act. Sub bass frequencies, skanking horns, smooth vocals and samples are all dubbed and warped live by their resident sound engineer (The Cat Empire, Shapeshifter, TZU etc). Whilst paying tribute to the Jamaican innovators, SiNE has evolved with a futuristic attitude to roots culture, delivering futuristic urban dubscapes designed to uplift, incite, transport and transcend. They have supported legendary reggae producer/performer Lee 'Scratch' Perry and were selected for Sydney's Luminous Festival by modern music giant Brian Eno after he discovered them on YouTube. Don't expect to be sitting still when these guys take the stage at Bar Open this Saturday April 14.
CHERRY ROCK 2012 Californian stoner rock giants Fu Manchu have been announced as the headliners of the sixth annual Cherry Rock. Also adding to the festivities are Black Cobra, Matt Sonic & The High Times, Bitter Sweet Kicks, Vice Grip Pussies, My Dynamite, The Ramshackle Army and Valentiine with more soon to be announced. The sixth Cherry Rock takes place at Cherry Bar and in AC/DC Lane on Sunday April 29. Tickets on sale now.
MOROCCAN KINGS Moroccan Kings are releasing a new single from their forthcoming EP; the track is called Grizzly Bear. The band is putting together a very special and detailed show to release the song at Revolver Upstairs on Saturday April 28. The launch has two awesome support bands, two of Melbourne's favourites, Sheriff and A Lonely Crowd. Tickets are $10+bf pre-sale, $12 on the door. Pre-sale tickets are available from Moshtix or the band themselves. Doors open 9pm.
THE INDIAN SKIES Come and have a psychedelic evening with The Indian Skies on Tuesday May 1, at The Toff In Town. They will be releasing their first spaced out single In The Sun, with support from the majestic Michael Shaun, who will be playing his latest single Treat Me, You Devil, plus you can grab a taste of the first offering from Centre And The South, with their freshly recorded song Something New Something True.
THE PUBLIC ORCHESTRA
OPINION
AFRO
Over the past few months DJ Manchild and The Public Opinion Sound System have gotten Melbourne warmed up to the tropical disco sounds of Scatter Scatter with a series of sweaty, percussion-driven dancefloor-burning parties. Now the time has come however, to summon the furious afro-storm that is The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, who along with Congo Tardis #1 and Mr Fish will bring nothing but the heaviest afro-funk, the deepest island disco, the fieriest Colombian salsa and the most mind-bending cumbia. Scatter Scatter 4 goes down at one of Melbourne's hottest new underground nightspots, Twotwotwo Warehouse (222 Johnston St, Collingwood) on Saturday April 14.
OSCAR + MARTIN Melbourne boys Oscar + Martin are headlining the launch party for new creative agency Hand Games, with support from City Calm Down, Sydney-sider Nakgin and local beat maker Wooshie. Head on down to The Liberty Social on Friday April 20 for all the festivities, tickets available through Moshtix.
LINK MCLENNAN’S JUKEBOX
AMAZING
Link Mclennan's Amazing Jukebox hits The Tote this Tuesday April 17 playing some of his faves from artists such as The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Who, Echo And The Bunnymen, John Lee Hooker, The Cramps, The Beatles, Wreckless Eric and Elvis Costello. He also delivers a handful of his originals which cower modestly (falsely) among these greats. So come and witness/hear two sets of his guitar, vocals and hatbox snaredrum. Two free sets in the front bar from 8pm.
SOUNDS LOUD Some of Australia's hottest rising talents will take to Queens Park this April for the very awesome, very free, and very allages Sounds Loud Festival. Some of the big-name acts to take to the stage will be Stonefield, Bleeding Knees Club, Dream On Dreamer, Hand of Mercy, For Our Hero, The Sweet Apes, Amber Lamps and 8 Bit Love. Pretty tidy, eh? Included in the lineup is local band and Moonee Valley Push Start Battle of the Bands heat winners Blood Orange (not to be confused with Dev Hynes' solo project) and Western Metro Regional Final winners Granston Display. More local acts to be announced soon. Sounds Loud Festival hits Queens Park, Moonee Ponds on Sunday April 15.
ROCK N LOAD Prepare to cop a face-full of rock at the inaugural Rock N Load festival at The Espy on Saturday May 26. With over 30 acts across the entire venue, it's gonna be madness in St Kilda. Headline act announced mid-April, but until then, we can announce that the following bands are confirmed to tear up The Espy's three stages: Bugdust, The Stiffys, King Of The North, Ten Thousand, Heaven The Axe, I Am Duckeye, The Charge, Anna Salen, Hailmary (WA), Shadowqueen, The Morrisons, Beggars Orchestra (NSW), Shadowgame, Bottle Of Smoke, System Of Venus, Arcane Saints, Apache Medicine Man, The Vendettas, Riot In Toytown and many more. Check out rocknloadfestival.com for lineup and ticketing info.
DISCO BRAZIL Melbourne's most stylish exponent of the big disco sound Donnie Disco teams up with London's Patrick Whitaker (Bistro Erotica, Sound Gallery) to deliver a night of sizzlin' tropical boogie on Saturday April 21. Ably assisted by the funky soca sounds of Jaspora that pack the dancefloor everytime and the tropical cool of London's superspy of burlesque – Agent Lynch. Hear way out disco, soca and funky grooves with that afro Brazil carnival style that will have you shimmying all night long. Get to The Luwow from 8pm. $10 entry and come dressed in your tropical best.
Last month, a weird controversy erupted after Teenage Mothers were kicked off an Australian tour supporting M83 (because M83’s front man Anthony Gonzalez didn't like Teenage Mothers’ singer James Kennedy inhaling nitrous oxide onstage and doing a backflip into the audience). Teenage Mothers responded with a blog entitled ‘Touring with M83, the meanest band in the galaxy’, which received international attention. In an interview on triple j, Anthony Gonzalez then attacked Teenage Mothers as 'disrespectful' and 'unprofessional'. Teenage Mothers heartily agree with those descriptions. Next Saturday April 14, Teenage Mothers play a free show in The Espy's front bar. Also playing are Sydney radio favourites Faker. Teenage Mothers will preview songs from their album of ragged ballads and guitar torture. They might also preview a bittersweet duet between singer JK and guest vocalist Jack Mannix of Circle Pit. And yes, you starving artists, it's free.
SLY GROG Every Saturday arvo in April, The Retreat Hotel will be featuring the boozy tunes of long ago. Real old time music by a genuine string band, Sly Grog. Between 4pm and 6pm, out in the beer garden, head along to enjoy the banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, harmonicas, harmonies and all the rest.
KIM BOEKBINDER The Impossible Girl is writing her new space themed album here in Melbourne. She'll be debuting the new songs with her hot Australian band during her Wednesday night residency at The Evelyn Hotel during the month of April. Synthesisers, guitars, fat beats, and unexpected sounds to abound. Don't miss out tonight, doors open at 8.30pm.
THE GOOD SHIP It’s been nearly two years since The Good Ship sailed over the horizon with their debut album Avast! Wretched Sea, snagging a haul of rave reviews, a slew of festival spots including Woodford, and a legion of dedicated fans. Now they are nearing completion of their much anticipated follow up, due for release mid 2012. To get the ball rolling they’re launching the first single Seven Seas with an East Coast tour throughout April. Catch them at The Grace Darling this Saturday April 14 with their local favourites Rapskallion.
NGAIIRE
Bernard Big Dreams Single Launch
with special guest:
Khristian Mizzi April 14th 303 - 303 High St, Northcote 8pm, $10 “a fabulous guitarist” -Gotye
Beat Magazine Page 50
Ashley Naylor is the frontman for Australian pop'n'roll institution Even. In what limited spare time he has, aside from playing guitar alongside the likes of Paul Kelly, Vika & Linda and occasional forays with the Rockwiz Orkestra, he managed to release his latest solo album, High Horse. This plaintive collection of songs exists in a realm all of its own, devoid of the trimmings and trappings of modernday production and gimmickry. Ash plays The Retreat this Sunday April 15, with support from Holy Trash. 7pm start, with free entry.
RAZORCUT Melbourne's newest Streetpunk act RazorCut, play their first ever show at The Bendigo Hotel on Saturday April 14, also featuring Stranglehold, newcomers The Hard Targets and a return to the stage by Melbourne's most infamous punk band, The Worst.
ADMIRAL ACKBAR'S DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE Admiral Ackbar's Dishonourable Discharge is turning one and you're invited to partake in all the festivities. Hosted at the prestigious Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood you're sure to have a blast with not only the birthday children but a plethora of their good friends including No Ones Home, The Cruntburgers, Where's Grover, Thundabox, The Murderballs and Doctor Sloth. To supervise the fun and make sure no one chokes on birthday cake or gets a donkey tail in the eye, the man himself DJ Monky Balls will be MCing as well as dropping mad punk and ska tracks to keep the party going. Bring your appetite as there will be a BBQ as well as many other fun shenanigans. This Sunday April 15, doors from 3pm, $10 entry, but the fun is priceless.
THE BELLS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH
Tonight sees storytellers at The Empress with Moons Poet, Merlin Bo Macdonald, and Gary Soloman. This is a night that features three very different solo artists that cover a range of styles from blues, rock, folk, pop and indie. On the night, Moons Poet will be promoting her latest EP Dreams, Rivers, Truth, Ashes, which showcases her range of blues, rock, folk and experimental music. $10 entry on the door.
The Federation Bells is an installation of 39 computercontrolled harmonic bells, originally created in 2001 by Anton Hassel and Neil McLachlan to mark the centenary of Federation. Now, after more than a decade, the bells have been given a new lease of life, with innovative striker mechanisms, new computer controllers and new lids. The result is a remarkable improvement in the bells' dynamic sensitivity, timing and tone. On Friday April 13, the bells will be re-launched in an eerie late night event. Two of Melbourne's most progressive musical outfits, A Dead Forest Index and Forces are creating new musical works for the re-invigorated Federation Bells, to be triggered live alongside voice, guitars, drums and loops. Starting after 10pm, this event is part of City of Melbourne's Late Night Programming and is one of those rare events that is destined to become one of 2012's talking points. The Federation Bells can be found on the Middle Terrace of Birrarung Marr, between Federation Square, the Yarra River and the MCG.
POOR PEOPLE
THE MURLOCS
Headlining the event is powerful Sydney vocalist Ngaiire, with a voice that some have described as a powerful ‘mourning’. Followed up by Sydney act The Rescue Ships, Brian Campeau and Elana Stone’s new project, an ideal marriage of their individual talents. To begin the night are Melbourne seven-piece The Love Birds performing light hearted folk/pop. The Grace Darling, Tuesday April 17, $10 at the door, doors open at 9pm.
MOONS POET
Before a mini tour of Australia to celebrate the launch of their LP, Poor People will play a rollicking set in the hull of The Grace Darling Hotel on Sunday April 15. They are joined by the savage and suave Cat Cat and blue-jeaned backyard rockers Velcro.
COLD RED MUTE
Megan
ASH NAYLOR
Three-headed monster Cold Red Mute play a blistering blend of psychotropic punk, rock and metal. Cold Red Mute's next performance is part of the Comedy Festival as the special guest musical act to close the 100% Nuts comedy gala events. The Noise Bar this Saturday April 14 and Saturday April 21, will be featuring two hours of standup comedy followed by a raucous live set by Cold Red Mute. For the perfect blend of rock and comedy, head down to The Noise Bar, Saturday arvo, from 3pm 'til 6pm.
Five skinny kids with roots firmly placed in their own blownout, distorted brand of soulful R&B, The Murlocs play Richmond’s Great Britain on Saturday April 14. Formed early last year, they’ve already treaded the boards alongside Thee Oh Sees, Graveyard Train and Dave Graney. The up-tempo snare cracks and noisy doom guitar accompanied by a cool vox screech is enough to mesmerise. Come down for their demented dance party with support from Gruntbucket. Doors 9pm. Entry is free.
WICKED CITY Fresh off the back of a November 2011 European tour spanning five countries, this local heavy-punk-rock three-piece continue to redefine the term ‘power trio’. Bludgeoning riffage meets classic-rock songcraft in a maelstrom of energy and high-powered musicianship – all delivered at maximum volume and collapsing in a smouldering sweaty wreck once the job is done. If you like quality rock music delivered with breakneck physical exertion, you’ll dig this band. They play The Tote this Saturday April 14 with support from utterly awesome new outfit Sun God Replica (featuring local howler Link Meanie), Melbourne's current kings of the underground, Batpiss, and Spinning Rooms delivering a nasty, sneering, jagged, and often-times beautiful sound-wall of Aussie punk noise. $10 from 8.30pm.
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JO SCHORNIKOW Having supported artists such as Moby, Washington, King Creosote, M.Ward and Deertick, Jo Schornikow (USA) released her debut single Bird’s Nest and her debut solo record First Time, Long Time on March 22. To celebrate this release, Texture Like Sun and Ainslie Wills will be joining her on The Grace Darling stage on Thursday April 12 with what will be a showcase of some of the most stunning performances Melbourne musicians can offer.
FRANKIE WANTS OUT Frankie Wants Out are preparing to turn the John Curtin Bandroom into a steamy '20s New York dance hall with the release of their new EP Trouble, on Saturday April 14. Prepare to jump and jive as the legendary nine-piece neoswing band spin your hips and cook up some hot, sweaty jazz. The Funk Buddies will heat things up with their eight-piece New Orleans-style street funk, and That Gold Street Sound will get your foot tappin’ with some Motowninspired soul and funk. Put on yer dancin’ shoes, kid. Jack On Fire
THE GHOST HOTEL, JACK ON FIRE Perth's The Ghost Hotel hit The Retreat for their only Melbourne show as part of a national Maiden Hill album launch tour. The band has supported the likes of Cold Chisel, Isobel Campbell & Mark Langean, Crowded House, Elbow, Powderfinger, Gomez, You Am I and Okkervil River, and rolls into town on Saturday April 14 for a free entry show. Catch them at 10pm, followed by the fantastic Jack On Fire who'll be bringing the night home.
JON GOMM Jon Gomm is one of the world's most gifted and inspirational guitar players. A singer/songwriter with an incredible, almost superhuman, virtuoso acoustic guitar style where he uses one guitar to create drum sounds, basslines and sparkling melodies all at the same time. His live shows combine deeply personal performances and a natural wit, with a once seen, never forgotten, two handed guitar style, both physical and complex, producing sounds people can barely believe are coming from a humble acoustic guitar. Don't miss this opportunity to experience the wonder and genius of this one man symphony. Supporting Jon on his Aussie tour is local synth whiz and singer Andy Sorenson. The Thornbury Theatre, Saturday April 14, is going to be a night to remember.
THESE MACHINES CUT RAZOR WIRE These Machines Cut Razor Wire is back at The Thornbury Theatre in 2012 on Sunday April 15, with an incredible lineup of pro-refugee artists and bands including Jeff Lang, The Stetson Family Bell St Delays, Fraser A Gorman, Uncle Bill, The Cartridge Family, Nigel Wearne and the Cast Iron Promises, The Jed Rowe Band, Alex Hallahan and the Woodland Hunters, Kate Walker, Tully Sumner and Les Thomas. The lineup now includes the 80-strong Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir. Epic.
MEGAN BERNARD Acclaimed musician/songwriter Megan Bernard is releasing her debut pop single Big Dreams, on Saturday April 14 at Northcote’s iconic 303. Megan has made a name for herself as one third of indie-alternative band Don’t Mess With The Pony, and as the lead guitarist for blues and roots band The State Express. More recently, she was the lead guitarist for Jess McAvoy’s farewell concert, and has performed alongside Gotye, Dallas Frasca, and James Reyne. Supporting Megan will be acoustic folk rock artist Khristian Mizzi.
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THE COUNT WITH… THE GHOST HOTEL Eagles premiership games, The Mighty Boosh. Six bad habits you can’t escape: Smoking, drinking, burgers, politics, listening to AM radio types discuss politics, playing in bands.
JOSHUA HODSON-SMITH Joshua Hodson-Smith formally of Yuri & The Vostok, makes his noise with an experimental use of looping melodic guitar lines to create a calming ambiance, interwoven with some slightly twisted feelings towards an array of famous and infamous targets, making for a unique listen. Joshua has a looseness of structure and buried vocal that is not unlike that of Smoke Signals (Tanned Old Man), with his repetitious guitar lines, falling in and out of separation from their soft melodies. Smoke Signals will be interesting to hear next to the cheery sounds of Finn Family, which blends early sounds of Television Personalities and Felt with more modern Elliott Smith and Yo La Tengo in an attempt to sound like himself. Come along on Tuesday April 17 to The Old Bar if you want to find out what happens next.
EATEN BY DOGS Work getting you down? Lost all your money at the casino? Your woman or man knocking boots with another woman or man? Life getting so difficult that jumping off a reasonably high bridge and swimming with actual sharks seems better than maintaining your existence with the actual scum you know? If this sounds like you then come see Eaten by Dogs. The greatest alternative country music that should and can be the soundtrack to your impending death and/or next summer road trip. Nothing but hits! Every Monday in April at The Old Bar. 8pm free.
FOOTY Improvising electric-pianists Footy have been lying low for a while whilst working on their debut long-player. This sees the band exploring sparser, more melodic territory than their 2010 tape release. They’ll be trying out some tracks from it at Bar Open on Thursday April 12, and they’re joined on the night by two other improvising combos. Firstly Aktion Unit, who might be brutal or gorgeous or both, plus new-ish ensemble Phlegethon, who use reeds, theremin, laptop and extended vocal techniques to create a sonic world that’s beguiling and unsettling. Should be a cracker, and it’s a free show too. Doors at 8.30pm.
SHIPS PIANO
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Name/Band: Aaron Gibson from The Ghost Hotel Ten bands everyone should know about: I’m actually pretty unqualified to answer this question as I haven’t listened to anything recorded in the last five years with any kind of love, except maybe other Perth bands. So yeah, keep an ear out for the new Emperors and Split Seconds records – they should be pretty killer. Nine food items that you need to make a kickarse dinner party: beer, anchovies, stuffed mushrooms, controversial cheeses, fresh hot bread, wine, something that has been slow cooked all day, bourbon, chocolate Eight possessions that define you: There are way more than eight unsold CD’s under my bed at the moment, I don’t want them to define me so come to the show and help me out. Seven favourite movies/TV shows that go on your mix-tape: The Ricky Gervais Show, The IT Crowd, The Untouchables, Delicatessen, the whole ‘Classic Album’ series, The West Coast
Five people who inspire you: Jeff Tweedy, Neil Young, Paul Kelly, Fran Kelly, Jack Darling. Four things that turn you on: James Brown’s tunes, Scarlett Johansson’s moxy, Jack Daniel’s liquor and smoky eyes Three goals for your music: To make enough money and to survive for long enough to record a classic Australian album. Two live gigs you’ll never forget and why: 1. Opening for Cold Chisel in Margaret River because I turned around and Barnesy and Don Walker were watching from side of stage – that is a very strange feeling and not one I’ll forget soon. 2. Watching Neil Young’s Big Day Out set back in 2000-and-something. Just one of those beautiful moments where you are thinking ‘ a) I never thought I would get to see this guy and b) he is fucking awesome.’ One day left before the apocalypse and you: Umm, find people to laugh and love with. Call my Mum. When’s the gig / release? Saturday April 14 at The Retreat.
THE EASTERN We are excited to announce that the hardest working folks in showbiz, The Eastern (NZ) will be returning to our shores for a phenomenal round of shows that will also coincide with the Australian release of their new album Hope & Wire, out now through Newmarket Music. Expect the grand barroom philosophising and old time fury the band is known for. The rolling, rambling, shambling, family hoedown atmospheres they project in their live shows have endeared them to the hearts of many. They play like they mean it, because they do. They play The Old Bar on Saturday April 14 with great support from Harlots, Rattlin' Bones Blackwood and Grumpy Neighbour.
Ships Piano are four guys from the wrong side of the river. Never wanna cross it? No problem. They'll come to you. Ships Piano are thrilled to be back at The Tote. They will be road testing new songs for their debut album every Saturday in April from 5pm, supported each week by a fine selection of local bands.
SCOTDRAKULA If ScotDrakula were Jesus and Jesus was Madonna then some fancy blogger would write about their March/April Monday residency at The Evelyn. ScotDrakula and their amigos locos will be there, every Monday from 8pm, pants on hooks off ready to freak out.
SKYCRAPER STAN COMMISSION FLATS SAINT JUDE Saint Jude are a Melbourne based five-piece, playing gospel tinged country and garage blues with a rock'n'roll swagger. A culmination of three years of writing and rehearsing, the members of Saint Jude featuring Bill Deeble, Brooke Penrose, Ryan McCarthy, Bern McMahon and Mick Stylianou, cut their teeth in bands such as Little John, Dynamo and Downhills Home before bringing together their love for past masters such as The Faces, Little Feat and The Band, into their debut self-titled record. Saint Jude have conceived and executed a complete album of light and shade, similarly sparse and dense music to dance, sing, fight and cry to. The Tote are hosting their album launch on Friday April 20, with support from Eaten By Dogs and Rich Davies And The Devil's Union. $10 entry, with doors from 8pm.
AND
THE
Skyscraper Stan and The Commission Flats oozed onto the Melbourne music scene in early 2010. Born in the dusty recesses of a Collingwood warehouse the original fourpiece hit the ground running with a sound sitting somewhere between troubadour and dirty swamp blues. Then, after a string of successful shows around Melbourne Skyscraper Stan broke the band up and disappeared. When he returned, infected by the big bands of New Orleans and carrying a notebook of fresh songs he put the group back together to chase a far hornier sound. Now Skyscraper Stan and The Commission Flats are taking to The Old Bar stage every Sunday in April. Some weeks as a four-piece, others as a brassfueled, nine member strong, hip-shaking wall of sound. With fresh supports every week, attendance should be compulsory. 8pm, $5, every Sunday in April.
THE SMITH STREET BAND With a swag of new material ready to road test ahead of album number two, The Smith Street Band have announced a series of intimate shows every Wednesday in April at The Old Bar. They’ll be joined each week by a host of great local and interstate supports. Entry is free for the first three nights and a lazy $5 will get you in the door for the fourth and final Anzac Day spectacular on Wednesday April 25.
BUTTIFEST BUTTIfest is ready to take over The Evelyn Hotel once again. It's fourth year shaping up to be its most diverse yet. Headlining will be pop-rock turned post-hardcore band, Broadway. With supporting bands Meet Me In Cognito, Madison, Jasper's Dilemma, Wolfs and Champagne Reggae, the genres are spanning from metal to pop to indie to dubstep to country, and hell, Champagne Reggae even have a flute. Continuing the party after midnight will be local dubstepdance act QvsQ. It's on this Saturday April 14.
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Cold beer and rock'n'roll, sound enticing? Well then get down to The Espy for a night that includes a huge lineup of rock music including, The Underhanded, The Art Of Later, System Of Venus and headliners Battle Axe Howlers. Did we mention cold beer? Check it all out at The Espy on Saturday April 21, bands kick off at 9pm.
HUNTER Hunter are pleased to announce the launch of their second EP at Yah Yah's on Friday April 13, featuring three songs for just $3. How's that for a gimmick? It's even less than a beer. Joining them on the night are the wonderful Jonesez, a lot more of Alkan Zeybek And The Lessermen than you thought you could handle, and making the trek all the way from Adelaide are Valiant Jones. With each worth more than the $8 entry fee on their own, just think of the bargain offered to you by combining them. Bands start from 9pm, with late tunes by Sean Simmons if you're keen to kick on.
FUNK BUDDIES JANE DUST AND THE GIANT HOOPOES At The Retreat on Thursday April 12, the heavenly indie pop group Actor Slash Model meets, greets and charms the hell outta the space sonic jives of Jane Dust And The Giant Hoopoes. The evening will be of pulsating pop and galactical, gyrating, space and romancing. Jane Dust And The Giant Hoopoes' album Space Hunters Part I, is their second offering that is engineered and co-produced by Casey Rice, and will be out this September.
This Friday April 13, the Funk Buddies hit the stage at 303 in Northcote, along with Captain Groove. The Funk Buddies play "New Orleans style street funk", and they always bring the party. Captain Groove are "an explosion of funk, rock and soul." 303 High St Northcote, 9pm, $10. Don't miss it.
DANCING HEALS THE CHARGE
SEVERED OATH
Are you ready to rumble? Get ready for The Rock Showdown – The Charge vs Freestate. The Charge and Freestate team up for a show at The Prague on Saturday April 14 with special guests Olmeg and Artilah. The Charge release their second single Together We Can Make a Difference from the Red Flags album this month. Single and album are available at rarerecords.com and iTunes. You can also catch The Charge playing Rock N Load at The Espy on May 26. Go to thecharge. com.au and freestate.com.au for more details.
Severed Oath and The Empire team up on Friday April 13 to bring a big night of metal to The Bendigo Hotel. Joining them on the night are The Empire. The band has recently undergone a name change from Dead Lovers Lane and have done a recheck of all their material. Hear new songs from their EP Secrets. Supports come from Battlemode, Hearts Like Wolves and Take Your Own. 8pm, $12.
THE PEEP TEMPEL
As per usual, a huge week at Cherry Bar is coming right up. Tonight, the only band in the world invited to play on the Big Day Out, Boogie! and Meredith last year, Matt Sonic & The High Times, continue their April Wednesday night residency. Tomorrow night, Thursday April 12, the hit of Golden Plains, the "it" soul act in Australia, Saskwatch, continue their Thursday night Soul residency, Friday April 13 sees blues punk rockers, Last Of The Good Men, take the stage. Saturday April 14 is headlined by Melbourne rock, grunge, blues and psychedelic four-piece Twin Ages, and Sunday April 16 is Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks) with guest Axl Rose on 'Dead, Jail or Rock n Roll'.
The Peep Tempel’s recent launch for their self-titled debut album at The Northcote Social Club saw a near sell-out crowd’s frenzy threaten to snap the floorboards, while the band ripped through their grime-flecked yet razor sharp set. Already one of the surest bets for the best kind of furious anger in Melbourne’s live scene, The Peep Tempel are bringing their adrenaline fuelled brand of rock to the hallowed Tote stage on Friday April 13. Joining The Peep Tempel are Mesa Cosa, The Jackals and The Kremlings. Tickets are $12 and will be available on the door. Doors from 8pm.
CHERRY BAR
Hot off the back of their dreamy set at Boogie 6, Dancing Heals strip back to acoustic mode with singer/songwriter and founder Jon-Lee Farrell delivering a collection of intimate renditions from the band's forthcoming debut album. Joining the bill this Sunday April 15, is alternative songster Mandy Kane, who has been busy behind the scenes working as an artist manager. Previewing a selection of new songs, and playing some stayers from his previous releases, MK will give it everything he has with the power of just his voice, his songs and his guitar. Music on the night kicks off at 8pm, with free entry and Yah Yah's is staying open 'til 3am.
HAYDEN CALNIN At only 22-years-old, Melbourne based Hayden has already begun to build a list of notable achievements. In 2010, he was one of four people chosen to perform at the APRA Song Summit alongside the likes of established Australian artists such as The Jezabels, Eskimo Joe and Washington. With hauntingly beautiful styles likened to a love child of James Blake and Bon Iver, whilst accompanied with a face that's unofficially running for mayor of Babetown, Hayden Calnin will no doubt satisfy your itch. Support is from Spellhouse and Empty Armour this Saturday April 14 at Noise Bar, Brunswick. $7 entry, doors from 8pm.
THE VELVET ROOM The Thornbury Theatre is proud to announce the opening of their brand new Velvet Room. The venue now has two high quality and unique live music rooms for bands to choose from. The Velvet Room is a classy, comfortable and versatile space, which welcomes all genres of music. It features heavy velvet curtains surrounding the room from ceiling to floor and delivers a stunning acoustic environment for bands. There is a 400+ standing capacity or 180 fully seated. Bookings are now being taken for the Velvet Room. Bands/managers/agents/promoters should contact julian@thethornburytheatre.com
BROOKLYN’S FINEST Thursday April 12 is approaching fast, and if you haven’t made plans already, make sure you get down to Yah Yah's to help Brooklyn and Dr Lovie celebrate their birthdays. It will be the first time Brooklyn’s Finest have hit the stage at Yah Yah's, and to ensure the party reaches its full potential they have invited The Communists and Hungry Hearts to aid in the celebrations. With the sweet mix of acoustic guitars, catchy indie tunes and cheeky funk grooves all for the very low price of $5 on the door, Brooklyn’s Finest birthday bash is sure to go off.
WOLFPACK Wolfpack are a three-piece punk rock juggernaut spawned from the ashes of Australian stage-smashers Sin City. The band has been tearing it up non-stop since debuting in October 2011 and are already firm Pony favourites. With a dynamite live show driven by belting vocals, intense riffs and a turbo-charged rhythm section Wolfpack have toured with international acts The Business, The Casualties, Guttermouth and stellar locals The Meanies, Front End Loader, Celibate Rifles, The Go Set, The New Christs & British India. Blasting out some new tracks before their Exploited (UK) support at The Corner later this month and fresh from a killer national tour, this is a 2am late show not to be missed. Friday April 13 at Pony from 2am. Free.
THE KHYBER BELT All warmed up from their recent national tour with Evanescence, The Khyber Belt are ready to launch their self-titled debut EP at The Espy Gershwin on Saturday April 28. The band is somewhat of a local supergroup, featuring members of Rook, Bushido and Sleep Parade. Also playing this massive five band lineup will be Varliiba for their return show, Shadowgame (featuring members of Engine Three Seven), One and Kettlespider. Doors open 8pm. Tickets on sale from OzTix.com.au, The Espy and all OzTix outlets.
ZEVON Clear and rich in guitar and vocal tonality, Zevon has forged his own path. He is a member of both the Sure Shot Hunters and Paris Wells Band, whilst currently making his debut album. Catch Zevon for two Sunday sessions at Lucky Coq in Prahran, both on Sunday April 22 between 5pm and 7pm, and then again the following week.
THE DUB CAPTAINS Get to The Retreat Hotel on Friday April 13 to witness a fantastic lineup of banging beats. From 10pm Ghetto Pimp is kicking off the night, followed by The Dub Captains. If you are still keen for hard, loud music to dance to into the night, DJ Traffic Jam will be playing tunes 'til 3am.
LA BASTARD La Bastard return to The Retreat on Saturday April 21, following their triumphant debut album launch in February, which saw a line stretching from The Retreat down to Glenlyon Rd. This will be La Bastard's last gig before they return to the studio to record their new album at the beginning of May, so come and help make this a huge one. Joining them will be the absolutely fabulous Mesa Cosa, also fresh from the release of their debut 10" Infernal Cakewalk. It's bound to be a night of absolute mayhem, chaos, and dancing, so make sure you get down for crazy times.
MICHAEL PLATER Currently enjoying significant airplay for his latest double a-side single Rings of Smoke/My Final Cause, local indie/artrock singer/songwriter Michael Plater will be playing a special full-band set at The Retreat on Wednesday April 18. Playing songs from his forthcoming album Exit Keys alongside a few choice Dylan and Velvet Underground covers, he will be joined on the night by Pete Azzopardi (The Coves, The Happy Lonesome), playing a rare solo acoustic set. The show will kick off at 8.30pm and entry is free.
BRAZILLIONAIRES Helen Cattanach and Leah Lombardo have teamed up to produce their first album, the self-titled Brazillionaires. Launching on Saturday April 21, at The Empress Hotel with support from Sean Simmon's (The Spoils) new two-piece project, HUMANS. From 4pm-7pm. Children welcome.
GHOST TOWNS OF THE MIDWEST Listeners to 3RRR and PBS may have heard the debut recordings of Ghost Towns Of The Midwest getting some attention over the last couple of weeks, particularly on 3RRR's Skull Cave. The lads play Cherry Bar this Friday April 13 at 9pm, opening for The Last Of The Good Men (album launch), with other special guests Rich Davies & The Devil's Union.
DAWES Dawes is a young LA band steeped in the rich tradition of the Laurel Canyon sound, harking back to the glory days of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when folk like Jackson Browne and The Eagles ruled the AM airwaves, their heart-on-sleeve imagery slathered in gorgeous melodies, and when traits like ‘sincerity’ and ‘beauty’ weren’t considered dirty words in the rock’n’roll lexicon. Dawes may be young but they’ve already built themselves a reputation as seasoned road warriors with a fearsome live show. For all the action get down to The Toff tonight, tickets available through the venue and Moshtix.
KODO MOTIF After a nine month break, folk rock duo Kodo Motif are bringing their unique blend of vocal harmonies, energetic guitar and dynamic songwriting back to the stage at the Great Britain Hotel in Richmond on Thursday April 12. Combining electric and acoustic guitars with vocals and organic rhythm, the pair’s powerful sound delivers stories of hope, failure and redemption in compelling fashion. Accompanied by delightful folk trio Wishful, a night of high spirits and quality music is assured. Free entry.
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KITCHEN KNIFE WIFE After touring the world with The Wombats and playing at Melbourne's Laneway festival, Kitchen Knife Wife are launching their highly anticipated debut album Balloon Head at The Grace Darling on Friday April 13 with great supports from The Johnsy's and Alex Hamilton Solo (Merri Creek Pickers). Tickets $10, doors open at 9pm.
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UNDERCOLOURS Reaching for timeless songs and sounds is Melbourne band Undercolours. Moving from explosive rock songs and emotive story telling far beyond their years, the music reveals a boldness to put songcraft before trend. Their first single Spirit The Ghost has received an impressive response both locally and internationally being featured in NME and on numerous high profile blogs such as Neon Gold. They play four Sundays in April at The Evelyn, this week with support from Kitchen Knife Wife. Doors from 9pm, this Sunday April 15.
calling all freaks! s! k a e r f all
RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS FEMTASTIQUE Saltar Hype presents Femtastique – a free entry Friday the 13th party, featuring an all female fronted lineup. Catch Dallas Frasca, Pretty Villain, Written In Ruins and Sharaya at The Espy Front Bar on Friday April 13, starts at 9.15pm sharp.
HOME MADE JAM Home Made Jam brings together the wonderfully diverse community and once again showcases the best in grass roots talent, creativity and art that our fine city of Melbourne has to offer. Hosted by Kiss FM's Bionic Boogie Radio Show, it is over ten hours of all 100% Melbourne music. Melbourne's amazing golden era hip hop crew The Psyde Projects will be launching their new 7-inch single Funk Pants. The Psyde Projects will be joined by one of Australia's premier bands and funk/soul sensations The Putbacks, and quality Melbourne hip hop/soul outfit Renovators Dream. There will be market stalls, live art for a silent auction, some fine BMX riders on display, food thanks to Oskar doing his famous Jamaican jerk chicken rolls and a fully licensed bar too. A percentage of the door proceeds go to the charity partner Prahran Mission. It's happening on ANZAC Day, Wednesday April 25 at Twotwotwo Warehouse, at 222 Johnston St Abbortsford. Kicks off at 2pm, $15 entry.
JENNY BIDDLE Over two years since the release of her first studio album, Melbourne’s Best Busker 2012 and 2010, Jenny Biddle is launching her brand new acoustic album Little Treasures. Mesmerising you with her intricate guitar voyages, Jenny launches the album at The Wesley Anne on Sunday April 15, supported by Sam Buckingham from Sydney. See jennybiddle.com for full East Coast Tour dates.
VIRTUAL PROXIMITY Westgate Wednesday is no longer, get dark and express yourself with Virtual Proximity; improvisations on electronically processed saxophone with DJ manipulation of loops and samples. VP interact in the moment to produce live remixes of pre-composed material. Deep Crossing is a brand new hip hop duo that combines the dark instrumental production of James Annesley with the abstract, metaphysical rhyme style of Mad Scholar. All hardware drum machines, synthesisers and effects. Featuring unbroken and slowly evolving performances, underpinned by the deep and constant groove of The Primary Colour. Bust out those fingers for some beard fondling and keep one hand free to enjoy your stout. Bar Open, tonight, from 8pm for free.
THE ALLEYS For The Alleys, a four-piece rock pop band, it's the first time playing at The Evelyn, so they've decided to play along with friends SEESAW and Howard. Playing all around town for the past couple years, SEESAW are a bass and drums duo who never fail to deliver a tight as hell set while maintaining their raw yet intricately melodic rhythms. Howard are a five-piece folk rock band who are starting to make a name for themselves. With mandolins, accordians and ukeles, Howard are once again set to stun. It's at The Evelyn this Thursday April 12.
Playing their last headlining show before going back into the studio, Running Away With The Circus are bringing their blistering blend of finely crafted country-folk and rock tunes to Bar Open this Sunday April 15. Sporting a brand new harmonica/slide-guitarist and horn section, let RAWTC help you squeeze every last drop of glory from your weekend, The supports will be the luminous Autumn Gray, debuting material of their soon to be released album and Taylor Project playing from their latest magnificent offering of pub-flavoured ballads, Life, Death, Prizes. Free entry from 7.30pm.
JOEL PLYMIN & THEM BLUES CATS Joel Plymin & Them Blues Cats play that cool Chicago style tree trunk blues with melodramatic lyrics that are littered with indifference. Complete with extended saxophone solos and amusing lyrics with sedative motifs ranging from bike stacks to excessive alcohol consumption, this band will make you laugh, cry and... some other third thing. Catch them at 7pm at Richmond’s Great Britain Hotel on Sunday April 15. Free entry.
GRIZZLY JIM LAWRIE Stepping out from behind The Eagle & The Worm and The Bluebottles drum kit is Grizzly Jim Lawrie, and he'll be playing down at The Victoria Hotel in Brunswick on Friday April 13 with guests from 9.30pm. It's free entry, it's a talented man and his band, it's more than worthy.
THE COINCIDENTS & AUTO DA FE The Coincidents will be doing what they did last time they played at Brunswick’s The Vic – playing tunes, having Jäger rounds, dancing up a storm, jumping between random dudes legs while playing guitar, and so on. Support will come from the amazeballs Auto Da Fe. Saturday April 14 at Victoria Hotel in Brunswick, Free entry, fun times.
WHORETOPSY We reckon Pony put on some pretty good heavy shows, but just when you thought it couldn’t get any more brutal, they throw this little baby at you. One of Melbourne’s most pulverising slam bands, Whoretopsy, are launching their new record at Pony this Saturday April 14. They’re too demonic for Black Friday, so they’re dropping the party the day after instead. How tough is that? Joining them are Sydneysiders Beyond Terror Beyond Grace, who are about to release a new record themselves, Belligerent Intent and The Seaford Monster. Doors from 9.30pm.
as seen on abc2
Reverb will fly and walls will spin as you take a trip down to Pony to see psychedelic freakbeat outfit Dark Globes. Hailing an old school '60s sound with a modern twist, Dark Globes play fuzz induced tunes to shake your bones and melt your mind. Accompanying them on this amazing journey will be neo-shoegazers, Flyying Colours and reverb infused indie rock kids, The Attics. This Thursday April 12 at Pony from 9.30pm. The first ever Too Soon! Slumber Party has arrived. Taking the stage for the Thursday night 1am late-slot at Pony, Too Soon! are ready to unleash their own loose brand of pop-punk on an audience determined to see the sunrise. Come down and catch them live on Thursday April 12 at Pony where they will be rocking out in their pyjamas and ensuring that the slumber party doesn’t have a dull moment. Free.
Hailing from the bohemian Dandenong Ranges, The Mercury Theatre is named after the Orson Welles radio productions from the '30s, known for enveloping entertainment for the masses. Fittingly, The Mercury Theatre's music can be described as incorporating progressive and atmospheric rock, with melodic overtones and a rich source of dissidence. The band is launching their selfproduced debut EP Immurare, on Friday April 20 at Revolver, with supports from Dear Stalker and William Blaxland, as well as the special antics of circus performer Aerial Manx. Tickets are available from the band's website.
series 3
DARK GLOBES
TOO SOON!
THE MERCURY THEATRE
and this time they mean business!
Ex-Screwtop Detonator, and current Damn The Torpedoes and Harvest Smoke guitar slinger Lee French, has dragged his mandolin fronted Lake Palmer band back to the live scene for the first time in eight months, Sunday April 15 at The Victoria Hotel in Brunswick from 5pm. Playing his folk songs with the swagger of a drunk punk rock'n'roller, they’ll be scratching out the songs that they are in the middle of recording for their debut release sometime this year. Lake Palmer’s slide ‘n’ picking blues guitar man Dom Di Blasio will also play a solo set of rare blues songs mixed in alongside with his own musical ramblings.
Back in action with a brand new lineup, Bellusira are very excited to finally release of their new single Culprit at The Evelyn on Friday April 13. The band will kick off their national tour with a very special launch in their home town, Melbourne, where they will also debut the music video for the single. Joining Bellusira will be amazing friends New Skinn, Anna Salen and Riot In Toytown.
Afrobeat, Afro-funk, and everything in between. Fresh on the scene, Melbourne's newest eight-piece Afrobeat band, The Seven Ups, will be funkin' your jocks off with two massive sets at Bar Open this Friday April 13. Taking the undeniable influence of Fela's Afrobeat and the music that came out of '70s Nigeria, The Seven Ups blend it with their own upbringing of deep-funk, James Brown, jazz, rock and the occasional bit of Ethio-jazz.. Free.
are back
LAKE PALMER & DOM DI BLASIO
BELLUSIRA
THE SEVEN UPS
the misfits
LIKE ROYALTY Ballarat post-hardcore act Like Royalty will be taking the Pony stage this Friday April 13. Like Royalty have achieved critical acclaim both here and internationally, already having shared the stage with international acts, most notably flying out to Manila (Philippians) last year in support of Parkway Drive. Opening the night is Melbourne’s Goodbye Galaxy, who seamlessly blends together elements of hard rock/metal music as well aselectronic and 8-bit styles. Up next is Geelong’s instrumental alternative/hard-rock band, Motionless Me. Also onboard is pop-punk act, Our Best Laid Plans. Friday April 13 is set to be a big one. We can only hope that the foundations of Pony can stay intact after all these awe inspiring acts hit the stage. From 9.30pm.
3 DISCS : TURES INCLUDE SPECIAL FEASH ORT FILM
VEGAS BABYORT FILM ERAZER SH 8 X BEHIND THE SCENES CLIPS
ON SET WITH MISFITS STUNTS & SPECIAL EFFECTS VISUAL EFFECTS
series 1 - 3 boxset
DIRTY F, SUPER BEST FRIENDS Time and time again, Dirty F have played in the wee hours at Pony to an audience of thirsty and eager onlookers. This time around, at the even later and ungodly hour of 3am, they promise an unhinged delivery of corrosive, post-punk rock truly fitted to such a brave and debauched time of the morning. Dirty F will be joined in this double late show by soon-to-be super best friends of theirs, Super Best Friends, who play catchy, high-tempo, pounding indie-punk tunes, and sound like they could be the soundtrack to possibly the best party ever.... catch them live before they get too big. This is a 2am double late show, late night party action party machine that you’ll want to get caught up in the fury of – if you get my drift. This Saturday April 14 from 2am at Pony. Free.
7 DISCS
scan for series 3 trailer
new on dvd scan for series 3 trailer
/misfits3
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Beat Magazine Page 53
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
AIRIT NOW
LOVE CONNECTION Euphoria (Sensory Projects)
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2. Love Is A Mountain, Truth In Her Fountain TEHACHAPI 3. Sounds Of The Lion LAMTECH, SIERRA SISTERS, LL BOCK, IB JUMBO AND DJ FUNZO 4. Better Alive Feat. Thundamentals and Skyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;high THE HERD 5. Women In Cages 1929 INDIAN 6. Synchronous Bloom THRUPENCE 7. Remnants UNDERLIGHTS 8. Dust Proud (featuring Pepepiano) BON CHAT, BON RAT rock extension of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been laid out before, but instead you get pulled into a gently throbbing pool of krautrock ambience. While itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s completely hypnotic, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the sort of thing youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d stick around for every time you chuck the album on, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic placement as the albumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last song says a lot. The rest of the album, particularly the upbeat pop gems Home On The Wave, You Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Need Muscles To Get Love, Day By Day and Sex In The Cinema, demands multiple listens. While this seems more than suďŹ&#x192;cient a booty after a twoyear waiting period, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another album scheduled for later this year. Who knows where weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be heading to from here, but the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past two albums indicate it will be a journey well worth taking.
Sweaty nerd season is upon us. How awesome is it when you go the comedy festival and the person you paid money to see is actually funny? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like winning the goddamned lottery.
KING CANNONS
Too Young (EMI) Melbourne collective King Cannons work a touch of Midnight Oil and a healthy dollop of Jerry Lee Lewis into this mighty rockabilly anthem. In the great ska punk tradition, their lyrics focus on the factory-ďŹ lling working classes and the bolshy enthusiasm of the young, where life is all battlegrounds and declarative pseudo-political posturing. If thematically it feels a bit oďŹ&#x20AC;, a bit dated and irrelevant, the music has a whopping great energy so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still a fun listen.
EUGENE McGUINNESS
Shot Gun (Domino/EMI) Eugene McGuinness failed to capitalise on the warm reception of his eponymous 2008 album, and this new single seems unlikely to reignite peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in the arch Brit arch pop artist. Lifted from the forthcoming album The Invitation To The Voyage, Shot Gun relies on a sample of the Blues Brothersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; theme (actually the Peter Gunn Theme) for its character. Aside from that most recognisable bass riďŹ&#x20AC;, this song plays like a forgettable Blur B-side.
CHRIS GIRDLER
SPIRITUALIZED
Hey Jane (Domino/EMI) Hey Jane is a chugging eight-minute track from the seventh album by UK space pop collective Spiritualized. After the ďŹ rst very radiofriendly three minutes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a peppy garage rock ramble â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the song becomes more spacious, lighter and somehow more joyful. Layers of guitar and vocal build conďŹ dently until singer Jason Spaceman returns like a distorted, warbling choirmaster, leading the song in clattering rounds to a sweet, carnivalesque peak. Unexpectedly great.
TENACIOUS D
SYN SWEET 16 1. Home Again MICHAEL KAWANUKA 2. Never Saw It Coming IOWA 3. Away From You OBERHOFER 4. Mobius Kaiyote MOBIUS STREAK
6. Quan Dang JACKSON FIREBIRD 7. Do You Hear CUB SCOUTS 8. Meet Me Halfway THE FUTUREHEADS 9. Nicodeine Crush RACHEL HAIRCUT
JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC CHARTS 1. Drinking From The Sun HILLTOP HOODS 2. Falling & Flying 360 3. Making Mirrors GOTYE 4. Home TROY CASSAR-DALEY 5. Hits JIMMY BARNES 6. Happiness And Surrounding Suburbs BALL PARK MUSIC 7. Country Proud MCALISTER KEMP 8. Prisoner THE JEZABELS 9. Outlands DEEP SEA ARCADE 10. Thinking In Textures CHET FAKER
PATTI SMITH
3. Illmatic LP NAS
MEGAN BERNARD
JUAN ALBAN
Sitting On Top Of The World (Sony) I hate her stupid insincere little wax face and I am loathe to give her a single column millimetre, but I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interesting to note that Deltaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s people are trying to remake her as Katy Perry. The explosive pop production on this long-awaited new Delta single is, post Teenage Dream, all too familiar. Good luck to you, wax face, that ship has sailed.
10. Wise Up RUBY BOOTS
Rize Of The Fenix (Sony) Just like the fenix, Tenacious D have rizen again. Supported by partner Kyle Gass and Dave Grohl on drums, Jack Black delivers a ground-shaking prog metal vocal performance which describes how Tenacious D intend to overcome the commercial turkey that was The Pick Of Destiny and release a new hit single, ensuring fans retain their Tenacious D tattoos or have their laser-removed Tenacious D tattoos reapplied. I support his lofty ambitions. Jack Black deserves to have his face tattooed on a whole bunch of butts.
City Kiss (Domino/EMI) Dominoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newish French pop signing delivers another dreamy mid-tempo indie pop number. Some swirling synth strings and a bit a French muttering provide what little there is to notice in this song. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all a bit gloopy and tedious.
Big Dreams (Independent) Tidy but utterly lightweight guitar pop from local musician Megan Bernard, who croons in a smooth, girlish voice about the big dreams she has, and her desire to connect â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;inside and out/ deeper and deeperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (whoops, accidental pornography!). Twee, wide-eyed and cutesy, like Mena Suvari in music form.
THE BOMBAY ROYALE
10. Idea Of Happiness VAN SHE
April Fool (Sony) This mild-mannered indie rock tune leads oďŹ&#x20AC; Pattiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst collection of new material in nearly a decade. Featuring Televisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tom Verlaine on lead guitar, April Fool is unexpectedly seductive, with subtle and warm instrumentation bubbling around her still-harsh and distinctive voice. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Come on your rusted bike,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; she sings, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Come, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll break all the rules/ Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ride like riders ride/neither rich nor broke/weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll race through alleyways in our tattered coats.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look too impressive on paper, but somehow she makes it work.
FRANCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS
9. You Me Bullets Love (Radio Edit)
5. Hey Fucker THE EXPLODERS Best Track: You Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Need Muscles To Get Love If You Like These, Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll Like This: Melt YOUNG MAGIC, Mazes (plus Mazes Remixed) MOON DUO In A Word: Escapist
SINGLES BY SIMONE
DELTA GOODREM
Beat Magazine Page 54
1. Do You Hear? CUB SCOUTS
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Love Connectionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut was a grab-bag of styles that somehow came together to create something distinctive and refreshingly original, achieved through a freeform collection of sprawling psychedelic pop jams. Their followup, Euphoria, is an equally strong record, but it takes a diďŹ&#x20AC;erent approach. In an eďŹ&#x20AC;ort to bottle the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essence into real, proper songs (thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even a lyric sheet), Michael Caterer and his band have put together an album that feels more contained and direct, without losing the impulsiveness or experimentation that made them so appealing in the ďŹ rst place. The more lo-ďŹ Love Connection album was almost in danger of getting lost in its many layers, but Euphoria is more restrained. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the work of a band stripped back and being exposed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; hence the cover portrait, an eye-opening shot by Karl Scullin, who was also responsible for the infamous â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;body hairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Fabulous Diamonds cover. Most of the songs on Euphoria average at the fourminute mark, succinctly encapsulating Catererâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sharp pop melodies and proving that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;epicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to mean lengthy. The gradual fade-outs between the songs accentuate how well they work as stand-alone songs, though it all hangs together just as well as the interconnected debut album. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of fun to be had here, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all quite as euphoric as its name suggests. Natures Vice laments wasting life away, with a resigned â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been thinking about losing my mindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sentiment echoed in the following track, You Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Need Muscles To Get Love. A dreamy piece with a weary melancholy at its core, it sounds like something from one of Brian Enoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early space-rock oddities. But then we break through into the albumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carefree centre, with the poppy Day By Day and the uplifting homecoming of Coasting. Mood-building instrumentals Piezoelectric and Forest frame the albumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main body of work, after which the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new-found precision takes a detour at its title track, which runs a mighty 20 minutes. You expect a psychedelic
TOP TENS
COLLECTORS CORNER MISSING LINK 1. Utilitarian CD/LP NAPALM DEATH 2. 3 Way Split EARTHLESSS/PREMONITION 13/RADIO MOSCOW
4. Rated X LP QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE 5. Year of The Tiger/Onno 12â&#x20AC;? FUCKED UP 6. I Know Your Name/The King 7â&#x20AC;? POP SINGLES 7. Bruise Cruise Split 7â&#x20AC;? DIRTBOMBS/FUCKED UP 8. Henge Beat CD/LP TOTAL CONTROL 9. Sleeping Dogs Lie CD THE VICTIMS 10. Abzu CD/LP ABSU
Superhuman (Independent) Local singer songwriter Juan Alban has an album in the works and Superhuman is a lovely preview, a milky thread of sadness in the vein of Damien Rice that swells with stoic courage in the chorus. Beautiful.
BEATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TOP TEN SONGS ABOUT CHILDREN 1. Cats In The Cradle HARRY CHAPIN
SINGLE OF THE WEEK FATHER JOHN MISTY
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings (Sub Pop/Inertia) Ex-Fleet Foxes drummer J Tillman has emerged from the chrysalis all hot and snarky and hypnotic, kicking oďŹ&#x20AC; his retooled solo career under the moniker Father John Misty. Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings is the second single released from his forthcoming album Fear Fun (out April 27) and it has been on super high rotation on all my iDevices since I saw him play some very odd but oddly amazing shows at SXSW. This song is dark, funny and mesmerising, with a swinging beat and a pealing refrain that tears at your head with its spiky, suggestive undertones. Makes my throat feel like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closing over just a little bit.
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2. Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story BLACK STAR 3. Jesus Christ Was An Only Child MODEST MOUSE 4. Jumpinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jumpinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DESTINYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CHILD 5. O Children NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS 6. All That She Wants ACE OF BASE 7. Kids ROBBIE WILLIAMS & KYLIE MINOGUE 8. The Man With The Child In His Eyes KATE BUSH 9. Kids On Holiday ANIMAL COLLECTIVE 10. Pregnant COLD WAR KIDS
ALBUMS
DJANGO DJANGO
Django Django (Because Music/Warner) FOR MORE REVIEWS GO TO
BEAT.COM.AU/REVIEWS
BAMBINO KORESH
Up And Left (Laughing Outlaw) I once met someone who crossed paths with David Koresh, the self-styled modern guru who subsequently led his followers into a compound in regional Texas, only to fall victim to the United States authorities’ concerted efforts to destabilise the community with a combination of military force and Nancy Sinatra music. According to my acquaintance, Koresh was charismatic, and not an untalented musician. Pity about the other stuff, however. To the very best of my knowledge, Bambino Koresh has nothing to do with David Koresh, other than sharing a name, a latent pop sensibility and an apparently charismatic leader – in this case Leticia Nischang. The other critical ingredient in Bambino Koresh is former Smudge protagonist Tom Morgan, someone who knows more about quality pop than Janet Reno knows about obfuscating Congressional testimony. Bambino Koresh has certainly got a catalogue of seriously good songs, both consistent and diverse. Starting with the sparkling adolescent Dando-esque whimsy of Freesoul, to the razor-sharp licks of Terracotta Warrior to the Nashville via Strawberry Hills Americana of Just Accept It, there’s something for anyone. The always pleasing theremin adds a suitable eerie edge to Crop Circles; If So Defacto is a misty-eyed Delfonics-and-Band sponsored walk into emotional desolation where everything seems like shit until you get over it. The System Tells bristles with attitude like a suburban pub hosting an L7 gig, What I’m Gonna Do Now is philosophical in mind, body and pop soul and Sleeping in Pain would draw a nod from Justin Townes Earle as he picks himself out of the guitar, dusts off his weathered suit and gets on with his life. Post-Birdman attitude appears writ large in Goth/Socialite, Romantically Challenged is every bit as bitter and introspective as you might suspect, Satan Do Me A Solid captures the raw substance of ‘70s rock in its purest form, Red Spot Always Meant Sale is best track of 1979 never recorded that fine year and Indirect Putdowns the ideal Stonesy outro for what’s been a thorough enjoyable journey through the world of Bambino Koresh. Best Track: Freesoul If You Like These, You’ll Like This: THE LEMONHEADS PATRICK EMERY In A Word: Perfect
MESA COSA
Infernal Cakewalk 10” EP (Independent) This formidable debut is as picturesque as the moment you decided to shelf your first pill, swig the remaining dregs from last week’s goon bag, tonsil slap your best friend’s younger sister and donkey punch your way into the mosh pit. So, in layman’s terms, Infernal Cakewalk is one fuck-off debut! Mesa Cosa are six suburban rat bags thrown into a city of unknowns, living in (no doubt) dilapidated share houses with cheap drugs and shitty instruments. But fuck it, right? Especially if you’re slaying stages, your salivating groupies, yourself and that scuzzed up garage Mexican fiesta punk rock you can call your own. Mesa Cosa wear their influences firmly on their sleeves and have no shame in projecting so. However, these seven tracks have more aggression and howl more from the bowel than any Lips, Sees and Lizard – so get over your comparisons, turn it up to 11 and punk the fuck out. Horns, jangly guitars, trashy cymbals and group vocals dominate every track and clarity certainly ain’t key here, but, you know, deal with it. Second track Shoplifter is a clear winner ‘cause it makes Best Track: Shoplifter you want to steal shit, and to be fair, it’s the only word I If You Like These, You’ll Like This: early Black Lips, Thee Oh understood being sung the whole way through. Trashy Sees and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard. party anthems at their finest. Don’t think, just move. In A Word: Snort JETHRO FOX
Django Django are good, very good, and their self titled debut deserves the hype it’s been getting. Since the Scottish band released the double A-side single Storm/Love’s Dart in 2009, many critics have been eagerly awaiting their long player, and now that it’s here they’ve fairly soiled themselves with joy. Music critics have a tendency to go bananas for anything that makes them feel involved. As David Lee Roth said, “Music journalists like Elvis Costello because music journalists look like Elvis Costello,” so when an art-pop album like this, which is at once eminently smart, musically deft and incredibly danceable, we’ll love it forever because we can dance with pretty girls/boys while feeling like we appreciate it on more levels than anyone else. Take the instrumental track Skies Over Cairo, which lays a bed of a classic 12-bar blues progression then tweaks it to run a harmonic minor scale riff to bring an Arabian dance-hall feel to the song. The whole album is similar; tricky without ever letting up on accessibility or the urgent four-to-the-floor rhythm and power chords that make it so much fun to listen to. All the tropes of the art-pop bedroom project are in place – the slightly nerdy members, the big glasses, the shitty rotoscope film-clip, the pedigree (one of the members is the brother of the Beta Band’s keys player, an influence they wear on their collective sleeve) but with one important caveat – Django Django are a really good band, who care about songcraft, and have written and produced a record that reflects this. It’s a psychedelic, disco melting pot with dashes of Bo-Diddly, rockabilly and Beach Boy swagger, which is so easy to listen to it makes you nostalgic for the video game tunes from your childhood while propelling you towards the dancefloor.
Best Track: Default If You Like These, You’ll Like This: BETA BAND, METRONOMY, DIRTY PROJECTORS, DURAN DURAN In A Word: Excellent
LIAM PIEPER
DANIEL ROSSEN
Silent Hour/Golden Mile (Warp) While the collective musical world awaits the follow-up to Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest with baited breath, their members have instead spent the downtime working on various other projects. The latest of which is this tidy little EP from guitarist/vocalist Daniel Rossen. It’d be natural to assume that Silent Hour/Golden Mile is merely an extension of his dayjob with one of indie rock’s most revered acts, or even a sonic similarity to his other side-project, Department Of Eagles. For the most part, that’s not an unfair assumption. If anything, this five-track set reaffirms Rossen’s musical sophistication and vision. His aural palette may be driven by his bright guitar track and golden voice, but it’s the touches between that really make for something special. Opener Up On High, mimics the sparser essentials of Grizzly Bear’s baroque moments, Rossen’s rich vocals and deftly plucked guitar frills at the fore. So too Saint Nothing, gently quelling piano chords eventually rippling to accommodate a sighing brass section and some light atmospheric pattering. Elsewhere, Silent Song rings remarkably like late-era Beatles, or with its lilting slide guitar, suggests that George Harrison’s seminal All Things Must Pass has been an essential part of Rossen’s musical diet of late. At its heart, Silent Hour/Golden Mile is designed merely as an enjoyable stop-gap between recordings. It doesn’t have the expectation of his main musical concerns weighing upon Best Track: Silent Hour it, and yet as a potential taster for the direction of Grizzly If You Like These, You’ll Like This: All Things Must Pass Bear and Rossen’s own musical path, it certainly whets GEORGE HARRISON, In Ear Park DEPARTMENT OF the appetite. EAGLES, Dreams Come True CANT In A Word: Succinct AL NEWSTEAD
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Beat Magazine Page 55
GIG GUIDE WEDNESDAY 11 APRIL ROCK/POP BATTLE OF THE BANDS - FEAT: ARMED KOREAN + AM FARROWS + BEAR SIGN + CATHARSIS + CHEATING ON REALITY + WISH WORTH GRANTING Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $10. BATTLE OF THE BANDS - FEAT: ARMED KOREAN + AM FARROWS + BEAR SIGN + CATHARSIS + CHEATING ON REALITY + WISH WORTH GRANTING Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. $10. DAVE GILLEN + ELECTRIC FUNKINGS + FULL CODE Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. HAYLEY COUPER BAND + RYAN NICO + THE OVALS Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $7. ISAAC DE HEER Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. MATT SONIC & THE HIGH TIMES + RAINY DAY MUSHROOM PILLOW Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. MESSED UP Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. MILD SPARROW & THE MIGRATIONS + DRU + FLYING SAUCER TERROR Horse Bazaar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. SMITH STREET BAND + JUNGLEMAN + LET ME DOWN GENTLY + WHITE WALLS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. THE BONNIWELLS + HIGH TEA Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $6. THE RUBENS + SURES + THE PRETTY LITTLES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. VIRTUAL PROXIMITY + DEEP CROSSING + THE PRIMARY COLOUR Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. YES Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:30pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK AINDRIAS & TIM Bebida, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. ANTI FALL MOVEMENT Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm. DAWES + BUSBY MAROU Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $28. GUSTAVO MORENO Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 7:00pm. KIM BOEKBINDER + THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10. MACEO PARKER + SASKWATCH Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $79. MIKEY MADDEN Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. MOON POET + GARY SOLOMON + K NIKO + MERLIN BO MACDONALD Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. OPEN MIC Dancing Dog, Footscray. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC Thornbury Local, Thornbury. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC & JAM NIGHT Grind N Groove, Healesville. 8:00pm. WINE WHISKEY WOMEN - FEAT: SAM LOHS + KERRYN FIELDS Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC BOPSTRETCH Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. DAN ROLLS + DEL LUNA + OLD WORLD SPARROW Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 7:30pm. $5. DAVE HAVEA BAND Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm.
74 JOHNSTON ST FITZROY 9417 4155
www.theoldbar.com.au OPEN EVERY NIGHT 12PM - 3AM FREE WI FI
wednesday 11th April
THE SMITH ST BAND
LET ME DOWN GENTLY, JUNGLEMAN WHITE WALLS
8:30PM FREE
MANTRA
Some of our country’s best up-and-coming musicians will share a stage at Queens Park this weekend for one of the most insane free festival lineups you’ll encounter this year – Stonefield, Bleeding Knees Club, Dream On Dreamer, Hand of Mercy, For Our Hero, The Sweet Apes, Amber Lamps and 8 Bit Love as well as Storm The Sky, Daydream Arcade, Masketta Fall, Granston Display, Echo Drama and Blood Orange will blow the eardrums off Queens Park, Moonee Ponds this Sunday April 15 from 12pm – 7pm. Queens Park is described as “a significant park in Moonee Ponds” by Wikipedia so get down and see what all the fuss is about. It’s one of the most significant parks in the suburb and has a good future ahead of it. Famed park-reviewer Jethro Fox rates it a ‘top ten park to look out for in 2014’. Sounds Loud Festival is all ages and also a drug, alcohol and smoke-free event. DIZZY’S BIG BAND Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. JULIE BAILEY Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20. JULIEN WILSON QUARTET 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5. PAUL WILLIAMSON QUARTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15.
THURSDAY 12 APRIL ROCK/POP 1AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: TOO SOON Pony, Melbourne. 1:00am. ALUKA + AINSLIE WILLS + OSCAR KEY SUNG Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10. APES + DENVER AIRPORT + THE BELLESTRADES Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $8. BROOKLYN’S FINEST + HUNGRY HEARTS + THE COMMUNISTS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $5. BURN IN HELL Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 6:00pm. COLD CHISEL Festival Hall, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. $110. COLD CHISEL Festival Hall, West Melbourne. 7:00pm. $110. DARK GLOBES + FLYYING COLOURS + THE ATTICS Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. DEEZ NUTS (ALL AGES) + BROOKLYN + HALLOWER Evs Youth Centre, Croydon. 6:30pm. $15. DIVORCED + BUSH WALKING + ICE CLAW Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $8. DUMBSAINT (ALBUM LAUNCH) + ALITHIA + GRANDE FLASH Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. FOOTY + AKTION UNIT + PHLEGETHON Bar Open, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. HAILGUN + DEGENERATES + MASTER BETA + OLD SKIN Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $6. JANE DUST & THE GIANT HOOPOES + ACTOR SLASH MODEL Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. KODO MOTIF + WISHFUL Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. 9:00pm. MEANBONE + 23 ANGLES OF ATTACK + FAMOUS IN VEGAS Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 8:30pm. $10. NERVOUS + BIG TOBACCO + THE CLITS Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $5. PENNIES - FEAT: FLOUNDER + LIVE: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD YOUTH + NUMBER STATION(SINGLE LAUNCH + THE RUN RUN + MORE + WE THE PEOPLE + DJS: OSCAR & MARTIN DJ SET + GLASS MIRRORS + SMOKING TODDLERS + WEDNESDAY THE RAT Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $5. SCALAR FIELDS + EMPTY ARMOUR Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. SEAL Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:30pm. $110. THE ALLEYS + HOWARD + SEESAW Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $4. THE BIG FACE & THE BOOGIE WOOGIE BOOGIE BOARD BOYS + MESSED UP + MINING BOOM + THE SUPERVIBES Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $4. THE LOVE BIRDS Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm. THE RUBENS + DIRT FARMER + SURES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. THESE PRECIOUS THINGS + THA NAXALITES + THE MICHAEL SHAUN BAND Espy, St Kilda. 8:30pm.
thursday 12th April
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK
APES
ALEX ARONSTEN & THE SOUTHERN LIGHTS Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 8:00pm. $10. BRONNIE GORDON BAND Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. $10. DAVID COSMA Bar Nancy, Northcote. 8:00pm. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW (EARLY IN THE MORNING TOUR) + EMILY ULMAN Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $33. JIMMY STEWART’S WONDERFUL LIFE Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. JO SCHORNIKOW (SINGLE LAUNCH) + AINSLIE WILLS + TEXTURE LIKE SUN Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $12. JOSHUA SEYMOUR Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE + ARCHER + THE RECHORDS Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 8:30pm. $47. MACEO PARKER + SASKWATCH Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $79. MATT GLASS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 7:00pm. MELODY MOON Bebida, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. OPEN MIC Acoustic Cafe, Collingwood. 6:30pm. OPEN MIC Arcadia Hotel, South Yarra. 7:00pm. RUBY’S SHOWCASE Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 7:00pm. RYAN NICO & THE OVERLANDERS + EDDIE JAMES & THE PROWL + THE COVES Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. SAMMY OWEN’S BLUES BAND Horse Bazaar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $5. THE STETSONS FAMILY BAND Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm.
DENVER AIRPORT THE BELLESTRADES
8:30PM $8
friday 13th April
MARGINS - LAUNCH FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA YOLKE DUMB SAINT
8:30PM $12 DJ DRAW 4
saturday 14th April
THE EASTERN (NZ) HARLOTS RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD GRUMPY NEIGHBOUR
8:30PM $12 DJ RUARI FANGIN’ (PBS)
sunday 15th April
SKYSCRAPER STAN & THE COMMISSION FLATS HAYLEY COUPER BAND LILY & KING
8PM $5 DJ LOVEPUFF
monday 16th April
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC
EATEN BY DOGS
BLUESTONE UNDERGROUND JAZZ - EVERY THURSDAY - FEAT: CYCLONE WARNING Bluestone Downstairs, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. DANIEL GASSIN TRIO Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. GIANNI TURCIO’S KERBEROS Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. JAMES OSBORNE COLLECTIVE Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $15. JOHN MONTESANTE QUINTET + FEM BELLING The Commune, East Melbourne. 6:00pm.
KINCH KINSKI & THE STRANGERS
8PM FREE
tuesday 17th April
FINN FAMILY
SMOKE SIGNALS JOSHUA HODSON SMITH
8PM FREE
band bookings: bandbookings@theoldbar.com.au
Beat Magazine Page 56
SOUNDS LOUD FESTIVAL
SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU
LIA AVENE Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm. LIZ STRINGER Readings, St Kilda. 6:30pm. PAPER PLANE Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. PETER GEOGHEGAN’S STRAIGHT AHEAD 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. RBS LIVE - FEAT: SUPERJUICE Red Bennies, South Yarra. 10:00pm. $10. SASKWATCH Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10. TANGO RUBINO Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm.
FRIDAY 13 APRIL ROCK/POP 2AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: WOLFPACK Pony, Melbourne. 2:00am. ALUKA + AINSLIE WILLS + OSCAR KEY SUNG Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10. BELLUSIRA (SINGLE LAUNCH) + ANNA SALEN + NEW SKINN + RIOT IN TOYTOWN Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $12. CHILDREN COLLIDE + DEEP SEA ARCADE + PALMS Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. COVERS NIGHT - FEAT: LINCOLN ROAD + WIZEGUYZ Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. $10. DALLAS FRASCA + PRETTY VILLAIN + SHARAYA + WRITTEN IN RUINS Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. DEAD ALBATROSS + DIAMONDS OF NEPTUNE + THE ASMATICS Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:30pm. DEEZ NUTS + PHANTOMS + THE BRIDE Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $20. ECHO DRAMA + FRIENDLY YEN Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. ELECTRIC MARY + MONEY FOR ROPE Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 8:00pm. $15. GRIZZLY JIM LAWRIE Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. HIGH TEA + SCUL HAZZARDS + WHITE WALLS + YES I’M LEAVING Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. HUNTER (CD LAUNCH) + ALKAN ZEYBEK & THE LESSERMAN + JONESEZ + VALIANT JONES Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. JAIL BIRD JOKERS (EP LAUNCH) + FEED MY FRANKENSTEIN + THE ELECTRIC SUN KINGS + THE WELLS Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 9:00pm. $10. JOWELL Y RANDY + D-MINUS Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak. 8:00pm. $60. KIM SALMON & LEANNE COWIE Tago Mago, Thornbury. 9:00pm. KITCHEN KNIFE WIFE (ALBUM LAUNCH) + ALEX HAMILTON + THE JOHNSY’S Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $10. LAST OF THE GOOD MEN + GHOST TOWNS OF THE MID WEST + RICH DAVIES & THE DEVIL’S UNION Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13. LAUGHING LEAVES (EP LAUNCH) + FLYING COLOURS + HOLY TRASH + LATE ARVO SONS Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $8. LIKE ROYALTY + GOODBYE GALAXY + MOTIONLESS ME + OUR BEST LAID PLANS Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. MAJOR NAPIER + EM VECUE AQUIEU + THE RIVER + THESE PATTERNS Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8. MARGINS (ALBUM LAUNCH) + DUMB SAINT + FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA + YOLKE Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12. MICHAEL PAYNTER + MADDISON WILSON + PAUL BARRY + RHYMADA Pier Live, Frankston. 7:00pm. $15. PEEP TEMPEL + KREMLINGS + MESA COSA + THE JACKALS Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10. PENNY IKINGER + BURN IN HELL Lyrebird Lounge, Ripponlea. 8:00pm. PRETTY DULCIE + BY A THREAD + MEANBONE + STATE OF SILENCE Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. RUFUS (THIS SUMMER TOUR) + POLOGRAPHIA Phoenix Public House, Brunswick. 9:00pm. $15. SEVERED OATH + BATTLEMODE + HEARTS LIKE WOLVES + TAKE YOUR OWN + THE EMPIRE Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $12. THE AUSTRALIAN BON JOVI SHOW Westend Market Hotel, Sunshine. 9:00pm. THE MEDICS (SINGLE LAUNCH) + DRUNK MUMS + GLASS TOWERS Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $10. THE NEARLY BROTHERS Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $22. THE STEVENS (ALBUM LAUNCH) + BOOMGATES + HARMONY John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. TOM TEUNA + AUDEMIA + DAMN THAT RIVER Idgaff Bar & Venue, Abbotsford. 8:00pm. VEIL OF MAYA + STORIES + THE STORM PICTURESQUE Phoenix Youth Centre, Footscray. 8:00pm. VICTOR PENDER Cape Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. ZOOPHYTE + JK RUFF + TROY BARRETT Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 8:30pm. $15.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK BLACKMOLLS Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 6:00pm. JAMES MCCANN Gem Bar, Collingwood. 8:00pm. JOHNNY NANDEZ HAMMOND EXPLOSION + DJ EMMA PEEL Luwow, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $5. LIZ STRINGER Basement Discs, Melbourne Cbd. 12:45pm. LLOYD SPIEGEL + ALISTER TURRILL Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm. $12. MASKS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 7:00pm. TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SESSIONS - FEAT: DAN BOURKE Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. VANGUARDS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
YOU’LL FIND US AT 99 SMITH STREET FITZROY PH: 9419 4920 YAHYAHS.COM.AU BOOKINGS: MARY@BAROPEN.COM.AU
FRI 13 APR
HUNTER
SAT 14 APR
THE VERLAINES CROW
CD LAUNCH
JONESEZ ALKAN ZEYBECK & THE LESSERMEN VALIANT JONES
THU 12 APR
THE HUNGRY HEARTS THE COMMUNISTS DOORS 5.00PM / BANDS 9.00PM
COMING UP THU APR 19:
JIMMY & THE MIRRORS THE GIVE THE PRETTY LITTLES NZ
SYD
SIMON COMBER
DOORS 5.00PM / BANDS 9.00PM
BROOKLYN’S FINEST
OPEN THU, FRI, SAT, SUN, 5:00PM TO LATE WITH DJs SPINNING YOUR FAVOURITE SOUL, 60s, ROCK’N’ROLL, SURF & GARAGE ALL NIGHT
SEAN SIMMONS
NZ
DOORS 5.00PM / BANDS 9.00PM
TUNES: LATE / FREE ENTRY AFTER MIDNIGHT
FRI APR 20:
DIRT FARMERS (CD LAUNCH) THE MESSENGERS DAN DAVEY (SISTER JANE) THEM SWOOPS SAT APR 21:
SHAKY MEMORIAL
TUNES: LATE / FREE ENTRY AFTER MIDNIGHT OPEN TIL 5am
OPEN TIL 5am
MAYWEATHER BETWEEN THE WARS CASH NO! CHK CHK BOOM THU APR 26:
SEX FACE SQUID SQUAD THE CHARLIES
SUN 15 APR
MANDY KANE
SAT APR 28:
JON (THE DANCING HEALS)
HELLO SAILOR VINTAGE & CRATE DIGGER RECORD FAIR
MESSED UP
LATER:
THU 12 APR
12.00 - 6.00PM
FREE ENTRY / DOORS 5.00PM / BANDS 8.O0PM
OPEN TIL 3am
WED 11 APR
DOLLSQUAD THE PSYCH OUTS
DIVORCED BUSHWALKING ICE CLAW
BAR
OPEN 317 BRUNSWICK STREET FITZROY WWW.BAROPEN.COM.AU 03 9415 9601
FRI 13 APR WED 11 APR
SAT 14 APR
MON 16 APR
VIRTUAL PROXIMITY
SINE
SCREEN SECT FILM CLUB
SUN 15 APR
‘DAVE CHAPPELLE’S BLOCK PARTY’
MESA COSA THE JACKALS KREMLINGS
AUTUMN GRAY
7PM
SAT 14 APR FRONT BAR RESIDENCY 5-7PM
TUE 17 APR
SHIPS PIANO
MAKE IT UP CLUB
W/ GUESTS
SAT 14 APR
10PM / FREE
DEEP CROSSING THE PRIMARY COLOR 8PM / FREE
RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS THE TAYLOR PROJECT
THU 12 APR
FOOTY
7.30PM / FREE
AKTION UNIT PHLEGETHON
COMING UP
9PM / FREE
THE SEVEN UPS 10PM / FREE
(MICHEL GONDRY, 2006)
7PM
WED 18: UNCOMFORTABLE BEATS FRI 20: JUDGE PINO & THE RULING MOTIONS SAT 21: NEW DUB CITY SUN 22: WILD DOG CREEK WED 25: OSCAR KEY SUNG THUR 26: CONCRETE LIFE FRI 27: PACHAKUTI SUN 29: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
FRI 13 APR
Rockin ‘til 7:00am!
68-70 LIL’ COLLINS ST. MELBOURNE WWW.PONY.NET.AU 03 9662 1026
ANDREW O’NEILL
LIKE ROYALTY MOTIONLESS ME GOODBYE GALAXY OUR BEST LAID PLANS
(UK) TICKETS - TICKETMASTER.COM.AU INFO - ANDREWONEILL.CO.UK COMEDYFESTOVAL.COM.AU 7.30PM
THU 12 APR
DARK GLOBES THE ATTICS FLYYING COLOURS
9.30PM
WOLFPACK
2.00AM FREE TUNES:
9.30PM
TOO SOON!
WHITE RABBIT
3.00AM FREE
2.00AM FREE TUNES:
GEEK PIE
3.00AM FREE
ANZAC DAY
DIG IT UP FESTPOIVNYAL
AT ET.AU TIX - DIGITUP.N
BOOKINGS: ANDY FANTAPANTS@BAROPEN.COM.AU PH: 9417 2326
SAT 14 APR
BEYOND TERROR BEYOND GRACE WHORETOPSY BELLIGERENT INTENT THE SEAFORD MONSTER
SYD
9.30PM
DIRTY F BEST FRIENDS
2.00AM FREE TUNES:
MR SHARP
3.00AM FREE
WICKED CITY TUE 17 APR FRONT BAR / 2 FREE SETS / 8PM
“Shout ‘til you’re a little horse”
FRI 13 APR
UDAYS TIGER SUN GOD REPLICA BAT PISS SPINNING ROOMS
BOOKINGS: LUKE@BAROPEN.COM.AU
WED - SUN COMEDY FEST
PEEP TEMPEL
ACT
COMING SOON THU 19 APRIL: “WE’VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU” THURS 19 APRIL (LATE SHOW): WINTERPLAN, FREE ENTRY FRI 20 APRIL: DECIMATUS, ORPHEUS, STATE OF INTEGRITY (QLD), SEWERCIDE FRI 20 APRIL (LATE SHOW): GREENTHIEF (BRIS), FREE ENTRY SAT 21 APRIL: POISON FISH (EP LAUNCH), DAMN THAT RIVER, PUSH TO TWIST SAT 21 APRIL (LATE SHOW): SUPERJUICE, FREE ENTRY TUE 24 APRIL (ANZAC DAY EVE): HAILGUN, RIGHT MIND, DEGENERATES, DEBUTANT KID, DUDE MTN, THE LAST DESIGN WED 25 APRIL (ANZAC DAY): DIG IT UP FESTIVAL - FEATURING KIM SALMON & SPENCER P JONES, THE MURLOCS THU 26 APRIL: THECITYSHAKEUP SCALAR FIELDS, RDZJB THURS 26 APRIL (LATE SHOW): DUNCAN GRAHAM & HIS COACCUSED, FREE ENTRY FRI 27 APRIL (LATE SHOW): THE COCOA JACKSONS FREE ENTRY
THE LEGENDARY PONY LATE SHOW / THE LATEST GIG IN TOWN / FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS / 2:00AM / FREE ENTRY SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU
LINK McLENNAN’S AMAZING JUKEBOX
TIX ON SALE NOW FROM TOTE FRONT BAR & OZTIX.COM.AU: THE 5.6.7.8’S (JAPAN) TUE 24 APRIL - SOLD OUT! DZ DEATHRAYS FRI 27 APRIL HOWLIN STEAM TRAIN SAT 28 APRIL BLACK COBRA (USA) MON 30 APRIL TUMBLEWEED FRI 25 & SAT 26 MAY COMING SOON: WED 18: MESSED UP THU 19: COURTNEY BARNETT, ALI E, THE LOST VOLVOS FRI 20: SAINT JUDE (LP LAUNCH), EATEN BY DOGS, RICH DAVIES & THE DEVILS UNION SAT 21: NEW WAR, SCATTERED ORDER, ZOND, JUSGO MOSH WED 25: CARACTACUS, KEGGIN, CLOWNS, K-MART WARRIORS FOXTROT, JIM LAWRIE HANDSOME KEV BRAVERY FRI 27: DZ DEATHRAYS, VELOCIRAPTOR, THEM 9’S, UDAYS TIGER SAT 28: HOWLIN’ STEAM TRAIN, JACKSON FIREBIRD, BEN WRIGHT SMITH TOTE MERCH ON SALE NOW / AVAILABLE FROM FRONT BAR: 2012 CALENDARS / T-SHIRTS / STUBBIE HOLDERS / STICKERS NEW! ‘PERSECUTION BLUES: THE BATTLE FOR THE TOTE’ DVDS ON SALE NOW! 71 JOHNSTON STREET (CNR WELLINGTON ST) COLLINGWOOD PH: 9419 5320 BAND BOOKINGS: AMANDA@BAROPEN.COM.AU WWW.THETOTEHOTEL.COM
TOTE OPEN: TUESDAY - SUNDAY 4.00pm ‘TIL LATE
Beat Magazine Page 57
MY DISCO
Three-piece My Disco have taken a well deserved break over the past four months, with members residing in Berlin, London and their hometown of Melbourne. Now, these math-rock mofos are returning to Melbourne to play two shows before they duck off again to Singapore and Kuala Kumpur and a bunch of other places where they are also famous. Come help celebrate the release of the music video for Turn when they play The Toff In Town on Saturday April 14 and Sunday April 15. Tickets $20+bf from Moshtix and the venue.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC ANTON DELECCA QUARTET Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. BIRCHALL & WOOLHOUSE Baker Street Studio, Burwood. 7:30pm. $75. DE LA CALLE + LUCAS MICHAILIDIS Open Studio, Northcote. 7:00pm. DON SANTIN & BOB SEDERGREEN Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $20. FUNK BUDDIES + CAPTAIN GROOVE 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. GHETTO PIMP + DJ TRAFFIC JAM + THE DUB CAPTAINS Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 10:00pm. KUNJANI Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $20. RENEE GEYER Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $40. THE SEVEN UPS Bar Open, Fitzroy. 10:00pm. TRIO LOS DIABLOS Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
SATURDAY 14 APRIL ROCK/POP 2AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: DIRTY F + SUPER BEST FRIENDS Pony, Melbourne. 2:00am. ADDICTION - FEAT: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY + COOPER STREET + IN YOUR HANDS + WE DISAPPEAR Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm. $10. BALL PARK MUSIC + CUB SCOUTS + NANTES Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. BANG - FEAT: HAND OF MERCY + BELLE HAVEN + RISE FROM RUIN Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20. BEYOND TERROR BEYOND GRACE + BELLIGERENT INTENT + THE SEAFORD MONSTER + WHORETOPSY Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. BLACKCHORDS + HOWL AT THE MOON + PONY FACE Phoenix Public House, Brunswick. 9:00pm. $10. BUTTIFEST - FEAT: BROADWAY + CHAMPAGNE REGGAE + JASPER’S DILEMMA + MADISON + MEET ME IN COGNITO + QVSQ + WOLFS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $15. CLAMPDOWN Rochester Castle Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. CLASH OF THE TITANS - FEAT: ENNUI BREATHES MALICE + ABREACT + BRONSON + DELIVERANCE WE PREY + DIVINE ASCENSION + DREAMS IN MONOCHROME + HOUSE OF THUMBS + INTERNAL NIGHTMARE + SCAR THE SURFACE Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $20. CLASH OF THE TITANS - FEAT: ENNUI BREATHES MALICE + ABREACT + BRONSON + DELIVERANCE WE PREY + DIVINE ASCENSION + DREAMS IN MONOCHROME + HOUSE OF THUMBS + INTERNAL NIGHTMARE + SCAR THE SURFACE + TERAMAZE Espy, St Kilda. 6:00pm. $20. COLD RED MUTE + 100% NUTS Noise Bar, Brunswick. 2:30pm. $16. ELECTRIC MARY + MONEY FOR ROPE Pier Live, Frankston. 7:00pm. $15. FAKER + PHIL PARA + TEENAGE MOTHERS + THE NAXALITES + THE PRETTY LITTLES Espy, St Kilda. 6:00pm. GOD BOWS TO MATH + EL ALAMEIN + JESS LOCKE + ON SIERRA Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. HAYDEN CALNIN + EMPTY ARMOUR + SPELL HOUSE Noise Bar, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $7. HOUSE OF ROCK Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $15. JACK ON FIRE + DJ SHAKY MEMORIAL + THE GHOST HOTEL + VERY HANDSOME MEN Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm. JON GOMM & ANDY SORENSON Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:30pm. $30. KOIN OP KAREOKE - FEAT: OSCAR KEY SUNG + THE TOWNHOUSES Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. KOIN OP KAREOKE - FEAT: OSCAR KEY SUNG + THE TOWNHOUSES Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $2. LIEUTENANT JAM Dancing Dog, Footscray. 8:00pm. $5. MEGAN BERNARD + KHRISTIAN MIZZI 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. MICHAEL PAYNTER + IAN RICKARD + JESS SZALEK + JESSE MITCHELL Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 7:00pm. $15. MY DISCO + NO ZU Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20. RAZORCUT + STRANGLEHOLD + THE HARD TARGETS + THE WORST Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $6. RUSSEL MORRIS BAND Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $25. SHIPS PIANO + UDAYS TIGER Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 6:00pm. SILVER SIRCUS + MADAME ANDREE Wesley Anne, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. SPENCER P JONES + JOHN NOLAN Tago Mago, Thornbury. 9:00pm. STARS OF ADDICTION (SINGLE LAUNCH) + BOTTLE OF SMOKE + PRETTY VILLAINS Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 8:30pm. $12. THE COINCIDENTS - FEAT: THE COINCIDENTS & AUTO DA FE Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 9:06pm.
THE COINCIDENTS + AUTO DA FE Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. THE MESSENGERS + THE FAULTS Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:30pm. THE VERLAINES + CROW + SIMON COMBER Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. THE WEDDING PRESENT + LAST LEAVES + THE SAND PEBBLES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. THEY (EP LAUNCH) + RED SKY BURIAL + UNTIL WE COLLIDE + VITRUVIAN MAN Central Club Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $12. TWIN AGES + DARK GLOBES + THE GROVES Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13. VICTOR PENDER Cape Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. WICKED CITY + BAT PISS + SPINNING ROOMS + SUN GOD REPLICA Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $10.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK ACOUSTIC REVIEW - FEAT: JENNY BIDDLE + DOC WHITE + MIKE HAYNES TRIO + NOT DEAD YET Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 8:00pm. $10. ALEX ARONSTEN & THE SOUTHERN LIGHTS Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. BARRY SAVAGE & THE LITTLE CAESARS + NUMBER ONE JONES Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne. 8:00pm. BRAD MARTIN BAND Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. BRUNSWICK PARLOUR DANCE - FEAT: SLY GROG Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 4:00pm. CATCH RELEASE Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 8:30pm. CLINKERFIELD + LONESOME + MERRI CREEK PICKERS + RYAN STERLING Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8. COSMIC TONIC Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm. DELTA MALES Bebida, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. FISH FRY Gem Bar, Collingwood. 8:00pm. JEN KNIGHT & THE CAVALIERS + OH PEP + WIRE BYRD Horse Bazaar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. JK RUFF Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. JODY GALVIN & TENDERHEARTS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm. LIZ STRINGER + THOMMY WILSON + TIM GUY + VAN WALKER Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 4:00pm. MAX HAY + WARREN HOWDEN 9:30pm. NATALIE CAROLAN Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 5:00pm. NIGEL WEARNE DUO Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 9:00pm. RAISED BY EAGLES Union Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. THE EASTERN + GRUMPY NEIGHBOUR + HARLOTS + RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12. THE GOOD SHIP (SINGLE LAUNCH) + RAPSKALLION Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $15. THE KINSHIP COLLECTIVE ALBUM LAUNCH - FEAT: RACHEL BY THE STREAM + ALLIE STRINGER + ELVINA + EVEN DAWN + LINK + MARTIN JOHANSSON + MATTRIKS & THE BOK + MELODY MOON + PRIESTESSA + SAVIDAS + WOODLANDS Ceres, Brunswick East. 6:00pm. $10. THE PAPER STREET SOAP COMPANY Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC BIRCHALL & WOOLHOUSE Baker Street Studio, Burwood. 7:30pm. $75. DANIEL GASSIN SEXTET Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. FRANKIE WANTS OUT (EP LAUNCH) + THE FUNK BUDDIES + THE GOLD STREET SOUND John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. HETTY KATE QUINTET Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $20. JAZZLAND 303, Northcote. 3:30pm. $10. JOE CHINDAMO Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $20. RENEE GEYER Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $40. SANTIAGO SON Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. SINE Bar Open, Fitzroy. 10:00pm. SOUL STRUT - FEAT: COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS + DJ DAN THE MAN + DJ JIM DANDY Luwow, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $5. TARA MINTON Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $15. THE MURLOCS + GRUNTBUCKET Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. 9:00pm. VIVE LA DIFFERENCE Open Studio, Northcote. 4:30pm.
SUNDAY 15 APRIL ROCK/POP ADMIRAL ACKBAR’S DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE + DOCTOR SLOTH + NO ONES HOME + THE CRUNTBURGERS + THE MURDERBALLS + THUNDABOX + WHERE’S GROVER Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 3:00pm. $10. ASH NAYLOR + HOLY TRASH Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm. BALL PARK MUSIC (U18 SHOW) + CUB SCOUTS + NANTES Corner Hotel, Richmond. 12:30pm. $17. DEAD JAIL OR ROCK N ROLL - FEAT: DJ XANDER ALLAN Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 3:00pm. DESERTERS Carringbush Hotel, Abbotsford. 5:00pm. DJ XANDER Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. JAZZY B & SUKSHINDER SHINDA Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak. 8:00pm. MY DISCO + BUSHWALKING + MY WORLD END PRESS Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20. POOR PEOPLE + CAT CAT + VELCRO Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $7. SIMON WRIGHT TRIO Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 7:30pm. SKYSCRAPER STAN & THE COMMISSION FLATS + DJ LOVEPUFF + LILY & KING + THE HAYLEY COUPER BAND Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5. THE VERLAINES + CROW + SIMON COMBER Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. $20. UNDERCOLOURS + KITCHEN KNIFE WIFE Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $8. WILDCAT GENERAL STRIKE + COTTON SIDEWALK + SLOW CHASE Idgaff Bar & Venue, Abbotsford. 8:00pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK AURORA + 100% NUTS + LACHLAN CROSS Noise Bar, Brunswick.
1:20pm. $16. AUTUMN GRAY + RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS + THE TAYLOR PROJECT Bar Open, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. BEN DAVID + NATHAN SEECKTS + TIM HAMPSHIRE + WIL WAGNER + ZIGGY BRITTEN Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. CHRIS WILSON Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. CORAL LEE & THE SILVER SCREAM Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. FAYE BLAISE + FREYA HANLEY Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 4:00pm. HAYDEN CALNIN Workers Club, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. $10. JAM NIGHT Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. JENNY BIDDLE (ALBUM LAUNCH) + SAM BUCKINGHAM Wesley Anne, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. JIMI HOCKING Mentone Hotel, Mentone. 3:00pm. JOEL PLYMIN & THEM BLUES CATS Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. 7:00pm. JOHN KENNEDYS’ ‘68 COMEBACK SPECIAL + KEN MAHER & TONY HARGREAVES Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 5:30pm. KIRSTEN VERWOORD + ALYSIA MANCEAU Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne. 6:00pm. LAKE PALMER - FEAT: LAKE PALMER & DOM DI BLASIO Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 5:12pm. LAKE PALMER + DOM DI BLASIO Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. LONGYARD 2:00pm. LUCY ROLEFF + KAREN HEATH + RONI SHEWAN 303, Northcote. 3:30pm. MANDY KANE - FEAT: JON + MANDY KANE Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. MATT DWYER & THE MAGNATONES Bay Hotel, Mornington. 3:00pm. OPEN MIC Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 4:30pm. OPEN MIC Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 4:30pm. PHIL PARA DUO The Bay, Mordialloc. 4:00pm. RON PENO + DEAN RICHARDS + RON RUDE + TIARYN GRIGGS Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 4:00pm. RUTH LINDSEY & KID GARRETT Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. SINGER SONGWRITER SESSIONS - FEAT: BRYCE WASTNEY + THE FRY BROTHERS Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 4:00pm. THE BONAFIDE TRAVELLERS + IAN COLLARD Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 4:00pm. THE EASTERN Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 8:00pm. THE JOKERS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 5:00pm. THE PERCH CREEK FAMILY JUG BAND Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. THE RECHORDS Gem Bar, Collingwood. 8:00pm. THESE MACHINES CUT RAZOR WIRE - FEAT: BELL ST DELAYS + FRASER A GORMAN + THE CARTRIDGE FAMILY + THE STETSON FAMILY + UNCLE BILL + ALEX HALLAHAN & THE WOODLAND HUNTERS + KATE WALKER + LES THOMAS + NIGEL WEARNE & THE CAST IRON PROMISES + THE JED ROWE BAND + TULLY SUMNER Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 4:00pm. $20. TIM WOODZ + ANDY JANS BROWN Bar Nancy, Northcote. 6:00pm. WINTERNATIONALE + AFTERLAND + LYRA WILL + ST HILL Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC ANTON DELECCA QUARTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. DALE RYDER BAND + BAD BOYS BATUCADA + PHIL CEBERANO Espy, St Kilda. 5:00pm. FREO & THE DOC Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 3:00pm. GRAND WAZOO Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:00pm. $10. JOSE NIETO Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. MOU QUARTET Open Studio, Northcote. 4:30pm. OPA 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5. VELVET CAKE GYPSIES Penny Black, Brunswick. 5:00pm. MONDAY 16 APR
ROCK/POP AINSLIE WILLS + ELK & WHALE Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. AMON AMARATH (SURTUR RISING TOUR) + EYE OF THE ENEMY + ORPHEUS Billboard, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $69. ANIMAUX + BETTER THAN THE WIZARDS Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8. BALL PARK MUSIC + CUB SCOUTS + NANTES Corner Hotel, Richmond. 7:30pm. BRITTANY Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 8:30pm. EATEN BY DOGS + KINCH KINSKI & THE STRANGERS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. HILARIOUS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. MONDAY NIGHT MASS - FEAT: STATIONARY SUNS + MILES BROWN + ONION ENGINES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 6:00pm. SCOTDRAKULA + BAYOU + HOUNDS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. ZULU WINTER + CITY CALM DOWN Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm. $33.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK MONDAY DRIFT Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC ALLAN BROWNE SEXTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. JOE STILGOE TRIO Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. LEBOWSKIS - FEAT: CHRISTOPHER YOUNG + LONI THOMSPSON BAND 303, Northcote. 9:00pm. $8. TUESDAY 17 APR
ROCK/POP FINN FAMILY + JOSHUA HODSON SMITH + SMOKE SIGNALS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 3:46pm. LAST DINOSAURS (IN A MILLION YEARS TOUR) Phoenix Public House, Brunswick. 7:30pm. $15. LOU BARLOW + LAURA MACFARLANE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. $36.
PATRON SAINTS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. PATRON SAINTS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. SANS SERIFF + BILL’S PIG STYLE FURY + MOTION Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. THE TWOKS + BROOKE TAYLOR + ERICK PARKER + KICKING BEYOND MATTER Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK ALEX & EVE Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 8:30pm. NGAIIRE + THE LOVE BIRDS + THE RESCUE SHIPS Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $10. OPEN MIC Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 6:30pm. OPEN MIC Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 7:30pm. PETER EWING Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. SEAN SIMMONS + SILVER RAY Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm.
JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC ENGINEERED SOUND Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. MATT BODEN QUARTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. VCA CONTEMPORARY MUSIC PERFORMANCE Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 7:30pm. $10.
+ BEAT PRESENT... whatson@thepush.com.au
ACCESS ALL AGES With Ruth Mihelcic
Watch dance crews battle it out at the Step Off! Dance Crew competition this Saturday in East Melbourne. Previous years have sold out so if you’re planning on going, call Moonee Valley Youth Services on 9243 8888 to get some tickets ASAP. End your school holidays with a bang this Sunday at the Sounds Loud Festival with their massive line up of Stonefield, Bleeding Knees Club, Mantra, Dream On Dreamer, and Hand Of Mercy. If you’re in or near Moonee Ponds from 12pm to 7pm then check it out and leave your wallet at home because it’s also FREE. Bluejuice have announced an under 18s arvo show at the Hi-Fi on Saturday April 28 with guests Loon Lake & The Cairos. Get your tickets now through Moshtix! Send your all ages news to whatson@thepush.com.au.
ALL AGES TIMETABLE WEDNESDAY APRIL 11 Lipstick Underage w/ Slice N Dice, Glacier Bar, 480 Nepean Hwy, Frankston, 5pm – 10pm, $15 with pass, $20 without, contact 9770 5177, U18
THURSDAY APRIL 12 Some Time Soon w/ Forever Ends Here, Way With Words, Madison, and Cruel To Be Kind, Templestowe Memorial Hall, cnr Parker and Anderson Street, Templestowe, 4pm – 7pm, $10, Lachlan Campbell on 9848 5400, AA Seal, Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, 7:30pm – 10:30pm, $109.90 - $199.90, ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100, AA Deez Nuts w/ Phantoms and The Bride, EV’s Youth Centre, 212 Mt Dandenong Rd, Croydon, 8pm, $18.40, oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545, AA
FRIDAY APRIL 13 Veil of Maya w/ Feed Her To The Sharks, The Storm Picturesque, Stories, Glorified, and A Sleepless Winter, Phoenix Youth Centre, 72 Buckley Street, Footscray, 5pm – 10pm, $15, Dejah Grull on 9091 4700, AA Youth Music Fiesta w/ Heros for Hire, Heros for Hire, Beas Window, Kuan Yin Society, Believers in Fiction, and Heterosexual Cinema, Euroa Civic Centre, 109A Binney Street, Euroa, 6:30pm – 11:30pm, $10-15, Debra Ellis on 5795 0000, AA
SATURDAY APRIL 14 Skate of Mind w/ Masketta Fall, While the City Sleeps, and The Miracle is Now, Chelsea Bicentennial Park, cnr Thames and Scotch Parade, Chelsea, 9am – 4pm, Free, Jessica De Mercurio on 1300 36 94 36, AA Beats For Blue w/ Blessed By Shadows, Blood Union, Leek And The War Wick Tragedy, Robot Mugabe, and more, Elimatta Youth Space, 94 Whittlesea Kinglake Road, Kinglake, 2pm – 9:30pm, $10, emorry_kate@hotmail.com, AA Step Off! Dance Crew Competition, Dallas Brooks Centre, 300 Albert Street, East Melbourne, 6pm, $30 adults or $20 concession, Moonee Valley Youth Services on 9243 8888 or email youth@mvcc.vic.gov.au, AA Dream On, Dreamer w/ Untruth, Choke On It, and In Motions, Somerville Mechanics Hall, 66 Station St, Somerville, 6:45pm – 10pm, $8 if wearing blue or $12 general, Jody Blythe on 5450 1666, AA
SUNDAY APRIL 15 Sounds Loud Festival w/ Stonefield, Bleeding Knees Club, Mantra, Dream On Dreamer, Hand Of Mercy, For Our Hero, and more, Queens Park, corner Mount Alexander Road and Kellaway Avenue, Moonee Ponds, 12pm – 7pm, Free, Moonee Valley City Council on (03) 9243 9132, AA Ball Park Music w/ Nantes and Cub Scouts, Corner Hotel, 57 Swan St, Richmond, 12:30pm, $20, Corner Box Office on 9427 9198 or www.cornerhotel.com, U18
MONDAY APRIL 16
CLASSIFIEDS 33c PER WORD PER WEEK (INC GST) • Send your classified listing information to Beat Magazine at 3 Newton St, Richmond 3121 with a cheque, money order or credit card number (including expiry date and name on card, NOT AMEX or DINERS) (1.5% surcharge on Visa and MasterCard) OR deliver it yourself with cash OR you can email your classifieds to us - classifieds@beat.com.au with credit card details • DEADLINE IS THURSDAY 5pm, prior to Wednesdays publication • Minimum $5 charge per week. We do NOT accept classifieds over the phone - sorry.
MUSICIANS WANTED ACOUSTIC ACTS WANTED for Bar Betty in Smith Street, Fitzroy. Paid Gig. Please phone Sandra or Michelle on 9417 3937. Bar Betty 129 Smith Street, Fitzroy.
Beat Magazine Page 58
BANDS & PROMOTERS WANTED. Any style for Collingwood venue. First gigs welcome, live CD recording available. Contact Jane after 12pm on 0425 796 828. EXPERIENCED DRUMMER with a commitment to practice and regular rehearsals required for alternative rock band. Influences QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Nirvana etc… www.myspace.com/ mollydredd ph: 0411 372 469 SINGER LOOKING FOR A GUITARIST OR KEYBOARDIST to rehearse covers and busk on Saturday nights. Contact: alphadog35@ y7mail.com
TUITION MUSIC CLASSES - Tuition for Piano, Guitar, Singing, Drums and Bass. With 7 years of experience. Great rates for classes. For more info call 9530 0984/ 0425 788 252 or go online at www.katzmusic.com.au PAUL HENDER DRUM SCHOOL. Positions available for students. Phn: Paul 8786 3421
ZUMBA FITNESS CLASSES - Get Fit, Have Fun, Feel Fantastic! Introductory Offer 6 Zumba Fitness classes for $36. Classes in Elsternwick. Call 0425 788 252 or visit www.dancekatz. com.au for class times and locations.
SERVICES MAN WITH A VAN. Best value movers in Melbourne. Now with trucks!!!! Equip with 1 or 2 experienced men, trolleys and removal blankets. Available 7 days. Check out www.manwithavan.com.au or call us on 9417 3443. PRODUCER ENGINEER. Former London based in-house EMI Publishing UK. New Melbourne studio in relaxed factory setting. Productions, drum kit, guitars, synths, vocal production, mixing and contacts. Call Tony to chat about your next project: 0437 244 371, more info at www.tbonetunes.com SOUNDPARK RECORDING/REHEARSALS. Large 5 room recording studio, loads of vintage gear/instruments. Hire without engineer $450 day, or with $650. Rehearsals from $50. Phone Andrew 0425 706 382.
SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU
One Direction, Hisense Arena, Olympic Boulevard (formerly Swan Street), Melbourne, 7:30pm, $72, ticketek.com.au or 132 849, AA
TUESDAY APRIL 17 Deez Nuts w/ Phantoms and The Bride, Musicman Megastore, 363 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo, 8pm, $23.50, oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545, AA
THINK MOVING SUCKS? Call Little Red Trucks! Moving Melbourne everyday. Call 9380 6444 or head to www.littleredtrucks.com.au
EMPLOYMENT FLAUNT IT. Internationally acclaimed producer of pro-feminist erotica looking for confident, adult women to smash the stereotypes and earn good money ($500 and up). Don’t overlook this til you’ve found out more about it. Rebecca 9495 6555 or www.feck.com. LOOKING FOR AMATEUR COMEDIANS to perform at Bar Betty 129 Smith Street, Fitzroy Ph: 9417 3937
GS T GI TS A L AL VEN GB ! E E & THE FRE E AR
FRIDAY APR 13TH
Wed. Apr. 11th: (Wine, Whiskey, Women)
8pm: Kerryn Fields 9pm: Sam Lohs Thurs. Apr. 12th:
8pm: Jimmy Stewart’s Wonderful Life Fri. Apr. 13th:
6-8pm: Trad Irish music session with Dan Bourke & friends
GREAT BRITAIN HOTEL
JAMES MCCAN AND FRIENDS SATURDAY APR 14TH
THUR 12 APRIL
KODO MOTIF WISHFUL
SATURDAY NIGHT FISH FRY
9PM SAT 14 APRIL
THE MURLOC’S GRUNTBUCKET 9PM SUN 15 APRIL
JOEL PLYMIN AND THEM BLUE CATS
Sat. Apr. 14th:
9pm: Nigel Wearne Duo Sun. Apr. 15th:
4pm: Ian Collard 6:30pm: The Bonafide Travellers
SUNDAY APR 15TH
7PM MON 16 APRIL
THE RECHORDS
BOOZER SOUL (DJ’S) 8PM
WEEKLY ASSORTMENTS MonDAYS
Tues. Apr. 17th:
8pm: Weekly Trivia
“All Shows Always Free” The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
FREE POOL ALL NIGHT
289 WELLINGTON ST COLLINGWOOD 94195170 WWW.THEGEMBAR.COM.AU
$10 PIZZA & POT
TueSDAYS
MRS SMITH’S TRIVIA $10 PIZZA & POT 9PM
WEDNESDAYS
OPEN MIC NIGHT 9PM
KITCHEN OPEN 6 NIGHTS
447 CHURCH ST RICHMOND 9429 5066 www.greatbritainhotel.com.au
• • • • • WEDNESDAY • • • • •
COMEDY TRIVIA QUIZ MEISTER SUNDAY 15/4, 6PM
KIRSTEN VERWOORD & ALYSIA MANCEAU
THURSDAY APR 12TH
JOSHUA SEYMOUR & FRIENDS
ACOUSTIC RESIDENCY THURSDAYS IN APRIL
SATURDAY 21/4, 10PM
LITTLE MURDERS SUNDAY 22/4
ESSAY EDWARDS 6PM HALF MOON 9PM
FROM
8.30PM TH
SATURDAY APR 14
TERRY MCCARTHY SPECIAL
• • • • • THURSDAY • • • • •
UNI NIGHT
DERBY THURSDYS
BRAD MARTIN
CHECK OUT DERBY THURSDAYS ON FACEBOOK.
SUNDAY APR 15TH
• • • • • SATURDAY • • • • •
TWO SETS FROM
5PM
CORAL LEE & THE SILVER SCREAM
FRIDAY 27/4, 10PM
FROM 8PM. GREAT PRIZES & GIVEAWAYS.
R&B, BLUES AND ROCKABILLY TWO SETS FROM 5PM
SHE BAR
EVERY 2ND SATURDAY PRESENTS SHEBAR AN ALL GIRL NIGHT 9PM
TUESDAY APR 17TH
SATURDAY 28/4
THE FUTURAS, BEN ROGERS INSTRUMENTAL ASYLUM FREE ENTRY ALWAYS!
PETER EWING & FRIENDS
ACOUSTIC RESIDENCY TUESDAYS IN APRIL FROM
8.30PM
• • • • • SUNDAY • • • • •
BBQ
STARTS 5PM TILL LATE
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Entry Requirements: Enrollments have started now and entry is via audition and/or interview and VET FEE HELP is available to eligible students. Start Dates: The new Degree Courses in Audio Engineering, Music Business and Music Performance are starting May 21st Telephone (03) 9281 8898 Email: info@collarts.edu.au Website: www.collarts.edu.au
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LIVE GARETH LIDDIARD
Friday March 23, The Regal Ballroom
Jarrod Quarrell is an arresting artist. It becomes clear why the freedom of experimenting under the pseudonym of Lost Animal was a more enticing pursuit for Quarrell than St Helens, as great as that band was. Even with the talented Shags Chamberlain by his side, it’s Quarrell who captivates the attentive audience with his expressive mannerisms. It’s impossible to remain still when those soulful and broodingly exotic electro/dub/jazz/funk grooves kick in. Gareth Liddiard is an artist that you genuinely want to see each and every tour. Liddiard brings everything and more to his live performance. Whether we care to admit it or not, we – as an audience member – want the artist’s live performance to justify the countless hours spent listening to their music and the passion with which we regard the artist. Liddiard solidifies our passion for his music with each performance. When Liddiard stated early in his set, “this is already too much pressure” (it may’ve had something to do with performing in such a magnificent room where chandeliers, candles and a wedding-like table setup provided the antithesis to the usual pub venue), a fan responded: “You put pressure on us”. It’s true: when you see Liddiard soaking up each lyric as if he was languishing in the Sahara desert and sipping his last drop of water, it reminds us why music can be profound. Liddiard is consistently great – this quality is rarer than most people are comfortable to admit. Having seen Liddiard tour his exceptional solo album, Strange Tourist, several times, it’s become a bonus treat to enjoy the singer-songwriter’s typically entertaining and hilarious between-song banter. Much has been said
SNAKADAKTAL
CHRISTINE LAN LOVED: It’s a Gareth Liddiard concert... everything. You must own Strange Tourist... for your own good. HATED: See above. DRANK: Bavaria.
Saturday March 17, Northcote Social Club
The dichotomy of Snakadaktal is one that few bands should ever be so lucky to have to own: Their confidence and patience when playing live is offset by several odd little reminders that they are in fact teenagers (which in itself usually means eagerness and awkwardness). Their packed show at the Northcote Social Club followed a trail of capacity gigs from the very beginning of the year, with many dates for the rest of their March/April tour around the country already soldout. These guys truly deserve it. With bright Rorschach visuals playing behind them, and a hand-made blue and white banner off to the side of the room (which was oddly reminiscent of house swimming sports, particularly the way the letters were skewed the way you might to do make a school project look more exciting), Snakadaktal impressed right away with an innovative stage set-up. Drummer Barna is elevated to the north-west, so that everyone can see him and take cues, not unlike the way you’d set up for a rehearsal. Joseph, Jarrah and Sean (guitarist, bassist and singer/ guitarist respectively) are lined up lazily to the right of the kit, and singer/synths darling Phoebe graces stage-right. The most wonderful thing about Snakadaktal is their aforementioned patience. They are not afraid to take their time on a beautiful, thumping build-up where fools (or the inexperienced) would rush in. Solid house drums get the crowd going and the boys’ psychedelic, bleating guitars wash over the top. The approach could be naff but Barna rarely closes his hats, which makes for a laid-back sound. During Carnival he utilises tight drum
60 SECONDS WITH...
FRANKIE WANTS OUT Define your genre in five words or less: Rockin’ gangster swing. Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? Hmmm, Brian Setzer Orchestra meets The Cat Empire. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? Glenn Miller, so he could see what we’ve done to his style. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? The guy who said “Hey, let’s bring back Young Talent Time”, for obvious reasons. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We have just released a new EP, called Trouble, and it’s by far our best yet!
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about the contrast between Liddiard’s morose, highly complex and literate songwriting and Gaz’s ultra-casual banter. Upon consideration, though, it’s only surprising if you deem every intellectual artist to be morbidly pretentious, which of course Liddiard isn’t. Any cynical artist possesses a dark sense of humour because good humour requires perspective. If a writer spoke exactly as they wrote, they wouldn’t have any friends. Liddiard is as comfortable being a down-to-earth larrikin as he is writing deep, insightful and challenging songs. The latter is why we admire him; the former is why we love him. Liddiard’s bleak humour summoned much laughter (albeit, a little awkwardly) when he suggested – following his tale about suicidal Japanese businessmen – that Australia needed a place for people to go and top themselves (Tony Abbott was mentioned). Liddiard performed two Drones tracks, Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World and Shark Fin Blues (their forthcoming Japanese tour just reminds us that The Drones remain the most original representative of Australian music). To watch Liddiard perform Did She Scare All Your Friends Away and The Radicalisation Of D is to witness an inimitable genius. Liddiard is in a league of his own because he goes that extra mile each and every time.
machine claps. The song sounds rather like a girl’s journey growing from the playroom to her adolescent diary, with the keys glowing like bells. Phoebe’s playing is in fact the cornerstone of this act: It could sound pedestrian without her varied sounds. During Chimera the crowd stamps so hard there’s almost a shower of glitter from their faces, which they’ve painted to match the band. It doesn’t look pretentious, by the by, but just like they’ve come from playing in the park. One is also a spectacular favourite, with a great harpsichord sound from Phoebe and the guitarists all playing on offbeats. Impossible not to dance to! Snakadaktal have all the hallmarks of a band about to burst out into the wider mainstream consciousness but none of the uppity accessories. They excitedly came straight out to speak to the crowd after the set, meaning that after their last song they walked off side-stage (for show), then walked back on as everyone was milling about, grabbed their stray picks and jumped off the front foldbacks to a small table under their banner, and started signing. With the confidence to let their sound build and leave space for gorgeous harmonics, Snakadaktal’s star is on the up and up. ZOË RADAS LOVED: Phoebe’s lame leather-strap watch. HATED: Overly inked pass-out stamp which bled all down my arm. DRANK: Carlton Draught.
When’s the gig and with who? Saturday April 14, at The Curtin, with Gold Street Sound, and Funk Buddies. So, someone is walking past as you guys are playing, they then go get a beer and tell their friend about you... what do they say? I just saw this gangster swing band, and they are dressed like Reservoir Dogs! Which band would you most like to have a battle/ showdown with? Royal Crown Revue. Do you have any record releases to date? What are they? Where can I get them? We do. An EP called The Melbourne Way and an LP called Prohibition, find them on iTunes. When are you doing your thing next? We leave for a mini tour in a week, then back to Melbourne to launch our EP, Trouble. Tell us about the last song you wrote. It’s called Down On Smith Street, it pays homage to a bar we used to play at when we first started out.
Photos by Nick Iving
BLITZEN TRAPPER Tuesday April 3, The Prince Bandroom After an appearance earlier in the day at Pure Pop Records where they, um, sat down and had a beer, my expectations were high for Portland’s Blitzen Trapper. On record they sound exactly like your favourite country rock records from the ‘70s that you’ve never even heard, overrun with sweet harmonies and melodic left-turns, and at The Prince in front of a criminally undersold crowd, they didn’t disappoint. Frontman and chief architect Eric Earley resembles the lovechild of Charles Manson and Jason Swartzman, with all the intensity of the former, and the brooding indie cred and super brows of the latter. No one in this band is a passenger; the drummer even contributes pitch-perfect backing vocals. Guitarist and second Erik (Menteer) sported the same Raditude t-shirt he rocked on Letterman, and when he wasn’t ripping out Harrison-esque slides he was headbanging Zepplin megachords. They focused primarily on latest release American Goldwing, which at times can sacrifice their usually tasteful and authentic country to go for something a little more risky. I thought this move away into prog-rock territory, complete with Yes-isms and 16 quick chord
changes per bar, provided quite a lovely balance. A rich blend of squarking harmonica and sparse acoustic chords reminiscent of country-style Neil one moment; impeccable three-point harmonies and bitchin’ guitar solo trade-offs the next. What more do you people want? Like Wilco and My Morning Jacket, Blitzen Trapper take tasteful Americana and do something beautiful and original with it. They even finished with Zepp’s Good Times, Bad Times, which fits seamlessly with the more stadium rock of their latest album. And I’m nowhere near a Zepp fan. Except that Stairway solo. Part of me enjoys a half-full show, what with the elbow room and easy bar access, but Blitzen Trapper deserve so much better than this. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. NICK HILTON LOVED: Drummer Adrian Koch’s pristine harmonies HATED: That it didn’t go all night, baby. DRANK: Beer.
WOODEN SHJIPS Wednesday March 28, The Corner Hotel With a lineup consisting of hardcore minimalist techno, epic panoramic semi-instrumentalist stoner jams, and Kraut-tinged acid rock, the pertinent question for this evening was raised – just which stimulants would complement the evening’s musical offerings? It’s a trick question, because you should never take drugs, especially not on a Wednesday night, ya dingus. Seriously. Forces are strange. They don’t really belong in Melbourne, nor in 2012. But the thing is, they’re fucking amazing. Their disruption to the guitar-dominated local scene is initially difficult to swallow – with their irony-devoid, exclusively synthesised sounds presented with a jarring sincerity onstage. Once you overcome that initial high barrier into their world, you get the sense that the two-piece may be the most exciting band in the country right now. Tonight they were solid, but the sparsely populated early-night slot was a far cry from their remarkable strobe-saturated forest set at Camp A Low Hum. But still, this is next level shit. Tonight marked the first set of the year from the tsunami of guitar noise that is Beaches. Hard at work on their long-overdue follow up to their fucking awesome debut, the five-piece did what they did best while showcasing cuts from the upcoming LP. Newer material seemingly leans toward the purely instrumental, which marks a logical evolution of the sparse use of vocals on their initial
material. It’s good to have them back. The headline set from all-male space-rock outfit Wooden Shjips felt as though it pretty much consisted of a singular jam – a fucking awesome one at that. Band mastermind Ripley Johnson has evolved into a Howard Hughes-like figure (appearance-wise, especially). But instead of a Spruce Goose, Johnson simply pumps out a waterfall of damn fine psych rock – whether it be with Shjips or Moon Duo (who were recently in the country). Tonight was an exercise in displaying the subjectivity of time. Not really sure how long the showcase of astral projections and distended jams lasted – it could have been ages – but I wouldn’t have complained had it lasted all night. Despite a slightly muddy mix, the Shjips crushed it. It was a strange, somewhat disparate lineup on paper, but no-one would argue that it was anything short of a masterstroke.
What’s your favourite song, and why? A Day in the Life, by The Beatles, it’s an amazing song. When, and why did you start writing music? Started in high school to impress women... Not much has changed. Name an interview question you wish someone would ask you, and answer it. If you were only known by one name, like Madonna, what would it be? Es Taco!
If your music was a chocolate bar, which one would it be, and why? Picnic, because it is bit of everything held together by something awesome. Anything else to add? Come us launch our new EP on Saturday April 14 at The Curtin.
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LACHLAN KANONIUK LOVED: That I was slightly responsible and actually wore earplugs. OH&S first, kids. HATED: Getting overly nostalgic for each band’s respective Camp A Low Hum, Meredith, and Golden Plains sets. DRANK: A pot with my mushroom sandwich.