TWINSPEAK THE REASONS WHY TEN TONNE FEATHER
M E L B O U R N E R E C I TA L C E N T R E P R E S E N T S
Experimental German pianist, prepared piano master and composer Volker Bertelmann, better known as Hauschka is not necessarily what you’d expect. Celebrated as one of the greatest proponents of prepared piano, his innovative compositions are frequently compared to the work of Eric Satie and John Cage. 'A transporting, ecstatic experience.' Feast of Music 'Sitting down to watch Hauschka feels more like watching an eccentric professor at work in his office than a classical recital… remarkable ingenuity.' The Skinny
TUE 17 NOV 7.30PM | TICKETS FROM $45 Presented in association with Goethe-Institut Australia.
Robert Henke – Lumière II Sound is vision, treated as one absolute unity.
German sound artist Robert Henke teaches lasers to dance in an immersive performance not to be missed. Powerful lasers draw rapid successions of morphing shapes and connected points in space, precisely synced with carefully crafted sonic events to create a situation of total audio-visual synesthesia. Lumière II is a performance on the edge of concert and visual arts – an ecstatic experience for both performer and audience.
‘It was a full-body experience, with piercingly bright lasers dancing on a screen and chest-vibrating sub-bass perfectly paired with the visuals.' Now Toronto Presented in association with Goethe-Institut Australia.
Thu 19 Nov 7.30pm − Tickets $50
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Sat 3 Oct
CAARRRRN THE FOOTY!! NO MUSIC TODAY. BUT THERE’LL BE A BIG TELLY. Sun 4 Oct 3.30pm
ROZ GIRVAN & GREG FIELD A duo with original tunes, Americana stylings – vocal harmonies, mandolin, fiddle and guitar.
Sun 4 Oct, 5pm
FINGERBONE BILL
Country, bluegrass, hokum, and old timey toons.
Tuesdays:
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With mysterious Mr. Drew, phone to book your table of up to 6
New album Ev er y Open Eye out now Featuring Leave A Trace, Never Ending Circles + Clearest Blue chvrch.es
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IN THIS ISSUE
20
HOT TALK / FREE SHIT
26
TOURING
28
KURT VILE
30
WHAT’S ON, BRONX GOTHIC
31
ART OF THE CITY, THE COMIC STRIP, CALENDAR
32
JACKA V.C. LEGEND OF GALLIPOLI, THE FINDERS KEEPERS MARKET, CHURCHEZ LE FEMME
33
MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEWS
34
OUT OF THE CLOSET, BEAT EATS
35
BEATS
36
THE BASICS
37
COLD CHISEL
38
CHOPPED FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHT: C.W. STONEKING, JACKSON FIREBIRD
40
LIOR, SHAMEEM, OLYMPIA
41
ARCHER page 41
AUGIE MARCH, ARCHER,
PARKWAY DRIVE page 42
THE STIFFYS 42
THE MEANIES, LESS THAN JAKE, PARKWAY DRIVE
43
CORE/CRUNCH, MIDNIGHT ALIBI
44
MUSIC NEWS
48
LIVE
50
ALBUM OF THE WEEK / SINGLES / CHARTS
OLYMPIA page 40 3 NEWTON STREET RICHMOND, VICTORIA 3121 Phone: (03) 9428 3600 Fax: (03) 9428 3611 email: info@beat.com.au www.beat.com.au BEAT MAGAZINE EMAIL ADDRESSES: (no large attachments please): Gig Guide: online at beat.com.au email gigguide@beat.com.au - it’s free! Club Listings: online at beat.com.au email clubguide@beat.com.au - it’s free! Music News Items: music@beat.com.au Artwork: art@beat.com.au Beat Classifieds 33c a word: classifieds@beat.com.au PUBLISHER: Furst Media Pty Ltd. MUSIC EDITOR: Cara Williams ARTS EDITOR / ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR: Tyson Wray
LIOR page 40 ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE & EDITORIAL COORDINATORS: Tegan Louise, Thom Parry SUB EDITOR: Augustus Welby EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Michael Clark, Cassie Hedger, Lauren Gill, Gloria Brancatisano, Kelsey Berry, Thomas Brand. PUZZLE MASTER: Thom Parry MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr BEAT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Michael Cusack GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Michael Cusack, Andrew Rozen, Lizzie Dynon. COVER DESIGN: Michael Cusack ADVERTISING: Cara Williams (Music: Bands/Tours/Record Labels) cara@beat.com.au Keats Mulligan (Backstage/Musical Equipment) mixdown@ beat.com.au Thom Parry (Hospitality/Bars) thom@beat.com.au Tegan Louise (Indie Bands/Beat Eats) tegan@beat.com.au CLASSIFIEDS: classifieds@beat.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: now online at www.beat.com.au or bands email gigguide@beat.com.au ONLINE EDITOR: BEAT.COM.AU Tyson Wray: tyson@beat.com.au
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INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH
LESS THAN JAKE page 42 ACCOUNTANT: accountant@furstmedia.com.au OFFICE MANAGER: Lizzie Dynon: lizzie@furstmedia.com.au ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au RECEPTION: reception@furstmedia.com.au DISTRIBUTION: distribution@beat.com.au Free Every Wednesday to over 2000 places including convenience stores, newsagents, ticket outlets, shopping centres, community youth & welfare outlets, clubs, hotels, venues, record, music and video shops, boutiques, retailers, bars, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, hairdressers, recording studios, cinemas, theatres, galleries, universities and colleges. Wanna get BEAT? Email distribution@beat.com.au CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mary Boukouvalas, Ben Gunzburg, Anna Kanci, Cassandra Kiely, Charles Newbury, Richard Sharman, Tony Proudfoot, Laura May Grogan, Mark Stanjo, David Harris, Emily Day, Maddison Pitt SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Christie Eliezer SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: Patrick Emery SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Ian Laidlaw COLUMNISTS: Emily Kelly, Peter Hodgson, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Tegan Louise, Anna Whitelaw BEAT TV/WATT’S ON PRESENTER: Dan Watt
CONTRIBUTORS: Kelsey Berry, Graham Blackley, Gloria Brancatisano, Chris Bright, Avrille Bylock-Collard, Meg Crawford, Alexander Crowden, Liza Dezfouli, Jules Douglas, Alexandra Duguid, Alasdair Duncan, Cam Ewart, Callum Fitzpatrick, Jack Franklin, Emma Gawd, Lauren Gill, Chris Girdler, Joe Hansen, Chris Harms, Andrew Hickey, Nick Hilton, Peter Hodgson, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Cassandra Kiely, Billy Killing, Joshua Kloke, Jody Macgregor, Wayne Marshall, Nick Mason, Denver Maxx, Krystal Maynard, Paul McBride, Miki Mclay, Rhys McRae, James Nicoli, Adam Norris, Jack Parsons, Sasha Petrova, Liam Pieper, Zoe Radas, Leigh Salter, Sisqo Taras, Kelly Theobald, Tamara Vogl, Dan Watt, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby, Garry Westmore, Rod Whitfield, Jen Wilson, Thomas Brand, Alex Watts, Tyson Wray, David James Young, Simone Ziada, Bronius Zumeris. DEADLINES Editorial copy accepted no later than 5pm Thursday before publication for club listings, arts, gig guide etc. Advertising copy accepted no later than 12pm Monday before publication. Print ready art by 2pm Monday. Deadlines are strictly adhered to. © 2015 Furst Media Pty Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 18
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OUT ON THE WEEKEND ANNOUNCE SIDESHOWS MELBOURNE MUSIC WEEK REVEALS 2015 FL AGSHIP VENUE AND L AUNCH DETAILS Ahead of their full 2015 program reveal on Wednesday October 7, Melbourne Music Week (MMW) have today announced the location for the 2015 flagship venue. 150 years after the building first opened, the disused basement and adjoining rooms of the Former Royal Women’s Hospital on Swanston Street will transform into a multi-dimensional arts and performance space, and MMW’s first ever carbon neutral flagship venue. The opening night of MMW will be held on Friday November 13, and will feature a completely Melbourne lineup of Gypsy & The Cat, The Harpoons and Dorsal Fins. Meanwhile, Swell, an evocative, multi-sensory and immersive soundscape journey through live music, art and design will also take over 12 of the Former Royal Women’s Hospital’s forgotten spaces, and will feature an array of secret one-off performances throughout the week. MMW will be held from Friday November 13 till Friday November 20. Stay tuned to melbourne.vic.gov.au/mmw for more info.
E D D Y C U R R E N T S U P P R E S S I O N R I N G TO PE R F O R M AT T E N T H G O L D E N P L A I N S
Australia’s finest celebration of Americana music, delicious food and quality booze, Out On The Weekend, have announced a mega list of sideshows, all to be held at Northcote Social Club during October. Southern Californian singer/songwriter Sam Outlaw will take over the venue on Sunday October 18, with Jonny Fritz and Shelly Colvin by his side. Dawes, Barna Howard and Tracy McNeil will perform a super special show on Tuesday October 20, and Jamestown Revival will hit up the venue on Wednesday October 21 with Raised by Eagles joining the party. All tickets are available from the Northcote Social Club’s website.
JARRYD JAMES AND MEG MAC ANNOUNCE CO-HEADLINE TOUR
Jarryd James and Meg Mac are teaming up over summer for a co-headline tour across the nation, they revealed last week. 2015 has already been a big year for the duo; Jarryd James launched his debut album Thirty One to critical acclaim, leading to sold-out headline shows across Europe and support slots for Meg Myers and Tove Lo, and Meg Mac has spent time writing her upcoming album whilst touring the states alongside D’Angelo and the Vanguard. Jarryd James and Meg Mac play The Forum on Saturday December 12. Grab your tickets from The Forum’s website.
Jennifer Kingwell and her band The Garland Thugs are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Howler on Thursday October 29. They’ll be bringing the last half of Hounds of Love to life on stage, playing through the conceptalbum-within-an-album titled The Ninth Wave. You’re a Bush fan? Then try your luck at a free double pass over at beat.com.au/ freeshit.
CALIGUL A’S HORSE Fuck yeah. Caligula’s Horse are dropping their latest LP Bloom on Friday October 16. Dig ‘em? Want a free copy of the album? Sick of stupid questions? Same. The albums are over at beat.com. au/freeshit.
J AY P O W E R Jay Power is enough of a reason to go to a gig. Jude Perl and Rita Satch are too. What if they were all performing at the same place? Wouldn’t that just be too off the chain for some to handle? For most to handle, I’d say. Jay Power plays The Toff in Town on Thursday October 15 with special guests Jude Perl and Rita Satch, head to beat.com.au/freeshit for your shot at a double pass, if you can handle it.
Giddy up. Golden Plains is turning ten and late on Monday evening, our dearest Aunty Meredith unveiled the first act that will grace the 2016 bill - and holy fuck, it’s a biggun. Slipping out of a six-year hiatus, Eddy Current Suppression Ring will reunite for a one-off performance in The Sup’ on the Sunday night of the 2016 festival - ten years after they played the very first Golden Plains. Shit. Yes. Golden Plains will take place from Saturday March 12 - Monday March 14, and the ticket ballot is open now. Visit 2016.goldenplains.com.au.
FACE THE MUSIC ANNOUNCE MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY LEADERS AND I N N O VA T O R S T O J O I N 2015 C O N F E R E N C E
JON TOOGOOD TO VENTURE ON PLANET OF SOUND TOUR Jon Toogood, frontman of Shihad is playing a bunch of intimate acoustic shows across Australia in November. He’s been doing his thing in Shihad for over 25 years now and was even inducted into the RIANZ NZ Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s planning to jam out to his favourite songs and even pull out some of his own on this tour. Catch him at Cherry Bar Sunday November 22. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 20
Face The Music have dropped a second announcement of music industry leaders and innovators who will join with Victoria’s local contemporary music community for their eighth annual conference on Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14 at the Arts Centre, Melbourne. The conference will be an exciting summit of ideas, discussions, workshops and music. The announcement includes Mathew Coyte, Editor-inChief and Publisher of The Australian edition of Rolling Stone, Peter Noble, Director of Bluesfest, Sophie Miles of Australian independent record label and touring company Mistletone, M-Phazes (Producer), Tim Janes (Caroline Records), Joel De Ross (App Developer, Augmented Reality), Cassandra Pace (Music Victoria), Monique Rothstein (Positive Feedback), Lauren Murray (WME), Craig Lock (Five Four Entertainment), Yeo (Producer) and more. Tickets are available on the Face The Music website now.
DAREBIN MUSIC FEAST SERVE UP ENOURMOUS 2015 PROGRAM The City of Darebin’s renowned Darebin Music Feast will return in 2015 with a bursting program of events that will spotlight Darebin’s diverse music community. The immense program boasts over 100 events across ten prestigious live music venues over ten days, that’ll feature a mix of music, spanning rock, folk, gypsy, jazz and everything in between. The 2015 Darebin Music Feast will kick off with Hello Sunday; a massive, free, day-long takeover of Northcote Town Hall on Sunday October 25. Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Emma Donovan and The Putbacks, Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir with special guest Kylie Auldist, The Furbelows, Hello Satellites, Scrimshaw Four, Melbourne Ukulele Kollective and The UFO with Uke4Kids plus special guest Jen Cloher, The Northcote Campfire, Gamalan DanAnda, Dan Flynn, Patches, Darebin Songwriters’ Guild, Sonic Interventions and more will take over the precinct for their official launch. Meanwhile, the Town Hall on High program at Northcote Town Hall will present a host of stunning shows including Sophie Koh, Women of Soul, All That’s Past Collective and Griff ’s Gravy Train, and The Darebin Music Feast Local Venues Program will feature more than 75 shows in some of the city’s favourite venues; Pony Face Play Nebraska, Kavisha Mazzella and Andy White, Lounge Leopards: Sugar Fed Leopards, Carus Thompson and Band and more will take over the town. For the full program, visit www.musicfeast.com.au.
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MON - FRI TIL 7PM - $6 PINTS MONDAYS - $15 JUGS MT GOAT SUNDAYS - $10 JUGS UNICORN LAGER $5 CANS EVERY DAY/NIGHT
WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER
SLOWLY SLOWLY THE MARY GOLDSMITHS SWEET GOLD
7.30PM $5
THURSDAY 1ST OCTOBER
DEAF WISH DRUG SWEAT
THE HARLOTS ANNOUNCE DING DONG RESIDENCY
- FAREWELL SHOW
STATIONS
8PM $10
FRIDAY 2ND OCTOBER
EDEN DANDELION WINE
FRIENDS OF ALICE IVY PLUM GREEN
ALPINE MOUNT UP FOR NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO
8.30PM $10
SATURDAY 3RD OCTOBER
GRAND FINAL ON THE BIG SCREEN - MIDDAY
LISTEN RECORDS LAUNCH BELOVED ELK KT SPIT DENIM OWL CREEKS PHILLIPA OMEGA SOFT RUBBISH
6.30PM $15
SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER
BEERSOAKED SUNDAYS: NAKED BODIES NEW POLLUTION BOBBY DOWNIE
8PM $5
MONDAY 5TH OCTOBER
MUNDANE MONDAYS: COASTBUSTERS CL PLEASURE BABY BLUE
8PM $5
BLUESFEST ANNOUNCE SECOND ROUND OF 2016 ARTISTS Adding to the phenomenal first round of artists, Bluesfest have just announced another list of big names for its bill next year. The one and only Tom Jones will grace the Bluesfest stage, along with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Jackson Browne, The Decemberists, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Tweedy, Steve Earle & The Dukes, The Wailers (performing four albums in entirety; Exodus, Survival, Uprising and Legend over four nights), Grace Potter, Lord Huron, Nahko And Medicine For The People, Vintage Trouble, Lucky Peterson, Emdee and Blackberry Smoke. They’ll be joining the stunning set of acts from the first announcement which included The National, City and Colour, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue, Joe Bonamassa, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Cat Empire, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, The Word, Rhiannon Giddens, Janiva Magness, St Paul & The Broken Bones, Allen Stone, The Selecter, Shakey Graves and Songhoy Blues. Tickets available now on the festival’s website.
B R YA N A D A M S RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA NEXT MARCH
TUESDAY 6TH OCTOBER
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7:30PM $6 THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER
MORBID ANAL MANGIA, GRUDGE DRAIN LIFE
7.30PM $8 FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER
THE TRANSITIONS - LAUNCH THE INTERCEPTORS COLOURDAZED STAVROS BROTHERS 8.30PM $10 FRIDAY ARVO
LABRADORABLE HARD RUBBISH 4PM FREE
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER
BROOZER SWIDGEN MERCHANT BOG 8:30PM $10
GRAND FINAL ON THE BIG SCREEN BOOKINGS AVAILABLE - 12PM FREE
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER
MINIMUM WAGE 4PM FREE MONDAY 5 OCTOBER
PUSH SALON
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 22
UNIFY DROPS 2016 LINEUP UNIFY have released a huge lineup for their sophomore year, set to delight metal, punk, heavy and hardcore fans around the country. The 2016 lineup features the likes of Parkway Drive, In Hearts Wake, Tonight Alive, Neck Deep, State Champs, Stray From The Path, Hands Like Houses, Dream On Dreamer, Make Them Suffer, Hellions, Trophy Eyes, Ocean Grove, Stories, Columbus, Void Of Vision and The Weight Of Silence. The festival also includes free camping, BYO and licensed areas, themed bars and cocktails, mini golf, giant Connect Four and giant Jenga, life-size foosball, chill out areas, hand-selected food trucks and local vendors and much more. UNIFY will take place in South Gippsland on Saturday January 16 and Sunday January 17.
MODELS GET GLAMOUROUS ON NATIONAL TOUR Melbourne ‘80s art-rock wizards Models are embarking on their first ever national tour in December. Emanating from the creative maelstrom of Melbourne’s post punk art-rock scene, Models released a succession of acclaimed albums culminating in the #1 smash Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight. Their upcoming tour will see Models play hits from classic albums: Alphabravocharli edeltaechofoxtrotgolf (1980), Cut Lunch (1981), Local and/or General (1981), The Pleasure of Your Company (1983), and Out Of Mind Out Of Sight (1985). They’re set to dazzle fans for two shows at The Flying Saucer Club on Friday December 11 and Saturday December 12. Hit the Saucer’s website for tickets and more details.
Iconic ‘80s superstar Bryan Adams has revealed details for the Australian leg of his upcoming tour, with a Melbourne date locked in at Rod Laver Arena next March. The announcement coincides with the release of his thirteenth studio album, GET UP, which is due for release the day before Adams’ performance at the AFL Grand Final, this Saturday October 3. Bryan Adams is Canada’s most successful singer ever, garnering more than 65 million album sales, 21 top ten hits and seven number one singles across his 30 plus years as a performer. Bryan Adams plays Rod Laver Arena on Friday March 18. Tickets go on sale Thursday October 8 from Ticketek.
After their debut album A Is For Alpine blew up in 2012, peaking at #1 on iTunes, #11 on the ARIA Album Charts, being awarded iTunes Alternative Australian Album of the Year and The Age EG Australian Album of the Year, Alpine are back to give us more. Their new album YUCK has received rave reviews including a 4/5 star rating from Rolling Stone. Not only will Alpine be at Falls Festival, but will be playing a launch show at The Corner Hotel Thursday 22 October, celebrating their latest video for dream pop anthem Shot Fox. They’ll be joined by Tiny Little Houses and Darts. You can find tickets on the venue website.
The Harlots have just announced a month long October residency at Ding Dong Lounge with the expectation of turning the joint into a sexy mess. Expect blood, sweat and tears (in no particular order) as well as the dreaded hip shake fever that has been going around the band for a while. Said fever is infectious and there are no known vaccinations going around – maybe boost your immunity by popping into Ding Dong Lounge every Wednesday in October after 9pm.
T H E B O-W E E V I L S RELEASE BACK CATALOGUE REMASTERS Known as being one of the first Australian bands in the ‘80s to play raucous old school garage-punk, The Bo-Weevils are coming together for one special night as they release their remastered back catalogue. Their early releases showed off their trashy garage-punk roots. Subsequent albums Where Particular People Congregate (1989), Destroyer Of Worlds ( 1990) and the live If God Was An Astronaut (1992) saw them stretching out under the influence of contemporary roots-rock Americana outfits such as Green On Red and The Rain Parade, with nods to seminal groups like The Doors and The Modern Lovers. As well as the digital release, 1995 album Burn has been remastered and will be physically reissued as a special edition with bonus tracks from Where Particular People Congregate, these bonus tracks were only ever released on vinyl. This very special show goes down at the Northcote Social Club on November 22. Pre-sale tickets are available from the venue’s website.
BEECHWORTH F E S T I VA L D R O P 2016 LINEUP Set in the rolling hills of the now decommissioned Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum farm on the edge of Beechworth, Beechworth Festival is returning at the beginning of 2016 for its third incarnation. With the stage set at the bottom of the Madman’s Gully Amphitheatre, mountain views in the background and tree shaded fence lines, Beechworth is definitely worth going crazy for. Headlining the 2016 festival will be the likes of Briggs, King of the North and Public Opinion Six, who will be joined by Big Smoke, My Left Boot, The Sugarcanes, Liv Cartledge & Band, She Wolf, Mutton, Richard Perso, Geoff Jackson, DJ Mermaid and MC Cat McGauran. It’ll all be going off on Saturday January 23. Hit their website for more details.
FA L L S F E S T I VA L ANNOUNCES MORE ACTS AND BYRON B AY ’ S N E W Y E A R S B I L L Falls Music and Arts Festival just announced a bunch of pimpin’ new acts to ring in the New Year this summer. San Diego’s masters of surf punk, Wavves and 26-year old Texan soul prodigy Leon Bridges have joined the Lorne, Byron Bay and Marion Bay lineups, with the former bringing in the Byron Bay New Year alongside newly announced party starters The Wombats and Peking Duk. Hilltop Hoods, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Art Vs Science, El Vez, Bullhorn and Fleetmac Wood will also play the New Years extravaganza. Miami Horror, Tijuana Cartel, Goons Of Doom, Spirit Of Akasha and Bootleg Rascal and have also joined the bursting Byron Bay bill. Phew. The Lorne leg of Falls Festival has sold out, but Byron Bay, NSW and Marion Bay, TAS are still on sale. Visit fallsfestival.com for tickets and more info.
URBAN SPREAD ANNOUNCES SUMMER SPREAD LINEUP Urban Spread will return this November with one of their biggest lineups to date. Headlining the three-date run across the ‘burbs this time around will be The Rubens, who are currently on celebrating the release of their sophomore album Hoops. They’ll be joined by local heroes Saskwatch, who will be spruiking their new record Sorry I Let It Come Between Us and one-man music machine Harts. It’s all going down on Thursday November 19 at Plaza Tavern, Hoppers Crossing, Friday November 20 at Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights and on Saturday November 21 at the Village Green Hotel, Mulgrave. Tickets via urbanspread.com.au.
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WOMADELAIDE RELEASE 20T H F E S T I VA L L I N E U P
SAT 24 OCT
WOMADelaide have announced over 20 artists and speakers for its 20th festival, taking place in Adelaide next March. The announcement is led by Benin’s Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Angélique Kidjo and Canadian academic, science broadcaster, educator and environmentalist David Suzuki. For her Australian exclusive performance, Angélique Kidjo will be accompanied by a 60-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. The performance, on the festival’s opening night, will also include guest conductor Gast Waltzing and guitarist David Laborier and will feature several original pieces written by Kidjo and Jean Hebrail. Dr Suzuki will be part of the Planet Talks program. He’s become internationally celebrated for the way he discusses and presents environmental science in a practical, engaging and easily understood way. The recipient of dozens of prestigious international awards, prizes and honorary degrees, he’s the author of over 55 books including 19 for children. Also announced are The Cat Empire, South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the world premiere of Australian Dance Theatre’s The Beginning of Nature, one-off Adelaide shows by Violent Femmes, American singer-songwriter John Grant, Palestinian hip hop act 47SOUL and Mali’s Songhoy Blues. Planet Talks will also feature Walkley Award-winning cartoonist First Dog On The Moon, physicist Tanya Monro and Simon Hackett. WOMADelaide will take place at Adelaide’s Botanic Park from Friday March 11 until Monday March 14. Tickets are on sale through the festival’s website.
THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT SUN 25 OCT
BLIND MELON FRI 30 OCT
WOODLOCK SAT 31 OCT
NATIRUTS SELLING FAST
MON 02 NOV
ŠAKO POLUMENTA FRI 06 NOV
RUBBERBANDITS THU 12 NOV
MOJO JUJU FRI 13 NOV
HENRY WAGONS & THE ONLY CHILDREN SAT 14 NOV
NGAIIRE SELLING FAST
WED 18 NOV
IAMSU! + BOBBY BR ACKINS + NIC NAC THU 26 NOV
THE MARK OF CAIN FRI 27 NOV
OLIVER MTUKUDZI SAT 28 NOV
KISSCHASY SELLING FAST
THU 03 DEC
MEW
SELLING FAST
FRI 04 DEC
L AGWAGON SELLING FAST
SAT 05 DEC
JAKUBI
SUN 06 DEC
YEL AWOLF SELLING FAST
TUE 08 DEC
MERCURY REV WED 09 DEC
YEL AWOLF SOLD OUT
FRI 11 DEC
MISFITS
SAT 12 DEC
THE E XPLOITED THU 17 DEC eMC f t . MASTA ACE SAT 27 FEB
1349
SUN 12 JUN
DE ATH DE ALER TIX + INFO
MAXWATTS.COM.AU 1300 724 867
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 24
PORT FAIRY FOLK F E S T I VA L R E V E A L FIRST 2016 LINEUP The Port Fairy Folk Music Festival will celebrate their 40th edition next March, with over 100 acts across 20 venues, presenting 200 shows over four days. Leading the first announcement are internationals DakhaBrakha, John McCutcheon, Mànran, Mary Black, Moxie, Steve Poltz, The East Pointers, Truckstop Honeymoon and The Young’uns, while local acts include Ayleen O’ Hanlon, Claymore, Dave Arden, Eric Bogle, FourPlay String Quartet, Grigoryan Brothers, Katie Noonan’s Vanguard, Lloyd Spiegel, Nicky Bomba’s Bustamento, Pierce Brothers, Ruby Boots, Sara Storer, Shellie Morris, Suzannah Espie, The Bushwackers, The Ugly Uncles, The Woohoo Revue and Three Kings. The 2016 Port Fairy Folk Festival will take place from Friday March 11 - Monday March 14. Hit their website for more details.
PASSERINE EMERGE FOR SINGLE TOUR After hibernating in the studio like a gang of synth wielding musical bears, Passerine are finally ready to come back into the sunlight with a tour to support the release of their new single Look Up. The soul breaks trio developed the tune through whistling into phones, recording in farmhouses and mixing with local producers to create a series of ‘90s house and garage influenced tracks. The first taste of the single can be heard at Hugs & Kisses on Saturday October 22. Scoot over to the venue’s website to grab your tickets.
One of America’s greatest rock bands, Clutch, are performing an Australian album launch tour for their new release Psychic Warfare, bringing a cyclone of spit, brimstone and nonsense in their wake. After the release of eleven studio albums and countless tours around the globe, they have developed a reputation for one of the hardest working, critically acclaimed, and most loved rock‘n’roll bands in existence. Their 2016 line of shows, scheduled to be the biggest to date, will see the band tearing up The Forum next year on Saturday March 5. Tickets on sale via Ticketmaster.
THE CHARGE ANNOUNCE 2015 MELBOURNE SHOWS To celebrate the release of their second full-length album, The Order of the Owl, The Charge have announced a run of national tour dates, kicking off at the end of October. The tour, which takes in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong and Canberra across two months, will see the Melbourne rockers wrap things up with a hometown acoustic show. The Charge will play the first of three hometown shows at The Workers Club on Saturday October 17, then Elephant and Wheelbarrow on Friday October 30 and Whole Lotta Love on Friday November 27.
JEREMY NEALE TO GO OUT IN STYLE ON NATIONAL TOUR Jeremy Neale’s brand new EP Let Me Go Out In Style dropped last week and with it, he’s set to play shows in all major city of Australia this November. Let Me Go Out In Style is the result of four producers and Neale’s desire to explore ‘80s new romantic and sophistipop. Neale will hit up Shebeen Friday November 20, with supports from Tiny Little Houses, Redspencer and Jody. Tickets available from Ticketscout.
COOKIN ON 3 BURNERS SERVE UP TOUR PLANS WITH TEX PERKINS After their sixth album Blind Bet picked up The Age Music Victoria award for Best Soul / R&B album of 2014, Cookin On 3 Burners have whipped up a brand new single Pressed To 45 with their mate Tex Perkins. To celebrate this collaboration, Cookin’ On 3 Burners and Tex Perkins will hit the road in November, preaching the benefits of funk, soul and home cooking with Melbourne soulstress Stella Angelico. They’re playing at Northcote Social Club on Friday November 27 – nab your tickets from the venue’s website.
E.S.E.S.E GET ELECTRIC ON NATIONAL TOUR FOR NEW EP Otherwise known as the Eastern Seaboard Electric Soul Experience, E.S.E.S.E are gearing up to hit Melbourne in order to launch their long-awaited debut EP, Act 1 - Hancoq, before taking their tunes on a tour across the country. The group have so far released three singles off the upcoming release, including Wonderland to significant acclaim. Catch the hype when E.S.E.S.E hit the Toff In Town on Saturday October 17.
TEX PERKINS & CHARLIE OWEN GET INTIMATE FOR OCTOBER SHOW Australia’s uncle of rock’n’roll Tex Perkins is reuniting with long time collaborator Charlie Owen to play a very special show at the Yarraville Club in October. Perkins has been prominent in the Australian scene for close to 30 years playing everything from hard edged pub rock to delicate and evocative tracks, cementing himself as an Australian great in the national music scene. Charlie Owen previously worked with Perkins and Cold Chisel pianist Don Walker for Tex, Don & Charlie in the '90s, continuing the tradition of creating memorable Australian music. Once again, Perkins and Owen team up for a rare show on Saturday October 24 at the Yarraville Club, expected to have all the intimacy of a candle-lit dinner. Grab your tickets from the venue’s website.
VERTICOLI KNUCKLE DOWN FOR MELBOURNE SHOW Having just completed a national run for their debut album Punching Bag, Hobart’s Verticoli aren’t quite ready to take the gloves off as they lock in another Melbourne show. Coming off the release of the second single from the album Happiness, the band are already garnering positive reviews across the board, being described as strong songwriters who could ‘rock the hell out of a small, sweaty live venue’. They’ll be playing at The Brunswick Hotel on Saturday October 17. Nab your tickets from the venue’s website.
2016 S T J E R O M E ’S L A N E WAY L I N E U P RELEASED St Jerome’s Laneway Festival is returning next February with yet another lineup bound to blow your mind and ears. The first round of artists announced on the huge 2016 bill include Ali Barter, Banoffee, Battles, Beach House, Big Scary, Blank Realm, CHVRCHES, DIIV, DMA’s, East India Youth, FIDLAR, Flume, GoldLink, Grimes, Health, Hermitude, High Tension, Hudson Mohawke, Japanese Wallpaper, Majical Cloudz, Methyl Ethel, METZ, Purity Ring, QT, Shamir, Silicon, Slum Sociable, Sophie, The Goon Sax, The Internet, The Smith Street Band, Thundercat, Tobias Jesso Jr., Vince Staples and Violent Soho. The fest will go down on Saturday February 13 at Footscray Community Arts Centre and The Rivers Edge. Tickets on sale from the festival’s website.
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TOURING
WHO'S ON TOUR, WHERE AND WHEN
For all the latest tour dates check out beat.com.au
INTERNATIONAL BAHAMAS Howler September 30 KATCHAFIRE Brunswick Hotel October 1 WHITE FANG The Curtin October 1 GORILLA BISCUITS The Reverence Hotel October 1 REEL BIG FISH + LESS THAN JAKE Prince Bandroom October 1 AS IT IS The Evelyn Hotel October 1 (AA), October 2 CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK! Max Watt’s October 3 JJ GREY & MOFRO Northcote Social Club October 7 SILENT KNIGHT The Bendigo October 8 KISS Rod Laver Arena October 8, October 10 JAAKKO EINO KALEVI National Gallery of Victoria October 9 SICK OF IT ALL Corner Hotel October 9 KIASMOS Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 9 CLINT MANSELL Melbourne Recital Centre October 10, 11 BABYLON CIRCUS Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 10 HAMMERFALL 170 Russell October 13 LIFEHOUSE The Forum October 15 HELLOWEEN Metro Theatre October 16 COLM MAC CON IOMAIRE Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 16, 17 BRANDT BRAUER FRICK Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 17 OUT ON THE WEEKEND Seaworks, Williamstown October 17 SNOT Corner Hotel October 17 SAM OUTLAW Northcote Social Club October 18, 25 MEGADETH Festival Hall October 19 DAWES Northcote Social Club October 20 – 21 JAMESTOWN REVIVAL Northcote Social Club October 21 – 22 BIGBANG Rod Laver Arena October 21 RHYE Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 21, 22 THE EXPERIMENT Merlyn Theatre October 21-24 JAI WOLF Howler October 22 ROBBIE WILLIAMS Rod Laver Arena October 22 – 24 ELDER AND EARTHLESS The Corner October 23 THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH Max Watt’s October 23 THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT Max Watt’s October 24 THE FIELD Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 23 THE FALL Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 23 – 25 DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT 170 Russell October 25 SOULFEST Sidney Myer Music Bowl October 25 DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT 170 Russell October 25, 26 NEIL DIAMOND Rod Laver Arena October 27 CANNED HEAT Corner Hotel October 29 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK Palais Theatre October 29 10CC The Palms at Crown October 30 HOZIER Palais Theatre October 30 AT THE GATES Friday October 30 PULLED APART BY HORSES Ding Dong Lounge October 30, 31 ANATHEMA Corner Hotel October 31 AUDRA MCDONALD Hamer Hall October 31 DAY OF THE DEAD TBA October 31 HIGHLANDS FESTIVAL Yea October 31 – November 2 DAVID GUETTA Hisense Arena November 2 FLEETWOOD MAC Rod Laver Arena November 2, 4, Mt Dundeed Estate November 7 THE RUBBERBANDITS Max Watt’s November 6 NAUGHTY BY NATURE Trak Lounge November 6 THE DARKNESS Forum Theatre November 7 THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Forum Theatre November 7 FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Sidney Myer Music Bowl November 10, 11 NICO & VINZ Prince Bandroom November 11 AUSTRALASIAN WORLDWIDE MUSIC EXPO Various Venues November 12 – 15 THE TEA PARTY Palais Theatre November 13 MUMFORD & SONS Sidney Myer Music Bowl November 13 THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Melbourne Town Hall November 15 POKÉMON SYMPHONIC EVOLUTIONS Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre November 13 HAUSCHKA Melbourne Recital Centre November 17 DEF LEPPARD Rod Laver Arena November 18 THE BEACH BOYS Palais Theatre November 18 LIVE The Forum November 19 ROBERT HENKE Melbourne Recital Centre, November 19 NILE Corner Hotel November 21 HANK MARVIN MEMO Music Hall November 21, 22 JON TOOGOOD Cherry Bar November 22 UB40 The Forum November 24 CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS Caravan Music Club November 25, Northcote Social Club November 26 EARTHCORE Pyalong, Victoria November 26 – 30 MARLON WILLIAMS Prince Bandroom November 27 RON SEXSMITH MEMO Music Hall November 27, Northcote Social Club November 28
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 26
RISE AGAINST Margaret Court Arena December 2 GOAT + KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD The Croxton December 4 LAGWAGON Max Watt’s December 4 CHRIS CORNELL The Palais December 4 THE CORONAS Corner Hotel December 4 THE HOTELIER The Reverence Hotel December 4 MONO Corner Hotel December 5 ED SHEERAN AAMI Park December 5 STEREOSONIC Melbourne Showgrounds December 5 RATATAT 170 Russell December 6 UNWRITTEN LAW The Corner Hotel December 6 MERCURY REV Max Watt’s December 8 SAM SMITH Rod Laver Arena December 8 HALESTORM 170 Russell December 8 YELAWOLF Max Watt’s December 9 SHELLAC Corner Hotel December 9, 10 THURSTON MOORE Prince Bandroom December 10 JESSICA PRATT Northcote Social Club December 10 FATHER JOHN MISTY The Forum December 10 BULLY Howler December 10 JULIA HOLTER Howler December 11 THE MISFITS Max Watt’s December 11 TAYLOR SWIFT AAMI Park December 11 MEREDITH MUSIC FESTIVAL Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre December 11-13 ELTON JOHN Rod Laver Arena December 11, Mt Duneed Estate December 12 THE EXPLOITED Max Watt’s December 12 UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS Corner Hotel December 13 A DAY TO REMEMBER + THE AMITY AFFLICTION Rod Laver Arena December 17 FALLS FESTIVAL Lorne December 28 – January 1 BEYOND THE VALLEY Lardner, Victoria December 29 – January 1 GROUNDSWELL FESTIVAL Lake Tyers Beach January 2 WEIRD AL YANKOVIC The Palais Theatre January 3 YUNG LEAN Prince Bandroom January 5 SO FRENCHY SO CHIC IN THE PARK Werribee Park January 11 NIGHTWISH The Forum Monday January 11 UNIFY South Gippsland January 16 – 17 THE 1975 Festival Hall January 20 SOUNDWAVE 2016 TBA January 26 JAMES BAY Festival Hall February 3 LANEWAY Footscray Community Arts Centre February 13 SOILWORK 170 Russell February 16 REGGAE ROYALTY Palais Theatre February 18 JD MCPHERSON Corner Hotel February 19 FAT FREDDY’S DROP The Forum February 19 SUFJAN STEVENS Hamer Hall February 26 CLUTCH The Forum March 5 PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL Port Fairy March 11 – 14 MADONNA Rod Laver Arena March 12, 13 BRYAN ADAMS Rod Laver Arena March 18 BLUESFEST Byron Bay March 24 – 28 BLACK SABBATH Rod Laver Arena April 19 JOSH GROBAN Palais Theatre April 25 IRON MAIDEN Rod Laver Arena May 9
NATIONAL DON FERNANDO The Worker’s Club October 1 LEPERS & CROOKS The Gasometer October 1 SKEGSS Grace Darling October 1 YOU AM I The Croxton October 1 THE STIFFYS The Tote October 1 LAST DINOSAURS The Corner October 1 THE DRONES AND AUGIE MARCH The Croxton October 2 CHOPPED FESTIVAL Newstead Racecourse October 2-4 MAT MCHUGH The Corner October 2 THE MEANIES The Tote October 2 THE PEEP TEMPLE + BATPISS Yah Yah’s October 2, Cherry Bar October 3 CITY CALM DOWN Howler October 3 TKAY MAIDZA Wrangler Studios (U18), Corner Hotel October 3 BODYJAR Northcote Social Club October 3 TEX PERKINS AND CHARLIE OWEN Ding Dong Lounge October 4, Yarraville Club October 24 BEN LEE The Corner October 7 THE HARLOTS Ding Dong Lounge October 7, 14, 21, 28 THE BEARDS The Corner October 8 COLUMBUS Reverence Hotel October 9 HANDS LIKE HOUSES Northcote Social Club October 9 ÁINE TYRRELL Shadow Electric October 9 PORT FAIRY SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL Port Fairy October 9 - 11 THE RUBENS The Forum October 9 MAGIC AMERICA The Curtin October 9 AT THE DAKOTA Grace Darling October 9 GOLD CLASS The Tote October 9 HEAVY AND HAMMERED The Tote October 10 GAY PARIS Cherry Bar October 10 BASENJI Howler October 10 OUTLAND BROTHERS The Thornbury Local October 10
PROUDLY PRESENTS OCT 23 NOV 1
DAREBIN MUSIC FEAST
Various Venues
OCT 17
FLIGHT FACILITIES & THE MSOidney Myer Music Sidney Myer Music Bowl
OCT 24 NOV 6-7 NOV 20-22 KISSCHASY The Corner October 10 VALLIS ALPS Northcote Social Club October 10 KIRIN J CALLINAN Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 11 2015 SEED FUNDRAISER CONCERT Athenaeum Theatre October 12 THE BASICS Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 13, 14 LOON LAKE The Corner October 14 POSTBLUE Shebeen October 15 JAY POWER The Toff in Town October 15 THE BOMBAY ROYALE Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 15 GRAND DIVISIONS Arts Centre October 15 – 17 TULLY ON TULLY Shadow Electric October 16 PETE MURRAY Trak Lounge Bar October 16 MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA Prince Bandroom October 16 THY ART IS MURDER The Corner October 16 LIOR The Athenaeum Theatre October 16 WORLD’S END PRESS Howler October 17 VERTICOLI Brunswick Hotel October 17 E.S.E.S.E The Toff In Town October 17 THE CHARGE The Workers Club October 17, Elephant and Wheelbarrow October 30, Whole Lotta Love November 27 FLIGHT FACILITIES & THE MSO Sidney Myer Music Bowl October 17 KATIE NOONAN’S VANGUARD Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 17, 18 LOST RAGAS Caravan Music Club October 18, Flying Saucer Club October 31 LAURA MARLING Hamer Hall October 19 GEORGE MAPLE Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 20 MUSICIANS FOR DETAINEES The Toff In Town October 21 2015 CARLTON DRY INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS Meat Market North Melbourne October 22 ALPINE The Corner October 22 PASSERINE Hugs & Kisses October 22 RUFUS The Forum October 22, 23 IVAN OOZE The Workers Club October 23 DAREBIN MUSIC FEAST Various Venues October 23 – November 1 THE PAPER KITES 170 Russell October 23 CITIZEN KAY Shebeen October 23 RÜFÜS The Forum October 23 AINSLIE WILLS Howler October 23 THE BON SCOTTS The Toff In Town October 24 THE OCEAN PARTY The Tote October 24 CUT COPY DJS Foxtel Festival Hub, Melbourne Festival October 24 BAD//DREEMS Northcote Social Club October 24 THE WAIFS Palais Theatre October 24 DRUNK MUMS Howler October 24 SWAGGER MUSIC FESTIVAL Wandiligong October 24 – 25 LOVE STREET MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL Howler October 25 PONY FACE Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre October 28 SUZANNAH ESPIE Caravan Music Club October 30, Thornbury Theatre November 7 BANOFFEE Howler October 30 CHET FAKER Sidney Myer Music Bowl October 30 LUWOW’S TEMPLE OF THE CRAMPS The LuWoW October 31 DAN KELLY The Gasometer October 31 PHILADELPHIA GRAND JURY Howler October 31 MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE Melbourne Recital Centre October 31 WOODLOCK Northcote Social Club November 1 JAMES REYNE The Corner November 2 CLOWNS Ding Dong Lounge November 2, Bendigo Hotel November 3 (AA) DROWNING HORSE The Curtin November 6, The Tote November 7 JOY. Shebeen November 6 MONTAIGNE Northcote Social Club November 6 TUKA The Corner November 6
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DRUNK MUMS
Howler
JAMGRASS FESTIVALey Spotted Mallard & Bundoora Park PANACEA FESTIVAL
Riverview, Tatong
NORTHLANE 170 Russell November 6, 7 (U18) CW STONEKING Thornbury Theatre November 6, Corner Hotel November 7 MSO BACK TO THE FUTURE LIVE The Plenary November 6, 7 JAMGRASS FESTIVAL Spotted Mallard November 6, Bundoora Park November 7 THE MURLOCS Howler November 7 TAME IMPALA Sidney Myer Music Bowl November 7 THE AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS 170 Russell November 11 MOJO JUJU Max Watt’s November 12, Caravan Music Club November 14 GYPSY & THE CAT Former Royal Women’s Hospital November 13 GOING SWIMMING The Workers Club November 13 NOT FEST Public Bar November 13 – 15 CRAYON FIELDS Howler November 14 URBAN SPREAD Plaza Tavern November 19, Chelsea Heights Hotel November 20, Village Green Hotel November 21 BLIND MAN DEATH STARE Reverence Hotel November 20 THE BENNIES The Corner November 20 THE BELLIGERENTS Northcote Social Club November 20 PIERCE BROTHERS 170 Russell November 20 JEREMY NEALE Shebeen November 20 PANACEA FESTIVAL Riverview, Tatong, November 20-22 COLD CHISEL Hanging Rock Reserve November 21 MY DISCO The Shadow Electric November 21 NEWPORT SKA AND REGGAE FESTIVAL The Substation, Newport November 22 THE BO-WEEVILS Northcote Social Club November 22 THE MARK OF CAIN Max Watt’s November 26 COOKIN' ON 3 BURNERS Northcote Social Club November 27 BRITISH INDIA The Forum November 27 ROBERT FORSTER Thornbury Theatre November 27 PARADISE MUSIC FESTIVAL Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, November 27-29 HERMITUDE Festival Hall November 28 QUEENSCLIFF MUSIC FESTIVAL Queenscliff November 27 - 29 CUSTARD The Toff In Town December 5 JAKUBI Max Watt’s December 5 AC/DC Etihad Stadium December 6 PAUL KELLY PRESENTS THE MERRI SOUL SESSIONS A Day On The Green December 6 LUCINDA WILLIAMS A Day On The Green December 7 UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA Corner Hotel December 8 THE BUREAU Sidney Myer Music Bowl December 11 FRANK YAMMA Melbourne Recital Centre December 11 MODELS Flying Saucer Club December 11 – 12 JARRYD JAMES AND MEG MAC The Forum December 12 XMAS EVEN The Evelyn Hotel December 19 – 20 LITTLE SEA Memo Music Hall December 20 NYE ON THE HILL December 31 – January 1 THE GOOCH PALMS The Curtin January 22 COURTNEY BARNETT Palais Theatre January 22 BEECHWORTH FESTIVAL Beechworth Asylum January 23 BOY & BEAR Festival Hall January 23 MSO PRESENT HITCHCOCK AND HERRMANN Hamer Hall February 5, 6 ST KILDA FESTIVAL St Kilda February 6 – 14 PARTY IN THE PADDOCK Burnscreek, Tasmania February 19
RUMOURS: NEW ORDER, DISTURBED, LIONEL RITCHIE = NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
KURT VILE
G O I N ’ D O W N I N T O H I S W I L D I M A G I N AT I O N By Augustus Welby
Six albums into his career, Kurt Vile’s never been the sort of guy to attempt drastic artistic revision with each new release. While the Philadelphian songwriter is one of this decade’s most consistent performers, in Vile’s world things change merely by degrees. For instance, compare his new album B’lieve I’m Goin Down… to its predecessor, Wakin On A Pretty Daze. There’s increased use of piano and the addition of banjo, the song lengths have been slightly culled and he’s even included some vocal harmonies. But if you were enamoured by his previous releases, it’s easy to get drawn in here. Once again, the pace is generally steady, if not lackadaisical, and the lyrics seem off the cuff yet contain radiant insight, near-psychedelic imagery and more than a touch of humour.
Though, notwithstanding that appraisal, the record’s first single Pretty Pimpin was something of an unexpected return. Released in July, the song surprised listeners chiefly for how much it actually sounds like a single. An upbeat folk number rooted in a memorable chorus melody and a tongue in cheek vocal stance, Pretty Pimpin could be the most concise pop song Vile’s ever written. “The single situation – I feel like, at least the last two records, I got deep into the heavier songs or something. Heavy not as in heavy metal, but I got deep into the non-singles, and the singles seem to come later,” Vile says. “But [Pretty Pimpin] surprised me. Once I added the harmonies in there it was all over.” Indeed, throughout the song’s second half, a high falsetto harmony clings to the main melody, adding to its striking distinction. Believe it or not, this is the first time vocal harmonies have made their way into a Kurt Vile song. “I’m always into harmonies – my favourite songs have harmonies – they’d just never made sense to me in a natural [way for my songs],” he says. “But that harmony as a falsetto came into my head all intact. Maybe it was something I’d listened to. Obviously you just listen to all kinds of music and eventually you just accidentally rip everything off without knowing it. My friend [ Jenny Lee Lindberg] from Warpaint, I was in LA and she was listening to disco-era Bee Gees. But I wasn’t like, ‘I want to put some Bee Gees harmonies in there’.” Lyrically, Pretty Pimpin focuses on the difficulties faced grasping one’s sense of self, and brings the humour that’s always been present in Vile’s lyrics to the fore. Many similarly anxious reflections crop up as the album progresses, however they tend to lean towards either sobering rumination or absurdist imagery. As such, while Pimpin is a compelling way to begin the album, it’s not quite an apt overture for what’s to come. “I thought Wheelhouse, where else could you put it but in the beginning of the album? But I mean the label definitely wanted some kind of [single], which is not why I did it, but ideally you want some kind of song that’s like a legit single,” Vile says. “And I wanted it, but it didn’t fall into that melancholy space-folky-blues thing that a lot of the record is. There’s nowhere else you could put Pimpin but first, because if you put it somewhere else it would sound insanely out of place. “Then what I did was I put Wheelhouse second and that just didn’t make sense whatsoever. But I didn’t know any better because Wheelhouse is my favourite song, so I had to have outside people convince me to put Wheelhouse further. I was like, ‘All right fine, I’ll put it fifth, only because it’ll start side B’.” On an album full of intriguing content, Wheelhouse is a major standout. It takes its time, scattering an aroma of BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 28
melancholy, while the inclusion of a sustaining pillowy atmosphere prevents it from reaching the point of despair. Instead, the overall impression is of someone at peace with life’s ineradicable conflicts. This quality is also apparent in songs such as Life Like This and Bad Omens.
“ALL THOSE SONGS, THAT JUST FEELS LIKE MY HEART RIGHT NOW, IT JUST FEELS LIKE MY PSYCHE – THAT’S MY IDEAL PLACE...IT’S MEDITATIVE, IT’S A LITTLE BIT SAD, IT’S A LITTLE BIT HOPEFUL, IT’S A LITTLE BIT REALISTIC. IT’S A LOT OF FEELINGS AT ONCE, LIKE OPPOSING FEELINGS EVEN, JUST LIKE LIFE IN GENERAL. THAT’S HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW; THOSE ARE LIKE MY SPIRITUAL SOUND OR SOMETHING.”
“All those songs, that just feels like my heart right now, it just feels like my psyche – that’s my ideal place,” says Vile. “It’s meditative, it’s a little bit sad, it’s a little bit hopeful, it’s a little bit realistic. It’s a lot of feelings at once, like opposing feelings even, just like life in general. That’s how I feel right now; those are like my spiritual sound or something. “All three of those songs are moments captured in time too. It wasn’t premeditated at all – they’re pretty new sketches. Bad Omens, I had that piano thing for a while, but it was an afterthought after we recorded Lost My Head There, which was the new jam. They were all just naturally captured moments, but all recorded in the wee hours and gone back into in the wee hours. So I just think they’re the realist things I have.” Lost My Head There essentially serves as the album centrepiece. Lyrically, it alludes to the process that generates Vile’s songs – he starts out feeling a bit lost (“Buggin’ out about a couple-two-three things”), before a song “walks out” of him, leading to “sweet relief ”. Then Vile and his recording band – drummer Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), guitarist Farmer Dave Scher (Beachwood Sparks), and bass player Rob Laasko – spend the song’s final four minutes grooving on a basic repeating chord progression. Pop convention would advise against extending it for so long, but by doing so
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Vile makes a concrete demonstration of how relaxing and nourishing playing music can be. “The second half is also an example of those other three songs we were talking about – just like feeling it in the moment and just fucking grooving,” Vile says. “We all did that live and then there was one round of overdubs for backing vocals, but the idea was we all did it at the same time again. You don’t just layer it, because that’s unnatural. If you just build a song up one track at a time, it’s cheating. I get a little bit more cynical now, because you could really just cheat and make a song perfect, or try to. But reacting off of each other live, that’s like real music. The least we can do is try to do it live and get some kind of spiritual release or something.” On paper, Vile’s fifth LP, Wakin On a Pretty Daze, was a very bold release, with the majority of its songs sitting in between six and ten minutes. Despite this, it was a major success, elevating Vile into the top tier of the globe’s indie rock artists. Nevertheless, he felt no compulsion to repeat past glories. As a result, despite being unmistakably the work of Kurt Vile, B’lieve I’m Goin Down journeys widely in terms of tone and instrumentation. “I had four outlets that I wanted to actively use. It felt really good to play banjo songs. It’s a really ethereal thing. I grew up playing banjo, and I would pick it up and I would get more lost than I would with the guitar. It’s got the high drone string and I was writing certain songs, like I’m An Outlaw, but I also had five other banjo songs that didn’t make the record. Then there’s the piano side of it, which comes from my influence of people like Randy Newman. I’d just been paying attention to the piano a lot in general – it’s not like I just picked it up, but I focused on it more. Then there was of course the acoustic folk thing that I’ve always had, but then there’s the electric guitar thing. “My basic theory was like this sort of spaced out blues record and this sort of dreamy record. I said at one point I wanted it to be a modern version of an authentic folk record. But because it’s 2015, or whatever it is, today’s folk. It can be anything – it can be rock’n’roll and stuff as long as you’re following the true roots. That was part of it. There’s all kinds of blues and folk references, and not all mapped out in this premeditated way, and just things that were important in my life or influence from certain books and music. There’s nods to all kinds.” KURT VILE is set to appear at the Falls Festival 2015-16, next to Courtney Barnett, Foals, Weird Al Yankovic, Young Fathers and more. It goes down from Monday December 28 – Friday January 1 in Lorne, VIC, Marion Bay, TAS and Byron Bay, NSW. B’lieve I’m Goin Down… is out now via Matador Records/Remote Control Records.
This Week:
With Tyson Wray. Got thoughts, news, gossip, complaints or cat photos? Email tyson@beat.com.au or send by carrier pigeon before Friday 12pm.
Melbourne Recital Centre’s Great Romantics competition returns this weekend. Now in its sixth year, the national competition provides a platform for young musicians and ensembles passionate about Romantic repertoire, including such luminaries as Brahms, Liszt and Schumann. Open to soloists, duos or small ensembles, Australia’s talented young musicians will battle it out for the prestigious Elisabeth Murdoch Prize, which includes a combination of cash plus performance and recording opportunities. Competition repertoire must consist of work/s composed between 1810 - 1900 and not exceeding 20 minutes in total duration. It will take place at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday October 4. The Finders Keepers Market makes its long awaited return, bringing a hefty dose of sunny vibes alongside live music, food stalls and independent design. With over 250 stalls offering everything from fashion and artisan ceramics to gourmet pizza and organic coffee, Finders Keepers is making sure there is something for everyone who attends. Design highlights include Nice Digs, providing ergonomic and innovative creations for your beloved dog and Woodlock Jewellery, displaying their handcrafted wooden creations. Get down to The Finders Keepers Spring Summer Market at the Royal Exhibition Building from Friday October 2 - Sunday October 4. To celebrate his 25 years at the helm of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti will direct a triumphant performance of Mozart’s Last Symphonies. It was Tognetti’s first year as Artistic Director when he performed Mozart’s last three symphonies under the visionary baton of early music legend Frans Brüggen. Now, as they celebrate his 25th year leading the Australian Chamber Orchestra, this landmark program is revisited, this time with Tognetti directing. Mozart composed these three symphonies in a surge of inspiration between June and August 1788. He wasn’t to know they would be his last. But from the sunny lyricism of the 39th, to the tragic cast of the 40th, to the inspired invention of the 41st, they form a mighty epitaph to the work of a musical genius. It will take place at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on Sunday October 4 and Tuesday October 6.
PICK OF THE WEEK
Bronx Gothic By Liza Dezfouli
Beat spoke to New York-based writer, performer and choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili about Bronx Gothic, her solo debut coming up at Melbourne Festival. Bronx Gothic is a multi-disciplinary exploration of an intense shared world inhabited by a pair of adolescent girls, a show incorporating dance and song alongside a visceral use of language. Okpokwasili says that Bronx Gothic, although not autobiographical, has been forming itself in her own interior world for many years. “It kind of happened organically,” she says. “It was a question. My response was ‘I need to deal with this. Let me work on this.’”
What? The Melbourne Fringe Festival is over already? Not quite. Congratulate the esteemed winners of the festival and get down and dirty at the Melbourne Fringe Awards Night and Closing Party. Celebrate the triumphs and the triumphant and dance the night away. Finish the Fringe holding hands with friends at a party to end a festival. Kick your heels up, paint the town red, live large and have a ball. It’s going down at the Fringe Club at Arts House on Saturday October 3, and entry is free.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 30
The question is to do with the lived bodily experience of female adolescence. “It’s a story that is told with the body and in spoken language,” says Okpokwasili. “For me, absolutely at 11 or 12 and from my memories of the girls I was around, our bodies, my body, was like an alien to me. I didn’t get my period until I was 12; I knew some girls who got it at nine or ten. Even though I knew certain things were supposed to happen, it was still shocking. It felt so wrong. ‘How can I be bleeding? I should be dying.’ There is the possibility of marking things when you bleed; you’ve always got to check. I was irregular, so bleeding could come at any time, and I didn’t use tampons, I was using those pads; when I got my period I was in a panic; you have people check your back, because you can stain things. For me, at least, it was all sorts of weird. I feel that this is what adolescence is about. You’re thinking ‘What’s in here?’” The beginning of Bronx Gothic in physical performance terms, Okpokwasili says, is a durational piece about that experience of one’s body becoming unknown. “It’s the internal trying to manifest, from memory, and from the process of the body morphing and shifting.
I asked how I could replicate that in this piece. It’s a prelude, a pre-beginning where there’s a vibration, a quake, a generative vibration that’s continued every night; my body becomes unknowable. Afterwards I feel like I’ve shed a skin or something.” Okpokwasili says she doesn’t see herself as a singer although she says that song, along with dance and movement, is critical to the work. “The young girls sing to each other, it’s a way of trying to settle the self after something high has happened; they’re trying to shift the internal space a little bit,” she explains. In the way cats purr to soothe themselves when they’re stressed? “Kind of. The show toggles back and forth between states. The songs come out of the different states happening. I developed this work through a number of residencies – with each one I hooked onto different parts of the show to find out how the songs worked in this world.” The story, in so far as there is a narrative, is also expressed via notes the girls exchange in class. “It’s an epistolary narrative told in the form of letters,” continues Okpokwasili. “As a child I read Jane Eyre, Bram Stoker; I interested myself in the Victorian
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Gothic era. I wanted to explore this form, to see how far I could go with exploring the relationship between the girls through notes. It’s a subterranean world, an unsupervised immediate place with notes passed under the nose of the teacher existing happily alongside the sanctioned world.” Do schoolgirls even pass each other notes anymore? “That might be kind of quaint now,” Okpokwasili says. “I can remember that and I want to explore that world.” How important is the sense of place to Bronx Gothic, given that the Bronx is a singular area with such a wellknown history? “I’m not doing an ethnographic study of the Bronx, and there isn’t so much of a Bronx veneer in the language, although someone said about the show that she heard a lot of slang from that time and era,” replies Okpokwasili. “There’s definitely a rhythm – it’s a kind of energetic pinging when the girls talk vocally to each other, a dynamic that I feel captures my memory of that time. There’s a mythology of the Bronx, with Fort Apache, The Bronx (a crime film set in the Bronx in the ‘60s), and with the burning of the 1970s. After the burning of the buildings, questions were asked: were the fires lit by rioters or were they lit by landlords who’d given up on the neighbourhood?” The show is loosely set in the ‘80s, but again, that doesn’t especially define the world that Okpokwasili creates on stage. “I’m playing in the terrain of memory. The era is slightly relevant. This space that I’m playing in is the space of memory and the unreliability of memory. I am trying to make something about girls becoming, about young women becoming, about how to hold and reconcile those memories. The girls are trying to find a way to function in a dynamic relationship.” Okpokwasili is quick to distance Bronx Gothic from alluding to any limited notion of adolescent ‘mean girls’. “I have to say I’m always afraid, instinctively nervous, about the idea of women and girls as inherently mean or competitive. The strongest, longest relationships I’ve had are with other women, they have sustained me through a lot of shit.”
Bronx Gothic will be performed at Arts House from Thursday October 8 - Monday October 12 as part of Melbourne Festival.
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2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival Reviews Big Strong Boy A good story holds its own, in this case numerous good stories nicely told by Dan Pavatich from The Improv Conspiracy in his Fringe show, Big Strong Boy. He relates family tales and moments from his life in a gentle and appealing way – the man’s a raconteur and has a future as such. Pavatich knows how to extrapolate the absurd details which make small stories sing loudly and he offers us moments of poignancy from his life events, making them relate to each other with a fine use of detail. It’s a gift to understand how small stories make up a life and to know that drama doesn’t have to exist in glowing neon colours to be moving and effective. I liked this show a lot: without self-pity or angst Pavatich can talk about heartbreak and family disappointments in a way that keeps you fascinated; underlying it all is the subtext about a young man learning who he is. There were chuckles and a few cute moments where the audience enjoys a not-quite-so traditional Italian Easter custom. The stories range from an eccentric tyrant of a grandfather who steals his own son’s gardening tools to the apparent glamour of a visit to an exclusive Japanese sex club. Pavatich is a confident performer, and holds his own on stage. I’d like to see him sharpen his English, really start thinking about his use of language and make it more sophisticated. He tends to use a few sloppy phrases and gets the odd expression wrong. There’s a writer there who needs to pay attention to his sentences and use of idiom in order to spellbind. A keen literary eye cast over Pavatich’s script would do wonders and really lift this show to the heights he’s capable of. BY LIZA DEZFOULI
Suburbia Gold Santino’s production of Suburbia is an intense and exceptional immersive performance experience that takes the audience through the dark streets of North Melbourne and the dark stories that they have to offer. The audience of three sit in the back seat of a car while various performers drive us around, past houses, down dark alleyways, into empty lots and through parks. On this journey, mysterious figures pass by and create unnerving and striking images
that last only moments. With nearly no dialogue and a powerful and haunting soundtrack by Simone Gustafsson, the hour long car ride allows the audience to really take a look at what is happening on the streets around them. Every person who walks by, without realising it, becomes a part of the show - i’s hard not to take on voyeuristic tendencies throughout the show and start imagining who these people are and what their stories are. The seven performers are all exceptional to watch and their timing in getting between scenarios is highly impressive. Suburbia is a truly original and fascinating piece of art that is confronting, yet spellbinding to watch. While this season has sold out, one can only hope that the cast remount the show so more people can experience this truly brilliant piece of theatre. BY MYF CLARK
Top Spot The name Miss Friby has come to mean many things in the cabaret world - “high end entertainment” is how their website describes them. And as each performance, each show, each appearance passes, Miss Friby’s persistence towards creating such a standard is very clear. Their 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival show, Top Spot, is set in a typically intimate Fringe environment, allowing thorough exploration of the audience and a close-up inspection by said audience of the wonderfully charismatic style of show creators Stephanie Marion Wood and Elizabeth Dawson-Smith. In this production, Wood and Dawson-Smith work together as Gloria and Delia, two budding superstars who find it especially hard to sh-sh-share the stage. After several failed murder attempts, they realise this may be their only chance at true stardom and with gritted teeth, come together for an all-singing, alldancing extravaganza. As Delia, Wood has a penchant for all things brutal, and doesn’t come on stage without a suitcase of armory. Such is the life of a dedicated cabaret star. Her first solo shed light on this particular way of life, as she sang of her desire to “eliminate the competition”. On the other hand, Dawson-Smith lives and breathes the drama on stage as though it engulfs her off stage as well. She earnestly recounts her greatest moment studying dramatic arts as her crab song, and proceeds to a hilarious Russian crab song that has its own brand of sexy.
The second half sees Gloria and Delia performing their “greatest hits” together, including a “magic” routine that has to be seen to be fully appreciated, and the interactive crowd experience What Would You Do For a Cocktail? A word of warning: don’t try to outshine these divas. A wickedly funny and creative hour of entertainment from two women you’d do well to keep on your radar. BY JEN WILSON
Dear Diary Dear Diary, written and performed by Andi Snelling, is beautifully honest and funny. Using decades of diary keeping Andi has crafted a compelling show that anyone who’s been a girl can relate to. Snelling is a skilled vocalist and an ever engaging performer and knows how to milk a comic pause and what to leave in and what to leave out. The issues 14-year-old girls are concerned with and the language they use to express these in private don’t change over the decades by the sounds of things; at times it sounded like Andi was reading out of my own teenage diaries from the seventies even though hers date from the ‘90s. As adolescents the business of trying to shape ourselves and our lives and fit in to the world while feeling on the outer is all-consuming. This show rejoices in the familiar, from the list of valued birthday presents a 13-year-old received to the later agonizing over whether one will ever be sufficiently attractive to the opposite sex – all the tropes of self-consciousness and self-doubt are here made funny without being made ridiculous. Snelling’s strength is in her lack of self-indulgence even though the show is completely personal. In fact, the weakest spot is where she moves away from the personal in the segment Ask Diary. Although her performance carries this along nicely, it felt tacked on. There’s quite a bit of getting the audience to write things down which are later incorporated into shows happening on stage these days which can come across as padding. Looking deeply into a mirror during moments one is filled with self-doubt happens too often as well: there’s a mirror on the wall of the stage of the Butterfly Club and it’s obviously hard for performers to resist incorporating it into their shows in similar ways; this is the third time I’ve seen it used this way. Something is left unresolved however, and although Snelling understandably doesn’t want to dwell on the awful, she’s a tad too oblique when telling the story of her dad. We don’t need much more, just a bit of clarity about seems to have been a psychotic
episode so we can stop wondering and relax into the rest of Dear Diary. The question ‘Do I matter?’ is at the heart of this touchingly vulnerable show and who hasn’t asked that of themselves. BY LIZA DEZFOULI
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo Sometimes, the reckless absurdity of existence throws you into the deep end of life. In instances like those, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. For Luke Ryan, that absurdity meant getting cancer - twice. Amazingly and triumphantly, Ryan created, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo based on his experience. In other words, he chose to laugh. While an hour long standup show about cancer may not seem like very fertile grounds for comedy, Ryan’s conversational charm and honesty negates any preconceived notions. Although he tackles confronting topics, the material is ultimately humanising without falling into anything too grim. With honesty, wit and warmth, he re-counts a tirade of laugh-out-loud stories from his encounters with cancer. Moving between stealing wishes for his own on behalf of the Make A Wish Foundation, the lighter side of baldness and the perils of dating post-treatment, Ryan manages to take on serious subject matter and twist it into a hilarious pub conversation. The show’s simple and effective construction moves chronologically through Ryan’s life, primarily focusing on his two cancer episodes, once at 11 and again at 22. As the show goes on, a real connection is established with Ryan. At its best, the show masterfully weaves between evocative, touching storytelling and irreverent jokes. Although obviously extremely well-rehearsed, Ryan’s comedy manages to walk that illusive line that never feels too stilted, or too ragged either. A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Chemo doesn’t delve too far deep into a philosophical or deeper perspective, but it ultimately doesn’t need to. A gifted man who is literally laughing in the face of life threatening illness is inspiration enough. All in all, Ryan’s show is a well crafted, uplifting performance that shows his promise for the future. BY JAMES DI FABRIZIO
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 33
THE BASICS
BROTHERS IN THE COSMOS
By Adam Norris Here at Beat, we’re still waiting on our royalty cheque. It’s been 11 years since The Basics solidified their lineup with the addition of guitarist Tim Heath, who joined the band after chancing upon a classified in this very magazine. And sure, considering the trio – rounded out by bassist Kris Schroeder and drummer Wally De Backer – have gone on to perform over a thousand shows and release eight albums, we haven’t made an ongoing contribution to their success. But still, we’d really like some remittance. Unless, that is, Heath has forgotten how the whole shebang started? “Oh no, I remember it clear as day,” he says. “I was at uni and hadn’t really played in a band since high school and had started to miss it. But I saw this very short ad in Beat. It just said, ‘Band looking for guitarist, must love ‘60s rock’n’roll. Call Kris or Wally’. The name Wally struck me as probably being someone over 60 – this image of an old stoner sinking a few cans on the weekend. I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I need in my life.’ I didn’t have any rockstar dreams, fuck that. I just wanted to get high and drunk on the weekend and play some music. But I met up with these guys who turned out to be my age, and ever since then they’ve dragged me into this terrible business of going on tour and recording records. Putting in effort? Bugger that.” Despite Heath’s best intentions, he and has bandmates have put great swathes of effort into The Basics over the years. The mystery of this dedication, though, isn’t where they find the reserves to keep rolling. It’s how, after countless back-to-back gigs, they’ve managed not to strangle each other. Do they simply bite their tongues during the difficult times, or is there some dusty secret the trio has uncovered? “I think because there’s only three of us it affords a bit of pissfartery,” says Heath. “We can change it up live and it’s pretty easy to follow if someone decides to take a song in a certain direction live. That keeps it fresh. There have been some moments when we overbooked a tour back in the early days, going around the entire country and getting pretty jack of each other. In those instances you just have to grin and bear it, or get hideously drunk and fall over on stage, have a fight afterwards. Get a punch on happening, that tends to clear the deck. And then the next gig you’re best mates again. You’re back to trying not to cry tears of joy because you’re playing with your brothers in the cosmos, and you’re really high off that hash cookie, and everything is glorious.” Bleary-eyed appreciation notwithstanding, in 2010 the Melbourne trio initiated a long-deserved break. While Schroeder pursued a solo project and De Backer reenergised his Gotye alias, Heath established the instrumental ensemble Blood Red Bird. In part, this was because Heath simply found himself with enough time to pursue another gig, but also because after years of pop-rock shenanigans, he was primed for a new creative challenge.
“I DIDN’T HAVE ANY ROCKSTAR DREAMS, FUCK THAT. I JUST WANTED TO GET HIGH AND DRUNK ON THE WEEKEND AND PLAY SOME MUSIC.” “I was really interested in Mediterranean styles of music,” he says. “Having lived in Brunswick for ten years I was sort of in the right spot for that. After being in a pop vocal group for so long I was so sick of people singing, but it was mainly just for fun. It grew into this collective of odd musicians, but everyone gets busy. You lament the fact that when you’re in your 20s, at university or on the dole, you kind of sit around doing nothing, days and days dawdling around the streets of Brunswick making friends with nonnas and Greek car mechanics. Then you hit your 30s and you know all of these musicians, these amazing creative people, but everyone is too busy. That’s the tragic irony.” The Basics’ latest release, The Age of Entitlement, appeared back in August. It’s far more politically charged than the group’s earlier work, but no less accessible and entertaining. “Kris had said to Wally and I if we’d like to go and record at Abbey Road, and we said, ‘Sure, but we don’t have any songs.’ Kris said he’d write some, and a lot of what he came back with was very political. I think Wally and I had this moment where we looked at each other and went, ‘Joisus.’ We hadn’t performed songs like that before, really. We both agreed with him politically, so we thought, ‘OK, great.’ Sometimes it’s important to stand up and say what you think. So we went for it, and I think because it’s still pop music and fairly easy to digest musically, it’s a good conversation starter in terms of its political lyrics. “At this point, I don’t know if there’ll be another record. How much do we keep flogging this horse? I think it’s nice to maybe have done something which has a little bit more substance lyrically about our country. I think that’s a good thing.”
As part of this year’s Melbourne Festival, THE BASICS will play the Foxtel Festival Hub on Tuesday October 13 and Wednesday October 14. The Age of Entitlement is out now via The Three Basics Pty Ltd. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 36
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COLD CHISEL CRIMINAL MINDS
By Augustus Welby After a 14-year drought, Cold Chisel returned in 2012 with their seventh studio LP, No Plans. However, it was hardly a moment of triumphant rejoicing, as original drummer Steve Prestwich had sadly passed away in the midst of the album recording process. The band pushed on, completing the record with kindred sticks-man Charley Drayton (X-pensive Winos, Divinyls, Fiona Apple), who also joined them for the subsequent Australian tour. Yet, despite this display of fortitude, Chisel fans everywhere were completely surprised by the announcement of the band’s eight LP, The Perfect Crime, which is due this weekend.
“By the end of that tour we realised we’d actually started to find our groove with the new drummer and the newfound joy of playing together,” says vocalist Jimmy Barnes. “You tend to forget these things, or you take it for granted when you’ve been doing it for 45 years. “When Steve died we had a bit of an epiphany where we went, ‘You know, we’re not here forever.’ We all love playing so much, but we just always presumed we’d always be here and we could play whenever we wanted.” No Plans began to take shape following a one-off reunion show in 2009. Acknowledging the subsistence of their unique collaborative bond, the five-piece decided to have a crack at another album – albeit with a non-committal approach, hence the album title. When it came to The Perfect Crime, however, the process was far more deliberate. “We wanted to make sure we went into the studio and had rock’n’roll songs,” says Barnes. “Because we’re not under pressure from the record company to make a record now, we just came into my house – I’ve got a recording studio here – and we put down eight or nine tracks and then we stepped away for six months and in that period we wrote another bunch of songs. Then we went into the studio again and recorded another ten or 11 tracks.” The band have boldly hailed The Perfect Crime as the most rock’n’roll album in their extensive catalogue. Though, guitarist Ian Moss clarifies the implications of this claim. “When we first started we were just typical teenagers who thought Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were the be-all and end-all,” he says. “As we started writing songs and learning more we started going, ‘Well who did they listen to?’ You go back and it’s all the blues people or rock’n’roll – and the real rock’n’roll is from the era of people like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. When we say this is the most rock’n’roll album we’ve done, that’s what we’re talking about. It’s rock’n’roll as in that era, done in a Cold Chisel way and still sounding nice and present and ready for 2015.” Cold Chisel’s eighth album arrives nearly 40 years since their self-titled debut. In the ensuing years they’ve not only created a bulletproof back catalogue, but also secured a loyal following and an enduring legacy. Nevertheless, they’re not ready to rest on their laurels. “We’re still trying to make better and better records,” says Moss. “We want to make an album that satisfies us musically,” says Barnes. “Cold Chisel’s the sum of all the members, and we’re all so different. We listen to different music, we write different music, but when we get together and try to play it as one it comes out sounding like Cold Chisel.” Prior to Chisel’s 1984 breakup, pianist Don Walker was the band’s leading creative force (though, that’s not to disregard the notable contributions of the remaining four members). Following the split, Barnes ignited an illustrious solo career, and is now a widely respected songwriter in his own right. Walker takes the majority of songwriting credits on The Perfect Crime, while Barnes is responsible for two songs (All Hell Broke Lucy, Long Dark Road), and there’s one each from Moss (Shoot The Moon), and bass player Phil Small (Get Lucky). “I’ve not really been a prolific songwriter and I’ve got so much stuff lying moribund, on the wrong side of the finishing line,” says Moss. “But I went to Nashville last year at the inspiration of an Australian guy called Sam Hawksley who said, ‘Gather up all those ideas you’ve got lying around, we’ll put you together with some writers.’ [It resulted in] Shoot The Moon, a song I wrote with an Australian guy called Matt Scullion.” Cold Chisel are hitting the road in early October for a massive Australian tour that’ll keep them busy right up until Christmas. Throughout all of their various activities, the band members haven’t lost the love for playing live. What’s more, they’ve also never ignored the demands of their audience. “The albums are really a vehicle for us to play live,” says Barnes. “We get some new songs to go out and play live. We like our audience to be there with us and to be catching it. In that way the audience is a part of making the records as much as we are.” “We put a lot of thought into our setlist, and there’s a minimum of 14 songs that we know we have to play if we want to get out alive,” says Moss. “That doesn’t leave a lot of space for new songs. We’d love to be able to do a lot more, but we’re grateful that we’re able to get out there and do any [laughs].”
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COLD CHISEL will headline the Deni Ute Muster, which goes down Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3 in Deniliquin, NSW. The One Night Stand tour comes to Rod Laver Arena on Thursday November 19 and Hanging Rock Reserve on Saturday November 21. The Perfect Crime is out on Friday October 2 via Cold Chisel Music.
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 37
LIOR
DUSTING OFF THIS OLD LOVE By Tex Miller It’s hard to believe Autumn Flow, Lior Attar’s brilliant debut album, is ten years old. That said, it’s been an action packed ten years, resulting in three more Lior LPs, various orchestral collaborations, stacks of international touring, plus a move from Sydney to Melbourne. Nevertheless, Attar’s not oblivious to this milestone, and over the next month he’ll be travelling around the country on the tenth anniversary tour. “It feels like it’s been ten years,” he says. “I guess the expected response is, ‘I can’t believe its been ten years,’ but a lot has happened since then in all facets of my life. The reason that I am doing this tour is that Autumn Flow was the beginning of this incredible journey and is what has allowed me to do all of these special things.” Shortly after the record came out, Attar was driving back from a gig and feeling a little miserable, which is when he first heard his music on the radio. “That was right at the end of the launch tour that I did,” he says. “I just put out an album of songs that I really loved and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was taking a band around and playing shows to no one. I was feeling pretty down and out when I was driving home and I was absolutely stone broke. Triple j said [to listeners], ‘Tell us what you think,’ and due to the public response they then went on to feature the album. That was the beginning of touring nationally.” The album’s opening number, This Old Love, has become
one of Lior’s most widely loved tracks. Pairing beautiful, sweeping strings with a simple band arrangement, it sounds just as interesting today as it did ten years ago. Though, thinking back to when the song was written, Attar couldn’t have conceived the sort of the acclaim it would go on to receive. “I wrote that around the time that I went to see Darren Hanlon, and he had all these gorgeous little packages of ideas that were presented in short songs,” he says. “I just wrote that as a song that was about coming out of the summer of youth and entering adulthood. It was almost by accident that it was received as a love song. It resonated with people because of that, and I guess I didn’t realise that at the time.” Those familiar with the kids TV show Giggle and Hoot may know that Attar has penned a few tracks for the program, including the APRA Award winning Hey Hootabelle. Although it’s a step away from his regular gig, Attar says his involvement with the show was
extremely rewarding. “I was doing a tour back in 2009 called Shadows and Light, which was a collaboration with a visual artist. The producer of it came to me one night and floated the idea of writing a goodnight song. I’d never written any children’s songs before, and little did I know it would become about the biggest show on the ABC. It’s probably the most successful thing I have ever done.” Lior’s set to appear at this year’s Queenscliff Music Festival, which occurs during the last weekend of November. Along with Autumn Flow’s tenth birthday, his appearance at Queenscliff will be especially significant, given he played there in the early days of his career.
“I didn’t really know too much about the Queenscliff Music Festival and I remember stepping out onto the stage solo and I had about three thousand people in front of me and I was just terrified. It’ll be great to get back there once again. I can’t wait to hit the stage with the band and play through this record from start to finish.”
band’s songs in his campaign to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. Similarly, several Australian artists – such as John Farnham and Jimmy Barnes – have been disgusted by the use of their music at anti-immigration rallies. Any socially conscious artist has to be aware that people are liable to grossly misinterpret a song’s original message. Taheri-Lee has taken steps to prevent this from happening. “At the end of the day, people will take it how they will,” she says. “However, that’s part of the beauty of art, you don’t know how people will take it. People
will interpret it individually. If you dictate how people interpret it, it’s beside the whole point. I just put them out there – I have a little blog on my website where I write about the song, the inspiration and the lyrics and if people are curious they can always check it out there. If people want to turn it into some terrible meaning I never meant to intend, they can look on the website and realise their interpretation isn’t what I meant at all.”
music. She still finds herself most productive when working between disciplines and gathering inspiration from a wide range of sources. “Often it’s picking up an ARTAND Australia magazine that will give me an idea for a song or the way artists are always trying to push things forward,” she says. “That’s what I really admire – when artists push ideas forward and bring their audiences with them.” Over the past few months, Bartley has been collaborating with Burke Reid, a member of Gerling and a producer attached to some of the most powerful voices in Australian music, including Dan Kelly, Courtney Barnett, The Drones and Jack Ladder. “Burke works so hard, you can’t help but trust him,” she says. “There are not many people that put so much of themselves into your work.”
Looking ahead to her soon-to-be-released record, Bartley says the new suite of songs is more personal than ever. “Many of them are quite strong, even though they seem quite fragile. I took them into the studio with Burke and pulled them apart – it was quite a deconstructive way of working. We had access to all these vintage synthesisers, which I had never used before. It was such a privilege to keep on creating in that recording environment, which is such a pressurecooker. I was open to seeing how far we could go with these songs.”
LIOR joins the likes of Ron Sexsmith, The Snowdroppers and Harts at Queenscliff Music Festival, which runs Friday November 27 – Sunday November 29 in Queenscliff, VIC. He’s also playing at the Athenaeum Theatre on Friday October 16.
SHAMEEM
WRITING FROM THE HEART By Thomas Brand Shameem Taheri-Lee is described as a socially conscious musician. Considering the harsh impositions of the incumbent Liberal government, which has granted people the “right to be bigots” while perpetrating the forced closure of Aboriginal communities across Australia, it’s now more important than ever to speak out against social injustice. Taheri-Lee has been subjected to her fair share of discrimination, and writes from the heart in the hope that others will find something to relate to. “When I’m writing lyrics I like to try and put in something that will make people think or get an idea out there that I feel passionate about,” she says. “There’s a lot of different things that I enjoy writing about, but there’s a universal theme of one-ness, incorporation and unity that pushes through. Even with more of my personal songs, sometimes I like to write about things that I’ve experienced that I hope other people have to get the sense that everybody is more similar than they are different. “But more profound than that is looking at the state of the world or watching the news or looking at the state of indigenous people, people I know in my own backyard in Australia. These things get me really fired up and I want to talk about it in music.” Communally relatable music can be a powerful force for social change. Arguably, pop music’s appeal stems from the centrality of themes and emotions people can
easily connect with, such as love, hedonism or selfempowerment. For the most part, Taheri-Lee’s neosoul compositions are designed to generate positive emotions in her listeners. “Sometimes it’s pure expression of emotion,” she says. “Sometimes I’ll write an angry song because I’ve had a bad day. I remember writing Imposter, which was about a person close to me who betrayed me. I thought to myself, ‘This song is so negative, I hope this isn’t going to drag people down,’ and so I tried to think about how I could communicate the emotions of what I was feeling and maybe put a positive spin on it. It was hard, and it ended up coming out very negative. When it comes to songs like that, I have to tell the story, it’s part of a journey. Negative things are important to write about as well.” A few weeks ago, former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe lashed out at Donald Trump for using one of the
SHAMEEM is playing the Thornbury Local on Saturday October 3.
OLYMPIA
THE ARTISTIC SIDE By Annie Murney Olympia is the musical project and stage persona of Olivia Bartley, a Melburnian singer/ songwriter who’s been making waves for quite a while now. The past year has seen her tour with Alpine as well as securing slots at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND and the fastapproaching Dashville Skyline festival in the Hunter Valley – an Americana celebration with an Australian twist. Olympia’s debut album is due to hit the shelves later this year. “We’re almost ready to press the button and print to CDs and USBs,” Bartley says. “I can’t wait. I’m quite keen to move on and build a new body of work.” Bartley’s brand of alternative pop is sonically and lyrically adventurous. However, the pared-back presentation accentuates each individual element of her carefully formed compositions. An eye-catching live performer, you will likely see Bartley in her trademark getup – a glittering bodysuit topped with a slick blonde bob. “I’ve been looking into a lot of Australian bands from the ‘70s and old Countdown footage,” she says. “They dressed up so much compared to us. Musicians are quite austere these days, so I like to disrupt the norm a little bit.” Although Bartley has been making music for a long time, the Olympia project is a relatively recent development. It is also the blueprint for a bigger band. “When I started this project, I had a long-term vision involving a nine-piece band. However, touring with BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 40
multiple people is incredibly difficult,” she says. “I pour a lot of effort into writing my songs – they are quite unusual. I think the songs are strong enough that I can play them on my own or explore them with a band. The aim is we can do special shows with horns or choral elements.” While she’s now a promising musical talent, Bartley began her professional life as an artist and designer. “I guess I’ve always been a creative person,” she says. “I love to stay home and rip pages out of books and recreate them in plastic folders. I do approach music the way I approach making artwork. My family all play instruments and are such naturally gifted players, so it seemed easy to pick up a guitar.” Earlier this year, Bartley performed at the National Gallery Of Victoria’s winter music series, Unplugged Live, which explored resonances between art and
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OLYMPIA will appear at Dashville Skyline, with Bahamas, Shane Nicholson, Holy Holy, Wagons and many more, in Dashville, Hunter Valley on Saturday October 3 and Sunday October 4.
A ugie march
S TA Y I N G G R O U N D E D By John Kendall
It doesn’t matter if you’re an office worker, car salesman, or Melbourne indie rock royalty, any job wears you down after 15 years. According to Augie March guitarist Adam Donovan, stepping back and concentrating on what’s most important to you is the key to staying sane, especially in a world where everybody is a critic. After touring in support of their fourth LP, Watch Me Disappear, in late-2009 the band initiated a multi-year hiatus. “I guess it was a bit like long service leave,” says Donovan. “We’d been at it for a decade and a half and didn’t have any time off, always on that one project.” When there’s a relentless writing machine like Glenn Richards in your band, however, it’s a safe bet that any period of rest won’t last long. “Glenn had some songs, so we just started working on an album, and from the time we started to the time it came out it was probably three years.” The result was the band’s 2014 release, Havens Dumb. Despite being embraced by their adoring fanbase, the album received mixed critical feedback. Though, it’d take more than an unflattering write-up to unnerve Donovan. “We didn’t have any expectations of charting,” he says. “The making of it was pretty much total freedom and doing whatever we wanted to do. You can’t take those things too seriously. We are our own worst critics. I
don’t think I have read a review that is harsher than what we’ve been on ourselves. It’s not hard to remain grounded in this band.” Given Richards recently relocated to Tasmania, the recording was a bit more demanding than in the past. “Some of it was recorded down there, and some up here,” says Donovan. “It was all over the place really. A few of the songs on the album are demos that we touched up, but we all ended up getting together in Melbourne and worked it up basically.” There have been instances of disparity between fan responses and media attention throughout Augie March’s entire history. The first time one of their songs charted, fans weren’t impressed. Then, when the next one was a commercial flop, it was met with lashings of acclaim. “I remember something popping up on Twitter at one point,” says Donovan. “Triple M were having this program called Songs That Should’ve Been Hits, But Weren’t, and one of our songs was on it. I just
thought ironically, ‘If they had’ve played it at the time it probably would have been a hit.’ You know they’ve got a big audience, it could have lit some fires.” The March are gearing up for a co-headline show with The Drones this weekend, which they’ll follow with an appearance this year’s Queenscliff Music Festival. There might even be another round of national touring to come. “There are ruminations and things like that, because the last tour we didn’t get absolutely everywhere and we didn’t play in your typical rock music venues that we do like playing at. So there’s talk of doing something a little more traditional in that regard.” Either way, this weekend’s gig at the revitalised Croxton Park Hotel is sure to be one to remember. “I like thinking of it as a menu,” says Donovan. “I’d like to think we’d be the main course and [The Drones would]
be the dessert. But you know, who really eats dessert these days?” Earlier in their career, Augie March were renowned for being somewhat difficult on stage. However, they’ve recently turned a corner, putting more effort into developing a captivating live show. “I just saw the setlist,” says Donovan. “We’re trying a few new things, so we are being a bit more prepared this time around. I’ve looked at it, and dare I say it will be a typical Augie March performance.”
dark at 150 kilometres an hour, you obviously need something to be stacked on your side.” Archer reveals he’s currently eating 30 bananas a day in order to address “some pretty serious health problems.” When he does eventually pass, he’d prefer to “stay on top of the ground, so the dingoes and crows can do what they do best.” When the conversation eventually turns to his music (albeit briefly), it’s place that Archer talks about. Places have inspired songs such as Fire, Murray River, and Jesus Was a Man from his 2014 debut album, Old Time Sing Song Man. “Dry and deserty, I like,” he says. “But it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s probably better if I haven’t been there. Maybe if I’m trying to hitchhike and I haven’t been picked up for a few days. That’s a pretty good time to write some songs. Or practise juggling, or whatever [laughs].”
In November, Archer will play with Mick Thomas and Jess Ribeiro as part of the Australasian Worldwide Music Expo (AWME). Of the approaching event, Archer gives his shortest answer yet. “I reckon it’ll be great.” So who is Archer? It’s best captured in a review on his Bandcamp account: “No bullshit, no airs and graces, just great, old fashioned songs from a charming outsider.” It’s spot on, but Archer ensures he has the final, irreverent word, “I don’t think we had to pay him that much to write that either.”
day one,” says Leigh. “But the other thing that’s also really good about being in a band, especially a coolboy art rock band, is that girls start talking to you for the first time. I mean they’ve always talked to us heaps – always heaps – but they really start talking to you when you’re in a band. I think the closest we’ve come to an alcohol endorsement was when we were playing a show that was giving away free Sailor Jerry’s for all the bands. We had free Sailor Jerry’s the whole night – that was the deal. Somewhere down the line we got cut off because we had too much. It was at Bondi Beach and
The Stiffys were the only band to get cut off.” Perhaps the boys should’ve claimed to be the mascot emblazoned on every bottle of that particular brand of rum, but the evening didn’t go entirely to plan. “After about 34 Sailor Jerry’s you stop thinking in those sort of great ideas. It’s hard to make arguments of that nature. All you can really do is just point to it while gesturing at the bar staff and hope for the best.”
AUGIE MARCH and The Drones play the Croxton Park Hotel on Friday October 2 with special guests Money For Rope. They’re also playing the Queenscliff Music Festival, which runs Friday November 27 – Sunday November 29 in Queenscliff, VIC.
A rcher
E ngaging T he E nigma
By Izzy Tolhurst Who is Archer? “He’s definitely a thing. Just like anything else. Atoms, or energy maybe? Or maybe none of that? Let’s say, nothing and everything,” says the Melbourne singer/ songwriter, who’s currently living in a caravan and “just kind of cruising around.” It seemed like an appropriate question to ask, considering Archer’s limited online presence and partially searchable identity. His label, Pound Records, call him the creator of songs that “follow the seams of Australia’s highways and railways, songs driven by a restless and pure geography.” The founder and director of said record label, Martin Martini, suggested that our conversation with Archer be more about wildlife than music, because “he likes animals more than people, generally speaking.” It was valuable insight, as that’s precisely where the conversation went. “I just reckon animals are pretty fucking amazing,” says Archer. “I’m outside somewhere, so got a pet sheep and some cats and dogs and stuff. I do a bit of wildlife rescue too, and that kind of thing. “I mean, we are an animal, and we’re kind of like a bird in a cage. We haven’t really got our wildness. It’s a beautiful thing to be roaming wild and free, no water bottle, no candy bar, just your body and your fur or your skin, and just fucking seeing the sun rise and the sun set. It feels pretty good. They’ve definitely got a lot
to teach us. And I don’t really like the way we’ve just destroyed their habitat.” The man makes a good point. Archer proceeds to talk briefly of North Carolina, the place he was born and spent most of his pre-teenage years, but quickly moves on to his current home, Australia, and its ability to inspire him. “Well, it’s a pretty fucking amazing country, isn’t it? I like to get inspiration from the non-industrial world.” But where exactly? “Anywhere,” he says. “If the spirits want to talk to you, or if you haven’t slept for a couple of days and happen to be wandering around somewhere.” Archer is nonchalant and prone to bouts of intense sarcasm, but he’s no fool. Maybe it’s because there’s zero pretentiousness to his sagacity, but shrouded in self-deprecation, his words feel strangely astute. And if you to listen closely, you’re likely to laugh a lot. Case in point: Archer mentions he’s launching a new charity. “It’s called Machine Guns for Kangaroos,” he says. “It’s about arming and training kangaroos.” Why? “Just to give them a fighting chance really. Think about it – if you’ve got one tonne coming at you in the
ARCHER will perform at Swagger Music Festival, taking place in Wandiligong on Saturday October 24 and Sunday October 25, Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival from Thursday November 5 till Sunday November 8, and finally, at the Toff In Town on Saturday November 14 with Mick Thomas and Jess Ribeiro as part of AWME 2015.
T he sti f f y s
SEX, DRUGS AND ART ROCK By Thomas Brand When it comes to singing about boogie boarding, doing push-ups or being great at sex, Melbourne duo The Stiffys are undisputed leaders. However, sometimes an artist needs to look beyond their niche and try something different. Feeling the urge to branch out, the band recently discarded their sailor outfits and remerged as spacemen. Their thematic focus has also shifted, which is demonstrated on the new EP, Art Rock One. Beat speaks with frontman Jason Leigh about the jump from the water to the moon. “We felt like we started out trying to be as cool as we possibly could, so we thought obviously the smartest thing to do would be to dress up as sailors and sing about erections, he says. “It turns out in hindsight – and everything is so clear in hindsight – that perhaps that wasn’t the best way to come off as really cool, so we thought we’d take ourselves really seriously like other bands and get into the art rock world. It’s working out really well for us. It’s a lot easier to play in remote regional areas dressed up as astronauts as opposed to sexy sailors.” The boys have kept up a staggering touring schedule over the last 12 months, playing in excess of 50 shows all around the country. They’re no strangers to less conventional venues, and last year The Stiffys played a generator-powered party in Melbourne’s northern outskirts. “We’d like to play as many shows as we possibly can,
and I feel shows like that, in the middle of nowhere with a generator running an amp is a really good way to connect to people and make everyone part of The Stiffys,” says Leigh. “But the thing about The Stiffys is that we have champagne taste on a nothing budget. I don’t know how aware people are of the music business, but when you play a show, they give you a thing called a rider, and that really appeals to us. The thing about a generator party is that, yes, it appeals because of a sense of community and playing amongst our peers and pals and not having to worry about music industry stuff – but there’s the other part of it, which is obviously the drinks.” With such expensive tastes, the logical move would be for The Stiffys to seek out an alcohol endorsement. Being the savvy businessmen they are, they’ve already tried. “We’ve been shooting for alcohol endorsement since
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THE STIFFYS play The Tote on Thursday October 1 with Dr Colossus and Tankerville. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 41
THE MEANIES
CASTING THE BLAME By Patrick Emery
Back in The Meanies’ heyday, Link McLennan was a hyperactive punk rock force of nature. With his dreadlocked hair and manic stage antics, McLennan could have passed for the deranged love child of Medusa and Iggy Pop. By 1996, with McLennan worried about his own psychological stability, The Meanies called it a day, leaving behind a legion of fans and bands inspired by The Meanies’ ferocious blend of melody and punk rock attitude – as well as a catalogue of McLennan-penned Meanies songs never committed to record. The Meanies reconvened just a few years later, but it has taken until now for McLennan and his fellow Meanies – bass player Wally Kempton, drummer Ringo Meanie and guitarist Jordan ‘Jaws’ Stanley – to record McLennan’s lost Meanies tracks. The result is It’s Not Me, It’s You, the first new Meanies album in 20 years. “The tracks on this album were written in the late-‘80s, early-‘90s,” says McLennan. “Wally had demos of the songs lying around and he was always telling me to record them, and I just kept putting it off.” McLennan concedes that ten years ago his attitude would’ve been to discard the older material and write new songs. But with the benefit of a more mature perspective, he realised there was a new Meanies record almost completely written. “I’m glad that Wally twisted my arm, because sometimes it’s a bit sad when you’ve got a bunch of
songs sitting there for 20 or 30 years, and you think they’re really good, and all they’re going to do is sit in a box,” McLennan laughs. “So I’m glad we’ve now recorded them.” In the period since The Meanies’ original break-up, McLennan has embarked on a succession of other projects, including the Tomorrow People, the Bakelite Age and his current non-Meanies band, Sun God Replica. The frontman admits there was a time when he would’ve preferred to leave his lost Meanies songs buried in Kempton’s archives. “I think I’ve reached that point when I look back on it with more nostalgia and love than I used to, McLennan says. “I didn’t really go into the recording for this record with any great expectations – it was just something that was a bit of fun to do. But as it went along, it really shaped up nicely and I thought it was pretty damn
good and we should do something with it.” In typical McLennan fashion, the lyrics fluctuate between anti-establishment rhetoric and psychological analysis. While occasionally blushing at his youthful invective, McLennan can still understand where he was coming from in those wild, sometimes misspent years. “The way I wrote lyrics back then was probably between externally targeted songs about stuff that made me angry, and the other half were more internal, about my shortcomings, whatever stuff I was going through,” he says. “But now I think I probably write a bit more internally on the whole. What I write now is not as angry, and the edges have been taken off a bit, and it’s a bit more balanced. Actually… that’s not true [laughs].” Having felt burnt out at various times over the last 25
years, McLennan is now more enthusiastic than ever before about recording and touring with The Meanies. “Touring and playing with The Meanies now is really fun for me. We’ve done the record, and it’s got us all really excited. In terms of performance, I know we’re better than we were back in the day, and there’s just as much energy – though maybe not as much cutting. I feel completely confident with what we put onto vinyl, and what we do live. I think we’re as good as any band.”
Here was a drummer that didn’t sing, but wrote lyrics, and wrote this sort of travel journal called Cometbus. I used to pore over the lyrics that he wrote, and how he drummed, and that’s the dude, he’s my main inspiration. A relatively unknown person to most, but he meant the world to me.” When he’s not smacking the skins on the stages of the world, Fiorello keeps busy. “I like to stay creative,” he says, hinting towards his online store Paper + Plastick. Part independent record label, part comic book publisher and plastic toy company, Fiorello designs everything from freakish toy skulls, to wicked wax and vinyl art. Always eager to please their fans, Less Than Jake’s tour setlists will be loaded with plenty of old favourites. “Personally speaking, I like Johnny Quest (Thinks We’re Sellouts), Great American Sharpshooter. I like Plastic Cup
Politics. We’ve been playing The Rest Of My Life a lot. Those are the songs that night after night, without fail, hit that nerve in a cool way.” On the road for the better part of this year, you could forgive Fiorello for wanting some time off to design scary toys, run his other record label (Fueled By Ramen), or spend time with his four-year-old daughter Liliana Rose. But despite his enormous number of commitments, he’s still passionate about the band and their legacy. “After 23 years of being in the band, getting on stage and having a song move you, that’s pretty fucking awesome man.”
our senses and in that sense we did feel gravity shift. “During my first take Jeff [Ling, lead guitar/backing vocals] was watching and as soon as they started rotating and I started falling and trying to sing at the same time, he was screaming. All I heard was ‘Oh God, Oh God. Stop. He is going to die,’ the whole time the tape was rolling. It was hilarious, but at the same time, when we watched the footage back there are so many near misses.” Parkway Drive’s unwavering determination to keep taking risks has earned them respect from fans and fellow musicians around the world – many of whom will back them up at Unify’s 2016 Heavy Music Gathering next January. However, McCall remains humble and prefers to talk about bands he admires. “I love Northlane’s new record [Node]. I’ll start with
those guys simply because they made a very large change from their last album. Firstly, they had to adjust to an entirely new singer and then they created a record that not only managed to hold onto the elements of the sound they’d already established, but managed to move into a different direction that expanded on that sound. It takes a lot of guts to do that – they’re far less established then we are and they’re already taking those steps, so to me they’re inspiring.”
It’s Not Me, It’s You is out now via Poison City Records. THE MEANIES will launch the album at The Tote on Friday October 2, with support from Warped, Flour and Liquor Snatch.
LESS THAN JAKE
SHOOTING SKA By John Kendall
For over two decades, Less Than Jake have been at the coalface of the American ska punk scene. They’re long time masters of putting pep in your step and a gleam in your eye. It makes sense, then, that they’ve just wrapped up a wake’n’bake weekend in their native Florida. Putting the bucket bong aside momentarily, Beat caught up with drummer and lyricist Vinnie Fiorello to speak about the band’s forthcoming dance with Australian border security. Following on from last year’s Soundwave shenanigans, the upcoming Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake coheadline tour is one of the year’s most anticipated. After already creaming the US with sell out shows, it’s our turn for a hit of the good stuff. “We’re sort of cut from the same cloth,” says Fiorello. “Our crews get along great, it’s just a great vibe. The shows were awesome, the tour was just awesome, big venues… You know, it felt good. “Literally one of the best things to come out of the tour was that Aaron Barrett [frontman of Reel Big Fish] showed me what he drinks every night. It’s called the ‘Frescarita.’ It’s Fresca, lime, and tequila. Kind of like a poor man’s margarita. He showed me how to make it and that’s officially my drink now.” Known around these parts for their high octane performances, Less Than Jake have been in the jumpuntil-you-can’t-feel-your-face business since the early
‘90s. Studying at the University of Florida, famous for it’s college football team, a young Fiorello started the band with his friend and vocalist Chris DeMakes. So go Gators hey? “No. No. For me, I already like too much shit in my life, so now I go, ‘Well, I can either like carrot cake or I can go for the Gators’,” Fiorello says. “I chose carrot cake.” DeMakes, on the other hand, is a sports nut: “Put that dude in front of a TV set and he’ll watch anything from volleyball to women’s softball, to college football. The dude’s fucking sports crazy, but it never really connected with me.” While his friends were busy cheering on the Gators, Fiorello started moulding his sound and figuring out what he wanted his music to say. “There was this guy, Aaron Cometbus,” he says. “His real name was Aaron Elliott, he played for Crimpshrine and Billie Joe from Green Day’s side project called Pinhead Gunpowder.
LESS THAN JAKE join like-minded ninjas Reel Big Fish at the Prince Bandroom on Wednesday September 30 and Thursday October 1 (sold out).
PA R K WAY D R I V E
GIVING IT ALL THEY ’VE GOT By Natalie Rogers
Anger, rage, fury or wrath, whatever way you spin it, Parkway Drive’s fifth studio album Ire has all the intensity we’ve come to expect from the five-piece. Their mission has always been to challenge the status quo, and whether you agree with their politics or not, there’s no denying they’re a force to be reckoned with on the international metalcore scene. “It’s been a long road to get to where we are, but the making of Ire was probably the longest road we’ve ever been on because of the changes that we made sonically on this record,” says frontman Winston McCall. “This album is bigger than anything we’ve done since starting the band. It was a long learning process – there was a lot of trial and error and a lot work, rather than simply going back to a formula that we’d already established on the past four records. But at the same time it wasn’t tiring – it was just really different and very enjoyable.” Parkway Drive have always relished the opportunity to push the boundaries, whether it be a call to action on social justice or environmental change, or challenging themselves beyond the realm of sonic safety. When it came to planning the video concept for Ire’s lead single, Vice Grip, the band decided to film themselves jumping out of a plane and hurtling straight down to earth. The pinnacle of the video comes when McCall looks straight into the camera and screams the lyrics, “One life/ One shot/ Give it all you got.” BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 42
“That one shot was the moment the entire clip was based around, because we thought it would be pretty powerful – and it only took three takes to nail it,” he says. “But it was actually really hard because we didn’t have any playback, so I had to make sure that I had the right timing in my head to link it up with the pre-recorded song – its not like we had a stereo blaring outside the plane [laughs].” With the adrenalin still pumping, the Byron Bay locals have upped the ante in their latest video, Crushed. The lyrics highlight the need to rebel against those who abuse their power in modern society. “Crushed is about breaking that cycle. There are certain things that are unbreakable, like gravity, but we could do our best to twist it – so we constructed a room that rotated 360 degrees for the clip,” McCall says. “At first we thought it’ll be OK, because we’ll be able to see the horizon outside the room and we’ll realise that it’s rolling – but once we were actually in it, it really tricked
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Ire is out now through Resist Records. PARKWAY DRIVE are headlining Unify’s 2016 Heavy Music Gathering, with In Hearts Wake, Tonight Alive, Neck Deep and more on Saturday January 16 and Sunday January 17 in Gippsland, VIC.
CORE GIG GUIDE Wednesday September 30:
• Shit Sex, Digger & The Pussycats at The Tote • Slowly Slowly, The Mary Goldsmiths, Sweet Gold at The Old Bar The second annual Unify Heavy Music Gathering lineup has been announced. Headliner’s Parkway Drive will be joined by In Hearts Wake, Tonight Alive, Neck Deep and State Champs, as well as Stray From The Path, Hands Like Houses, Dream On Dreamer, Make Them Suffer, Hellions, Trophy Eyes, Ocean Grove, Stories, Columbus, Void Of Vision and The Weight of Silence. It all goes down on Saturday January 16 and Sunday January 17 at Tarwin Meadows in Gippsland and once again there are only 5000 tickets available, which go on sale on Thursday October 1. Kisschasy have added a third and final show to their last ever tour. With two sold out Corner Hotel’s under their belt, they’ve announced another show on Saturday November 28 at Max Watt’s with Born Lion, With Confidence, My Echo and The Pretty Littles. Limited tickets are available now. Melbourne band Kissing Booth will raise money for the Cancer Council in ballsy style next month. Not only will all proceeds from their John Curtin show with The Union Pacific, Apart From This and Lincoln LeFevre go to Cancer Council Victoria, the entire band have promised to shave their heads if they can raise $3000. That means just 200 payers at their October 16 gig. Alternatively there’s a fundraising page set up with the cancer council for you to make that tax-deductible charitable donation now. Geoff Rickly, vocalist of Thursday, has had an impossibly shitty week. His label Collect Records had been funded by Turing Pharmaceuticals founder Martin Shkreli, who was exposed for implementing some very maligned policies. So, Rickly immediately decided to cut ties with him. “This is going to end the career of the record label, no doubt,” he conceded. Then just two nights ago Rickly was unexpectedly poisoned and mugged in Hamburg, Germany. Rickly was covering well in hospital earlier in the week and expected to play Thursday shows as scheduled. Fans wait impatiently this week to see who AJ Maddah will reveal as Soundwave 2016’s big drawcard. Many had picked Tool as a likely candidate, but that dream was squashed by one of Maddah’s random twitter conversations with a fan. Bizarre Japanese three-piece Babymetal look likely to be confirmed, but even the festival’s most fanatic followers seem stumped about the all important headliner.
Thursday October 1:
• Bodyjar, Clowns, Pagan at Northcote Social Club • As It Is, With Confidence at Evelyn Hotel • Antagonist AD, Glen and the Peanut Butter Men, Strawberry Fist Cake, Wing Attack Plan R, Rogues at The Bendigo Hotel • Storm The Sky, Our Great War, Along Shorelines, The Beautiful Monument at Next • The Stiffys, Dr Colossus, Tankerville at The Tote • Deaf Wish, Drugsweat, Stations at The Old Bar • Ecca Vandal, Darts, The Owls at Penny Black • Antagonist AD, Aggressor, Reactions, The Evercold at Bang • Gorilla Biscuits, Hit List, Daybreak at Reverence Hotel
GRAND FINAL NIGHT AT THE BENDIGO
It’s going be a big one at the Bendigo Hotel this Saturday October 3. BM Belts commemorates five years in business, bolstered further by this insane lineup. Join the chaos: Draconis Infernum from Singapore play an exclusive show on Australian soil, back for the first time since 2012 (alongside Dark Funeral) with the new album The Sacrilegious Eradication. Also catch Cemetery Urn, Australian barbaric death metal from the grave featuring members of Abominator and Belligerent Intent. This loud and gnarly grand final evening also features Oligarch and Wolfe.
Saturday October 3:
• Code Orange, Cursed Earth, Imprisoned, Caged Grave at The Reverence • Trophy Eyes, Apart From This, Racoon City Police Department at The Evelyn • SixFtHick, Gentle Ben and His Sensitive Side, Shifting Sands at The Tote • City Calm Down at Howler • Sentinel, Arkive, Earthender at Bang • The Peep Tempel, Batpiss, Mutton at Cherry Bar • Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! at Max Watt’s • Bodyjar, Clowns, Coffin Wolf at Northcote Social Club
Sunday October 4:
• Code Orange, Cursed Earth, Rebirth, Broken at The Reverence (AA) • Trophy Eyes, As It Is, With Confidence, Apart From This, Racoon City Police Department, Harbours, Little Brother, Satellites, Beth Lucas at The Evelyn • Behemoth, Watain, Bolzer at 170 Russell
DAN PARSONS ANNOUNCES ALBUM TOUR
Dan Parsons returns with his third album Valleywood on October 20. Fans will get their first taste of his most emotionally direct album to date during a run of dates through October and November. Standouts on the album include the horns-laden Angry Waltz, the slow-burn tenderness of On the Way, Downtown and the already released I’ll Live and I’ll Die. He’s playing Saturday October 24 at the Shadow Electric.
SPIDER GOAT CANYON BRING THE HEAVY
Friday October 2:
• Bodyjar, Clowns, Anchors at Northcote Social Club • Gorilla Biscuits, Outright, Sick Machine at The Reverence Hotel • As It Is, With Confidence at Evelyn Hotel • The Peep Tempel, Batpiss, Spinning Rooms, Devil Electric at Yah Yah’s • The Meanies at The Tote • Witchskulls, The Ruiner, OLMEG, TTTDC at The Bendigo • The Sand Dollars at Boardriders, Torquay
all floor and Gold seats available. A promotional code can be found at thedeaddaisies.com. Catch them at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday October 8 and Friday October 9.
NEW FLYING COLORS LIVE ALBUM
The progressive rock supergroup Flying Colors have just announced a new live album, DVD and BluRay. Second Flight: Live At The Z7 will be released on November 13 via Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings. Flying Colors features guitarist Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple), drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), bass player Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Joe Satriani) and singer/ songwriter Casey McPherson.
DAVE LESLIE JOINS THE DEAD DAISIES FOR AUSTRALIA/NZ TOUR
Baby Animals guitarist and one of the nicest dudes in rock Dave Leslie will step in for an injured Richard Fortus during The Dead Daisies’ tour of Australia supporting KISS in October. “I was involved in a motorcycle accident recently and as a result, I not be able to make the tour,” Fortus says. Leslie says: “Richard Fortus is an amazing guitar player and I’m really thrilled to be asked to cover for him. I am going to have to pack an extra bag of socks, because his are extremely big shoes to fill.” Daisies fans who would like to attend the KISS concerts are able to get Gold Tickets ($138.00) for Silver price ($99.00) including
Six years in the making, Always The Heavy is Spider Goat Canyon’s last record as a three-piece, due to the departure of guitarist Steve Brick. The basis of this mammoth release was initially tracked six years ago, with new additions to the recording and post production from Brick. ”The theme is largely modern life in an industrialised society,” he says. “The album finishes on what I would call a very uplifting track that takes an optimistic long-term view, despite the heaviness of the present.” The record is available now via Bandcamp.
LILLYÈ HITS THE ROAD
Sydney hard rockers Lillyè recently released their new video for Who I’m Meant To Be from their selftitled EP, and they’ll hit the road this October. Led by Virginia Lillyè, the band specialise in raw, in your-face-rock’n’roll. Lillyè’s vocal roar channels the spirit of Chrissy Amphlett and has the rage and conviction of Skunk Anansie’s Skin. They’re playing Saturday October 17 at The Workers Club with The Charge, Ten Thousand, The Mercy Kills and Foreign Kings, Friday October 30 at Whole Lotta Love with Muscle Car and Mojo Pin, and Saturday October 31 at Musicman Megastore, Bendigo with Tequila Mockingbyrd.
BLACK MAJESTY & THE RADIO SUN
On Saturday November 7 Black Majesty and The Radio Sun will stage a dual album launch at Cherry Bar. Black Majesty will launch their new album Cross Of Thorns, while The Radio Sun will launch their latest, Heaven Or Heartbreak. Both bands’ albums are available to purchase via their websites: blackmajesty. com and theradiosun.com.
Mid n ig h t A l i b i Love Preachers By Isabelle Oderberg When Billy Idol gives you a direct instruction, it’s best to just do it. When Billy Idol tells you that you have “pretty attractive hair” and you should copulate with one of his groupies, it’s well advised you shut your trap and get humping. But being a gentleman, James Oswald, the lead singer of Midnight Alibi, won’t confirm if he followed these instructions or not. The story starts after a night out at Cherry Bar watching Bruce Kulick with some of the Cheap Trick roadies. “We left Cherry Bar that night and drove to Rochford Wines where they have A Day On The Green and we saw a sign that said ‘Artist’s carpark’ and we thought, ‘Well, we’re artists’. I guess we took it more broadly,” Oswald laughs. “We had a folder with nothing in it, walked around, talked to all the security guards and hung out backstage and that kind of thing. Eventually, got to meet Billy Idol… He’s so cool and he’s got the attitude and he’s the ultimate rock singer.” Two of Idol’s groupies, well into their 40s, took a liking to the Midnight Alibi boys and ended up talking to Idol about them, saying they were in a band and suggesting he listen to their music. “When we got to meet him, he says to us, ‘I think those girls want to fuck you.’ And we say, ‘What should we do about it Billy?’ and he says, ‘You should probably hook up with them or get their phone number or something’.” Composed of four Albury-Wodonga boys, Midnight Alibi are all about good, old-fashioned rock’n’roll. The band’s influences are wide and varied, but they don’t like to compare themselves to anyone else. “We’re an original band. We’re not trying to imitate anybody or jump on a bandwagon or anything,” says
Oswald. While Oswald listens to everything from Seattle grunge through to Delta Blues, guitarist Jake Collins is a fan of Clutch, drummer Jamie Stacey likes Rage Against The Machine and Pearl Jam, and bass player Dan Klappert is a hair metal fan. “Every show we’ve played, we always have someone come up to us and say we sound like a certain artist, but it’s never the same artist,” Oswald says. Sometimes the comparisons are a little off-the-mark – think Mötley Crüe or The Doors – but sometimes they’re just completely bizarre. “The worst feedback and best feedback we’ve ever had was a lady who said that we were the worst INXS tribute band she’d ever seen. She was upset because we didn’t even play any of their hit songs. I have no idea why she assumed we were an INXS tribute band. Maybe she thought we were playing B-sides or something?” Basically they’re a ballsy Aussie rock band, but at just three years old, Midnight Alibi are constantly working on evolving their sound. The band just launched their new EP Love Yourself Sick at Cherry Bar. Following up this January’s Preach It EP, Oswald reckons Love Yourself Sick holds some nice surprises. “Preach It was no holds barred, flat out rock’n’roll. We wanted to give this one a bit more room to breathe.
It still has that edge that Preach It has, but it has a bit more groove to it, a bit more feel, a bit more soul.” And there was nowhere better to launch the EP than Cherry Bar. “It’s our favourite venue. It’s just cool. We just go there and we get to play rock music and then we can have a drink and listen to our favourite bands on vinyl. It’s our home away from home and we love it.” Oswald becomes rather Zen when he talks about the band’s future plans. “As long as you’re making your music and you’re travelling around playing
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shows, you’ve made it. You live the dream in different ways. If your artistic vision is to have five cars and a mansion, you’re in the wrong business.” MIDNIGHT ALIBI’s new EP Love Yourself Sick is available for pre-order via midnightalibi.com. They’ll wrap up their tour with a hometown show at Yah Yah’s on Saturday October 17
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 43
Q&A
MUSIC NEWS
YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE
For all the latest news check out beat.com.au WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1
Leo Rondeau
Do your dreams ever influence your music? Yes. I have a song called Rapture that I heard on the radio in a dream. It was the hook of the song and I remembered it well enough to write it. Would you rather play any instrument in the world naturally but be unable to write creative lyrics, or write the most beautiful lyrics in the world but be unable to play an instrument? I would prefer to play any instrument. Music is all over the world and having the ability to play any instrument would allow you to travel and connect with a lot of different human beings. If you had to play a completely different genre of music to what you do now, what would it be? I would want to be Manu Chao. Whatever genre that is. What would you say is the best drug to take while listening to your music? All of them. Drugs are fun. Would you continue to play music if there was absolutely no money in it? Of course, there is such little money already. How do you prepare for a show? Any weird routines? Usually have a beer and a shot of tequila. Then have a beer on stage. One per set. Have you ever had a strange experience with a fan? Recently had this girl offer to buy me cowboy boots. I refused at first but she said that she never tipped so I let her buy me boots. LEO RONDEAU plays the Spotted Mallard on Thursday October 15 with Chris Pickering Band. He’s also appearing at Dashville Skyline, which goes down on Saturday October 3 and Sunday October 4 in Hunter Valley, NSW.
ANIMAUX
DING DONG LOUNGE
BEN SALTER
BAHAMAS
THE POST OFFICE HOTEL
Finnish-Canadian singer/songwriter Bahamas is taking to Howler this Wednesday for a night of simple, love based arrangements. Bahamas takes a certain blend of indie folk, pop and rock to his live performances that have earned him and his band three hot festival slots across Australia, much to the delight of both fans and band alike. Come get balmy with Bahamas this Wednesday September 30 at Howler. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $40.
Playing venues round town as a founding member of Giants of Science, The Gin Club, and two time ARIA nominees Wilson Pickers, Ben Salter now takes his solo show to The Post Office Hotel to play every Thursday night in October. His latest release, The Stars My Destination, was released earlier this year to rave reviews, and followed up from his previous solo venture The Cat way back in 2011. Ben Salter plays The Post Office Hotel, every Thursday night in October. Music kicks off at 8pm with free entry.
OPEN MIC
SKINPIN
HOWLER
W H O L E L O T TA L O V E
It’s business as usual this Wednesday night at Whole Lotta Love, which means open mic night. Contact Mark Gardner at showusyourloveopenmic@gmail.com if you want a shot on the stage, there’s even a free schooner for performers. This week, festival organiser, business mentor, promoter and booker Neil Wedd be talking and doing a Q&A. Catch some unheard originals and industry goss this Wednesday September 30 at Whole Lotta Love.
Melbourne funk pop act Animaux are locked in for a party at Ding Dong Lounge this Thursday, and you’re invited. The act have received a formidable response to their 2013 EP Vale St, continuing their rise to fame by churning out shows, residencies and new singles such as Come On Over along the way. Catch a night of raw, babyfaced shenanigans when Animaux hit Ding Dong Lounge this Thursday October 1. Doors open at 9pm, tickets are $15.
Q&A
It’s the eve of Victoria’s newest public holiday, and The Reverence is celebrating with a night of rock thanks to Baptism of Uzi. Expect a night of cosmic violence as Baptism of Uzi are joined by friends in The Cockles, Scrub Wrens and Nick Johnston. Wash yourself in bullets when Baptism of Uzi shoot into The Reverence Hotel on Thursday October 1. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $8.
WHOLE LOTTA BLUES W H O L E L O T TA L O V E
THE BENDIGO HOTEL
With the public holiday looming around the corner, The Bendigo Hotel has cued up a big bill to help you ring in the long weekend in style as Skinpin take to the stage this Thursday. Joining them on this large lineup are Glen and the Peanut Butter Men, Strawberry Fist Cake, Wing Attack Plan R and newcomers Rogues. There’s a whole day to recover before running wild throughout the rest of the weekend, so come get a beer with Skinpin this Thursday October 1. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free.
BAPTISM OF UZI
THE REVERENCE HOTEL
BODYJAR
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB
It’s been 15 years since Bodyjar’s breakthrough album How It Works, and they’re celebrating with a limited run of shows at Northcote Social Club this week. Tickets for their Friday and Saturday shows sold out fast, and this one is looking like no exception. And don’t expect a quiet one either, as Melbourne skate punks Clowns are joining Bodyjar for the night. Bodyjar play Northcote Social Club this Thursday October 1 from 7.30pm. Tickets are $28+BF through the venue.
Whole Lotta Blues Thursdays are back in October and kicking things off with old school favourites Southbound Snake Charmers. Headlining this week’s instalment are the legendary Doubleshot Blues Band, whose lead singer/guitarist filled in for Jimmy Page in The Yardbirds back in the day. Impressive stuff. Find out why their music has stood the test of time, this Thursday October 1 at Whole Lotta Love. Entry is free.
EN GARDE!
SHADOW ELECTRIC
SUGAR FED LEOPARDS SIMO SOO
THE WORKER’S CLUB
Mojo Pin
So then, what’s the band name and what do you ‘do’ in the band? Our band name is Mojo Pin and I play/slap the bass. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? The sound we are going for is post grunge/post alternative. Think of early Silverchair, Alter Bridge, Papa Roach and Foo Fighters. What do you love about making music? I enjoy the pureness of playing and when the hard work is rewarded at a live gig. What do you hate about the music industry? The Voice, X Factor et cetera – the overhyped commercialism. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? Kurt Cobain, amazing musician/person that was taken too soon. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Justin Bieber, you know why. What can a punter expect from your live show? Loud noise and a whole heap of fun. What’ve you got to sell music-wise? We released our debut EP Tiny Minds last year. It is available on Bandcamp and we have CDs for sale at most of our gigs. MOJO PIN play the Brunswick Hotel on Thursday October 1 with Arcane Saints, Red Sky Burial and The Stabbing Trade. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 44
Four forces of electronic music combine this Wednesday night at the Worker’s, so if you’re into EDM then get the fuck down. Synth revivalists SODA lite, the ever-industrial Simona Castricum and art-goth gal Zsa Zsa LaFine are all in on it, along with Sydney rapper/producer Simo Soo, heading down on the back of his latest single, Dancer in the Dark. Four acts for ten bucks, that’s like two fifty a set. Get down to the Worker’s from 7pm this Wednesday.
YA H YA H ’ S
The owner of Yah Yah’s has employed the musical talents of Sugar Fed Leopards for this public holiday eve party and your name’s on the guest list. Playing sweet original music that falls somewhere in the sequinned space between disco, soul, doo-wop and rock’n’roll, expect a soul rattling show when Sugar Fed Leopards take to the stage this Thursday October 1 at Yah Yah’s. Doors open at 9pm, entry is free.
DEAF WISH
THE OLD BAR
Before gearing up for a massive tour across the United States, Deaf Wish are slapping together a show at The Old Bar this Thursday. With the promise of an extra special Grand Final public holiday the next day, you’re more than welcome to get a little bit loose when they hit the stage with Drugsweat and Stations. Have a listen to Deaf Wish this Thursday October 1 at The Old Bar. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.
Shadow Electric is hosting a spectacular night of international guitar talent this Thursday, as En Garde! take to the stage. The guitar trio features three internationally acclaimed jazz and world musicians from within Australia, known as some of the best in their craft. Blending funk, jazz, flamenco and sheer improvised brilliance, En Garde! will deliver a stimulating experience for attendees. Watch the strings in action as En Garde! take to the Shadow Electric this Thursday October 1. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $25.
ARTIST PROOF
T H E R E T R E AT H O T E L
REEL BIG FISH/LESS THAN JAKE PRINCE BANDROOM
Having just completed a massive sold out tour of the USA, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake are bringing their co-headline tour to the Prince Bandroom. With shows in cities across the US rapidly selling out, Australia now has chance to catch these career spanning headline sets as they tour across the east coast. Make sure you’re in on the action when Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake tear up the Prince Bandroom this Wednesday September 30. Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets are $63.
DON FERNANDO
THE WORKER’S CLUB
Don Fernando’s Haunted by Humans LP was released earlier this year and blew up, big time. Fans have been thirsty for a vinyl release ever since. Don Fernando have finally got the prints ready, and to celebrate the vinyl release of Haunted by Humans, they’re launching it at The Worker’s Club this Thursday with The Ugly Kings, Drifter, and Two-Headed Dog. Tickets for this are just $12, so mark your calendar: Thursday October 1, 8pm at The Worker’s. It’s gonna be sick.
Artist Proof are heading down to The Retreat Hotel this Thursday to unleash a barrage of visual arts inspired psychestral rock for all your sensory needs. They make no excuse for the fact that they create songs that are genuinely different, combining ethereal high vocals, sweeping orchestral swells, epic drums, emotional piano lines, scorching guitar licks and thumping bass lines. They’ll be releasing their single New Day on the night, and you’re invited to come down and celebrate. Catch Artist Proof down at the Retreat Hotel this Thursday October 1 and let the art do the talking. Doors open at 8.30pm, entry is free.
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THE STIFFYS THE TOTE
Melbourne’s best erection based band, The Stiffys, have just released a new record, and are hitting the Tote to mark the occasion. This corker of a record goes by the name Space Blog and it’s about writing blogs in space. Have you ever done that? No? Get to the gig and get learned, son. This comes as part of their big ol’ east coast rock’n’roll tour, so cop a glimpse of The Stiffys this Thursday October 1 at The Tote. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $10. BYO boogie board.
MUSIC NEWS
Q&A
YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE
For all the latest news check out beat.com.au in the Grand Final. Head round to the Brunswick Hotel from 7.30pm, entry won’t cost you a thing.
mysteries, and there’ll be bucket loads of both when they bring their new acoustic folk project Broads to the Post Office Hotel. Catch the criminally-minded duo this Friday October 2; they play two free entry sets from 9.30pm.
WITCHSKULL
THE BENDIGO HOTEL
LIZ STRINGER
T H E F LY I N G S AU C E R C L U B
One of Melbourne’s most highly respected songwriters and musicians, Liz Stringer is performing songs from her new album at the Flying Saucer Club this Thursday. Since the release of her first album Soon in 2006, Stringer has carved out a reputation as one of Australia’s most respected and critically acclaimed songwriters and performers. Throughout her nine years of touring, recording and performing, Stringer has graced the stage with acclaimed artists such as Mia Dyson, Ash Grunwald, Jen Cloher and Deborah Conway. Expect an intimate night of smoky vocals and deft guitar playing this Thursday October 1 as Liz Stringer takes over The Flying Saucer Club. Doors open at 6pm, entry is $22 on the door.
MOJO PIN
THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL
Hard as nails quartet Mojo Pin are playing at The Brunswick this Thursday, just before taking their annual three days off for footy festivities. Good mates Arcane Saints, Red Sky Burial and The Stabbing Trade are joining them at the Brunny for some songs and some frothies, might as well invite your good mates round too. Sure to be good times ahead, even if your team isn’t
WHITE FANG
THE JOHN CURTIN
Hailing from the nation that bought themselves such favourites such as Taco Bell, Mount Rushmore and The Simpsons, chunk rockers White Fang are getting ready to grease down at The Curtin this Thursday night. White Fang’s live shows have become a hit with their visual exhibitionism and improvised sets; they are loud, raucous and messy; their self-indulgent grins and gawky charm scream ‘full time freaks’. Thursday’s as good of a night as any to get messy, so why not do it with a taste of US flavour? Catch White Fang at The John Curtin this Thursday October 1 with Mighty Boys and Lazertits lending support. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $17. FRIDAY OCTOBER 2
BROADS
THE POST OFFICE HOTEL
Kelly Day and Jane Hendry, known around Melbourne as members of The Nymphs, have a shared love of face-melting harmonies and murder
Expect a night of rampant blues doom destruction when Witchskull take on the Bendy this Friday. Witchskull formed in early 2014 when old school friends Marcus De Pasquale (Looking Glass) and Joel Green (Armoured Angel) joined forces with Tony McMahon to create something greater than the sum of their parts. More a brotherhood than a band, Witchskull unleash a stripped back, groove driven primal sound that reveals the bones of their rock/metal lineage. Crank some doom into your cranium when Witchskull hit The Bendigo Hotel this Friday October 2. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free.
DIO TRIBUTE SHOW
Whole Lotta Love this Friday October 2. Not ones to show up by themselves, Black Aces have invited five-piece Evol Walks to join them, who have just come back from touring overseas for their debut EP The Other Side. Kiwi pop rockers Honeybone and local hotrods Sudden State round out the night. Burst your eardrums this Friday when Black Aces hit up Whole Lotta Love from 8pm onwards. Entry is $10.
MACE AND THE MOTOR THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL
Queensland rockers Mace and the Motor are leading the charge this Friday October 2 at The Brunswick Hotel, headlining a huge four band bill with local acts Victor Cripes, High Finance and TUSK. Mace and the Motor are in town for just a few nights, touring to support the release of their YEAH ALRIGHT WOW EP, so fans better not pass this up. Catch all four acts this Friday night at The Brunswick Hotel. The tunes start at 8pm with free entry.
CHERRY BAR
Holy Diver, Batman! This Friday, Cherry Bar is hosting a Ronnie James Dio tribute show to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Dio’s first live performance of his album, Holy Diver. Before you’re reliving the memories of the ex-Black Sabbath heavyweight, catch supports Elm Street as they warm you up for the night. Get down in the midnight sea this Friday October 2 at Cherry Bar for the Dio Tribute Show. Doors open at 5pm, entry is $13.
BLACK ACES
W H O L E L O T TA L O V E
Black Aces are reviving the good ol’ days of true blue, riff ’n’roll Aussie rock at
MIKE WATERS
THE WORKER’S CLUB
Local singer/songwriter Mike Waters is heading round the nation to celebrate the release of his single Feels Like Home, and he’s getting things started
Palmerslum
So then, what’s your name and what do you ‘do’ in Palmerslum? I’m Chris Cleveland and I sing and play guitar. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? We try to be really versatile in the way that each song has its own feel. I reckon they might say we are Queens Of The Stone Age-y, a bit Nirvana-y, a bit Sabbath-y. What do you love about making music? Nailing a new song for the first time in the rehearsal room. It’s that initial buzz that gives you a high and you know that the ideas you developed with your band worked. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? I wouldn’t want to do that, because what if I fucked up the space-time continuum and stopped my parents from rooting? But if there was no risk of that, then probably The Stooges. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Modern day Paul McCartney. It's time to stop. Just stop. What’ve you got to sell music-wise? We have a four track EP with some beautiful artwork done by Tim Molloy who also designed our gig poster. We only have a limited number of these as it’s the 21st century, so first in best dressed. PALMERSLUM are launching their debut EP at the Brunswick Hotel on Saturday October 3 with Low Fly Incline, Keggin and This Is A Disaster.
COMING UP THURSDAY 8TH OCTOBER
DIANA MAY CLARK & THE SUNNY SET
+ MADELINE LEMAN
SHOW TIME 8:00PM, NO COVER
TUESDAYS IN SEPTEMBER
FACT HUNT TRIVIA $5 TACOS + $16 JUGS OF THUNDER RD
Hosted by RRR’s Tristen Harris, this is a comfortably dumb trivia for music fans and couch potatoes, no sport, no politics and no book-learnin’. QUIZ FROM 8PM - RESERVATIONS - samanda@spottedmallard.com NO COVER
WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER
SATURDAY 10TH OCTOBER
STEVE POLTZ (USA) DOORS/DINNER 6PM, SHOW TIME 8:30PM
PBS 106.7 FM & MALLARD MOVIES PRESENT:
‘ILLMATIC’ NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC DJ HIPPOPOTAMUS REX DJ’ING FROM 7PM, / INTRO FROM 8:15PM / SCREENING 8:30PM
NO COVER CHARGE
THURSDAY 1ST OCTOBER
JOHN BLAKE
THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER
W/ MAIREAD HURLEY
CHRIS PICKERING
+ LEO RONDEAU (USA)
+ JOE FERGUSON
SHOW TIME 8:30PM, NO COVER
DOORS/DINNER 6PM, SHOW TIME 8:30PM
FRIDAY 2ND OCTOBER
SOUL REVUE
FT. THE STAX BROTHERS
+ DJ ROY
SHOW TIME 9PM, NO COVER CHARGE
SATURDAY 3RD OCTOBER
GRAND FINAL DAY SCREENING THE GAME ON THE BIG SCREEN $5 MELB BITTER
SIZZLING SNAGS & PORKIE PIES OPEN FROM 1PM, NO COVER CHARGE
sunDAY 4TH OCTOBER MATINEE SESSION
TEK TEK ENSEMBLE
PERFORMING 2 X SETS FROM 4:30PM NO COVER CHARGE
$8 Pints Craft Beer
4pm-6pm Daily but Fridays 4pm-7pm KITCHEN HOURS Tues-Fri open 4pm Sat & Sun open 2pm
TICKETS
For ticket sales visit www.spottedmallard.com 314 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 45
MUSIC NEWS
Q&A
YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE
For all the latest news check out beat.com.au the final siren. Catch Grand Final day and a bit of Kim Salmon this Saturday October 3. Doors will be open all day, entry is free.
BROOZER
THE PUBLIC BAR
Public Bar is hosting a beast of a gig this Saturday as Broozer takes to the stage for a ‘thank fuck the footy is over’ show, rocking some fresh material from their new album II. For the night’s sludgy celebrations, Broozer will be joined by Bøg, Merchant and Swigden – things are going to get loud to be sure. Get gritty with Broozer this Saturday October 3 at The Public Bar. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $12.
CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK! M A X WAT T ’ S
French pop punkers Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! are returning to Australian shores for their first headline tour this October, locking in a show at Max Watt’s this Saturday. The band are armed with a solid reputation for shaking the rafters in venues across the world, this Saturday is set to be no exception. Catch Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! this Saturday October 3 when they take to Max Watt’s. Doors open from 7.30pm, entry is $40.
Hotel. Grab a beer and enjoy the game, and if the results get you all riled up, you’re in the right place to calm down with some bluegrass from Melbourne folks The Stetson Family. Covering the span from joyous to heartbreak and lovelorn, The Post Office Hotel is the place to be this Saturday with The Stetson Family. Their set kicks off after the game (round 4.30pm), with free entry. SUNDAY OCTOBER 4
TEX PERKINS & CHARLIE OWEN DING DONG LOUNGE
Tex Perkins and Charlie Owen will be performing as a duo for an intimate show at Ding Dong Lounge on Sunday October 4 for a one-off three-course dinner and show. Tex Perkins has played a key role in Australian music, performing for over 30 years in the national scene in various bands – most recently with his alt-country act The Dark Horses. His companion for the night, Charlie Owen, has performed alongside Perkins in many of those acts, working comfortably as a collaborator for the night. The evening will catered by Girl With The Gris Gris’ Head Chef Chris Weysham, who will serve up a three-course meal to attendees. With less than 70 spaces available, be sure to get tickets early. Grab a bite of what Tex Perkins and Charlie Owen have to offer this Sunday October 4 at Ding Dong Lounge. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets currently available via Ding Dong’s website starting from $105.
KUMIKO SEX BAND THE WORKERS CLUB
SHAMEEM
THORNBURY LOCAL
Socially conscious Perth neo-soul songstress Shameem is travelling across the country for an intimate solo show at the Thornbury Local this Saturday October 3. It’s been a busy 2015 for Shameem; she’s released her new album The Second City, toured nationally, performed in Toronto at Canadian Music Week, scored supports for Michael Bolton and Anthony Callea and has managed to earn nominations for two prestigious song writing awards this year. She’s showing no signs of slowing down, so catch Shameem when she plays the Thornbury Local this Saturday October 3. Doors open at 10pm, entry is free.
CODE ORANGE
THE REVERENCE HOTEL
Pittsburgh hardcore icons Code Orange are heading to the Rev this weekend for two shows bound to cause a breakout in mosh fever. Unconcerned with the direction of other artists, their brand of aggressive hardcore punk merges power, intense dirge, and cryptic melody into their own uniquely-inspired sound. The band released a series of EPs and demos that lead to 2012’s groundbreaking LP, Love Is Love/Return To Dust, which sent them on a worldwide tour in support. Expect a high energy show as Code Orange hit The Reverence Hotel this Saturday October 3. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $30+BF.
THE STETSON FAMILY
THE POST OFFICE HOTEL
It’s the Grand Final Day special this Saturday October 3 at The Post Office
It’s psychedelia central at The Workers Club this Sunday October 4 as Kumiko Sex Band whip out the synths and turn up the volume. The headliners will be taking their synth-provised live act to the stage, featuring support on the night from electro trio Oolluu and glitchmakers Sssst. If you’re looking for some psych this weekend, catch Kumiko Sex Band and friends this Sunday October 4 at The Workers Club. Doors open from 7pm, tickets are $10.
Ensemble is bound by the strict yet simple stipulation of the universal language of danceability. Get ready to chuck an international style boogie when Tek Tek Ensemble play The Spotted Mallard, every Sunday in October. Doors open at 4.30pm, entry is free.
OASIS TRIBUTE SHOW CHERRY BAR
It’s the 20th anniversary of Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? and Cherry Bar are hosting a show to celebrate this Saturday. Released in October 1995, Oasis’ landmark album would go on to sell more than 22 million copies worldwide, and spawned the ever popular Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova. Relive the story of Oasis, this Sunday October 4 down at Cherry Bar. Doors open at 8pm, tickets are $20.
NAKED BODIES THE OLD BAR
Riding strong after the release of their debut LP Piranha earlier this year, Naked Bodies are heading down to The Old Bar for a Sunday residency where they’ll premiere some new material. Expect fire, ice, cannibalism and the view to the top of the mountain as they hit the stage with New Pollution and Bobby Downie. Keep your pants on and go see Naked Bodies every Sunday in October at The Old Bar. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free. MONDAY OCTOBER 5
MONDAY NIGHT MASS
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB
Monday Night Mass sees the band room door thrown open for a free four band festivity from the deepest caverns of Melbourne’s underground. Each week, Northcote Social Club hosts Melbourne’s loudest, brashest and most brazen offerings, and they’re continuing the tradition with this week’s offering of Galaxy Folk, Drongo, Pillow Pro and God Squad. Free entry, $15 parmas and $15 jugs. Get there by 8pm. TUESDAY OCTOBER 6
LOOKING FORWARD KING KAHUNA’S ROCKIN’ KARAOKE
The Luwow Thursday October 8
CRYING SIRENS
Prince Public Bar Friday October 9
WHITE BLEACHES
The John Curtin Friday October 9
LOREN KATE
The Toff In Town Friday October 9
LONG HOLIDAY & TWO HEADED DOG
Yah Yahs Saturday October 10
SUN RISING
Ding Dong Lounge Sunday October 11
A CONCERT FOR DAVID MARAMA AKA MR CLEAN
Howler Sunday October 11
RaRa
Define your genre in five words or less: Hot boi shit. Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? Alt R&B/hip hop with elements of pop future. We listen to a lot of 50 Cent, Daft Punk, NERD, Travi$ Scott, Young Thug, Rae Sremurd, Gorillaz and Justin Bieber. Describe the best gig you have ever played. Supporting De La Soul in December 2014. Tell us about the last song you wrote. Young N Dramatic, which is also the second single off our PLANET2016 EP. It actually just premiered on Pilerats. It’s a little something groovy about being young and dramatic and wanting to get back with your ex-missus, or ex-boy. Where would you like to be in five years? Everyone’s recent search history and eating off rap money. Do you have a pre-gig ritual? If so, what is it? Searching for River Deep in the smoker’s area while we are actually supposed to be on stage, while the lovely me is at the bar sorting out refreshments. Which one of you is the cutest? River Deep, ‘cause he gets grumpy when he’s hungry. But sometimes KL too, because of how cute he is at social media and technology. If your music was a chocolate bar, which one would it be, and why? Pollywaffles ‘cause they’re hot and on the come-up. Plus they were slightly ahead of their time when they dropped. RARA play The Workers Club on Saturday October 3 with Fortunes, Yugen and Trick Dog Syndicate.
LOON LAKE
Corner Hotel Sat October 14
THE HARLOTS
Ding Dong Lounge Wednesday October 14
MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA
Prince Bandroom Friday October 16
THE CHARGE
Whole Lotta Love Bar Saturday October 17
E.S.E.S.E
The Toff In Town Saturday October 17
TIM SCANLAN
THE DRUNKEN POET
A travelling one man band teams up with one of Japan’s greatest percussionists at The Drunken Poet this Sunday. Tim Scanlan has travelled across the world performing original tunes with guitar in hand and harmonica in mouth, as Toshi pours heart and soul into every beat he plays. Catch the immortal duo of Tim Scanlan and Toshi at The Drunken Poet this Sunday October 4. Doors open at 4pm, entry is free.
ALI HUGHES
T H E R E T R E AT H O T E L
Melbourne based singer/songwriter Ali Hughes is taking to The Retreat Hotel this week, gearing up for a laid back set of smooth Tuesday night tunes. Expect a laid back yet moving show with influences of soul, reggae, folk and rock. Recently putting a band together, Ali’s sound is developing and is growing into something special as she readies exciting plans for next year. Catch Ali Hughes this Tuesday October 6 at The Retreat Hotel. Doors open from 7.30pm, entry is free.
TASTE OF INDIE COLLECTIVE
PRINCE PUBLIC BAR
TEK TEK ENSEMBLE
THE SPOT TED MALLARD
Come down to The Spotted Mallard this Sunday when Tek Tek Ensemble throw together a hybrid set of world music for your inquisitive ears. Describing their repertoire as encyclopaedic, the
Taste of Indie Collective is back this Tuesday at Prince Public Bar, tonight featuring an all female singer/songwriter session for curious attendees. On the bill tonight features the songwriting talents of Lissa Jane, Sarah Cowen and Nat Allison as they gather on stage to tell stories, sing songs and have a chuckle or two in this Nashville style showcase. Come grab a taste of talent this Tuesday October 6 with Taste of Indie Collective. Doors open at 7.30pm and entry is free.
ROB SNARSKI & SHANE O’MARA
The Spotted Mallard Friday October 16
BYRNE & KELLY
Cellar Bar Monday October 19
JAI WOLF
Howler Thursday October 22
DRUNK MUMS
Howler Saturday October 24
WANT YOUR GIG LISTED IN MUSIC NEWS? EMAIL A PIC AND SHORT BLURB ABOUT THE GIG TO music@beat.com.au
DAN PARSONS
Shadow Electric Saturday October 24
PONY FACE PRESENT NEBRASKA
Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre Wednesday October 28
PULLED APART BY HORSES
Ding Dong Lounge October 30, 31
WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 47
LIVE
REPORTS FROM THE FRONT ROW
For more reviews go to beat.com.au/reviews LOS CORONAS Cherry Bar, Friday September 25
MEG MAC The Corner Hotel, Saturday September 26
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
To say Meg Mac has a solid fanbase would be an understatement. The first of four consecutive sold-out shows at the Corner, Meg Mac fans were lady-buns in black jeans, fellas in daggy jumpers, loved-up couples, and a handful of heeled ladies who weren’t too cool to rock up early and cheer on the opening acts. A strong girl power vibe hung in the air like a secondary smoke machine, enhanced by the selection of female support acts. Wilsn opened the night donning a leather jacket and singing immaculate blues-styled folk, which had the crowd swaying and gave couples the chance to snuggle up even closer. Sophie Lowe was next, with a smooth voice pouring through the venue. It was Lowe’s first time performing in Melbourne and she was beautiful to watch; songs like Breathe, Crazy, At Least I Try and Pink Flowers were matched by sultry dancing. Her cover of Robyn’s With Every Heartbeat was a crowd favourite. At exactly 11pm, the red drapes were pulled aside and Meg Mac emerged like a goth queen in a sequined cape, enveloped in ethereal yellow light. She opened with the harmonious Be My Friend, which fans responded to with maniacal cheering. Mac’s powerful voice and vocal range was astounding. It’s hard to believe that such soul could come from a 25-year-old Melbourne
singer. There was such substance to Mac’s vocals that made your heart sting. Along with the amazing vocals, Mac’s stagepresence was captivating. She owned the stage and the crowd reacted positively, clapping along to her first single Known Better. Favourites such as Grandma’s Hands and Roll up Your Sleeve incited passionate sing-alongs – the two teens in front of me mimed the song to one another with no shame. Sadly after a 60-minute set Mac swung her sequin cape behind her and left the stage. She briefly returned for an encore of her Like a Version cover of Broods’ Bridges, but it wasn’t enough to feel completely sated. BY SHANNON MCKEOGH
My girlfriend’s not going to like this, but I’m in love with another woman: Erykah ‘The Duchess’ Dunville from the Steve Miller Band. There was a psychoactive quirk to her guitar work, and an unsettling junkyard quality to her voice that was oddly satisfying. When covering Bo Diddley, she asked Who Do You Love? I think you know, Erykah. Frontman ‘Handsome’ Steve Miller and drummer Phoebe ‘The Shewolf ’ Taylor weren’t bad either. Formerly of the post punk band the Moodists, Handsome Steve had a slightly psychotic but serene look in his eyes. You weren’t sure if he was going to freak out or take you out for a nice counter meal. The Shewolf had an equally unnerving look, and with mallets in hand she was a formidable force. Next thing you knew, Los Coronas appeared on stage like an apparition in the desert. The four Spaniards, joined by a Ukrainian trumpeter, had Stetsons on and guns drawn ready for an old-fashioned shoot out. The bass in particular leered from the small stage, as intimidating as the coffin-hidden machine gun in Sergio Corbucci’s Spaghetti Western classic, Django. Back in Oz for their third year running, it seems they’ve acquired a taste for the land Down Under. Australia has definitely acquired a taste for their instrumental surf rock, which is just downright fun. They’re a bit cheesy, but that’s what’s good about them. Photo by Ian Laidlaw
LOVED: The girl power vibe. HATED: The long gaps between acts. DRANK: Just a house red please.
DMA’S Howler, Friday September 25 Sydney-based outfit, DMA’s have finally returned from abroad to play a string of shows around Australia. After the release of their self-tilted EP in early 2014, the Britpop-inspired unit swiftly won the hearts of Australian crowds. Throughout a five-month jaunt the three-piece seem to have also made quite the impression overseas, proving their casually cool, slightly edgy demeanour is one that immediately intrigues audiences. Appearing onstage sporting their iconic bucket hats and caps, racing jackets and polo shirts, the band made a statement before even striking a chord. With a beer in one hand and a tambourine in the other, lead singer Tommy O’Dell seamlessly delivered songs such as The Plan and Play It Out. Joining the trio was an additional three members, bringing the guitar count to four, creating a thick, dynamic layer of sound as acoustic and electric instruments fused together. Partway through the show, DMA’s introduced their brand new single, Lay Down, which is set to feature on their highly anticipated debut full-length. Not surprisingly, a sense of excitement and curiosity took over the crowd, followed by a roar of applause. The atmosphere in the room was now electric and it was time for DMA’s to take us back to where it all began. As the auxiliary band members left the stage, BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 48
so did the bells and whistles. The core trio remained on stage with only their voices and an acoustic guitar to rely on. O’Dell and guitarists Matty Mason and Johnny Took proceeded to play the stripped back fan favourites So We Know and, of course, Delete. As the full band reemerged to complete the latter, the atmosphere lifted even higher and we were reminded of the sheer power behind a rock ballad. DMA’s proved they know how to connect with an audience, a sign of true showmanship. BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
LOVED: Matt Mason’s staunch attitude. HATED: That it had to end. DRANK: Tequila. WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV
The set mixed up originals and songs inspired by classics with a few covers. Johnny Rivers’ Secret Agent Man got a workout, along with Knights of Telstar, their rendition of Muse’s Knights of Cydonia, and Rockaway Surfers, a nod to The Ramones’ Rockaway Beach. They naturally closed with Dick Dale’s Miserlou, held together by iconic sliding scales and emphatic shouts. At this point something in me, something that Pulp Fiction ignited years ago, let loose.
BY LEE SPENCER-MICHAELSEN
LOVED: The Duchess. HATED: Getting cut off from the jukebox. DRANK: Jamo and coke.
THIS WEEK AT
ALBUM
OF THE
WEEK
PBS FM TOP TEN
T H U R S D AY 1 S T O C T O B E R
1. It’s Not Me, It’s You THE MEANIES 2. Oh The Gold AINSLIE WILLS 3. Dornik DORNIK 4. Black Light JOHN MCLAUGHLIN 5. Entertainment = Control ANTHONY PATERAS/ERKKI VELTHEIM 6. Blow My House Down HANNAH CAMERON 7. III SAINT JUDE 8. Underpass ASDASFR BAWD 9. Book of Souls IRON MAIDEN 10. The Night Creeper NEW UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS
MAIN BAR FROM 8:30PM
ECCA VANDAL DARTS THE OWLS
DJ’S SPINNING IN THE BEER GARDEN FROM 7PM F R I D AY 2 N D O C T O B E R MAIN BAR FROM 8:30PM
DIALECTRIX
HEARTLAND RECORDS TOP TEN
PEEZO DJ HI-JACK
1. Five Years BOX SET DAVID BOWIE 2. Honeymoon LP LANA DEL REY 3. Music Complete LP NEW ORDER 4. Rattle That Lock LP DAVE GILMOUR 5. Berkana LP GOLDEN VOID 6. Abyss LP CHELSEA WOLFE 7. Craving To Eternal LP COFFINS 8. The Hunter RED VINYL LP MASTODON 9. Brace The Wave LP LOU BARLOW 10. Where The City LP NOEL GALLAGHER
DJ’S
TOM SHOWTIME / D’FRO / HI-JACK S AT U R D AY 3 R D O C T O B E R MAIN BAR FROM 8:30PM
THE KITE MACHINE
DRUNK MUMS Gone Troppo (Pissfart Records)
PLASTIC DJ’S
OBLIVEUS / LOBB / NO NAME NATH
GRAND FINAL BROADCAST LIVE THROUGHOUT THE VENUE SUNDAY 4 T H O C T O B E R
SUNDAY BEST DJ’S
TOM SHOWTIME, AGENT 86 & MAARS
+ $10 ROAST & $15 JUGS M O N D AY 5 T H O C T O B E R
$10 LONGNECKS $4 PIZZA & FREE POOL T U E S D AY 6 T H O C T O B E R
FREE MOVIE NIGHT: SHREK 2
FREE Popcorn + Candy Bar purchases available. 8PM
WEEKLY FOOD SPECIALS
SUNDAY - $10 ROAST MONDAY - $10 STEAK TUESDAY - $10 CURRY WEDNESDAY - $10 BURGER THURSDAY - $10 PARMA $4 PIZZAS MON-FRI 12PM TO 5PM
ALWAYS FREE ENTRY INSIDE & OUTSIDE
420 SYDNEY RD, BRUNSWICK (03) 9380 8667, INFO@THEPENNYBLACK.COM FACEBOOK.COM/THEPENNYBLACK.420SYDNEYROAD @THEPENNYBLACK THE_PENNYBLACK
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 50
TOP TENS
This is a fucking great album, and that’s not just because Drunk Mums arrived at a punk rock band name that’d make Jello Biafra quiver with demented excitement, or that the title of the album is suggestive of a group of kids that have lost the plot and stumbled off into the proverbial jungle, unable to cope with the strictures of modern society. It’s a good fucking record because of the 14 razor sharp garage punk tracks that swagger, sneer and metaphorically piss all over pallid contemporary offerings. It’s because Stinnys’ Brain has the best laconic garage riff since Eddy Current Suppression Ring fused The Kinks with Devo; listen to the track devolve into harmony-laden scuzzville and it’s even better. It’s because Pub On My Own has the cocky swagger and deceptive simplicity of Brian Jonestown Massacre, A-Gain is a freakish journey through rock’n’roll time and space and emotional confusion, and Girls on Their Sides sways reverentially on the grave of Link Wray’s Rumble.
But it’s even more than that. On a subject matter level, it’s because tracks like the amphetamine-laced Nanganator, the proto-sludge and scream of Pretty Shitty, the pop’n’garage Piss the Bed, and the dirty pub rock of Vitamin D chuck polite social discourse out the window and shine a boozing, boorish rock’n’roll light on the inanity and personal frustrations of modern existence. And it’s because Dirty Birmy reminds us of the colourful, if fading memories of the troubled Birmingham Hotel (and the now departed Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda), Plastic has the laddish sensibility of Dave Edmunds on a lager frenzy, and Not Here to Talk is an angry, cathartic, middle-fingered salute to diplomacy. Whichever way you want to look at it, this is a shit hot album, and you might not hear a better garage punk record all year. PATRICK EMERY
SINGLES
BY LACHLAN
Submitting this column before the Brownlow so I’ll just hazard a guess as to the winner: congratulations to me, music writer Lachlan Kanoniuk, for winning the 2015 Brownlow Medal. Well deserved. SIA Alive (Monkey Puzzle) Once you get past the brief intro that kind of sounds a bit like Rae Sremmurd’s No Type, Sia turns into a sheer force of nature, as is her wont, kicking it up from notch to notch just when you think there ain’t no more notches to notch. Sia is unstoppable. FUNKADELIC FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You? (Louie Vega Remix) (C Kunspyruhzy) Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You? gets a more dancefloor-ready edit from Louie Vega with guest bars from Kendrick Lamar. The result is one hell of a jam, strong enough to make Uncle Jam himself proud. It’s yet another indication that P-Funk are powering up the
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Mothership to levels not seen since their freakout ‘70s peak. George Clinton has kicked the crack, ditched the rainbow wig, fixed up looked sharp, and making some of the best music of his career. KYLIE AULDIST Sensational (Independent) Soaring over some seriously tight liquid licks, Kylie Auldist channels ‘80s soul-funk to a tee on the plucky Sensational, influences treated in a loving homage, done right. Close your eyes and you’ll see mirror balls. Taken from an upcoming album due to drop early 2016. SAM SMITH Writing’s On The Wall (Universal) The latest Bond theme exhibits a resounding performance, but it all feels incidental in its lack of character. It should be a simple
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equation, give the world’s hottest vocalist (Sam Smith fits the bill) a bombastic tune belting out the film name in the chorus. But Writing’s On The Wall fucks it up there, and we’re left with one of the more forgettable Bond themes – especially contrasted with Adele’s triumph, Skyfall. POPE FRANCIS Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward! (Believe Digital) So the heaps prog Pope celebrated his US tour by dropping an album full of fucking gnarly prog rock, but the fact he didn’t run with EDM bangers proves the Vatican is still out of touch with what the kids want. But maybe the chosen genre could lead to an announcement for Soundwave 2016, then presumably a falling out would see AJ Maddah call the Pope a cunt on Twitter.
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All I Wanna Say (Partisan) Everything about New Zealand singer-producer feels rich with genuine emotion, a realness that feels effortless, each tone, melody, breath a raindrop of melancholy which turns to flood. Trademark Casiotone elements till remain, now embellished with lush strings, crisp percussive knocks. The subtlety is remarkable. All I Wanna Say washes over with a sensation like no other. This is such a privilege.
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RECORD PARADISE TOP TEN
1. B’lieve I’m Goin Down.... KURT VILE 2. No No No BEIRUT 3. It’s Not Me, It’s You THE MEANIES 4. Illegals In Heaven BLANK REALM 5. Dodge And Burn THE DEAD WEATHER 6. High ROYAL HEADACHE 7. Ones And Sixes LOW 8. Depression Cherry BEACH HOUSE 9. Japanese Wallpaper JAPANESE WALLPAPER 10. La Di Da Di BATTLES
AIR TOP TEN SINGLES
1. Searchlight HERMITUDE FEAT. YEO 2. My Love SIA 3. Elastic Heart SIA 4. Never Be MEG MAC 5. Chandelier SIA 6. The Buzz HERMITUDE FEAT. MATAYA & YOUNG TAPZ 7. Roll Up Your Sleeves MEG MAC 8. Big Girls Cry SIA 9. Geronimo SHEPPARD 10. Deception Bay BOO SEEKA
BEAT’S TOP TEN WILD SONGS 1. Walk On The Wild Side LOU REED 2. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud DAVID BOWIE 4. Wild Wild Life TALKING HEADS 5. Born To Be Wild STEPPENWOLF 6. Wild Horses THE ROLLING STONES 7. Wildcat RATATAT 8. Wildest Moments JESSIE WARE 9. No Church In The Wild KANYE WEST & JAY Z 10. Wild Thing THE TROGGS
VOTE NOW TO DECIDE THIS YEAR’S WINNER OF MELBOURNE MUSIC BANK - Head to bankofmelbourne.com.au/melbmusicbank
ALBUMS New music in review this week - For more reviews go to beat.com.au/reviews
BEIRUT
BANOFFEE
No No No
PIERCE BROTHERS
Do I Make You Nervous
(4AD/Remote Control)
Into the Dirt
(Dot Dash/Remote Control)
(Warner Music Australia) The lead single and album name for the new Beirut recording is resolutely negative. A cursory listen to the music suggests bandleader Zach Condon is saying a wary ‘no’ to incorporating too many elements into the mix. Beirut’s fourth studio album follows a period of creative and mental exhaustion, not to mention a divorce. Though, the result isn’t particularly desolate, nor does it wallow in lyrical sadness – the most explicit reference to Condon’s downward spiral is the actually rather perky Perth. Instead, the band applies a simplified, stocktaking approach to their sound. The instrumentation is slight, at times even skeletal, and there are some interesting, though sometimes awkward, spaces in between the sounds. The Balkan horns, once considered a core part of Beirut’s music, make the occasional appearance. This new approach makes for a focused but slight nine-track album. The bold, clean lines initially hold attention, but you’re left feeling a little shortchanged in the long run. It’s a brave stripping back, but after kicking off with its two biggest charmers (Gibraltar and the title track), the album is dominated by half-cooked compositions. No No No sounds like a placeholder in the Beirut catalogue, a transitional point that will hopefully lead to somewhere more positive and affirmative for Condon. BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Mellifluous and jagged, considered and expertly produced, this is Melbourne songstress Banoffee’s latest extended play offering, Do I Make You Nervous? The production of long time collaborator and close friend Oscar Key Sung is notable from the very first beat of opening track, With Her. His unique glitchy-but-harmonious electronica suits Banoffee’s steez perfectly. When the rhythmic, layered bass kicks in, the experience is ascendant. While, next to a bleak break-beat, Banoffee croons, “Every time I hear your voice on the phone/ You were with her.” Heavy stuff. That’s not to say the EP doesn’t pick up. The mood definitely lightens towards the end, with Fall Fast. However, it comes off a little contrived, like a Regina Spektor reimagining. That said, it’s still pretty swish. The whole concept is a bit different from last year’s self-titled effort. If you’re looking for the sweetness of Ninja, or the beautiful round Australian vowels she once flexed, there’s not a lot of that on Do I Make You Nervous? Track three, Oceans, makes the progression from last year’s release obvious. It’s a little more reminiscent of the Banoffee we’re all familiar with, but the instrumentation is far and beyond what we’ve heard before, and becomes increasingly complex. To surmise, Banoffee’s going to be the next big thing. She’s already been on the cover of Vogue and taken out some titles at the Music Victoria Awards, and if you listen to this EP you’ll understand why – whether it’s your cup of tea or not.
For months my friends have been urging me to listen the Pierce Brothers, and as soon as I heard their latest single Overdose I was converted. Just two guys making sweet as pop gems, it’s a pretty basic set-up. But if something’s working, why change the formula? Combining drums, electric guitar and rollicking piano, it’s a wonder I haven’t been won over by these boys sooner. Produced by Jan Skubiszewski (who has worked with the likes of John Butler, Dan Sultan and Daniel Merriweather), Into the Dirt is likely to catapult these Melbourne twins into the big time. Throughout, the brutal honesty and heartfelt songwriting will captivate long time fans and first time listeners. Overdose is a radio friendly track that makes the perfect EP opener. Track two, Mama Please, breaks the boundaries of pop convention to create something else entirely. Black Dog tells the story of a childhood pet, and the simplistic lyrics combine with lush instrumentation to ensure your foot starts a-tapping. Two live tracks, recorded in Amsterdam, round out the EP, which demonstrates the level of success the Pierce Brothers have risen to over the past couple of years. Into The Dirt is set to bring a smile to your face and compel you to purchase all of their music and tickets to their next gig. BY TEX MILLER
BY NAVARONE FARRELL
ADELAIDE CROWS
MEAT WAVE
GARBAGE
Delusion Moon
Garbage (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
(Side One Dummy/Cooking Vinyl)
Strained Conversations (Independent)
(Liberator Music/STUNVOLUME)
“Why don’t you barrack for the Crows?” It was an indignant rebuke masquerading as a question of football allegiance, delivered in the late-1990s by an old Adelaide friend whom I’d not seen since leaving high school and decade earlier, and provoked by my declaration that I didn’t support the first AFL team to come from the city of my birth. “I don’t like their style of play, their jumper sucks, plus, blind parochialism really shits me,” was my defiant response. At that point it was, not surprisingly, a very strained conversation. But had it been now, I would’ve said I did like the Adelaide Crows – the Melbourne-based band, not the footy team (recent tragedy notwithstanding) – and that band’s new EP, Strained Conversations. In the opening track, Little Heart, Twerps meet The Pogues in a Brunswick share house; New Start strolls laconically around the streets to the groove of The Go-Betweens, trying to shed the skin of suffocating routine in the search for cerebral inspiration. On Strange Days, things pick up a gear, and there’s a sense of urgency – shit might be getting weirder, so let’s chuck The Smallgoods on the stereo and go with the flow. Young and Free is equal parts anthemic and ironic, laced with a chugging riff The Hummingbirds would be proud of. Fittingly, the EP ends with The End, a marriage of harmony, melody and suburban fatalism that arrests your depressive slide and transforms it into excitement for whatever lies around life’s blind corners. It’s nothing at all like The Doors’ Oedipal rant, but it does remind you that when any door closes, another opens. And for the Adelaide Crows, all those doors reveal great songs. BY PATRICK EMERY
From a band called Meat Wave, you’d expect their latest offering, Delusion Moon, to be a rollicking ride through the obscene and obscure. However, it’s more a triumphant display of what not to do on a punk record. Meat Wave sound like The Cramps got together with a nascent version of The Horrors and had a baby. That baby then fell in love with FIDLAR and this is their lovechild. The problem is, this child thinks it’s far more talented than it is. First up, the title track sounds like the opening number on a ‘90s pop punk album. You anticipate things are about to get real deep, but they don’t. Most of the lyrics are techno-centric, especially on track two, Network, which explores the foibles of the modern world. This thematic focus really takes way from music’s transcendental aspect and returns you to the here and now. The chorus of Witchcraft, “I never meant to throw your computer out the window,” sounds ultimately insincere, as singer Chris Sutter doesn’t sound like he’d have the ferocity or the gumption to throw someone’s computer out the window. Sham King is a rare shining moment on an otherwise aggressively mediocre release, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. I Was Wrong also offers something a little different, with a blast of up-and-down noise to bounce your head off a wall. But that’s as good as it gets. This kind of garage rock/punk hybrid needs to be sincere, which is why The Orwells have killed it and why FIDLAR are going gangbusters. By contrast, Meat Wave come off as a bunch of clean-cut white boys trying to be weird and out there. I’m not buying it. Though, this record may possibly be better after a case of beer. BY NAVARONE FARRELL
Emerging in 1995, Garbage were one of the defining bands of the post-grunge era. With their mix of electronic, rock and pop, they paved the way for a mainstream remodelling of grunge. It’s now time to raise a long neck to mark 20 years since the release of the American-Scottish outfit’s self-titled debut album. This 20th anniversary double album reissue is a testament to the original’s incredible successes: it sold over four million copies worldwide and was nominated for various Grammy Awards, as well as spending more than a year on both the US and UK charts. Remastered and digitally enhanced from the original analogue tapes, revisiting the classic hits makes you feel like putting on a pair of Doc Martins and drinking Jim Beam straight from the bottle. Garbage’s electro-rock sounds are melancholic, bold and defiant. As Heaven is Wide has metallic riffs and husky lyrics to encourage conversations of existentialism, while Not My Idea reminds us of Garbage’s talent for encouraging individualism. The teens of the ‘90s will remember these lyrics ringing through their ears like a protest chant: “This is not my idea/ Of a good time.” Though, the standouts are still the more upbeat popular tracks, Stupid Girl and Only Happy When it Rains. Despite the elapsed 20 years, they’ll take you back to an era of purple lipstick, where goths didn’t mind having a dance. Diehard Garbage fans will appreciate the second disc, which features nine previously unreleased tracks, giving you a total of 80 minutes’ quality time with the band’s powerful frontwoman Shirley Mason. The album’s release coincides with a world tour, so it’s worth having a listen to rekindle your love affair with a band once described as the musical equivalent to Jackson Pollock. BY SHANNON MCKEOGH
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 51
GIG GUIDE
WHAT'S ON AROUND MELBOURNE THIS WEEK
For all the latest gigs check out beat.com.au
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
• BIG EASY SOUL SESSIONS Carlton Club, Melbourne
• A LOTTA BIT TOPSY TURVY - FEAT:
Cbd. 8:00pm.
• BOPSTRETCH Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• DIZZY’S BIG BAND WITH PETER HEARNE Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
• LA BUSCA LEONA Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.
• LUKE HOWARD TRIO Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20.00.
• STANDING TALL 303, Northcote. 8:00pm.
• THE ROOKIES The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • ANDY BULL + PETTY CRIMES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm. $30.00.
• BAT COUNTRY + BY CHERYL + CAREER ADVICE Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $5.00.
TRENDYFRIENDS CREW Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm.
• EN GARDE! + JAMES SHERLOCK + SHENTON
GREGORY + GERARD MAPSTONE The Shadow Electric, Abbotsford. 8:00pm. $20.00.
• GIANNI MARINUCCI NONET + EMMA GILLMARTIN Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
• IAKI VALLEJO QUARTET Vamos, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $90.00.
• JOHN BLAKE + MAIREAD HURLEY + JOE
FERGUSON Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 6:00pm. $15.00. • JOSH KELLY TRIO Lustre Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
• MELBOURNE IMPROVISERS COLLECTIVE Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• EMERGENZA BATTLE OF THE BANDS 24 Moons,
• MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - FEAT: PREQUEL + EDD
• KINGSWOOD Grand Hotel Mornington, Mornington.
• PIANISTIC AUSTRALIANA - FEAT: SIR ZELMAN
Northcote. 7:00pm.
7:30pm. $25.00.
• MISS MISS + POWERNAP + BEN’S CUBBY Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm. $6.00.
• OPEN MIC + HOSTED BY MARK GARDNER Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 6:00pm.
• REEL BIG FISH & LESS THAN JAKE + THE BENNIES Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 7:30pm. $62.35.
• SLOWLY SLOWLY + THE MARY GOLDSMITHS +
SWEET GOLD Old Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $5.00.
• SNEAKY PATS + LITTLE SHOCK + PETIRICHORA +
PYM PARTICLE Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. • TETRAHEDRA + PLAYWRITE + THE DO YO THANGS + LEWIS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $5.00. ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • ALISTER TURRILL & THE VAGABOND BROTHERS +
RACH BRENNAN Workers Club, Geelong. 8:00pm. $6.00. • BAHAMAS + FRASER A GORMAN Howler, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $40.00.
• HUGO RACE & THE TRUE SPIRIT + ALEX LASHLIE
+ JENNIFER KINGWELL Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $16.00.
• JAMES PASINIS Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:30pm.
• MELBOURNE UKULELE KOLLECTIVE BEGINNER’S
CLASS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 6:00pm.
• OPEN MIC Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 9:00pm.
• OPEN MIC NIGHT Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm.
• OPEN MIC NIGHT Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm. • PETE EWING Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
• PIERCE BROTHERS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
• RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE - FEAT: JOEY ELBOWS The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• THE SING-A-LONG SOCIETY - FEAT: REBECCA
BARNARD & BILLY MILLER St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 7:00pm. $15.00.
• THE STRAGGLERS + JOSH SEYMOUR Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.
• WINE WHISKEY WOMEN - FEAT: BABY BLUE +
AMARINA WATERS Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.
GIG OF THE WEEK!
FISHER Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm.
COWAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm. $5.00.
• SCHEHERAZADE - FEAT: JAKUB HRŠA + VIVIANE
CHOPPED FESTIVAL
Allow us to let you in on a little secret: Chopped is one of the coolest goddamn festivals in Victoria. Period. Now in its eighth year, Chopped is an ultimate one-of-a-kind festival experience; a throwback to the Hop Up Carnivals of the ‘50s/’60s, which combines sweet tunes with hundreds of sexy-as-fuck pre-’65 style hot rods, choppers, bobbers and OMB trucks. You can watch vicious dirt drags on vintage speedways, motorbike stuntmen jumping through rings of fire – you get the drift. Oh, and let’s not forget the music, hey? The immense lineup for the 2015 event features the likes of C.W. Stoneking, Batpiss, White Fang, Jackson Firebird, Fireballs, Steve Smyth, Mammoth Mammoth, The Fumes, The Rechords, Double Black, The Pretty Littles, Los Tones, The Cherry Dolls, Shifting Sands, The Yard Apes, Pheasant Pluckers, James Grim Woodcutters, The Mary Goldsmiths, The Persian Drugs, Mightiest Of Guns and No Class. The monstrosity that is Chopped goes down from Friday October 2 until Sunday October 4 in Newstead, Victoria. Whether it be raining, hailing or shining, you can guarantee those engines will be revving.
HAGNER Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:00pm. $25.00.
• SUGAR FED LEOPARDS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. • TAMANDUA The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:00pm.
• THE GOOD EGG THURSDAYS - FEAT: HENRY WHO
+ TIGERFUNK + LEWIS CANCUT Lucky Coq, Windsor.
7:00pm.
• THE SWEETHEARTS + DJ VINCE PEACH + DJ
PIERRE BARONI Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10.00.
• THE VIBRAPHONIC ORKESTRA + ARTHUR PENN
& THE FUNKY 10 + ISAAC CHAMBERS + DUB PRINCESS Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. • YEAH YEAH + NOEL BROWN Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • ANIMAUX Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
• ARTIST PROOF + BEAUTIFUL BEASTS + THE LOVE
DOGS Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. • AS IT IS + WITH CONFIDENCE + BREAKAWAY + MAEFIRE Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $25.00. • BAPTISM OF UZI + THE COCKLES + SCRUB WRENS + NICK JOHNSTON Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm. $8.00.
• BODYJAR + CLOWNS + PAGAN Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. $28.00.
• BYO VINYL NIGHT Fox Hotel, Collingwood. 7:30pm. • DARDEE BALAGAMDAIL (YALKA DAYAN
INDIGENOUS WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN) Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 10:00am. $20.00.
• DEAF WISH (FAREWELL SHOW) + DRUG SWEAT +
STATIONS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00. • DON FERNANDO + THE UGLY KINGS + TWO HEADED + FIELD Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $12.00. • ECCA VANDAL + DARTS + THE OWLS Penny Black, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• FLOWERTRUCK (DIRT TOUR) Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd.
7:30pm. $10.00.
• GORILLA BISCUITS + HITLIST + DAYBREAK Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm.
• LAST DINOSAURS + PALMS + THE JENSENS Corner Hotel, Richmond. 7:30pm.
• LAST DINOSAURS (U18) + PALMS + THE JENSENS Corner Hotel, Richmond. 2:00pm. $35.00.
• LEPERS & CROOKS + SCRIMSHAW FOUR + RIVAL
FIRE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10.00. • LIZ STRINGER + GRETTA RAY Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 8:40pm. $20.00.
• MOJO PIN + THE ARCANE SAINTS + RED SKY
BURIAL + THE STABBING TRADE Brunswick Hotel,
Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• MORBID ANAL + MANGIA + GRUDGE + DRAIN LIFE Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm. $8.00.
• LIME & STEEL + THE STRAY HENS Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:30pm.
• MAT MCHUGH + TASH SULTANA Karova Lounge, Ballarat. 8:30pm. $25.00.
• MORNING MELODIES - FEAT: ALEX MATTHEWS:
VARIETY Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 10:00am.
$17.00.
• OPEN MIC NIGHT Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. • OPEN MIC NITE Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 7:30pm.
• RON S PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
• SEB MONT Big Mouth, St Kilda. 7:00pm.
• SIMON BURKE’S MELTDOWN MINI 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.
• PEGASUS + SABOTAGE + AL SNAKEY Musicland,
• THE RAILWAY GANG STRING BAND Railway Hotel,
• PLASTIC - FEAT: STORM THE SKY + OUR GREAT
• VANISHING SHAPES Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.
Fawkner. 7:30pm. $15.00.
WAR + ALONG SHORELINES + THE BEAUTIFUL MONUMENT Colonial Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00.
• PLASTIC - FEAT: ANTAGONIST AD + AGRESSOR +
REACTIONS + THE EVERCOLD Royal Melbourne Hotel,
Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00.
• REEL BIG FISH & LESS THAN JAKE + THE BENNIES Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 7:30pm.
• ROCK-A-BYE BABY MUSIC SESSIONS - FEAT:
EMPAT LIMA Fitzroy Town Hall, Fitzroy. 11:00am. $5.00. • ROCKAPALOOZA (A TRIBUTE TO PEARL JAM RHCP & FAITH NO MORE) - FEAT: THE PEARL JAM EXPERIENCE + FUNKY MONKS (RHCP TRIBUTE) + THE AUSTRALIAN FAITH NO MORE SHOW Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights. 7:30pm. $30.00.
• SHOWCASE NIGHTS Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm. • SHRIMPWITCH The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• SKEGSS + WOD + GONZO Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $10.00.
• SKINPIN + GLEN AND THE PEANUT BUTTER MEN +
STRAWBERRY FIST CAKE + WING ATTACK PLAN R + ROGUES Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. • THE STIFFYS Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. • WHITE FANG + MIGHTY BOYS + LAZERTITS + GOING SWIMMING John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. $15.00.
• YOU AM I + FRASER A GORMAN + BAHAMAS The Croxton, Thornbury. 8:00pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • ADRIEN SIBOULET & BAND The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
Fitzroy North. 8:30pm.
• WHOLE LOTTA BLUES - FEAT: DOUBLESHOT BLUES
BAND + SOUTHBOUND SNAKE CHARMERS Whole
Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 7:00pm.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 2
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • CLAVEMANIA Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00.
• DJ FUNK MCRUMP The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. • DJ VINCE PEACH Littlefoot Bar, Footscray. 8:00pm. • FLOYD THURSBY & ELZA (CHANSONS
FRANÇAISES ET AUSTRALIENNES!) - FEAT: FLOYD THURSBY & ELZA: CHANSONS FRANÇAISES ET AUSTRALIENNES! Open Studio, Northcote. 6:00pm. • JAM THE FUNK Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 8:40pm. $18.00.
• JOSH CASHMAN Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
• MAX TEAKLE Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 5:30pm.
• MAY JOHNSTON + ROGER CLARK QUARTET Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
• PILOT Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20.00. • QUARTER STREET ORCHESTRA Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm.
• REIMAGINING PEGGY LEE - FEAT: WATSON/LIOW Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 6:30pm. $20.00.
• SCHEHERAZADE - FEAT: JAKUB HRŠA + VIVIANE
HAGNER Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:00pm. $25.00.
• SLEAZY LISTENING - FEAT: STEELE BONUS + ARKS
+ RICHARD KELLY + HYSTERIC + K HOOP Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm.
• BACKSTAGE BLUES NIGHT - FEAT: ISAIAH B BRUNT
• SOUL REVUE - FEAT: THE STAX BROTHERS + DJ
+ THE SHAKE SHACK BOOGIE HOUSE BAND + DJ BARRY MAXWELL Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. $10.00. • BEN ROGERS’ INSTRUMENTAL ASYLUM Lyrebird
• STEVE MAGNUSSON QUARTET Uptown Jazz Cafe,
Lounge, Ripponlea. 8:30pm.
• BEN SALTER Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 8:00pm.
• DAN LETHBRIDGE & THE CAMPAIGNERS Basement Discs, Melbourne Cbd. 12:45pm.
• JOSHUA VUOCOLO + CAZZOLINE + KIERAN LARKEY
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 52
Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm.
• KING WOLF Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm.
WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV
ROY Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 9:00pm. Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• THE JAZZ COL-LECTIVE Vamos, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $10.00.
• TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SESSION Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 6:00pm.
• WHAT THE FUNK FRIDAYS Purple Emerald, Northcote. 9:00pm.
REEL BIG FISH + LESS THAN JAKE
WHITE FANG
While everyone has been banging on about whether Chris Brown is going to make it into the country, those wild fuckers over at White Fang managed to make it through Aussie customs undetected. How the fuck they managed that is beyond us, but hey, we’re not down with asking too many questions. Now we get to see Burger Records’ bongrats take over the John Curtin bandroom on Thursday October 1, with Mighty Boys, Lazertits and Going Swimming. INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • AS IT IS (ALL AGES) + WITH CONFIDENCE + SET
THE SCORE + SOMETHING TO RESCUE Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 1:00pm. $25.00.
• BLACK ACES + EVOL WALKS + SUDDEN STATE +
HONEYBONE Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm. $10.00.
BAHAMAS
A Finnish-Canadian making music under the name Bahamas, sounds like the beginning of a racist joke. Afie Jurvanen has been making music for almost a decade now, and his charming songs of sunsets, love affairs and making out have helped form a dedicated fan base. Catch his set at Howler this Wednesday and you’ll be the next to join the legion. Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • LIME & STEEL + THE STRAY HENS Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 9:00pm.
• BLUE EYES CRY Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:30pm. • BLUES ASSEMBLY The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:00pm.
Its ska city bitch at The Prince Bandroom this Friday night. Genre giants Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake have come all the way down from the states to be here, so let’s show them a fucking good time. The Bennies are coming down all the way from, like, St Kilda or something, too. Less impressive, sure, but show them a good time anyway. Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake play the Prince Bandroom Wednesday September 30 and again on Thursday October 1. • AIRWAY LANES GRAND FINAL SPECTACULAR Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 6:00pm.
• BANG - FEAT: SENTINEL + ARKIVE + EARTHENDER Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
• BELOVED ELK + KT SPIT + DENIM OWL + CREEKS +
PHILLIPA OMEGA + SOFT RUBBISH Old Bar, Fitzroy. 6:30pm. $15.00.
• BODYJAR + CLOWNS + ANCHORS Northcote Social
• BROADS Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.
• BODYJAR + CLOWNS + COFFIN WOLF Northcote
• CAPTAIN SPALDING Customs House Hotel,
• COOL CHANGE Black Hatt, Geelong. 9:30pm.
• BROOZER + SWIDGEN + MERCHANT + BOG Public
Club, Northcote. 8:30pm.
Williamstown. 9:30pm.
• CITY AT MIDNIGHT Workers Club, Geelong. 8:00pm. $10.00.
• CITY CALM DOWN + FOREIGN/NATIONAL Howler, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $15.00.
• EDEN + DANDELION WINE + FRIENDS OF ALICE IVY
• CHRIS WILSON Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 5:15pm.
• DANE BLACKLOCK & THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• DAVEYS FRIDAYS - FEAT: ROB & TARQUIN +
SUPERFLY DJS Daveys Bar & Restaurant, Frankston.
9:00pm.
+ PLUM GREEN Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00. • EINSTEINS TOYBOYS + BRONNIE GORDON & BELLATRIX Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $10.00. • FINISHING SCHOOL Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 9:30pm.
• JOHNNY CAN’T DANCE + FLYING ENGINE TRIO
• FOR THE JUMPER (AFL SONGS BY YOUR FAVE
GORDON HOLLAND 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. • MAT MCHUGH + JORDAN LESER + TASH SULTANA
$10.00.
MUSICIANS) - FEAT: TEX PERKINS + LAURA JEAN + DAN SULTAN + RICHARD BRADBEER + GUS AGARS + MORE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $15.00.
• GORILLA BISCUITS + OUTRIGHT + SICK MACHINE
Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
• LONG HOLIDAY & TWO HEADED DOG + 23RD OF
ELVIS The Eastern, Ballarat East. 8:00pm. $8.00.
• MARLEY WYNN + ZOE RYAN + RACHEL CLARK +
Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. $30.00.
• RATTLIN KANE Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm. • THE ALLEGED ASSOCIATES + MISS GABBIE
GOLDENVOICE Smokehouse 101, Maidstone. 7:00pm.
Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm. $40.00.
• THE FUMES + KRIS MORRIS + SLIM BELLY Grace
7:30pm. $10.00.
• TOBY ROBINSON + SEAVERA + MATT GLASS Bar
• HABITS + VACCUUM + EN.V Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. • HEY HEY IT’S FRIDAY - FEAT: ASTRO BOYS Royal Hotel, Essendon. 10:00pm.
• JVG’S GRAND FINAL EVE PIE NIGHT - FEAT: JON
VON GOES + BILLY MILLER + REBECCA BARNARD + SIMON MADDEN + MORE Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $28.00.
• LA DANSE MACABRE + BRUNSWICK MASSIVE
Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $13.50.
Open, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $12.00.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 3
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • #ROCKTHEGRANNY - FEAT: MY ECHO Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm.
Bar, North Melbourne. 8:30pm. $12.00.
• CHUNK! NO CAPTAIN CHUNK! + STRICKLAND +
ACRASIA + NO! NOT THE BEES Max Watt’s, Melbourne. 7:30pm. $35.20.
• CITY CALM DOWN + FOREIGN/NATIONAL Howler, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• CODE ORANGE Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm. $30.00. • CRANKED Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $10.00.
• DJ JOSH HODSON The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. • DRACONIS INFERNUM + CEMETERY URN +
OGLIGARCH + WOLFE Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood.
8:00pm.
• HIGH SOCIETY Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:30pm.
• HOT PALMS + SWEET WHIRL + MAKEDA Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.
• IMMIGRANT UNION + COASTBUSTERS + TYPICAL
YOU AM I
High Street’s recently renovated Croxton finally re-opens this Thursday October 1. I think it’s only appropriate that a legendary Aussie venue needs a legendary Aussie act to usher in their new era, and who better to kick open their doors than You Am I, playing their first headline gig in over two years. The return of You Am I and the return of The Croxton, stars have aligned this Thursday October 1. 8:00pm.
• THE PEEP TEMPEL + BAT PISS + MUTTON Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm. $15.00.
• TROPHY EYES + APART FROM THIS + RACOON
CITY POLICE Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $18.00.
• WHITE FANG + LL GOONS + MOURNING The Eastern, Ballarat East. 8:00pm. $12.00.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • ALINTA & THE JAZZ EMPERORS Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $30.00.
• ANA MITSIKAS + ROGER CLARK QUARTET Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
• DANNY KRANSKY + LOST IN SIGHT + DANGEROUS
CURVES + MAT HARROW Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 5:00pm.
• DE LA CALLE + FUNKALLEROS + LOS MONOS Bar Open, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
• HEATHER STEWART (BILLIE HOLIDAY) Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $25.00.
• JUKE BOX RACKET The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• JUNKI & PIQUE + SQUID NEBULA + BOHJASS +
OSCANDRE + THE PLYMOUTH REVERENDS 303,
Northcote. 6:00pm. $3.00.
• MOVEMENT 9 (THE MUSIC OF AMY WINEHOUSE) Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm. $25.00.
• NICK PIETSCH + AU DRAY QUINTET Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm.
GIRL DJS Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 12:00pm. • LOST WOODS + THE SHAKES + PINK HARVEST + BLAC BELLADONNA Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East.
• NLUKE + TIARYN GRIGGS Grace Darling Hotel,
• NITE MOOVES Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:30pm.
• PHILA PARA Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 6:00pm.
MORE Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. • SATURDAYS R COVERED - FEAT: RADIO STAR Royal
• SHAMEEM Thornbury Local, Thornbury. 10:00pm.
7:00pm. $5.00.
• PALMERSLUM + LOW FLY INCLINE + KEGGIN +
Hotel, Essendon. 10:00pm.
• THE KITE MACHINE + PLASTIC Penny Black, Brunswick.
Collingwood. 9:00pm. $10.00.
• OLIVIA CHINDAMO QUARTET Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• SAM LINTON-SMITH + LOVERS & MADMEN Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
• SOUL A-GO-GO - FEAT: VINCE PEACH + MISS
GOLDIE + RICHIE 1250 + DJ MANCHILD + DJ
RESIDENT DJS Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
• LABRADORABLE + HARD RUBBISH Public Bar, North Melbourne. 4:00pm.
• MACE & THE MOTOR + HIGH FINANCE + TUSK +
VICTOR CRIPES Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• MIKE WATERS + ROBBIE MILLER Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $14.30.
• OCEAN ALLEY (IN PURPLE TOUR) + THE
CONTROLLERS + TOMMY CASTLES Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $15.00.
• PEEP TEMPEL + BAT PISS + DEVIL ELECTRIC +
SPINNING ROOMS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. $15.00.
• RONNIE JAMES DIO TRIBUTE + ELM STREET Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm. $13.00.
• STRANGERS IN TOWN + EX MARKS THE SPOT +
THE MIYAGIS Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 5:00pm.
• SUNBEAM SOUND MACHINE (USA FUNDRAISER) +
GOOD MORNING + CIGGIE WITCH + ROMEO MOON + SPORTING The Shadow Electric, Abbotsford. 7:00pm. $15.00.
• THE DRONES & AUGIE MARCH + THE DRONES +
AUGIE MARCH + MONEY FOR ROPE The Croxton, Thornbury. 8:00pm. $51.00.
• THE HEARTACHE STATE + COLLARD GREENS &
GRAVY + SIMON & SHANE O’MARA + LADIE DEE + DJ KEZBOT Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. • THE TRANSITIONS + THE INTERCEPTORS + COLOURDAZED + STAVROS BROTHERS Public Bar, North Melbourne. 8:30pm. $10.00.
• THE ’64 FALCON Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm. • WATT’S ON PRESENTS Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 8:30pm.
• WITCHSKULL + THE RUINER + OLMEG + TTTDC
CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 53
GIG GUIDE
WHAT'S ON AROUND MELBOURNE THIS WEEK
THE PUSH PRESENT
ACCESS ALL AGES
For all the latest gigs check out beat.com.au
LADYSOUL + THE SOUL TWINS Shebeen, Melbourne
• RATTLIN BONES BLACKWOOD Inkerman Hotel,
$55.00.
• TAPE DECK FESTIVAL - FEAT: TROPHY EYES + AS IT
• SULUMANI CHIMBETU St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 8:00pm. • THE WIKIMEN Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK
IS + WITH CONFIDENCE + HAVE MERCY + RACOON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT + HARBOURS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 12:00pm. $30.00.
• TEX PERKINS & CHARLIE OWEN Ding Dong Lounge,
• CINDY-LOU KRAMME Littlefoot Bar, Footscray. 8:00pm.
• THE OTHER SIDE Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 4:00pm.
• DAISY WEST + VICTOR CRIPES Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm.
• JAMES TAYLOR TRIBUTE SHOW Open Studio, Northcote. 5:00pm.
• KARAOKE WITH ZOE Customs House Hotel,
Melbourne Cbd. 6:30pm. $100.00.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • BAIAO DE TRES Vamos, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $8.00.
• GREAT ROMANTICS COMPETITION 2015 Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 3:00pm.
Williamstown. 9:00pm.
• KASHI TRATHEN TRIO + JEREMY WOOLHOUSE
SHAME + LIVE & KICKING WITH SAMMIGOLD Mr
• MOZART’S LAST SYMPHONIES - FEAT: RICHARD
• LITTLE HOUSE GODZ + HUMBLE MISCHIEF + NO Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm.
• LONG HOLIDAY & TWO HEADED DOG + ANIMAL
HANDS + THE HIDDEN VENTURE St Andrews Hotel, St
TRIO Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.
TOGNETTI Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 2:30pm. $38.00.
Andrews. 7:30pm.
• PEPPERCORN JAZZ BAND Open Studio, Northcote.
Melbourne. 9:00pm.
• ROUGH DIAMOND + PAK POE Mr Boogie Man Bar,
• MARK CAMPBELL & THE RAVENS Drunken Poet, West • PAUL MADIGAN Esu House, South Yarra. 8:00pm. $10.00. • RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 2:00am. $7.00.
• THE STETSON FAMILY Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 4:30pm.
• WILD TURKEY + KIM SALMON + DJ MERMAID Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
•SUNDAY 4 OCT
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF OASIS (WHAT’S THE
STORY) MORNING GLORY? - FEAT: MICHAEL STANGEL + DAVE STEVENS AND PAUL + ADRIAN SANTOSPIRITO + CENTRAL RAIN + WHALES Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $15.00.
• A DAY OF PROTEST SONGS BENEFIT - FEAT:
MARGARET ROAD KNIGHT + JEFF LANG + ANDY WHITE + KAVISHA MAZZELLA + MORE Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 2:00pm. $15.00.
• CODE ORANGE (ALL AGES) + CURSED EARTH +
REBIRTH + BROKEN Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 2:00pm. $30.00.
• DAVE GRANEY Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 4:30pm.
• EZRA LEE Clare Castle Hotel, Port Melbourne. 8:00pm.
• JAM AT MUSICLAND SUNDAYS Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm.
• KING WOLF Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm.
• KUMIKO SEX BAND + OOLLUU + SSST Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. $8.00.
• MACE & THE MOTOR Lucky Coq, Windsor. 7:00pm.
• MICHAEL REYNOLD’S BIRTHDAY BASH - FEAT:
STRAWBERRY FISTCAKE + THREE QUARTER BEAST + POISON FISH + SORDID ORDEAL Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 4:00pm.
• MINIMUM WAGE Public Bar, North Melbourne. 4:00pm. • NAKED BODIES + NEW POLLUTION + BOBBY
DOWNIE Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00. • NEW SAVAGES + KAYLA + ERIS BE Whole Lotta Love,
5:00pm.
Abbottsford. 5:00pm.
• SARAH MARY CHADWICK + LUCY ROLEFF +
TIM RICHMOND + MARK MONNONE + GRACE FERGUSON Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10.00. • SUNDAY SOUL SESSIONS Purple Emerald, Northcote. 9:00pm.
• SUNDAY SOULTRAIN - FEAT: WIRED + JIMMY
CUPPLES Daveys Bar & Restaurant, Frankston. 2:30pm. • TEK TEK ENSEMBLE Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 4:30pm. • THE GRUBS Catfish, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. • THE MELBOURNE JAZZ CO-OP Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
• THE SHUG MONKEYS + KIMBA & RYAN + DJ
MUSICMAN Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.
• THE WINNEBAGO LOUNGE - FEAT: MC DANNY
WALSH + REBECCA BARNARD & THE DRAMA KINGS St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 5:00pm. ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • A BLONDE MOMENT Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.
• ALEXANDRA PYE 303, Northcote. 3:30pm.
• BEN MITCHELL Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
• BONA FIDE TRAVELERS Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 6:30pm.
• CAMERON BOBBITT Littlefoot Bar, Footscray. 6:00pm. • ELWOOD BLUES CLUB Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . • JEMMA & THE CLIFTON HILLBILLIES +
CHERRYWOOD Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 2:00pm.
$15.00.
• JOE GUITON + JAMES HARRISON + GLADSTONE Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 3:00pm.
• JULES BOULT Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 4:00pm.
• COASTBUSTERS + CL PLEASURE + BABY BLUE Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.
• DIECUT + COMPLETE + NOSE BLOOD CATHARSIS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $6.00.
• MONDAY NIGHT MASS - FEAT: GALAXY FOLK +
DRONGO + PILLOW PRO + GOD SQUAD Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm.
• WHITE FANG + MESA COSA + THE POW POW KIDS
+ D.I.C.K Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • BOX HILL INSTITUTE BANDS 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. • SANDILE GONTSANA Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
• SCHEHERAZADE - FEAT: JAKUB HRŠA + VIVIANE
HAGNER Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 6:30pm. $25.00. ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • BEN MELLONIE & SAM REIHER Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm.
• JOHNNY CAN’T DANCE CAJUN BAND Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• PUSH SALON Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 6
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • DEAR THIEVES + TWO HEADED DOG + IVORY
ELEPHANT Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
• HUNTSMAN Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm.
• OOLLUU + DEVIL MONKEY + KAKARIKO Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $6.00.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
• MR ALFORD COUNTRY Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy.
• ANNA’S GO-GO ACADEMY Bella Union Bar, Carlton.
• OPEN MIC SUNDAY Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 6:30pm.
• BLACK PEARL Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm.
Williamstown. 3:00pm. 3:30pm.
3:30pm.
Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 2:00pm.
• SUNDAY SESSIONS - FEAT: VARIOUS ARTISTS Lucky Coq, Windsor. 4:00pm.
• THE BAKERSFIELD GLEE CLUB Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 54
The Drones and Augie March co-headline at The Croxton this Friday, and isn’t that just fucking nuts? These guys can fill out venues by themselves, now they’re teaming up. And with Money for Rope supporting, this lineup could be the final three of a big name festival. Friday night, 8pm at The Croxton. Tickets will definitely sell out, grab yours now from thecroxton.com.au
• MICHELLE GARDINER Customs House Hotel,
• SUNDAY SESSION - FEAT: BRUNSY Ferntree Gully
JOSH DARN IT! HOLES IN YOUR SOCKS? Pockets dropping your coins? Why not let Josh darn it? Email: jo-SHOE-a@ justjoshin.com
THE DRONES AND AUGIE MARCH
8:00pm.
• FINGERBONE BILL Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
• ROZ GIRVAN + GREG FIELD Union Hotel, Brunswick.
WANTED ACTS WANTED FOR SUNDAY ROCK SHOWS contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au BANDS/DUOS/SOLO ACTS WANTED for Acoustic/Indie Fest - contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au ROCK/METAL ACTS WANTED for local rock shows - contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au TUITION SONGWRITING CLASSES starting soon by Australian Songwriter of the Year 2013 Award Winner & music publisher. In 20 sessions learn all about writing marketable songs & the business side (collaboration, publishing, agreements, copyright, etc.) You’ll complete the course with a record-like song & get published. More info: www.magesongs.com Ph: 0417 585 767. Email: admin@magesongs.com
Interested in a career in the music industry and want to get along to this year’s epic Face The Music conference, but are strapped for spare dollars? You’re in luck, because last week Face The Music announced 25 FReeZA scholarships for young people who have participated in the FReeZA Program and are committed to developing a career in the contemporary music and entertainment sectors. Take a few minutes to apply and you could be going to the Melbourne conference for free, plus regional recipients will have their V-Line travel reimbursed.
Balaclava. 4:00pm.
• BACKWOOD CREATURES Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm.
WITH GRACE KINDELLAN
Brunswick East. 3:00pm. $10.00.
Cbd. 8:00pm. $10.00.
• THE CONCLUSIONS + ELECTRIC WALLPAPER +
LOUIS SPOILS 303, Northcote. 7:00pm. $5.00. • THE MAE TRIO + HELLO SATELLITES Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:00pm. $15.00.
• THE STEVE MARTINS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East.
6:30pm. $10.00.
$10.00.
• MOZART’S LAST SYMPHONIES - FEAT: RICHARD
TOGNETTI Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:00pm. $38.00.
ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • A MAN CALLED SON Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
• ALI HUGHES + FIONNUALA MCKENNA Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.
• KLUB MUK 303, Northcote. 7:30pm.
• MELODY MOON Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm. • MICHAELA LEE Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:30pm.
9:00pm.
• THE TRAVIS WINTERS BLUES BAND The Water Rat Hotel, South Melbourne. 5:00pm. $5.00.
• THE WOODLAND HUNTERS Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 4:00pm.
• THREE KINGS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 3:00pm. $5.00. • TIM SCANLAN Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 4:00pm. • TOMMY STAPLES + JE WHEELER + LITTLE
ADVENTURES Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
MONDAY OCTOBER 5
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • CHERRY JAM Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV
If you’re aged under 25 and have been involved with FReeZA in any way (including as a volunteer or a musician at one of their shows), or you’ve been involved in your local community, then you’re eligible. Get more info at www.thepush.com.au and apply by October 12. For the songwriters amongst us, check out the latest round of Push Songs, where you can get free songwriting mentoring with some of our nicest and most renowned artists. Successful applicants will take part in three one-on-one songwriting workshops at our Brunswick office alongside Charles Jenkins and mentors Jess Cornelius (Teeth & Tongue), Hayden Calnin, Phoebe Baker (Alpine) and Fraser A. Gorman. You’ll also be invited to join the Tuesday Night Song Club and meet and share ideas and live performance opportunities with fellow songwriters. It kicks off in October and is open to anyone from around Victoria (it’s all ages too). Apply at www.surveymonkey. com/r/R4PS2015 by Monday October 5. If you’re a muso who has released something new in the last year (October 1 2014 – September 30 2015) then you have one day left to nominate yourself for The Age Music Victoria Genre Awards. The categories include jazz, electronic, hip-hop, experimental, folk and more. To be eligible, you have to have lived in Victoria for the past two years. Winning entries will be announced in midOctober and celebrated along with the Public Awards for rock and pop acts on Wednesday November 11. Music Victoria’s workshop Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) will be presented by a who’s who list of industry professionals, including artists and producers, a manager and lawyer, and a festival director and music body executive officer. The panel will explore career paths and provide tips for those looking to forge a lasting career in the music industry. A fantastic opportunity to gain insight into the inner workings of what it takes to produce, tour and promote world class music, manage and represent talent, and organise major events at one of Melbourne’s hottest new venues in the heart of the CBD. It’s on Wednesday September 30, 6pm-7.30pm, at The Unknown Union (1000 Pound Bend) in Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, $10 General/$8 Concession or free for Music Victoria members. RSVP to info@musicvictoria.com.au. Got news you’d like to share with us? Send it to push@thepush.com.au
ALL AGES GIG GUIDE WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30 • Upwelling Festival at Youth Arts Activity Space, Portland Foreshore, 245 Eastbourne Rd, Rosebud, 10am-4pm, Free, www. upwellingfestival.com.au/, AA • Movie Marathon at Heywood Council Offices – Community Rooms, 2pm-6pm, Free, AA • Youth Fair w/ Ben Fowler, Kurnai Secondary, Kanji at Kernot Hall, Princess Drive, Morwell, 10am – 2pm, Free, www. facebook.com/centralwestgippsland, AA THURSDAY OCTOBER 1 • Poster Design Competition w/ Art Competition and Exhibition, Glenelg Shire, 4pm deadline, Free, www.glenelg.vic.gov.au/ FReeZA, AA
Wed 30th September
W I N E , W H I S K EY, W O M E N 8pm: Early Nights Thurs 1st October
8pm:
Open Mic Night Fri 2nd October
6pm: Traditional Irish Session
Blue Eyes Cry Saturday 3rd October 9pm: Mark Campbell & The Ravens Sunday 4th October 4pm: Tim Scanlan
8:30pm:
Tuesdays
weekly trivia The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
WEDNESDAY 30th 7PM
MELLOW DIAS THUMP FEAT.
CAZEAUX O.S.L.O & GUESTS THURSDAY 1st 7PM
JOSH WELLS Friday 2nd 7PM
ROMANTIC TREATMENT SATURDAY 3rd 7PM
ddss
ADULTS ART CLUB BABICKA’S NEW RESIDENCY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
SUNDAY 4TH 7PM
DAVE SMILEY NOON UNTIL 9PM (SUN-THURS) UNTIL LATE (FRI & SAT)
KIndRED STuDIOS 13 REHearsal ROOMS REHEARSAL STUDIOS
$65 FLAT RATE* *$65 ex. deluxe rooms
threephasemusic.com
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FULLY EQUIPPED LICENsed Live Venue BACKLINE for Hire
Weeknight rates from $65
STORAGE AVAILABLE Booked bands drink at HAPPY HR PRICES
8 Tinning St, Brunswick
kindredstudios.com.au
03 9687 0233
PA HIRE Comprehensive PA systems delivered, set up and operated with crew. Compact, easy, sound systems you can pickup and assemble yourself.Components such as microphones, speakers and effects are also available separately. Lights also available. For details phone Mark Barry on 03 9889 1999 or 0419 993 966
www.bssound.com.au bssound@bigpond.com
18 DUFFY ST BURWOOD WWW.HYDRASTUDIOS.COM.AU
HYDRA REHEARSAL STUDIOS BOOK A ROOM! CALL: 0417 000 397 • 2000 WATT HK AUDIO/MACKIE PAs • TEN CLEAN, 30M2 ROOMS • STORAGE • DRUMKIT/AMP HIRE • AIR CON
INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH
MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
With Christie Eliezer * Stuff for this column to be emailed to <celiezer@netspace.net.au> by Friday 5pm
DIDDY TOPS JAY-Z, DRE, ON CASH LIST
Diddy was the world’s highest paid rap act last year earning $60 million, according to US business magazine Forbes’ annual Hip-Hop Cash Kings list. The Dids hasn’t released an album since 2010, so the moolah wasn’t from music sales or touring but from his businesses Ciroc Vodka, Sean John clothing, TV network Revolt and water brand Aquahydrate. At second was Jay Z with $56 million, made from a 22-date concert tour with wife Beyonce, his Roc Nation business empire and sales from his Armand de Brignac champagne brand. Next was Drake ($39.5m), and slipping down to #4 from #1 last year was Dr. Dre ($33m). Then came Pharrell Williams ($32m), Eminem ($31m), Kanye West ($22m), Wiz Khalifa ($21.5m), Nicki Minaj ($21m) and Birdman ($18m).
MORE NAMES FOR FACE THE MUSIC
Latest speakers for Face The Music (November 1314 at Arts Centre Melbourne) are Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble, Rolling Stone publisher Mathew Coyte, Sophie Miles of label and tour firm Mistletone, Joel de Ross of the Australian Virtual Reality Industry Association, Monique Rothstein founder of Sydney PR and artist management agency Positive Feedback, and Archie Hamilton whose China-based Split Works United runs festivals and tours through Asia. Yamaha and Steinberg present a panel with producer/ artist, M-Phazes; the Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People (STEP) discuss the growing role of the blogger; Music Victoria co-presents a special event and panel presentation curated by Arts Centre Melbourne. As part of its tenth anniversary, The Age Music Victoria Awards holds an exhibition of photography and memorabilia around the ten inductees of its 2015 Hall of Fame; Music Victoria also partners with Arts Law Centre for a panel with entertainment lawyers on topics like illegal downloads and royalty rows; and producers Casey Rice and Andrei Eremin dissect productions before a live audience. Full details at facethemusic.com.au.
TWO AUSSIE ARENAS MAKE IT ON GLOBAL LIST
Two Australian arenas made it onto Billboard’s Top 10 list of top grossing venues in the world between November 12, 2014 and June 2, 2015. In a list topped by London’s O2, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena came at #5 earning $36.3 million from 366,450 tickets to 35 shows. Sydney’s Allphones Arena landed at #6, grossing $30.6 million after 28 shows drew 272,4013 patrons.
APPLE MUSIC HITS 15 MILLION USERS
Apple Music now has 15 million users after launching a few months ago. The real test comes after its threemonth free trial period ends on September 30 and users have to start paying. 7.5 million have not turned off the auto-play feature, which indicates they might become subscribers.
SMART STREET STUDIOS ISSUES HANNFORD DVD
To help ailing Melbourne guitar hero Ross Hannaford with medical bills, Smart Street Films has put out 60 minute DVD called Hanna In A Nutshell. It consists of a lengthy interview conducted by the studio’s Haydn
Keenan, a long time friend. Hannaford opens up about his early life in Melbourne, putting his painter aspirations aside in his mid-teens to play in bands (including Daddy Cool, Mighty Kong, Billy T, Diana Kiss, Hey Gringo) and his love for reggae and guitar. It’s $25 from www.smartstreetfilms.com.au with an excerpt on vimeo.com/135152158.
THINGS WE HEAR
* Which singer/songwriter quips that he hasn’t told his hippie parents he picked up an award because they don’t take his career or the music industry seriously? * Which club voted out four of its directors? * Is Facebook about to go into the concert ticket selling business? * Did Sam Smith “channel” Michael Jackson’s Earth Song for his new James Bond theme? * Is New York’s iconic Power Station recording studio to go on the market? * Dave Grohl said the Foo Fighters were supposed to play the Emmy Awards but were “kicked off. I can’t tell you [why]. Do your research, but they did.” * Joakim Brodén, singer of Swedish metal band Sabaton has started a 320-mile walk from their hometown of Falun, Sweden to their next gig at Trondheim Metal Fest in Norway after losing a drunken bet. It’s 107 hours by foot. * The Choirboys’ Mark Gable told the Newcastle Herald that his family’s real name is Kitchen but he changed it by deed poll in 1984. * Slipknot’s Corey Taylor is such an avid fan of the original Guns N’ Roses lineup that he’ll give up performing if they reunite because he can’t compete, and will attend every show they do. * The Amy Winehouse documentary Amy is being shown as anti-drug film at Thailand juvenile prison. * Latest certifications for Aussie tracks are Vance Joy’s Fire And The Flood picking up its first platinum, Delta Goodrem’s Wings its first gold, Sia’s Elastic Heart its third platinum and Travie McCoy’s Golden (featuring Sia) a platinum. * Peking Duk weren’t sure what to expect when they asked US actor Matt McGorry (Orange Is The New Black, How To Get Away With Murder) to appear on hilarious new video for Say My Name but, “all our hopes and expectations were absolutely blown out of the park… when he rocked up to the set.” * Harper Collins this week issues a revised version of Sydney metal scribe Murray Engleheart’s book AC/ DC: Maximum Rock’n’Roll (rumoured global sales: 350,000). There are updates on Malcolm Young, Phil Rudd, the story behind the stage cannons and a delicious tale about a promoter who spotted Angus Young in the back of the tour bus alone, having a ciggie, and went over to chat about future dates. Young didn’t seem that interested and it was only when a young lady popped up from behind the bus seat that he realised the guitarist had been getting a blowjob throughout.
In the meantime, a new book on Bon Scott, Live Wire, out in October through Allen & Unwin, was penned by Valentines and AC/DC roadie John D’Arcy, his wife Gabby and Scott’s “soulmate”, fashion designer Mary Renshaw. * Father John Misty took down his Taylor Swift covers after one day because Lou Reed told him to in a dream. * Sydney nightclub king Justin Hemmes is talking to lawyers after a man claiming to be a love child of his late father John plans to start legal action to grab some of his $800 million fortune, the Sunday Telegraph says. * Melbourne singer/songwriter Abbey Stone’s I’m Still Here has been selected for Volume 7 of Coast 2 Coast Hottest in the State Mixtape California Edition. * Australian grandfather Michael Baxter set a world record by having 203 The Simpsons characters tattooed on his back at a cost of almost $12,000. * In the UK, albums sold at gigs are now included in calculating the Top 40
MINISTER FIFIELD: MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS?
The new Arts and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield wasn’t exactly riding in on his white horse righting the wrongs as seen by the arts and communications sectors. Not during his first week in the job anyway. In an interview with RN Drive’s Patricia Karvelas, it seems the controversial new National Programme for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA), introduced by predecessor George Brandis, is not going to be dropped and the Australia Council is not getting back the $110 million that was swiped from it. “Obviously I hear what some organisations are saying,” he said. “The $26 million that George has set aside is actually to support small and medium organisations.” He also needed time to consider the future of the “three strikes” warning system for pesky illegal downloaders. But he said he is ready to talk and consult with all the different sectors.
NO AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FOR AUSTRALIA
After Texas’ Austin City Limits festival announced last week that it was holding a sister event called Auckland City Limits on March 19 at Western Springs Stadium, there was considerable excitement that the two main promoters C3 Presents (also owner of Big Day Out) and Live Nation would bring it to Australia. But that has since been hosed down. The arrival of Auckland City Limits near our shores does prompt the question: is Big Day Out shelved forever? Will C3 introduce an Australian/NZ version of Lollapalooza in lieu?
PLANETE JOINS NICHE
After a heavy schedule on the festival circuit, Melbourne melodic house producer and musician Planete (Dion Tartaglione) has joined tour and booking agency Niche Productions.
MIKE WATERS TO MAKE UK DEBUT
After airplay for his debut single Gambling Man on London’s XFM, indie acoustic singer/songwriter Mike Waters makes his UK debut at London’s Servant Jazz Quarters on November 11. Also getting attention is his video for the Splendour In The Grass-inspired Feels Like Home, for which he does three shows in the first week of October.
BO-WEEVILS REISSUE
1980s Melbourne band The Bo-Weevils, whose ‘60s inspired garage punk got them a following in Australia and Europe before disbanding in 1999, are reissuing their remastered back catalogue on digital and physical formats. To coincide, they’ll play a reunion show on November 22 at Northcote Social Club.
SUNBEAM SOUND MACHINE FUNDRAISING
Sunbeam Sound Machine are raising funds to get to New York for CMJ Music Marathon. A show at the Shadow Electric on Friday October 2 is with Good Morning, Ciggie Witch, Romeo Moon and Sporting. A crowd-sourcing campaign at www. pozible.com/project/200674 offers a private gig, a remix of your track, five personalised songs on cassette and a cookbook of favourite recipes.
NEW BENDIGO VENUE DELAYED
Plans to launch the Handle Bar in Bendigo last Thursday had “last minute hiccups” and it will open “over the next few weeks.” The venue, at 73 Mitchell Street and managed by James Baehnisch, has music, comedy and craft beer. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 58
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LIFELINES Married: Usher and long time girlfriend Grace Miguel married in secret in midSeptember. Married: Frances Bean Cobain and boyfriend of five years Isaiah Silva in an intimate ceremony with 15 guests, which didn’t include mum Courtney Love. Hospitalised: Of Mice & Men frontman Austin Carlile with finger burns after being electrocuted at a gig. In Court: a former UK prison officer is facing prison for selling stories about George Michael to the London Sun for £2,000. In Court: a 26-year old Cairns man goes to trial for allegedly grabbing the testicles of a bouncer at the Woolshed and spitting in his face as he was being escorted out, and also for later spitting on a cop at the police station. In Court: after a five year legal battle, original Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer has won the rights to use the band’s name and tour with another lineup. The name originally also belonged to singer Stephen Pearcy and guitarist Warren DeMartini. Sued: Scott Weiland for allegedly not paying his legal fees to the law firm that represented him when he was fired from Stone Temple Pilots. Jailed: aspiring Adelaide rapper David Keith Corlett, 31, for 18 years for stabbing a man to death at a 21st birthday party. Died: Shane Cooper, stage manager with Thirsty Merc, in a car accident in country Victoria which also saw drummer Mick Skelton fighting for his life in a Melbourne hospital. Died: Ben Cauley, trumpeter and founding member of Stax Records’ house band The Bar Keys, 67.
VICTORIA, CHINA, STRIKE CULTURAL AGREEMENT
The Victorian Government and China struck a five year Cultural Exchange Agreement that will enable the exchanges of festivals, creative partnerships, tours and artists in residence. It includes the classical, ballet and film sectors.
FUTURE CLASSIC SIGNS O/S DEAL
Sydney-based Future Classic – home for the likes of Flume, Chet Faker, Jagwar Ma and Flight Facilities – has signed with full service company Caroline International for digital and physical distribution for the US, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Benelux, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
‘SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT’ MOST “ICONIC”
Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit is hailed the most “iconic song of all time”, in research by Goldsmiths, University of London. They took songs in seven all-time best lists from other sources and ran them through analytical software to compare their key, BPM, chord variety, lyrical content, timbre variety and sonic variance. The top 50 were songs which “use sound in a very varied, dynamic way when compared to other records… This makes the sound of the record exciting, holding the listener’s attention.” The other top 5 entries are John Lennon’s Imagine, U2’s One, Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
AT SUNSET WIN MTV BRAND NEW
The inaugural MTV Brand New competition for Australian and NZ acts was won by Adelaide poprock trio At Sunset, who got almost 200,000 votes. At Sunset have 1 million social media followers and 5 million YouTube views, and won Nova’s Fresh Discovery earlier this year. They beat Conrad Sewell (runner-up), Tkay Maidza, Set Mo, Josef Salvat, Thomston, Chris Watts, Winterbourne, Carmada and Cosmo’s Midnight.