24-28 NOVEMBER 2016
PYALONG - VICTORIA - AUSTRALIA
MUSIC - LIFESTYLE - ARTS - CULTURE - EXPERIENCE
ABAKUS . ALTRUISM . AMBIVALENT . ANN CLUE . ASTRAL PROJECTION BIRD OF PREY . BIRDS OF PARADISE . BIZZARE CONTACT . BLISS BORIS BREJCHA . BRYAN KEARNEY . BWOY DE BHAJAN . CAPITAL MONKEY CHRIS LIBERATOR . CHRISTIAN SMITH . COMING SOON!!! . DURS . EASY RIDERS GARY BECK . GHOST RIDER . GROOVE DELIGHT . GROUCH . HEADROOM JOHN OO FLEMING . JULIAN JEWEIL . KAMINANDA . KRAMA . KAYA PROJECT LIFEFORMS . LISH . LOUD . LUCAS . MAD MAXX . MAD TRIBE . MANDRAGORA MARCUS HENRIKSSON AKA MINILOGUE . MARTIN VICE . MICHELE ADAMSON MIGUEL BASTIDA . MORTEN GRANAU . Ø [PHASE] . O.T.B ONE MAN ORCHESTRA . PADDY FREE . PARA HALU . PHAXE . PROTONICA ROCKY . ROYAL FLUSH . SHAKTA . SHAYMAN . SLAM . SINERIDER . SPACE TRIBE SYMBOLIC . TALPA . TELEPATH . TONGUE AND GROOVE . TRAUM ATLAS VAPERROR . VINI VICI . VITALIC . WAIO . WILL ATKINSON MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
TICKETS ON SALE NOW WWW.EARTHCORE.COM.AU BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 6
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BAR WEDNESDAYS
OPEN MIC
Show the Boogie Man what you’ve got! THURSDAY 28TH APRIL
YUXX &UniTHE GANG night cheap drinks! FRIDAY 29TH APRIL
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Saturday April 30 5pm
CHRIS WILSON Lush acoustic-clad ballads and valve-driven, acidrock: when folk and blues meet the electric guitar.
Saturday April 30 9pm
ALISON FERRIER + BAND Melodic waltzes, heartsick ballads and haunted blues.
Sun 1 May 3.30pm
TIM IRELAND Compelling lyrics, a whisky-rich voice, and acoustic guitar.
Sun 1 May 5pm
BELL ST DELAYS Tracy McNeil and Luke Sinclair (Raised by Eagles) play two hours of harmony-rich, original tunes.
Tuesday Nights In April
TRIVIA
Quizmasters c’mon down.
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THIS WEEK: WEDNESDAY APRIL 27 - 8:30PM - $8 RESIDENCY:
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THE BIGGEST IN INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS
Jess Ribeiro
Whistling Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John - artists behind the hit Young Folks - are back with their first taste of new music with High Up (Take Me to the Top). They’ll hit The Corner on Thursday July 21. Mercury Prize-winning artist James Blake is coming to Australia ahead of his upcoming album, Radio Silence. He’ll be hitting Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday July 27.
METROPOLIS NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL HAS ADDED A FREE CONCERT SERIES TO THE 2016 PROGRAM The Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra combine once again for one of Australia’s most exciting explorations of music, this time adding some free shows. In addition to the already outstanding program of musicians, including three concerts programmed by American conductor and pianist Robert Spano, the Metropolis New Music Festival is presenting a series of free concerts for the public to enjoy. Appealing to all tastes and styles, this free series will includes sound and installation artist Atticus Bastow, Australian Music Prize shortlist contender Jess Ribeiro Duo and electric guitarist and composer Cam Butler. The Metropolis New Music Festival kicks off from Monday May 9 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
DUA LIPA LOCKS IN MELBOURNE SHOW
PIGSTY IN JULY UNVEIL THIS YEAR’S LINEUP PigSty In July has announced their first group of artists for their 2016 incarnation. The little sister of The Gum Ball and Dashville Skyline is a one-day bush bash with a second-hand formal dress code. This year’s festival will be headlined by New Zealand rockers Shihad, who are currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 1996 selftitled album. Fans can expect a set of old and new tunes, as Shihad slot tracks from recent record FVEY amongst their live classics. Also featured on the first lineup announcement are King Tide, Masco Sound System, Lepers and Crooks, Justin Ngariki & the Darstardly Bastards and Claire Anne Taylor. As well as great tunes, the event also provides a feast of quality boutique beers, fine wines, naughty cocktails and mouth-watering food. PigSty In July will take over Dashville in the Hunter Valley on Saturday July 2. Tickets on sale now.
HOSPITALITY ARE SET FOR A 2016 MELBOURNE SHOW Hospitality is returning to Melbourne in June and are bringing a slew of outstanding DJs and producers with them. The UK’s electronic genius London Elektricity will be joined by British producer and singer/songwriter Etherwood, drum & bass young gun Maduk and rave cave general Danny Byrd. Ska-punk dabbling vocal legend MC Fava will be hosting the show, which is just one of seven showcases occurring throughout Australia and New Zealand. Hospitality arrives to conquer Melbourne’s Brown Alley on Sunday June 12 from 10pm. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 14
Following the stand-out success of her latest single, Be The One, Dua Lipa has announced a Melbourne show set for July. The 20-year-old from London has already notched up 28 million views on Youtube for her Be The One video, earned herself number one status in 10 countries, and a number five spot in Australia for her single. Dua Lipa will play Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Thursday July 14. Tickets through the venue.
Texan post-hardcore heavyweights At The Drive In are officially back, marking one of the most hotly anticipated bands of the Splendour lineup. They’ve just locked in a show at The Forum on Friday July 22. LA-based collective The Internet will take over 170 Russell on Tuesday July 26 off the back of their Grammynominated album Ego Death. Crystal Fighters will hit The Corner Hotel on Wednesday July 20 while Santigold will make her long awaited Australian return with a show at Prince Bandroom on Wednesday July 20.
The 1975 sold out their January Australian tour in a matter of hours. They’re poised to do it all again with a show at Hisense Arena on Sunday July 24.
SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE LOCK IN MELBOURNE LAUNCH SHOW To celebrate the release of their debut album, Shepparton Airplane will be unleashing their new music with a hometown launch backed by some of their favourite bands. Coming along for the ride are Jacky Winter, LOOBS and Ferla alongside Jumpin’ Jack William and Neil Wilkinson. Catch them launch their record at Old Bar on Saturday April 30.
That smooth sailing soul man Leon Bridges will hit up The Forum Theatre on Tuesday July 19, with his exceptional six-piece band in tow.
Mark Lanegan Band - helmed by the former frontman of seminal ‘90s band Screaming Trees - will play The Croxton Bandroom on Friday July 22. Alternative rockers Nothing But Thieves, who recently supported Muse on tour, have announced they will be hitting up Ding Dong on Wednesday July 20.
English rocker Jake Bugg makes his return to Australian shores for Splendour ahead of his forthcoming album, On My One. He’ll hit the Palais Theatre on Wednesday July 27. London-based singer and producer Jack Garratt has been taking over festivals across the globe with his club-ready anthems. He’s locked in a show at 170 Russell on Wednesday July 20. London’s six-piece punk bandw Fat White Family will be doing two Melbourne shows, taking on Yah Yahs on Sunday July 24 and Cherry Bar on Monday July 25. Singer/songwriter Lapsley, aka Holly Lapsley Fletcher, will play Howler on Tuesday July 26, following up from her 2016 debut album Long Way Home. Last but not least, Beach Slang and Spring King will play The Corner on Sunday July 24.
TRAUMER LOCKS IN 2016 MELBOURNE SHOW Making his Australian debut, French producer Traumer will play a Melbourne show in May. The man behind the project, Romain Renaud, has been steadily gaining attention for his melodic deep house over the last couple of years. His 2014 debut album, Takt, featured collaborations with the likes of Antoine Husson and Stephan Bodzin, while his track Hoodlum reached number one on Beatport’s Techno Top 10. Traumer will play Melbourne for the first time on Sunday May 1 at a day party show at Revolver. HOT TALK
ELLA HOOPER LOCKS IN GASO RESIDENCY DURING MAY In support of her upcoming double EP release, acclaimed singer/songwriter Ella Hooper will hold down an intimate residency. Hooper returns with New Magic, the accompanying EP to Venom, coming less than a year after its release. The EP pairing promises polarising moods, with Venom proving to be a melancholic piece and New Magic offering a warmer feel. During her May residency, Hooper will be joined by the likes of Kira Puru, Mojo Juju and Jack Colwell. Catch Ella Hooper every Wednesday in May at Collingwood’s Gasometer Hotel. Tickets via the venue.
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THE BIGGEST IN INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS
Free $hit Fiona Joy
BROODS ANNOUNCE A NEW ALBUM AND A 2016 MELBOURNE SHOW In support of their forthcoming album, Broods will be making their way to Australia for a string of shows. Their upcoming album, Conscious, is helmed by the single Free which continues to score radio support as well as being streamed more than two million times since its release. The record is a follow up to their 2014 release Evergreen, which was produced by Joel Little (Lorde, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding) and charted at #1 in their home country of New Zealand. They’ll play The Forum on Monday July 11. Tickets through Live Nation.
HORACE BONES WILL BE CELEBRATING WITH A MELBOURNE SHOW The four-piece will celebrate their forthcoming single release with a onenight-only Melbourne show. Following the success from their single Tarantula, the Melbourne boys have united once more with sonic guru Daniel Caswell (The Living End, Dune Rats), to produce their brand new single, Outside. Horace Bones will play The Grace Darling Saturday June 4.
OLD MAN LEUDECKE ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM AND MELBOURNE SHOW Canadian folk master Old Man Leudecke has dropped his latest album and will celebrate the release with a string of shows around Australia. Entitled Domestic Eccentric, the release is a collaboration with multi Grammy award-winning musician Tim O’Brien, whom Leudecke describes as his personal favourite musician. The dream pair share a love of folk and roots, and certainly celebrate this genre in the album. As part of his Australian tour to showcase the album, Old Man Leudecke will hit up Melbourne’s Spotted Mallard on Friday May 5.
THE ATARIS ARE BOOTING UP A MELBOURNE SHOW The American rock band will hit Melbourne for one night only, playing fan favourites and deep cuts. Returning to Australia for the first time in seven years, The Ataris will be performing classics from their 1999 breakthrough album Blue Skies, Broken Hearts... Next 12 Exits and their 2003 first gold record So Long Astoria. The Ataris will play 170 Russell Tuesday June 7. Tickets via Destroy All Lines. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 16
GLASS ANIMALS ANNOUNCE MELBOURNE SHOW Glass Animals have announced their return to our shores with a trio of shows this July. The British four-piece will play shows in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Last year was huge for Glass Animals. After releasing their debut album, Zaba, 2015 saw the band playing to massive crowds at festivals all over the world including Outside Lands, Central Park Summer Stage, Reading & Leeds and Glastonbury. Glass Animals will play 170 Russell on Wednesday July 6. Tickets go on sale Monday April 25 through the venue.
Manor Melbourne duo Manor are back from hiding with a new, self-titled EP. The duo features two former members of Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!, and they’ve been making excellent tunes since relocating from Adelaide four years ago. They’re back on the live scene next week to showcase the EP, plus preview songs that’ll appear on their forthcoming debut full length. We have two tickets to giveaway, plus one free shirt and one tote bag. Head to beat.com. au/freeshit to claim your prize.
CULTURE CLUB ARE COMING TO MELBOURNE
THE BENNIES ARE RETURNING FOR AN AUSTRALIAN TOUR The Bennies will be coming back to Australia soon to raise some havoc. Currently playing a run of tour dates through the UK and Europe, including Belgium’s Groezrock festival alongside the likes of Rancid, The Aussie punkparty players will be returning for their biggest national tour yet throughout June and July, where they’ll be playing tunes from their January-released album Wisdom Machine. They’ll also be bringing along special guests, the Melbourne-based Clowns and Perthbased Axe Girl. Catch them on Friday June 24 at Max Watt's.
Singer/songwriter Fiona Joy is back with Signature – Synchronicity, which follows last year’s Signature – Solo. Out now on her own label, Little Hartley Music, this record updates the Signature – Solo songs with all new production elements and orchestration. She’s launching the album at the Burwood Music Centre on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1. We have two double passes to giveaway, plus two CD copies of the album. Head to beat.com.au/freeshit to win.
PITT THE ELDER SET FOR UPCOMING MELBOURNE SHOW Melbourne punk pop act Pitt The Elder will jump on tour throughout June and July in support of their second full length release. Radio Silence features the already loved singles Tired Eyes and Party Hierarchy, and is set for release on Wednesday May 18 via Arrest Records. They’ll hit up the Bendigo Hotel on Friday July 1.
One of the biggest alternative acts to come out of the ‘80s are returning to Australia for the first time in over 15 years. Culture Club will hit up Melbourne in June for one night only. Being the first group to hit three top-ten singles in the US since The Beatles, the show will see all of Culture Club’s classic hits, including Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon revisited. Complete with the original lineup including Boy George, the show will also see Melbourne’s own Dannii Minogue as a special guest, playing in her hometown for the first time in over 18 years. Culture Club will play Rod Laver Arena on Friday June 10. Tickets are on sale via Ticketek.
RICK DANGEROUS & THE SILKIE BANTAMS LOCK IN 2016 MELBOURNE SHOW Metalheads Rick Dangerous & The Silkie Bantams have just released their new album Thrust Machine and have locked in a Melbourne show to keep the party rolling. They have given their listeners a taste of what is to come by releasing their single Fucking Phil from the EP. Byron Bar rockers Hammers will be supporting them throughout their tour. Rick Dangerous & The Silkie Bantams will be blasting the roof off Sooki Lounge on Friday June 3. They will also rock The Croxton Bandroom on Saturday June 4. Tickets via their website. HOT TALK
BARBARION, AS A RIVAL, DJS AND MORE TEAM UP FOR A MELBOURNE FILM FUNDRAISER In an effort to raise funds for Australian film Before Dawn, a whole lot of Australian favourites will be coming together for a one night only show. Created by Melbourne filmmaker Julian Roberts, Before Dawn tells a tale of a man and his family escaping a horde of blood-thirsty zombies, while being held hostage by a group of violent criminals in a small country town in Victoria. To kick-start the project, Melbourne’s own larger than life metal band Barbarion will team up with The Neptune Power Federation, riff merchants As A Rival and a load of Melbourne’s favourite DJs in a Melbourne only event. The Zombie Apocalypse & Rock ‘n’ Roll Fundraiser will be held at 170 Russell on Friday May 13.
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MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE PRESENTS
‘PROVES THAT INTELLIGENT POP MUSIC STILL HAS THE ABILITY TO SEDUCE AND ENTHRAL.’ MOJO
Dark and dazzling American electro-pop band Poliça returns making its Melbourne Recital Centre debut after dominating festival line-ups around the world. Experience live their bewitching vocals, keyboard and percussion arrangements in their only Melbourne performance.
TUESDAY 31 MAY 7.30PM | TICKETS $62 ‘PROPULSIVE ENOUGH FOR DANCE FLOORS AND DREAMY ENOUGH FOR HEADPHONES.’ EW PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT PARTNER
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TWENTY ONE PILOTS The Forum April 27 RYAN BINGHAM Northcote Social Club April 27 FRIKSTAILERS Ding Dong Lounge April 28 VIC MENSA Prince Bandroom on April 28 MUTEMATH Corner Hotel April 28 RATATAT 170 Russell April 28, 29 THE NARELLES Bar Open April 29 GANGGAJANG Chelsea Heights Hotel April 29 THE BELLIGERENTS The Gasometer April 29 MIKE NOCK AND KRISTIN BERADI Bird’s Basement April 29 ODESZA Forum April 29 MS MR Prince Bandroom April 29 WIDE OPEN SPACE FESTIVAL Ross River Resort April 29 – May 1 MIGHTY BOYS The Tote April 30 YOU AM I Ding Dong Lounge April 30 KELLYBROOK YARRA VALLEY CIDER FESTIVAL Kellybrook Winery April 30-May 31 VINCENT GIARRUSO The Toff In Town April 30 SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE Old Bar April 30 HEDGE FUND The Workers Club April 30 KADAVAR & MT MOUNTAIN Corner Hotel April 30, Old Bar May 7 FIONA JOY Burwood Music Centre April 30 GROOVIN THE MOO Prince of Wales Showground, Bendigo April 30 SUPERSUCKERS Cherry Bar April 30 CHERRYROCK016 Cherry and AC/DC Lane May 1 MATT CORBY Palais Theatre May 1, May 2 TRAUMER May 1 Revolver MILLENCOLIN 170 Russell May 3 RICHIE RAMONE Cherry Bar May 3 ELLA HOOPER Gasometer Hotel May 4, 11, 18, 25 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Palais Theatre May 4, 5 BLACK CAB Howler May 5, 6 OLD MAN LEUDECKE Spotted Mallard May 5 THE TEMPER TRAP The Forum Theatre May 5 LYALL MOLONEY Shebeen May 6 RUFUS Festival Hall May 6, 12 COMMON & TALIB KWELI Trak Lounge May 6 SCREAMING JETS Hallam Hotel May 6, Corner Hotel May 7 THE PRETTY LITTLES Shebeen May 7. BLACK CAB Howler May 6 HINDS Northcote Social Club May 6 OCDANTER The Gasometer May 7 TINPAN ORANGE The Toff In Town May 7 HARVEST FESTIVAL Bicentennial Park May 7 COHEED AND CAMBRIA Max Watt’s May 7, 10 TWIN PEAKS The Curtin May 8 IRON MAIDEN Rod Laver Arena May 9 M83 The Forum Theatre May 10 RUDIMENTAL Margaret Court Arena May 10 STONNINGTON JAZZ FESTIVAL City of Stonnington May 12 – 22 SPOOKY LAND Shebeen May 12. DARLING JAMES & MACHINE AGE The Workers Club May 12 THE WONDER YEARS Corner Hotel May 12 THE UPBEATS The Roxanne May 13 ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FUNDRAISER 170 Russell May 13 CAMP COPE John Curtin Hotel May 13 BOB MOSES Revolver May 13 MELODY POOL The Shadow Electric May 13 LITTLE MAY Max Watts May 13 MELODICROCKFEST Elephant & Wheelbarrow May 13, 14 PURE GOLD LIVE Palais Theatre May 13 MATHAS Northcote Social Club May 14 HENRY WAGONS & THE ONLY CHILDREN Howler May 14 THE VANNS The Evelyn May 14, 15 VIOLENT SOHO Forum Theatre May 14 L7 170 Russell May 17 RENEE GEYER & ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS The Palais May 18 TIRED LION Northcote Social Club May 19 SUMMER FLAKE The Tote May 20 SCREECHING WEASEL & MXPX Prince Bandroom May 20 HOODLUM SHOUTS John Curtin Hotel May 21 REMI Howler May 21 PIKELET Hugs & Kisses May 21 THIS IS HIP HOP Festival Hall May 21 POLARIS Wrangler Studios May 22 CAT POWER The Melbourne Recital Centre May 22, 23 CLARE BOWEN The Corner May 25 BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 20
A R T I S T S
H E A D I N G
TINASHE The Forum May 25 THE BEARDS The Loft May 25, The Golden Vine May 26, Karova Lounge June 23, Barwon Club June 24, The Corner June 25, 26 ALEX GOW & DAN KELLY Thornbury Theatre May 27, Caravan Music Club June 17 HOT DUB TIME MACHINE 170 Russell May 27 A WILHELM SCREAM The Reverence Hotel May 26 URTHBOY Howler May 27 IVAN OOZE Northcote Social Club May 28 MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA Max Watt’s May 28 THE LOVE JUNKIES The Workers Club May 28 ANGELUS APATRIDA Bendigo Hotel May 28 THE DRONES 170 Russell May 20, The Tote May 28 THE CAT EMPIRE The Forum Theatre May 27, 28 CHERIE CURRIE The Corner May 28 POLICIA Melbourne Recital Centre May 31 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER Max Watt’s June 1 LAST DINOSAURS Northcote Social Club June 3, 4 BAD VISION The Old Bar June 3 DEAFHAVEN Corner Hotel June 3 CITIZEN KAY Workers Club June 3 SAFIA Mystery location June 3 ROBERT GLASPER TRIO Melbourne Recital Centre June 4 RICK DANGEROUS & THE SILKIE BANTAMS Croxton Bandroom June 4 FEAR FACTORY Prince of Wales June 4 HORACE BONES Grace Darling Hotel June 4 CLIENT LIASON Forum Theatre June 4 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Various Venues June 3 – June 12 THE ATARIS 170 Russell June 7 SPLIT SYNDICATE Shebeen June 10 CULTURE CLUB Rod Laver Arena June 10 DITA VON TEESE The Forum June 10, 11 NATIONAL CELTIC FESTIVAL Portarlington June 10 - 13 PRIMAL FEAR The Northcote Social Club June 11 DMA’S The Corner June 11 HOSPITALITY Brown Alley June 12 BIG COUNTRY The Corner June 15 THE SMITH STREET BAND Max Watt’s June 17 ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER The Toff June 18 FROM OSLO Cherry Bar June 18 WE LOST THE SEA Old Bar June 18 OLYMPIA Northcote Social Club June 18 STEEL PANTHER Festival Hall June 18 SAVAGES Corner Hotel June 19 HARRY HOOKEY & MITCH POWER The Retreat April 21 SWERVEDRIVER Corner Hotel June 23 THE PAPER KITES The Athenaeum Theatre June 24 THE BENNIES Max Watt’s June 24, Pelly Bar, Frankston June 25 URBAN SPREAD Chelsea Heights Hotel June 24, Village Green Hotel June 25 THE LIVING END The Forum June 24 THE JUNGLE GIANTS 170 Russell June 24 BONJAH Corner Hotel June 24 THE RUBENS Margaret Court Arena June 25 LEAPS AND BOUNDS FESTIVAL various venues July 1-17 PITT THE ELDER Bendigo Hotel July 1 MAT MCHUGH The Toff July 2 PARKWAY DRIVE Chelsea Heights July 3 GLASS ANIMALS 170 Russell July 6 SETH SENTRY 170 Russell July 8 THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN LED ZEPPELIN MASTERS Hamer Hall July 8,9 BROODS Forum July 11 DUA LIPA Northcote Social Club July 14 BOO SEEKA Howler July 15 TOTALLY 80’S Palais Theatre July 15 COG 170 Russell July 15 WEEDEATER & CONAN Max Watt’s July 16 TASTE Corner Hotel July 16 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS North Byron Parklands July 22-24 LEON BRIDGES Forum Melbourne July 19 JACK GARRATT 170 Russell July 20 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Ding Dong Lounge July 20 CRYSTAL FIGHTERS Corner Hotel July 20 PETER, BJORN AND JOHN Corner Hotel July 21 AT THE DRIVE-IN Forum Melbourne July 22 MARK LANEGAN BAND Croxton Bandroom July 22 THE KILLS Forum Melbourne July 23
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CHERRYROCK016 You’d have to be blind or completely illiterate if this edition of Beat hasn’t communicated the news that the tenth anniversary of CherryRock goes down in AC/DC Lane and at Cherry Bar this Sunday. It’s going to be a pretty loud affair. Lots of guitars. A shit-ton of riffs. Bands from Melbourne, Sydney, USA and Germany. And stacks of sweaty punters. Not stacked up, though, but crammed together in a sensual pool of mateship and rock’n’roll adoration. And sweat. Richie Ramone will be worth checking out. Ramones songs never fail to incite childlike glee. Some of the heavier acts, like Kadavar, Supersuckers, Gay Paris and High Tension, aren’t quite so childlike, but certain to get your blood pumping. This Sunday May 1. Happy Birthday.
MIGHTY BOYS Mighty Boys might have a threatening name, but they’re really a bunch of sweethearts. To prove this they’re throwing a massive party all about the importance of mateship. It goes down at The Tote on Saturday April 30, and backing up the starry eyed sweethearts are a pack of wonderfully fuzzy acts, including Bad Vision, Hi-Tec Emotions, Empat Lima, Girl Crazy and more. If you don’t have any mates, that’s fine. Everyone will be in a gregarious mood. Plus, someone told us they sell beer at the Tote. THE 1975 Hisense Arena July 24 BEACH SLANG July 24 FAT WHITE FAMILY Yah Yah’s July 24, Cherry Bar July 25 THE INTERNET 170 Russell July 26 LAPSLEY Howler July 26 JAKE BUGG Palais Theatre July 27 DROWNING POOL Max Watts July 30 MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS Rod Laver Arena August 5 TROYE SIVAN Margaret Court Arena August 9 GYMPIE MUSIC MUSTER Amamoor Creek State Forest August 25-28 BEN FOLDS WITH YMUSIC Palais Theatre August 26 BRING ME THE HORIZON Margaret Court Arena September 2 CRYPTOPSY Northcote Social Club September 3 BIGSOUND Fortitude Valley, September 7 - 9 HENRY ROLLINS Arts Centre’s State Theatre September 19, 20 JOE BONAMASSA The Palais Theatre October 5 MAYDAY PARADE Arrow on Swanston October 8, 170 Russell October 9
S O . M A N Y. G I G S .
YOU AM I Holy heck. You Am I, at Ding Dong Lounge? Damn, this thing’s going to be crammed. And not just You Am I, but You Am I and Indonesian rock dons The SIGIT, who’re in town for CherryRock016. You Am I released one of their strongest LPs of this century last year, Porridge & Hotsauce. It draws on the big hooks of Big Star and the soul-kick of Exile On Main St, delivered a bit of art punk fury. Get down to Ding Dong on Saturday April 30. ELLIE GOULDING Rod Laver Arena October 8 HOT CHOCOLATE AND THE REAL THING Palais Theatre October 22 BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE 170 Russell October 25 THE VENGABOYS 170 Russell October 30 MSO - INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Arts Centre November 4, 5 DISTURBED Margaret Court Arena November 18 DYLAN JOEL Prince Bandroom November 18 EARTHCORE Pyalong November 24 - 28
Beat Presents R U M O U R S : D E AT H F R O M A B O V E 1 9 7 9 , K E V I N M O R B Y, prism tats = N e w A nnouncements
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DYLAN JOEL
MS MR
StiLL SippiN’ tOuR 2016
fri 6/5
DJ LOGAN D (u.K) & MC EViL B (u.K)
wed 20/7
JuSt ANNOuNCED!
SAT 4/6
FEAR FACtORY
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vintage r & B up close & personal tour PRINCE PuBLIC BAR NOw AN OZTIx RETAILER
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 21
Photo by Jay Hynes
CHERRYROCK016 Too Tough To Die BY ADAM NORRIS
H
ow many bands could pip a Ramone for top spot on the bill at this year’s CherryRock016? I’ll give you three clues: they’re very blonde, very hirsute, and rock harder than any band in Europe right now. That’s right, Germany’s biggest and loudest contemporary band, Kadavar, are heading our way to headline one of the most iconic events on Melbourne’s rock’n’roll calendar.
KADAVAR Body Rockers B Y N ATA L I E R O G E R S
Supersuckers
“It’s going to be wild,” says drummer Christoph ‘Tiger’ Bartelt. “The last time we were in Australia was in 2013. We had a lot of fun at Cherry, and it’s especially exciting because it’s the tenth birthday. The lineup is so good and we’re headlining this time, so we couldn’t be more excited, actually.” Bartelt isn’t wrong. For this year’s festival Cherry owner and band booker, James Young, has called in a few favours to bring punters the most diverse CherryRock lineup ever. Acts from all over the world, including the USA and Indonesia, will come together to celebrate the power of rock’n’roll. Kadavar will be closing the night, and the longer set time is a golden opportunity for the psychedelic, stoner rock three-piece to impress. “We’re going to
throw everything in the mix,” says Bartelt. “We have about 120 tracks. We’re going to play songs from all the records. I’ve never been a fan of seeing a band who only plays their recent record. I always want to hear my favourite tunes, and I think we all feel the same, so that’s how we create our set list – there’s a bit of everything on it.” Bartelt formed Kadavar with guitarist Christoph ‘Lupus’ Lindemann and bassist Philipp ‘Mammut’ Lippitz in 2010. The trio released two LPs, Kadavar in 2012 and 2013’s Abra Kadavar, before Lippitz departed and was replaced by Simon ‘Dragon’ Bouteloup. “Berlin [2015] is the first record with Simon in the band, even though he’s been with us for two years already,” says Bartelt. “But we were
But worse was to come a few months later when Spaghetti was diagnosed with stage-3 oropharynx cancer and was compelled to undergo radiation therapy. “Last year was easily the worst time of my life. We had a pretty shitty year last year,” Spaghetti says. While the campervan accident had made a mess of Spaghetti’s plans to balance his touring commitments with quality family time, the cancer diagnosis caused him to stare mortality in the face. As dire as his situation was, Spaghetti was determined to overcome his illness, and to return to the rock’n’roll stage that had become
an intrinsic part of his life for the past few decades. “They say that your state of mind is extremely important when you’re dealing with physical illness,” Spaghetti says. “So to have this goal of getting back onstage, and to have my family and my three kids that I wanted to see grow up, I had plenty of motivation to stay alive. So getting me motivated to get on board was easy.” With a massive outpouring of support from Supersuckers fans – who provided financial backing through the Eddie Spaghetti Cancer Fund – Spaghetti entered radiation treatment for his cancer. Then in October 2015, Spaghetti announced on his Facebook page that he’d been given the all clear by his doctors. While Spaghetti has been able to return to the stage – against doctors’ orders, mind you – his entire lifestyle has had to change to accommodate his post-cancer, post-treatment existence. “I totally have to take it easier now, just because my reality is so different,” Spaghetti says. “My body feels different, my tastebuds are completely different – foods that I used to
The Healing Powers Of Rock’n’roll B Y PAT R I C K E M E R Y
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upersuckers singer and guitarist Eddie Spaghetti wasn’t thinking very far ahead when he first strapped on a guitar and started playing rock’n’roll 30-odd years ago. “I’ve never really thought too much about the future, ever,” he says, “and it’s only been recently that I’ve ever given it any thought at all.” Indeed, things changed in February 2015 when Spaghetti was on the road in America’s vast Midwest with his wife and three children, and his vehicle struck black ice and skidded off the road. While no one was seriously injured, the campervan was totalled, leaving Spaghetti to deal with a litany of insurance issues. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 22
B E AT.C O M . A U
I
t’s hard to dispute the significance of Cherry Bar in Melbourne’s live music scene. Across good times and bad, the venue has persevered as one of the most respected and ambitious spaces not only within Victoria, but across the country. It has nurtured an already impressive scene to the point where the CherryRock music festival is now celebrating its tenth anniversary. And while AC/DC Lane may not yet have welcomed its recently controversial namesake, founder James Young remains optimistic those titans of Aussie rock might one day appear. Until then, we have one of the most rock’n’roll lineups you’re likely to find. “I think accidentally, CherryRock is a successful survival model for the modern day music festival,” Young says. “This is our tenth year, and we’re using the Richie Ramone album title Too Tough to Die. We do believe we’re kind of bullet proof despite all the hurdles. When I talk about survival models, I’m talking about a festival with a modest capacity – in our case 800 people – where you’ve got really good lineup, an interesting location. I’m also in the lucky position of being the booker, and I’m only going to book bands that I highly rate. I’m just hoping that there are 800 people in Melbourne who share my taste, or have had a good time here in the past and are willing to roll the dice on bands who they may not know. There certainly are a couple of bands here who have been chosen based on being high quality that I’m expecting people to say, ‘Never heard of them, but they were fantastic.’ I’m hoping to come out of the festival with a broken right collarbone from all the pats on the back.” He laughs, but such confidence is not misplaced. CherryRock has proven to be a tremendous success not only for Young, but for rock music in Melbourne in general. Some exceptional acts have taken to the AC/ DC Lane stage, and it’s a testament to the support of local audiences that it has become such a celebrated fixture on the live music calendar. It is also, perhaps, rather intrinsically touring all the time.” Kadavar are currently in the middle of a massive European tour, which they’ll resume after completing the Australian tour. Spending so much time on the road can be detrimental to a band’s health, but Bartelt says Kadavar are as strong as ever. “We’re a lot more together and interactive then we were before. On Berlin we definitely brought some things to the table that we haven’t shown anyone before. You can tell there are differences from our last record. We took our time with this one and we enjoyed writing those songs – it is definitely an important record. I don’t know if I’d call it our defining record, but maybe our defining record will come next, who knows?” Kadavar are regularly compared to heavy metal and hard rock bands of the 1970s like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The comparison is even more apt thanks to their flowing locks and retro visual aesthetic. As for contemporary equivalents, they’re not too dissimilar to Wolfmother, with whom they share a connection. “We’ve toured with them a bunch and we’re be into I’m not anymore. The whole lifestyle change you go through with is massive, for sure.” It was perhaps prescient, and serendipitous, that Supersuckers’ new album Holdin’ the Bag – which had been written and recorded before Spaghetti’s health problems – returned to the more contemplative country rock aesthetic explored on the 1997 album Must’ve Been High. “Yeah, that was fortuitous,” Spaghetti says. “The doctors don’t really want me out on the road right now, but here I am. They’re telling me to take it easy, but for me this is taking it easy, even though it’s a pretty high octane affair.” Supersuckers had previously flirted with a follow-up to Must’ve Been High, but the creative stars hadn’t aligned. “We had thought about it around the tenth anniversary of Must’ve Been High, around 2007,” Spaghetti says. “So while we were thinking about doing a country record, I guess we weren’t feeling like it then. And now we were. So the time was right.”
good friends,” Bartelt says. “Actually Andrew [Stockdale] came to Berlin and we jammed a little. We had fun and we were able to record one full track [Wedding, a bonus track from Wolfmother’s fourth LP, Victorious].” Along with their Aussie friends, Bartelt says Kadavar love spending time in Australia because they always feel so welcome. “We want to thank everyone for their support so far. It’s only about one week away now and we’re really looking forward to it. We hope to see everybody at the shows.” The feeling of anticipation is mutual, especially if Kadavar plan on performing their haunting cover of Reich der Träume by German singer Nico. “We only play that on very special occasions,” says Bartelt. “So I don’t know.” KADAVAR are playing at the Corner Hotel on Saturday April 30, plus CherryRock016, with Richie Ramone, Supersuckers, Gay Paris, The Sigit, Polish Club, Dead City Ruins, Power and more, on Sunday May 1 in AC/DC Lane and Cherry Bar. Berlin is out now through Nuclear Blast Records. Creatively, Spaghetti says two elements underpinned the return to country: firstly, the all-out rock’n’roll attack of the Supersuckers’ 2014 album, Get the Hell; secondly, Spaghetti’s satisfaction with his most recent solo album, The Value of Nothing. “Maybe it was the good feeling I got from my last solo record, which was the first record I did on my own that I wrote all the songs for. It was such a great experience that it got me thinking about songwriting in that way, so I kept going in that direction. And Get the Hell was a great rock’n’roll record and we really rocked ourselves into oblivion with that record, so we were ready to embrace the country.” SUPERSUCKERS are playing at CherryRock016, which goes down in AC/DC Lane and Cherry Bar on Sunday May 1, featuring Kadavar, Gay Paris, The SIGIT, Mesa Cosa, Polish Club, Power and more. They’re also playing two headline shows at Cherry Bar on Saturday April 30.
Melbourne – when Young attempted to take the show on the road and bring Cherry to Sydney in 2014, the Harbour City proved reluctant to take the plunge. “When I took CherryRock up to Sydney, we had the Meat Puppets and Brant Bjork. In retrospect it wasn’t unsuccessful – we had 350 ticket buyers, which is a lot more than we had for our first CherryRock in Melbourne. But I learnt so much from that experience. Sydney is an awesome town, but it’s also divided into four quadrants, and people won’t travel across those borderlines. I went up there saying, ‘Guys, I’m doing you a massive favour. I’m bringing the best Melbourne bands. Trust me, just turn up and you’ll be blown away.’ But it was tough. “When the lockout laws came out in Melbourne, in the space of three weeks we’d organised a march with 8000 on the steps of Parliament House, and we got the government to change their mind. I think in Sydney they’re not quite as passionate or motivated. Maybe they need stronger community radio, like Triple R and PBS is here in Melbourne. They need to find a way for the government to listen, to say, ‘OK, you’ve scared us, we’ve changed our minds.’ But the thing is, the damage is done in Sydney with the lockouts. Even if pride was swallowed by Premier Baird and they reversed it, well, 40 venues have closed down.
The arrogance and the offensiveness of telling a venue with a late night license that they have to have a lockout after 1am, while not applying any of those rules or regulations to the casino? It means you’re a world-class city whose late night culture is entirely defined by a casino, which is culturally offensive to me and I’m sure a whole lot of people in Sydney.” The state of Sydney’s late night culture is gradually becoming the stuff of international scorn, yet Melbourne’s thriving scene isn’t simply the result of that stalwart 8000 who took to the streets in protest. Melbourne’s passion for music and dedication to seeing it thrive not only sustains events like CherryRock – it helps promote an engaged and supportive community that isn’t afraid to reach into their pockets when that freedom is threatened. “I think we’re well represented, and we’re really the rock’n’roll capital of Australia,” says Young. “We were the last state to get a peak body, but we now have Music Victoria and that’s a very active voice in the music scene and has done some very positive things. “We also have a community that is very connected down here. For instance, Cherry just missed out on the Agent of Change legislation, so that means we had to pay for our soundproofing, which is very expensive – about $100,000 just to make sure we can stay open like we always had. I tried to find a white knight, whether the government or the council, or even a corporate sponsor and couldn’t. Eventually, as always, you turn to the people, to people who have the least money and say, ‘Hey guys, can you help stump up a third of the cash?’ And we broke an Australian record where within 23 hours we’d raised the best part of $60,000. It got nailed in less than a day because the people of Melbourne cared. “I think the response in Melbourne in particular isn’t evidenced in the other capital cities, and that’s why we are the rock’n’roll capital. And that’s not a tag to be taken lightly – you have to defend it every day. It imposes a leadership role upon Melbourne and Victoria, and we must lead by example by defending our live music venues.” This year’s festival features several names of international renown, such as Kadavar and Richie Ramone, and some solid Aussie acts like Dallas Frasca and Gay Paris. But Young is banking on the quality of several lesser
RICHIE RAMONE Punk’s Not Dead B Y N ATA L I E R O G E R S
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hen Richie Ramone steps onstage at CherryRock016 there’ll be just one thing on his mind. “It’s always been about the fans,” he says. “I don’t play just ’cause I want to play. I play to put on a show for the kids to have a good time.” As the drummer for the Ramones between 1983 and 1987, Richie played more than 500 shows. He was also the only Ramones drummer – there have been four – to write and sing his own songs. 30 years on, Richie looks back on that period with fond memories. “It was an important time in the band’s history,” he says. “At the time I didn’t know how important though.” In a 1984 interview with The Providence Local, Ramones co-founder and frontman Joey Ramone had nothing but high praise for Richie. “[Richie] saved the band as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “He’s the greatest thing to happen to the Ramones. He put the spirit back in the band.” To this day Richie is humbled by Joey’s praise. “Are you kidding me? It’s a bitchin’ compliment – it was amazing.” he says. “Coming from someone who will always be my friend, it’s a great quote.” Richie is often referred to as the fastest and most powerful drummer in the history of the Ramones. “I’ve been playing the drums since I was 12-years-old, and it’s always come pretty naturally to me,” he says. His ability to sing lead vocals while keeping pace on the drums is a talent envied by many. “Getting your breathing right is pretty much everything – to play the drums you have to breathe in rhythm, and singing is the same but the timing is different,” Richie says. “It takes a lot of practise, but I’ve been doing it for so long it’s almost second nature.” The Ramones formed in 1974, and had made seven albums before Richie arrived. However, on reflection, Richie sees that his entrance was W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
exactly what his bandmates needed. “When I joined the band they were flat, and me joining was like lighting a spark plug,” he says. “We became incredibly close because we spent so much time together. We played 170 shows a year back then, and travelled all over. I hung out with them every day – we were like family, just like my band now.” These days Richie is the star of the show, dividing his time between the drum kit and the front of stage. Joining him on this tour are three handpicked musicians: Clare Misstake
known acts to keep the crowd guessing and on its feet. “Two obvious ones this year would be Polish Club, who are from Sydney and not many Melbourne folk know them yet, but they blew me away at BigSound last year. I’ve given them preferential treatment with one of the most coveted spots on the lineup. They’re on the main stage in AC/DC Lane, directly before the three major internationals, Supersuckers, Richie Ramone and Kadavar. I know people will walk away having not known them but being blown away by them, and that’s CherryRock, really. The other example is the Indonesian band The SIGIT, and they’re crazy but very impressive. They’re highly regarded in Asia – Rolling Stone over there described them as the act of 2013, and their videos have half a million views. They play huge festivals and are turning up on TV everywhere. And of course in Australia, despite their proximity not many people here know them, and I’m looking forward to those monster rock fans getting to see them. We don’t get many Asian bands on our doorstep very often, oddly enough.” While rock’n’roll still ain’t a stable life path for emerging musos, there is no small comfort in the fact that the scene in Melbourne is as strong as ever. The chance to break out can happen any night of the week – you just need to roll the dice, get out there, and see what you can find. “Cherry Bar is open seven nights a week, and that means over 1100 different local acts play every year here, and that includes plenty that we knock back. The scene is very busy, which is why I get so frustrated when people say that rock is dead. The best bands will rise to the top. Bands like Power, Tyrannamen, Peep Tempel, Child, these are all great local bands. The real question is the definition of ‘top’. Are they going to be played all over triple j? Are they going to be invited to play Splendour? Are they able to tour internationally? And the answer, right now, is probably no. But will they get recognised by music lovers in Melbourne as being a truly great band? Yes they will.” CHERRYROCK016 goes down in AC/ DC Lane and at Cherry Bar on Sunday May 1, featuring Kadavar, Supersuckers, Gay Paris, The SIGIT, Mesa Cosa, Polish Club, Power and more.
on bass, rhythm guitarist and (sometimes) drummer Ben Reagan, and Aussie guitarist Ronnie Simmons. “We’re like a family too,” Richie says. “It’s funny because Ronnie’s from Sydney and Clare’s from London – I’m surrounded by accents all the time. I start to pick them up.” While with the Ramones, Richie penned the fan favourites Somebody Put Something In My Drink and (You) Can’t Say Anything Nice, among others, and he assures us they’ll both be played at CherryRock016. “I’ll also play a few more obscure songs from my time with the Ramones, and I always play the cult classics. It’ll be fun – it’s high energy, and it’s going to be a killer show.” Don’t be surprised if you see Richie hanging out by the merch stand at the end of the night, either. “I’ll come right out after the show. We’ll take pictures and sign autographs – I want everyone to be buddies. The show isn’t over once I leave the stage. I like to talk to people and see what’s going on. That’s punk rock – I’m no phony.” RICHIE RAMONE is playing at CherryRock016, with Kadavar, Supersuckers, Gay Paris, The SIGIT, Mesa Cosa and more, in AC/DC Lane and at Cherry Bar on Sunday May 1. He’s also headlining Cherry Bar on Tuesday May 3 with support from Drunk Mums.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 23
This Week: Melbourne-based artist Steve Cross will be hosting his first solo exhibition this month. Originally from Perth, Cross relocated to Melbourne in 1999 to pursue a career in tattooing, over the years cementing his reputation as one of the country’s finest tattoo artists. Cross has been painting walls both nationally and internationally since 1988 and in that time he has created hundreds of large-scale murals, showcasing his varied style and passion for street art. The Black Ocean is the first instalment in a series of oil paintings from the long-term visual artist. While both these careers have seen his artwork showcased very publicly ± on walls and skin ± this is the first time Cross has exhibited any of his oil paintings. It runs up until Saturday April 30 at the Juddy Roller Gallery.
With James Di Fabrizio. Do you have thoughts, news or time for a chat? Email james@beat.com.au.
The NGV is teaming up with the RMIT Masters of Communication and Design program to bring a special Publishing and Design Workshop to its residence. Na Kim is an acclaimed graphic designer based in Seoul who divulged her widespread artistic insight on the Dutch capital of Amsterdam before ending up in South Korea, where she has since created and designed GRAPHIC magazine and established the publishing effort umool umool. Kim will join British independent graphic designer James Langdon for an exclusive practicum on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1 at NGV International. David Hare’s iconic play Skylight is soon to be premiered at the Southbank Theatre in June, but if you’re someone who can’t wait that long then you’ve just been dealt a fortunate hand. The acclaimed playwright will be joined by Julian Burnside in an inevitably unwavering conversation about Hare’s extraordinary career. When Skylight was penned in 1995, Hare won an Olivier Award for Best New Play the next year ± the play has continued to be revived and remastered ever since. David Hare in Conversation will take place on Sunday May 1 at the Southbank Theatre. Winner of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award, Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician Safak Pavey will be discussing the representation of marginalised voices in places of power, as well as highlighting how arts and creativity address the challenging issues of our time. Safak will be joined by barrister, broadcaster and co-founder of the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, Evelyn Tadros. This discussion will run at the Pavilion in the Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday April 29.
pick of the week
It won the Outstanding Solo Performance award at the 2015 Ottawa Fringe and now The Orchid and the Crow returns to Melbourne to challenge, investigate and enchant its resolute crowd. Created and performed by Daniel Tobias, the tragi-comedy reflects on some of Tobias’ most testing life experiences. His secular Jewish parents opted for him to be circumcised at a very young age and after a series of offences of the Old Testament, Tobias was struck down with stage three testicular cancer and faced an uphill battle for survival. The Orchid and the Crow will run from Tuesday May 3 until Sunday May 15 at Theatre Works
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 24
Shane Koyczan BY PHOEBE ROBERTsON
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poken word artist Shane Koyczan is commonly noted as the writer of To This Day, a self-reflection piece that strips away an emotional veneer, revealing his personal experiences as a child. However, his profound ideals often land in his wider-scoped surroundings, allowing audiences to experience an emotional journey and to accept it as the norm. Drawing inspiration from a range of sources, Koyczan’s innate ability to capture a moment in time is remarkable. “I’m the type of guy that walks around with earphones in, but there’s no music playing,” he laughs. “It’s kind of a sneaky thing to do to people, but I hear some amazing things. When I was growing up you could walk into a café or a restaurant and it would buzz with conversation, passion and all of the things that to me symbolised what it means to be alive, to be human in the world. Now, you walk into a café or a restaurant and all you hear is the clanking of dishes or the steamer going off on the coffee machine, everybody is plugged into something and nobodies talking to one another. So if I ever find myself in a situation where I am surrounded by people talking ± I ’m going to listen.” While he is also a critically acclaimed writer, the Canadian wordsmith has made a living out of sharing his stories with audiences across the globe, attaining five-star reviews and accolades for his truly touching performances. Humbly admitting that speaking to people wasn’t always his forte, Koyczan found solace in public performance. “Growing up, I was very hindered socially because I did not develop the sort of social skills that were required to talk to a person one on one,” says Koyczan. “Like a person that’s perhaps loosing their sight and their hearing improves, I think I sort of overcompensated and I’m now able to step on a stage and talk to a
thousand strangers about very personal experiences in my life.” The verbal virtuoso is set to touch down on Australian shores, bringing with him a wide discography of pieces to pick from. With an extensive repertoire, Koyczan offers up a unique and instinctive performance. “Every show is different,” he explains. “I try and craft a set. I never know what it’s going to be until the day of the show but I’m trying to create a thread between all of the works. I treat it like I’m a curator at an art gallery and all I’m doing is showing an audience the pieces that are on display right now ± the pieces of my life that I’ve chosen to hang. “I guess some people expect me to show up wearing a beret, smoke cigarettes and have a funky heroin addiction. I think they are always surprised by how emotional the shows are ± there are moments of great levity as well as moments of despair and all I’m doing is taking them through that range of emotion and letting them know it’s okay to feel.” A pioneer in the evolution of poetry, the multi-media artist refuses to adhere to any preconceived notions. Koyczan has removed the restrictions placed on poets by tradition and in turn, he’s welcomed a new audience. “So many people hear the word poetry and they tear their hair out and run screaming in the opposite
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
direction,” he laughs. “It really comes down to a sort of accessibility and vernacular issue. Those poems that we study in school are world-class poetry ± absolutely, no question ± there is lots to glean from them, lots to understand, lots to learn from them. But for a kid in school who is being exposed to poetry for the first time ever, they are going to look at that and say, ‘This makes no sense to me and this is not a way I can express myself. I don’t know how’. “One of the great things about art in general is that it continues to evolve, it’s very fickle. It will always evolve to change with its time and poetry is no different. As much as language evolves, poetry evolves as well. With the advent of the internet and things like YouTube, you’re starting to see this resurgence where poetry is very accessible now and it does relay the emotions that I’m feeling, it does capture what I’m going through in my life, it is relatable.” Ultimately, Shane Koyczan’s performance is a blend of beautiful melody and moving narrative moments. Reminiscing about the range of talent that engulfed society during his adolescence, it’s clear that his passion lies deep beneath the surface, and audiences continue to travel there with him. “I was always a great lover of music and cinema and that informs a lot on my style. Growing up listening to people like Leonard Cohen and Ani DiFranco, all of a sudden words and music became this really powerful force. Then you had the first hip hoppers coming out like Slick Rick and Young MC and their lyric book would roll out and you’d be like, ‘Holy shit this thing is a fucking scroll’. It just showed you that there was so much more that you could do. I looked at poetry and thought the same rules apply. I still love the traditional styles and I still read them, but for me it doesn’t have to be that.” SHANE KOYCZAN will perform for one night only at The Forum Theatre on Sunday May 22.
For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au
Coming Up SCORSESE
Thursday May 26 – Sunday September 18 ACMI
Circus Oz’s TWENTYSIXTEEN June 15 – July 10 Circus Oz Big Top, Birrarung Marr
Degas: A New Vision
Friday June 24 – Sunday September 18 National Gallery of Victoria
An Evening With Henry Rollins
Monday September 19 & Tuesday September 20 State Theatre
Raiders of the Lost Ark Live in Concert
Friday November 4 – Saturday November 5 Hamer Hall
DIRTY SECRETS COMEDY
THE COMIC STRIP DavID KOECHnER
NGV Reveals Blockbuster 2016 Spring/Summer Program The National Gallery of Victoria have unveiled their program for the latter half of the year ± including a blockbuster exhibition from David Hockney and a comprehensive survey of iconic Australian artist John Olsen, alongside an exhibition showcasing the work of high fashion designers Viktor&Rolf, a retrospective from Sally Gabori and more. One of the most influential artists of the past century, the prolific David Hockney works as a painter, as well as embracing numerous technological mediums to create with. The eponymous exhibition will feature over 700 works from the last decade of his career. David Hockney will run from Friday November 11 2016 to Monday March 13 2017, John Olsen: The you beaut country from Saturday September 16 2016 to Sunday February 12 2017 and Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists from Friday October 21 2016 to Sunday February 26 2017 at the NGV
Stand-up legend and actor David Koechner will bring his new show to Australia for the very first time. Koechner is well known for his role as Champ Kind of Anchorman and Todd Packer from The Office, as well as appearances in Waiting, Out Cold, Talladega Nights, Get Smart and The 40 Year Old Virgin. David Koechner will perform Friday July 15 at the Comedy Theatre.
The award-winning production explores the tragic life and iconic work of seminal French singer Edith Piaf, with creators and performers Michaela Burger and Greg Wain performing their own interpretations of her music. Having won the Best Cabaret Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March, plus selling out at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights and Auckland Cabaret Festival, Exposing Edith takes a new look at the life of Piaf. Exposing Edith will run at The Melba Spiegeltent on Wednesday May 18 to Saturday May 21.
Theatre
Next Wave Festival to Premiere Sedih//Sunno In the intimate and immersive performance by award-winning artist Rani Pramesti, four artists invite audience members into private spaces to listen and reflect on the personal histories and hidden legacies of their families. Pramesti and her team of collaborators have developed a performance experience that invites audiences to move around spaces adorned in treasured family heirlooms of Indonesian Batik belonging to Pramesti’s mother. Sedih//Sunno will transform The Warehouse Space at Arts House from Thursday May 5 until Sunday May 15.
The River BY LIZA DEZfOULI
Jez Butterworth’s The River arrives as a mysterious play about a man and a woman who sneak away to a secluded cabin to go fly fishing in the moonlight. But, as in all good dramas, things might not be what they seem. Red Stitch Theatre has previously brought two other Butterworth plays to the stage, The Night Heron and The Winterling. Red Stitch’s version is directed by John Kachoyan and the cast includes Dion Mills, Christina O’Neill and Eva Seymour. Beat talks to Red Stitch
Melbourne Shows
Bad Jews Returns to The Alex
Club vOlTaIRE MC Firdi Billimoria, featuring Peter Jones, Danielle Walker (Triple J RAW Comedy Winner 2016), Naomi Higgins (Raw Comedy National Finalist 2016), Timothy Clark (Chimp Cop) and more all take to Club Voltaire this week for a ripping night of laughs. Catch it on Sunday May 1.
Exposing Edith Slated for
Actors Theatre member Ngaire Dawn Fair about the work. “The River came after his play Jerusalem which was a big Broadway hit,” says Fair. “Everyone was wondering if it would be as good. The River is so different ± it’s so intimate, so much smaller in scope,
being about a new relationship.” Fair describes The River as being full of “tension and dark squirmy moments”. In fact, the production’s masterful handling of pacing and tension is one of the reasons the play is so exciting. “It’s about a new relationship, those times where you question everything, read into everything, and your heart’s in your throat,” says Fair. “There is the possibility of a new connection but you’re unsure ± you’re always second guessing.” Fair’s character is on a journey of self-development. “She’s on a quest to be honest and authentic,” analyses Fair. “She is finding out what we risk by putting her heart on the line. There’s potential in this relationship for her. Butterworth uses fly fishing as a metaphor ± the spiritual experience of fly fishing ± to express the risk and the lure of this stage of love. I like that she’s complicated. She’s actively seeking something. She wants to know what it means to be seen, to be loved. She’s an intelligent, well-read character. At the time of the play she’s reading To the Lighthouse. She’s constantly analyzing her own behavior while trying to be exposed and naked and vulnerable with this new person. Everyone can connect with this play. We want to be fearless and brave ourselves. The River is about what it is to be human; we use another person to fully experience ourselves, we think if we connect fully with someone we can experience ourselves and find solace in that. It’s a little bit like Inception. The audience will have their own theories about what the play means,
G E T S O M E C U LT U R E U P YA
The play made waves on Broadway and London’s West End, and now the widely lauded production is finding new life at The Alex Theatre with an Australian cast. The production was written by New York playwright Joshua Harmon, and follows a story chronicling family relationships, cultural identity, as well as grief, loss and legacy. Bad Jews returns to Melbourne from Wednesday April 27 to Saturday May 14 at the Alex Theatre, St Kilda, for a strictly limited season. they will bring their own experiences to the play, informed by the relationships in each of their lives.” The cast ventured off for a sojourn in the bush to properly capture the crystalline ambiance of nature for the play. “We went to stay in a cabin. We went fly fishing and we had to drink whiskey and toast marshmallows,” laughs Fair. The things you do for art. “It’s such an elusive play. We’re all working together to make decisions about time-lines and create tones that are not necessarily in the script.” Fair says it’s good to see her fellow Red Stitch ensemble actor Dion Mills in a leading role. “He’s so magnetic. He’s a leading man, but he’s been performing a lot of character roles lately.” Ultimately, Fair takes away a little bit of every role she plays. “I carry a little bit of that character around with me. This character is very different from me. That’s always fun. You know immediately when you don’t align with a character and you have to dig a little bit deeper to connect. Jez Butterworth is obsessed with theatre. He says that in life ± to a degree ± we’re always performing. We’re always in some sort of performance. It’s interesting to keep that in mind. As an actor, it frees everything up. It makes it more real.” THE RIVER will make its Australian premiere at Red Stitch Theatre, running from Tuesday April 26 to Saturday May 28.
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For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au pure innocent soul who gets taken advantage of by Audrey II. Are they two different characters? It’s open to interpretation. We leave it up to the audience to decide.” One of the biggest challenges for both Hill and the cast is the physicality of the performance. In other words, endurance is paramount. “It’s a very physical show, so I have to keep myself hydrated,” he says. However, he is thrilled to be a part of it. “Performing excites me. There’s so much creativity in performing a scene. Knowing the show like this, it’s momentous doing it each night and then reworking it the next day – it’s a joyous thing to do. I’m working with a great team. Everyone on board is so fantastic. Esther and I are very fortunate in that we are on the same page and it’s great to have someone to talk about it with.” With years of training and experience behind him, the WAAPA graduate contemplates the possibilities of continuing to develop his own work in the future.“I write for myself and have been a composer for a long time,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of Comedy Festival shows and they inspire me so much. My background is in improv; I have tried some stand-up. I can see the appeal of that when it goes well. But I’m more interested in creating a show which will create opportunities. Not in the serving my ego sense but something that allows an audience to experience something different – to learn something new about themselves. Clearly, Hill is a man with an innate and deep connection to musical theatre and the performing arts. Now, he brings this mindset to Little Shop of Horrors. “I realized that musicals can be instantly universal,” he says. “They can elevate you – take you somewhere dialogue alone can’t take you.”
my top list. Little Shop of Horrors is a Faustian tale. This plant says to Seymour, ‘I can give you everything you want, just supply me with fresh blood’. Seymour ends up
in a co-dependency relationship with the plant. That’s the pact with the devil. There are morality issues here – what are you willing to do to get what you want? And then once you do cross a line, are you still deserving of what you want? The stakes are great: love and power.” There are life lessons inherent in the story that apply to everyone, including Hill. “There’s an aspect of me in the character of Seymour,” he says. “Although his circumstances are entirely different from mine. He’s like an everyman character – he’s downtrodden, he’s hard on himself. These two characters are like those people who could be great but they hold themselves back. You have to believe in what you are capable of. It’s easy to be down on yourself. We want to avoid pain and fear; we do that a lot. It can lead to depression. A huge part of our lives is accepting this. You have to face your demons. “Everyone can relate to the story,” continues Hill. “Seymour and Audrey love each other but they don’t allow themselves to be together. Theatre can remind us of those lessons you have to go through in life. We can come out of a show hoping we can push through those times and learn from them. Little Shop of Horrors is directly about that. It’s a dark morality tale, but also playful in an enjoyable and upbeat way. It’s original and fantastical. That is what attracted myself and Esther to the piece. We have similar tastes in this.” With such a well-known story, the musical adaption of Little Shop of Horrors takes some leeway to speak with its own voice and to make its own mark. Albeit, the heart of the production still beats with what made the tale so enrapturing in the first place. “It is unique in that it pays homage to the film but it’s very different from Frank Oz’s version,” says Hill. “I do the voice of Audrey II as well. It’s a kind of theatrical ventriloquism. This adds an interesting understanding of Seymour’s psychology. In my mind, Seymour is a
La Bohème is soon to arrive on the southern shores after years of fairly outrageous success at the Sydney Opera House, and Melbourne will at last get to see why Puccini’s masterpiece has become such a celebrated production. To lead us into the tragic opera (first performed in 1896), Opera Australia’s artistic director Lyndon Terracini delves deep into what makes Bohème tick, and in the process, puts the work habits of everyone else on the planet to shame.
“Each day there are emails, auditions, discussion of the next season, how much it will cost, what can we afford, what can’t we afford, who are the singers, the conductors, the designers, the directors, who’s even available, or maybe I’ll go to one of the performances we do in schools – since we performed for 70,000 kids last year,” he reveals. “Or there might be a musical that’s in one of the other capital cities so I may need to fly there and make sure all is going well. I’m usually working around twenty hours a day.”Both Napoleon and Winston Churchill were rumoured to operate on just four hours sleep a night, so Terracini is in fine historical company. La Bohème has long been an enduring favourite for both opera connoisseurs and casual listeners alike. While it’s inclusion in the Opera Australia oeuvre has become almost synonymous with its staging at Opera House, the upcoming season at the State Theatre will spare no excess – and indeed, excess is key; this is nothing if not a particularly decadent production, nudity and all. “It’s a gorgeous Bohème, but when certain [patrons] see it, it’s very much, ‘Oh dear! I brought my grandchild to this! Someone cover their eyes,” he laughs. He is very conscious, though, of not trying to simply replicate the success of Sydney. “The culture of each city and for that matter, each town in Australia is different. If you think about Perth compared to Melbourne – where you’re playing to audiences living different cultures – then the sort of production you present to them affects them differently. I often think about that. In Bohème, I don’t necessarily make it radically different, but subtly so. For instance in Melbourne this
year, we’ve got two fantastic singers who differ from Sydney, one of which is Lianna Haroutounian who just sung at the Met with Placido Domingo and was the star of the show, and she’s coming to sing Mimi. There’s also the time of year. The sort of operas you do in winter you might not do in summer, since the expectations from what they’ve been doing during the day – whether they’ve been down at the beach or inside from the rain – are brought into the theatre very differently. Usually in the winter audiences want to see something more serious, while the summer they just want to have a fun time and enjoy themselves.” Having seen this production multiple times, and finding no two productions the same, it is safe to assume the Melbourne season will prove just as seductive. Terracini and his crew, however, have no intention of simply sitting back and keeping their fingers crossed. “We sold more tickets than any other opera company in the world last year, over 650,000. We’re in very serious planning for 2018, but we’re also already looking all the way up to 2020 at the moment. Now we’re getting some of the front line singers and conductors to play, and audiences are really responding to them. They may not know them, may not have heard of them, but once they come to the show and see for themselves, they’ll always want to come back.”
"It was always unexpected, because everyone else that competes is such high quality," de Jac speaks of the award. "I didn't really believe it until they definitely called out my name, and then I still didn't really believe it." The alluring glamour of burlesque has captivated many an audience. Bella de Jac lives for its electrifying presence. From its bawdy roots in the United Kingdom to its theatrical rebirth into the art of striptease in the United States, she has treasured observing its centuries-old evolution and refinement. "I love that classic burlesque is this snapshot of a performance style from so long ago," she explains. "I love that things like 'bump 'n' grind' don't exist, really, in any other dance forms, except for ironically. There are very particular moves, like certain hand movements and certain hair flicks. But then in a modern sense, my personal interests in terms of art is the body and human sexuality. "I love that it's this fearless display of female sexuality – but on our terms. It's not 'music video' sex. It's exactly what we want to express, and it can be very political. I love the idea of being the un-ladylike woman on stage – sometimes being glamorous and sometimes messing with people's heads, because you can be glamorous and sexy, but you can also be funny and making a statement, or shocking people." With a freedom installed by the traditional expectation of representing the unexpected, burlesque is a powerful medium with which to creatively explore. However, the urge to challenge ideals takes great courage and dedication. For Bella de Jac, the passion to create her entrancing worlds comes from a place deep within.
"Liberation and empowerment get used a little bit too much when it comes to burlesque," she warns. "I can see how that is empowering and liberating, but I feel like in order to be any kind of artist you already need to be empowered already. Getting up on stage and taking your clothes off in front of a room of people isn't going to make you feel better about yourself if you don't already have that innate empowerment within you." This isn't to take away from the celebration of the human body and sexuality, however. For so many audiences, the alluring draw of the sparkle and charm of burlesque is that it represents an avenue of freedom from the judgement and pressure that can so often restrict us in society. "I think it's exciting for people to see people that look just like them doing weird things on stage and looking so confident," she says. "Particularly, women are made to feel like they should be apologising to themselves all the time. "If someone doesn't like the way your body looks, that's not your problem. I think maybe that's the thing I like the most about it, making other people feel that it's okay to be themselves or it's okay to look however they want to look. I suppose in the empowerment and liberation sense, I get more of a kick out of making other people feel good, because I feel good, so I feel that everyone else should be allowed to feel good."
Little Shop of Horrors BY LIZA DEZFOULI
“It’s been dear to me for a very long time,” says award-winning actor and performer Brent Hill. He’s talking about Little Shop of Horrors, the musical revival directed by Dean Bryant and choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth. Hill plays the lead, Seymour – a character nerdy in the old-fashioned sense – who works as an assistant in a flower shop while fostering a love with Audrey (played by Esther Hannaford). He discovers an example of a new plant species which he names after her. Famously, this is the beginning of a story both dark and hilarious, featuring a wise-cracking plant with a fondness for rhythm and blues that grows quickly out of control. “I’ve grown up with Little Shop of Horrors,” reflects Hill. “I learnt how to play music from the score. I love the music, I love Frank Oz’s film from 1986. This role has been on
La Bohème BY ADAM NORRIS
2016 Victory Lap Tour with Bella de Jac BY JACOB COLLIVER
For four years, Bella de Jac has been perfecting the art of burlesque, with her hard work and talent gaining her the coveted Miss Burlesque Australia in 2015. Now, with a group of Australia’s finest, she’s bringing the wonder to Melbourne with Crowned and Dangerous: the Miss Burlesque & Mr. Boylesque Australia 2016 Victory Lap Tour. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 26
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will run at the Comedy Theatre from Wednesday May 4 through to Sunday May 22.
LA BOHÉME will run at the State Theatre, Arts Centre from Tuesday May 3 through to Saturday May 21.
The MISS BURLESQUE & MR BOYLESQUE 2016 VICTORY LAP TOUR will go down at Howler on Saturday April 30.
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STONNINGTON JAZZ 2016
BRINGING THE REVOLUTION TO YOU
B Y K AY E B L U M
If you’re yet to fall in love with jazz, this year’s Stonnington Jazz festival will have you wondering why you didn’t come to the party sooner. Now in its 11th year, it’s the first time the festival has engaged a performer as artistic director. Chelsea Wilson is the woman in question, and she’s given the programme a distinctively funky edge.
TINPAN ORANGE D O G G E D
I N
L O V E
SETH ROBINSON
Over the past year, Australian folk trio Tinpan Orange have been hard at work, plugging away in the studio and laying down something incredible. Love is a Dog is the band’s fifth studio album, and brings with it a wealth of experience and technical experimentation. It’s a beautiful result that “explores the paralysis of privilege, the precariousness of having too much to lose and the pain of loving someone too much”. In celebration of the album’s release, and the success of its first single, Rich Man, Tinpan Orange will be hitting the road for a huge tour. Beat speaks with vocalist Emily Lubitz to learn about the making of this mesmerising new album, and what’s next for the band. “We approached this album a little differently,” she says. “Usually, we write on our own – I’ll write most of the songs that I sing and then bring it to the band, then we’ll finish it all together. This time we did a lot of co-writing with my brother Jesse, who’s in the band, and my husband Harry [Angus, The Cat Empire], who produced the album. We’d never done that before. “It was actually a bit scary to write together from the beginning – to be sitting there in the room with a guitar and be strumming and humming and getting out those first ideas, which are often your shit ideas. When you start writing a song you’ll often revert to the clichés and the easy chord progressions. Usually you’re doing that on your own and no one knows, but we showed each other and we came up with some really good stuff. Rich Man was co-written like that.” This openness gave Tinpan Orange the opportunity to evolve and learn new things about each other and the songwriting process, which Lubitz admits is still “very much a mystery”. “I think because of that process I started to sing differently,” she says. “With Rich Man, it was Harry who came up with the melody of the verse. It has the climb into the falsetto voice. I’d never really sung like that before, and didn’t know that I could. It didn’t feel unnatural. I discovered this whole new range of my voice, so I wrote some other songs that went up into that head voice too. That was really exciting.” Rich Man also gave the band a chance to experiment with another medium, selfproducing the song’s music video. It’s a beautiful, haunting, production, which Lubitz dreamed up herself. “The simplicity of the idea really appealed to me,” she says. “I think often simple film clips are executed the best. It’s an image of a woman staring into the camera as if it’s a mirror, and then these outside arms come in and impose these lavish and expensive things on her. Then at the end of the song BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 30
she finds her own arms, or autonomy. She takes off the expensive stuff and she’s naked and free at the end. I liked the clarity of that message. It was also really fun to do. My two friends were the arms, and we shot it in our friends kitchen.” Love is a Dog is a concept album, and an illustration of thematic experimentation. According to Lubitz, the concept formed through the course of the writing process. “It emerged after the fact. A lot of the songs had this theme that was kind of like, ‘The downside of a good thing.’ That became the thread in the album. I was reading The Great Gatsby at the time I wrote a lot of these songs, which is all about the wealth in that world, and yet everyone is so unhappy. We started by recording 15 songs, then cut the album down to 11. The one’s we cut just didn’t fit, whether it was thematically or sonically, or even just vibe-wise. We really wanted to have a surplus of songs to choose from so we were able to trim down to the best.” With the album done and dusted, the band are getting ready for a huge year on the road, starting with a lap around Australia before they turn their gaze overseas. “There’s definitely going to be some reinventing happening, because when we recorded the album, quite a lot of the songs had a rhythm section. However, we’re touring as a trio. I play electric guitar, my brother plays acoustic and Alex Burkoy plays violin, mandolin and electric guitar. So it’s a very string-and-vocal based setup. We’re going to bring those songs with bigger production down into that format. “We actually love doing it that way and playing as a trio, because we love the space that’s there when there’s no rhythm section. Hearing the singing and Alex play his violin in that space is sometimes more intense without a rhythm section. It gives you the dynamic of going from really quiet, with just one guitar and a violin, to soaring up with three voices and all the guitars. We’re really enjoying that intensity at the moment, but we will need to tinker with those new songs.” TINPAN ORANGE’s new LP Love is a Dog is out now. Catch them at the Toff in Town on Saturday May 7.
Wilson is a Melbourne-based singer, songwriter and broadcaster, and anyone who’s heard her presenting Jazz Got Soul on PBS will know she has a broad knowledge of jazz genres. This shines through in her festival selections, including a concert series featuring some Australian jazz luminaries, a club series that’ll allow you to get your boogie on, plus some exclusive events and one-off collaborations. Stonnington Jazz 2016 opens with the premier event, Australian Songbook. Aimed at celebrating Australian songwriting, the lineup features Wilma Reading, Gian Slater, Mama Alto, Josh Kyle, Clancye Milne, and Wilson herself in what’ll be her only festival appearance. Backed by the James Mustafa String Orchestra, the vocalists will all perform a song of their own plus an interpretation of another Australian favourite. Another one-off collaboration is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Pieces of Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron was an influential American poet, writer and musician, often referred to as the father of hip hop. “It’s an event that I’m really excited about,” says Wilson. “It’s bringing together hip hop, soul and jazz artists all in the one lineup to pay respect to Gil Scott-Heron.” The event will see Vince Jones, N’fa Jones, Ryan Ritchie (The Raah Project), Hue Blanes, Hailey Cramer and Walter Saluni interpreting selected Scott-Heron tracks, backed by a band featuring members of The Putbacks, ATM15 and The Meltdown. The Meltdown will get under the spotlight earlier in the festival for the Soul Session at at Revolver Upstairs. Joining them are northern soul adherents Fulton Street and DJ Lyndelle Wilkinson. Revolver Upstairs is a new venue for the festival and while it isn’t known for jazz, that was part of its appeal. “I wanted to have a mix of shows where there are still concerts where you can listen to Chris McNulty or Bob Sedergreen and sit down in a beautiful theatre,” Wilson says, “but if you just want to have a boogie and still chat to your mates without getting kicked out, you can.”
Other gigs at Revolver guaranteed to get you dancing include the Worldwide Jazz Party featuring the high-energy Latin grooves of Clave Mania and the Senegambian Jazz Band with their fusion of world music, afrobeat and funk. “The Senegambian Jazz Band are one of the most exciting bands in Melbourne at the moment, I reckon,” Wilson says. “Amadou [Suso, the band’s lead vocalist] plays a kora that’s 760-years-old that’s been passed down from generation to generation. But he’s doing something completely different. They’re really fun.” Also at Revolver Upstairs is Lance Ferguson Presents: Black Feeling. This exclusive event will see The Bamboos leader performing a selection of tracks from his three album series Black Feeling for the very first time. Expect jazz funk, soul jazz and Latin gems. If high energy swing, rhythm and blues is your thing, then head along to The Shuffle Club’s Dance Party (with vocals from Yvette Johansson) at the Armadale Uniting Church Hall. There’ll be dancing in the streets when Windsor’s Green St is closed off for the afternoon to host a New Orleans
FIONA JOY I N
S Y N C
Hi Fiona, thanks for taking the time to chat with Beat. Could you please tell us about the music you make and your musical history? My mother was 17-years-old when I was born, so my grandmother moved in to take care of me. She bought a really old iron frame piano into the house and I knew from that moment what I wanted to do. I fell in love with it and started writing music from the age of eight. It took me till I was 38 to get into the recording studio, but as a storyteller I believe that the bit of extra life I experienced gave me something to write about. The music on your latest release Signature – Synchronicity sways between the whimsical, mystical and fantastical, highlighting your enthralling musical ability and merging with fairytale-esque themes. What enticed you to explore these concepts? Signature – Synchronicity is in fact about modern day fairytales told from an adult perspective. My first few albums were about my life, then I grew up and looked at the world around me and now I’m looking at themes that we all understand and how they still affect us B E AT.C O M . A U
as adults. A healthy obsession with Game Of Thrones also plays a role in there. The titles are about princesses, dragons, angels, rainbows, and a childhood fascination with the story of The Little Red Caboose. The word signature is about the real magic. My left hand has osteonecrosis and according to my surgeon this career isn’t technically possible. I’m still going. I’m grateful to my left hand for holding up, and there is definitely a little magic in all of that. Tell us about the writing and recording process behind Signature – Synchronicity. Did your approach alter and develop compared to your last album, Signature – Solo? Signature – Synchronicity is released on my own Indie label, Little Hartley Music. It’s part of a series that includes Signature – Solo, recorded for Blue Coast Records who partner with Sony Music for hi-fidelity audiophile music. I wanted to show how ten identical songs could change from being recorded live in a single take on a Steinway to a studio produced, edited, orchestrated version on an Aussie made Stuart & Sons piano – with lyrics and vocals,
Street Party, with food trucks and live bands including Horns of Leroy, Henry Manetta and The Trip, The Sugarfoot Ramblers and more. It’s all ages and it’s free. It was important for Wilson to not only present a diverse range of styles at this year’s festival, but also to make it inclusive and accessible. “Going out can be really expensive,” she says. “So I wanted a variety of events to suit different budgets.” Anyone can join the festival’s free music workshops, jazz jam, and jazz poetry slam, or learn more about Australian jazz at Backbeat: Stories of Australian Jazz. This exclusive exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Australian Jazz Museum and curated by Wilson, featuring video footage, gig posters, recordings and other enlightening items. But that’s definitely not all that’s on offer at Stonnington Jazz 2016 – the programme boasts amazing talent like Renee Geyer, Wilma Reading, Monique diMattina, Fem Belling, Tamara Murphy, Nichaud Fitzgibbon, Nino Ferro, Kimba Griffith, Anton Delecca, Remco Keijzer and more. There’s also two jazz high teas set in the grandeur of the Malvern Town Hall. Hetty Kate and Vanessa Fernandez will perform, with an indulgent high tea prepared by macaron legend Adriano Zumbo. For something totally unique, cult film buffs can check out Mad Jazz at The Astor – a special screening of the original 1979 Mad Max film featuring a live scoring from The Shaolin Afronauts. “That’s going to be wild,” says Wilson. “It’s never been done before. And George Miller gave us the tick of approval to do it, which is amazing. They were like, ‘Yeah, sounds cool, go for it.’ ” STONNINGTON JAZZ 2016 runs from Thursday May 12 – Sunday May 22 across various venues in the City of Stonnington.
including beat box, thrown in to highlight the variation. It’s neo-classical alternative with a twist. To officially launch Signature – Synchronicity, you’ll be hosting an exclusive show and a film viewing at the Burwood Music Centre. What kind of magic do you have in store for this concert? The idea of different worlds appeals to me in so many ways. There are six video clips made by professional filmmakers to bring the songs to life and these will be viewed at the album release. I want people to hear the studio version of edited, perfected and finished recordings and then the energy of the same songs performed live in the same space. I’m blown away by how differently people view the two listening experiences. Same songs, note for note, and yet completely different. One film features real NASA footage made by a retired NASA senior flight engineer; another features an old English vintage Bristol 401 and a beautiful young dancer; another sees tangoing on the beach; and the one I’m most excited about is very GOT with a burning piano. I have a backing vocalist and percussionist with me, one of the album producers and some of the filmmaking team. There are only 32 seats there so it’s an intimate experience where I can share music and connect with the audience. It think it’s just how music is best shared: up close and personal. FIONA JOY is launching Signature – Synchronicity at the Burwood Music Centre on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1. Signature – Synchronicity is out now via Little Hartley Music.
THE HENDRIX REVOLUTION RIDING WITH THE WIND
BY ALEXANDER DARLING
Randy Hansen will probably be described as a tribute act when he brings the Hendrix Revolution tour to Australia for the first time this May. While technically accurate, this description doesn’t really do him justice as a musician. Certainly, the Seattle-born guitar virtuoso has made a name for himself covering Jimi Hendrix over the past 40 years, but he’s about more than just setting Fender Stratocasters on fire or playing them with his teeth.
MIGHTY BOYS
M AT E S H I P B Y PAT R I C K E M E R Y
Mighty Boys didn’t really start out with any major ambitions. A couple of friends had just arrived back in Melbourne from overseas and it was decided that the welcome home party would benefit from a live band. “We had a bit of time off, so we just wrote four songs,” says co-frontman Keats Mulligan. The crowd response was positive, and what was intended as a one-off show became a going concern. “I don’t know if it was just in keeping with the dress theme of the party, or because we thought it’d be funny, but we really tried to embellish and emphasise a male cock rock persona – which essentially became a driving force in the band, even though none of us had intended originally to be in a band like that,” Mulligan says. Given that rugged masculine underpinning, the fact the band took their name from the Suzuki Mighty Boy – a pint-sized utility vehicle – was a delicious irony. “We named ourselves quite literally Mighty Boys because I lived next door to a car lot that had a ridiculous number of Suzuki Mighty Boys,” Mulligan laughs. “I actually tried to buy one a few years before because I thought it was such a ridiculous name. But I think most people aren’t aware of that particular utility, and aren’t aware of just how un-blokey the car is, so the joke’s probably lost on a lot of people.” Automotive emasculation aside, Mighty Boys is very much about friendship – the type of platonic bond that comes from playing in a band with friends, and sharing stages with like-minded musicians. “I think part of the reason why I originally wanted to play that original party was because it was amongst friends,” Mulligan says. “I knew everyone would find it funny and original that this particular bunch of people had put together a band for a party. But it didn’t take a long time for us to see that this could become something that would become important to us if we stayed with it.” Indeed, the very act of being in a band – especially a band devoid of artistic differences or warring egos – had its therapeutic and social benefits. “I think it’s a really great way to stay involved in the community, to be involved with friends, with a common goal working on something,” Mulligan says. “It’s really good for the self, and it didn’t take long for us to realise the benefits that it could make in our lives. And it brought us together as friends – which would’ve been within about 15 minutes of playing that party show.” It wasn’t long before Mighty Boys secured follow-up gigs, and pretty soon they were playing shows with bands they liked and admired. Along the way, Mighty Boys found their way into the studio to record a seven-track EP – the pun-ishly titled Dole Cheque & Cabana – in 2014. The EP showcased the band’s irreverent sense of humour, including a backhanded celebration of cheesy entertainment show Hey Hey It’s Saturday. “I don’t even know why we came up with that idea, but people seem to really resonate with iconic images of Australian history, especially embarrassing areas of Australian history,” Mulligan laughs. “And Hey Hey It’s Saturday is really lowest common
denominator humour, but at the same time it’s kind of like a joke you pull out of the Christmas cracker – you’re expecting it to be bad, but you enjoy how bad it is.” This Saturday Mighty Boys will join a cast of local bands, including Bad Vision, Hi-Tec Emotions, Empat Lima and Girl Crazy, in what’s billed as “a celebration of friendship”. The graphic art for the gig is intriguing: alongside such significant friendships as Thelma and Louise and Batman and Robin are more complex associations like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, and Wayne Carey and Anthony Stevens. “We purposefully selected images that reflected friendships and different relationships. Some of those relationships involved betrayal, like Anthony Stevens and Wayne Carey, others were in positions of power and exploited that, like Bill Clinton. Others were particularly dangerous, and others were famously amazing relationships, like Thelma and Louise.” Putting aside the deeper social and psychological meaning represented in the various couplings, Mulligan says the theme of the gig reflects a more mature understanding of the importance of friendship. “As you get older you get a better understanding of the different dynamics you have with different friendships, and how important all of those friendships are, regardless of how strong a particular relationship is. It’s the collection of mates that you have that’s the most important thing. I think the one thing that Mighty Boys all agree on is the importance of friends and the importance of mates.” So does that mean John Howard was on the money when he went to the 1999 constitutional referendum with a proposal to include a new preamble in the Australian constitution that expressly referred to ‘mateship’.” Mulligan demurs at the prospect of lining up on the side of the former prime minister. “We’ve always been a band that mocks the Australian identity, and demonstrates really sad or gross or happy or disgusting or funny elements of the Australian identity. So when I hear things like John Howard wanting to put a term like mateship in the constitution, I find that a bit funny.” MIGHTY BOYS are playing at The Tote on Saturday April 30 with Bad Vision, HiTec Emotions, Empat Lima, Girl Crazy and more.
Hansen’s skill lies in his uncanny emulation of one of the psychedelic guitar god’s greatest qualities – improvisation. Every night onstage he inserts his own blues and rock ideas into his explosive solos and slips songs from other music legends into the mix, ensuring his audience gets an entirely new Jimi Hendrix experience. “It’s very [responsive] what we end up doing onstage every night,” Hansen says. “We don’t use a setlist, I try to improvise in the same vein as Jimi, things like that. “Take Foxy Lady – the intro and outro have that wobbled F note. One time I didn’t want to let on I was going to do that song, so me and the band started playing [The Temptations’] Papa was a Rollin’ Stone and segued into it after the first chorus. Jimi didn’t do that, but he certainly experimented so it’s something he might have done, and the way we try to play is so it sounds like what he would have done if he’d thought of that.” Hendrix’s music has affected Hansen on a physical level as well as a musical level. “[It] makes me do different things when I’m onstage,” he says. “The best way I can explain it is, let’s say you put a song on and look at the people dancing to it. Some people are influenced to dance with wild abandon, and other people are more reserved. Jimi’s music
makes me dance with wild abandon, and I can’t help it, and it makes me play like him when I get into that zone.” The raw impact Hendrix’s music has on Hansen could explain why he’s one of the few tribute guitarists officially recognised by the Hendrix family, and why he’s shared stages with other guitar legends like Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray. Hansen’s ability to summon the spellbinding stage presence of Hendrix is backed up by his encyclopedic knowledge of the guitar master’s material, all of which he learns completely by ear. On any given night, he’s just as likely to play songs from Hendrix’s posthumously released bootleg albums as he is Purple
FRIKSTAILERS FREAKS IN ORBIT BY ADAM NORRIS
Frikstailers (pronounced freak stylers, for those unfamiliar) are returning to Oz with a whole lot of alien love and their 2014 EP Crop Circles in tow. It’s little over a year since the neon haired Argentinians last exercised their particular blend of electronic cumbia across Sydney and Melbourne. As much as they enjoyed the crowds here, the sheer act of travelling so far from was amazing in itself. With their second LP on the horizon, Rafael Caivano opens up about the duo’s unexpected inspirations.
“Well, Lisandro [Sona], my partner, he used to listen to a lot of national rock from Argentina,” Caivano says. “I was more into electronic music, but I come from a very little town in the middle of Argentina, in the province of La Pampa. There was no internet, so all I could get was the local radio, or friends who were electronic music fans. What you could get access to was very hard techno, so I was into that because it was the only music I could hear – I didn’t know the whole world of electronica going on out there. “But when we started to go out, the only music you could dance to was cumbia. The cumbia from Argentina was romantic, funny groups, like boy band groups. They were a little fake, but they were fun. And W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
then came cumbia villera, which is cumbia from the slums in Buenos Aires. This whole music was cumbia talking about drugs, violence; the things that were going on in their life. So this took over the whole country, and we started to listen to a lot of that. There was a lot of interesting sounds in there, very creepy. Somehow we started to dance to that. You had no choice, you had to dance, and that was the first music we learned.” As music fusions go, it is a fairly solid approach: take two very disparate genres and slowly stitch them together. Although the resulting sound was fun to explore, the pair were far from finished. From the perspective of someone who has never visited Latin America, its residents seem
Haze, and his setlist decisions have even impressed the musicians that originally recorded with Hendrix. No surprise, his favourite Hendrix song – both to play and to listen to – is a deep cut. 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be), off Hendrix’s third album Electric Ladyland, is a 14-minute odyssey on which Hendrix handles the guitars, bass, percussion and vocals. “It’s like listening to a symphony,” Hansen says. “On that song he uses everything he knows how to do on guitar, and its like he’s trying to paint with music. It’s amazing to me. “Another reason I really love it is that in 1993 I got to tour with [ Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer and bassist] Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, and when I pulled that one out of the hat they were really surprised. They both said, ‘We only ever did that one in the studio’, so I got to be the first guy ever to play that song live with the original musicians, and the audience got to hear it live for the first time.” You’d be hard pressed to find a musician more devoted to the life and work of Jimi Hendrix than Hansen, and his fascination has earned him a worldwide audience and sent him on a lifelong journey of enlightenment. “I think Jimi did enough innovation on the guitar for guitar players to be going, ‘Wow, what did he do there?’ for a thousand years at least.” Randy Hansen brings THE HENDRIX REVOLUTION tour to the Palais Theatre on Saturday May 21.
particularly attuned to the influences of culture and history, of layering impressions atop each other like the building of a wall. On this note, watch any Frikstailers video and the significance of computer games is hard to ignore. “We were both fans of video games, and video games music, and I understood a lot about music listening to the very simple melodies and harmonies of video games,” Caivano says. “Of 8-bit games in particular, old Nintendo games. Lisandro was more into PlayStation and he started making music with this old computer software. That was his first experience with a sequencer. “At some point of life we met, studying sound to become technicians, and I gave him this sequencer I was using in computers, and it blew his mind and he started producing on his side. I was producing different stuff on my side, trying to find something I really enjoyed. So I was making ambient electronica while Lisandro was making IDM, intelligent dance music, and at some point we wanted to go onto dance floors. So we started working with that first music that taught us how to dance: cumbia. We wanted this idea, this project to be very entertaining. We didn’t want to just be one cumbia. So we went with the freestyle thing, and at the same time we wanted to be really freaky.” Crop Circles is resplendent with ’80s synth sounds and psychedelic soundscapes informed by Super Mario Bros. Yet despite outside claims that the EP is a taste of things to come, Caivano is sceptical that Frikstailers’ sound will remain steady. “I think we are chameleons. Nothing has the same approach. It must start a spark inside of us. If it doesn’t we leave it. “You are always trying to make something timeless, but that’s a big thing to try. It’s pretentious maybe, and it may be timeless and known by no one, that’s fine. Timeless doesn’t need to be popular.” FRIKSTAILERS are playing at Ding Dong Lounge on Thursday April 28. They’re also joining Ratatat at 170 Russell on Friday April 29, and hitting up Groovin The Moo at the Prince of Wales Showground, Bendigo on Saturday April 30. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 31
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PUNK, HARDCORE NEWS, REVIEWS & GOSSIP with JOE HANSEN joesamhansen@gmail.com
In an unfortunate turn of events, the scheduled Screeching Weasel and MxPx co-headline tour for May has been cancelled. In a statements on the band’s website, Screeching Weasel explained, “Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances we are going to have to cancel ALL of our upcoming Australia dates in May. Ticket holders will receive an automatic refund from your point of sale. If there are any issues please reach out to either Oztix or Eventbrite. We would also like to thank and send out an apology to MXPX band, crew and fans. They made every attempt to continue with plans to play the dates, but in the end, due to no fault of their own, it did not work out. Thanks for your support and hopefully we can make this up to you guys at some point soon.” In a Facebook post soon after, Mike Herrera of MXPX claimed that they had offered to continue the tour with California band Zebrahead, however tour organiser The Drunk Promoter didn’t agree. In a Facebook post, The Drunk Promoter’s Glenn Stewart explained: “We’ve been discussing a Screeching Weasel tour for
CRUNCH
GONE IS GONE RELEASE DEBUT TRACK
Newly announced rock band Gone Is Gone – featuring Tony Hajjar (At The Drive-In), Mike Zarin (Sweethead), Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens Of The Stone Age) and Troy Sanders (Mastodon) – have METAL, HEAVY ROCK. CLASSIC ROCK LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL released their first song, Violescent. It’s from their forthcoming self-titled EP which will GOOD SHIT be released on July 8 via their Black Dune with PETER HODGSON Records imprint through Cooking Vinyl crunchcolumn@gmail.com in Australia and New Zealand.
LACUNA COIL AUSTRALIAN TOUR ANNOUNCED
Iconic Italian gothfathers Lacuna Coil will be in Australia for their first ever headline tour this October in support of their eighth studio album, Delirium (which will be released on May 27 via Century Media/ Sony Music Australia). The the band took full creative control over every aspect of this release, from production, concept and artwork. Delirium is 100 per cent Lacuna Coil and the Milan-maestros have delivered the heaviest, darkest and most entrancing music of their career. “Delirium is a new wave of confidence, a renewed essence and pure drops of energy sweating out of our pores,” vocalist Christina Scabbia says. “I can’t wait to show it to all my friends and welcome you all once again in our family.” Catch them at Max Watt’s on Thursday October 13. Tickets on sale 9am, Thursday April 28 via Destroy All Lines.
CAMP COPE DEBUT OUT NOW
Indie punk trio Camp Cope have released their self-titled debut album via Poison City Records. The band was born in a backyard over home job tattoos in 2015, formed to add body and beat to singer Georgia Maq’s solo work. The eight tracks on the debut discuss working shifts in a hospital, living in rundown share houses in Footscray and what it’s like to be a woman in the modern world. Their show at the John Curtin on Friday May 13 is already sold out but you can catch them at Polyester Records for free on Friday May 27.
THE LEVITATION HEX RETURNS
The Levitation Hex finally return to Melbourne to launch their killer second album Cohesion on Saturday April 30 at the Bendigo Hotel. The band features Alchemist guitarist/vocalist Adam Agius as well as the voice, bass and guitar
over a year, not an MxPx tour. SW just happened to be bringing them out as part of the package. We did email them, we just didn’t want to do a different tour at such short notice. Here’s what we told them: ‘After discussing this with everyone involved we decided that given the headlining band has pulled out we thought it would be too messy to add in bands, change the tour, and try to make all this work at such short notice. We think that venues, ticket price and marketing would all need to be reworked and a one month turnaround is too risky for us. We appreciate the amount of effort MxPx and yourself have put in to try and make this work.’ ” Reformed post-hardcore/math rockers The Fall of Troy have announced an Australian tour this July, supported on all dates by Closure in Moscow and Osaka Punch. The band will play Max Watt’s on Tuesday July 5. Indiana pop punks The Ataris have announced their first headline Australian tour in seven years this June in support of their forthcoming album entitled The Graveyard of the Atlantic. The band will play of Alarum in Palf and Scott Young. Headlining this show are Melbourne thrash masters In Malice’s Wake playing in support of their latest album, plus Catacombs and Espionage.
THE CHARGE & SUICIETY AT THE REVERENCE
It’s going to be a massive night of guitar fuelled rock at The Reverence Hotel on Friday May 6 as The Charge and Suiciety headline along with supports Red Sky
170 Russell on Tuesday June 7. Wisconsin balaclava clad pop punks Masked Intruder have announced the release of a new EP for July, following their signing to Pure Noise Records. The announcement follows the band’s successful run on the Vans Warped Tour. Best known as guitarist of Canberra sludge metal/hardcore band I Exist, riff-master Aaron Osborne is also the behind the live podcast Oblivious Maximus. With new dates announced for Saturday July 9 at Crowbar in Brisbane and Sunday July 10 at The Reverence Hotel in Melbourne, the live-to-the-public podcast recording will discuss music, the industry and the community at large, with refreshments provided by Young Henry’s Brewery. Melbourne guests include Bec Reato (Deathproof PR), Natalie Hendry (lecturer and researcher), Ben Searle (The Bad Times podcast), Meg Gallagher (mixed martial artist), Pat Fox (graphic designer), Jelena Goluza (Outright) and a live perfomance by Hoodlum Shouts.
Burial and The Hidden Venture. The night is kicking off at 8pm so make sure you get down early not to miss out. Entry is $12.
ELECTRIC MARY AT MEMO
Electric Mary are at Memo Music Hall on Friday April 29 with guests Palace Of The King. Doors at 7:30pm, tickets $18 advance or $20 at the door.
GIGS THURSDAY APRIL 28 THE BRAVE at Laundry Bar SEX ON TOAST, LAZERTITS, BEAUTIFUL BEASTS at John Curtin WET LOVE, THE COCKLES, MOYLEN at The Reverence Hotel
FRIDAY APRIL 29 LUBRICANT (SINGAPORE), HAVITTAJAT, EXTINCT EXIST, MASSES AND SCAB EATER at Hot Shots BOTTLECAPS, THE DUVTONS, THE SHORTS, DAYBREAK, NEW LOW at Bar 303 BEASTWARS at Ding Dong Lounge SEX ON TOAST, THE VAUDEVILLE SMASH, LAKE MINNETONKA at John Curtin
SATURDAY APRIL 30 EMPAT LIMA, FLOUR, BAD FAMILY, BAD VISION, MIGHTY BOYS, GIRL CRAZY, HI-TEC EMOTIONS, RICHIE 1250 AND THE BRIDES OF CHRIST, PHLOW at The Tote SUPERSUCKERS, GAY PARIS at Cherry Bar DEEP HEAT, LOVE OF DIAGRAMS, DEAF WISH, BITS OF SHIT, MOLLUSC at John Curtin GRIM RHYTHM, COSMIC KAHUNA at The Tote
SUNDAY MAY 1 CHERRY ROCK 2016: RICHIE RAMONE, SUPERSUCKERS, KADAVAR, GAY PARIS, POLISH CLUB, POWER, DALLAS FRASCA, DEAD CITY RUINS, MESA COSA, MAMMOTH MAMMOTH, DEVIL ELECTRIC at Cherry Bar
CHERRYROCK016 PLAYING TIMES Cherry is hosting the tenth birthday edition of Australia’s only dedicated rock’n’roll street festival CHERRYROCK016 on Sunday 1 May 2016 in AC/DC Lane and at Cherry Bar. Here are the confirmed playing times:
Mesa Cosa
High Tension
2.50pm
Devil Electric 12.45pm
Polish Club
3.25pm
Mammoth Mammoth
1.15pm
Power
4.10pm
The SIGIT
1.45pm
Supersuckers 4.50pm (USA)
Dallas Frasca
2.15pm
Gay Paris
12.15pm
Richie Ramone 6.30pm (USA) Dead City Ruins
7.30pm
Kadavar (Germany)
8.15pm
5.50pm
SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE FEED YOUR HEAD
Hey. Who are we chatting with and whaddya do in Shepparton Airplane? Steve and Matt. Drums and guitar. We all sing. For the uninitiated punter, give us a brief lesson in all things Shepparton Airplane. How did the band form, who plays in it, and when did you start writing and recording together? Basically, it’s a bunch of mates who wanted to make some noise together – Stevie Striker, Matt Chow, Stewart Rayner and Ezra Dowling. We’ve all played in a bunch of other bands together and separately (The Peep Tempel, Graveyard Train, Escargo-go’s). We started writing this time last year. You’re just about to drop your self-titled debut release – a record that was formed in a makeshift studio above a bar with a bunch of mates and booze. Walk us BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 32
through the writing and recording process for the album, from conception to completion. We had eight songs, had played a handful of shows and went into the studio to hear what they sounded like. Turns out they sounded pretty bloody good, so we decided to put it out. And here we are. You’ve enlisted a huge lineup for your official launch at The Old Bar on Saturday April 30. Who’s on the bill and why should we bother heading along? Jumpin’ Jack William & Neil Wilkinson – these guys can play. Two acoustic guitars, two magic voices, not to mention the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Ferla is Giuls from Twin Beasts’ new solo project in their debut show (featuring legends Chris Drane and Steve Gavan). Loobs are just plain awesome; they’ve been kicking around for a few years and will be making us all do that for much longer. Jacky
Winter is the brainchild of Phil Gionfriddo who has played with everyone (Bowers, Spencer P Jones, everyone). Electro beats, loud guitars and sweet, sweet vocals. Good times. If this isn’t enough reason to head along, it’s at The Old Bar. ‘Nuff said.
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Finally, if your record was a soundtrack to a film, what would the synopsis be and who would direct it? Animal House, directed by Stanley Kubrick.
SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE are launching their debut LP at The Old Bar on Saturday April 30 with Jumpin’ Jack William & Neil Wilkinson, Ferla, Loobs and Jacky Winter. Shepparton Airplane is out now via Bandcamp.
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Top Tens HEARTLAND RECORDS TOP TEN 1. Live At Maximum LP YAWNING MAN 2. Junk LP M83 3. Blues From Hell LP HOWLIN WOLF 4. Origins Vol 1 LP ACE FREHLEY 5. Live At Aquarius 3LP THE DOORS 6. Empire Of The Clouds 12” I MAIDEN 7. 1966 RSD LP DAVID BOWIE 8. Good Friday LP THE EASYBEATS 9. Complete Budokan 2LP CHEAP TRICK 10. Alternate Tusk 2LP FLEETWOOD MAC
PBS TOP TEN 1. Lovers and Leavers HAYES CARLL
2. La Araña Es La Vida KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS 3. Palm Springs EP PALM SPRINGS 4. Come Alive DEEP STREET SOUL 5. Camp Cope CAMP COPE 6. In Search Of... FREE TIME 7. A.S.S. ARBEIT SCHICKERT SCHNEIDER 8. Cosmos Terros MT MOUNTAIN 9. 1983-1988 EGYPTIAN LOVER 10. White Moon PITY SEX
THE SUGARCANES THE SUGARCANES (Independent )
In much the same way Little Red defied the trend of increasingly-overproduced garage rock with the ‘50s-inspired Listen To Little Red back in 2008, The Sugarcanes is a refreshing breath of air competing against the hollow musical affectations we’re often subjected to. The opening track Testify is pure neo-soul, playing off the keyboard-driven conventions of gospel and rhythm and blues perfectly to set the atmosphere. The Sugarcanes prove immediately that they aren’t pretenders pining for the Motown era. The line “we fuck it up again and again” feels like a very deliberate attempt to jolt you from those assumptions and reposition you to perceive this LP in a modern Australian context. The Sugarcanes feel human ± there’s a rawness to the album that screams of unapologetic musical integrity. There’s so much to love here, from the twangy Southern American guitar work of Come See About Me to the bluesy doo-wop love ballads Oh Darling and Forget My Name. It’s on tracks such as the latter that Lucy
Wilson’s powerful vocals truly shine through. She has a passionate, explosive vocal capacity that injects a commanding liveliness into each note. Her vehemently tender performance on tracks Tour Wife and Make It Up To You in particular will break your heart. Meanwhile, Big Man and My Man boast a sassy horn section and keyboard combination that is irresistibly boppy. There’s a true purity to the fun they evoke. The album isn’t perfect; lyrics like “Hold my head / I wanna run / You look like you could be lots of fun” on the track Never Trust A Girl In Love won’t exactly challenge the senses. To criticise on lyrical content alone, however, would be to completely miss the point. The Sugarcanes do what they do well. They’ve taken conventions from an established style and done them justice, refining them to a sparkling degree. The Sugarcanes is classic rock and soul in the form that it was always intended to evolve into. BY JACOB COLLIVER
SINGLE REvIEwS wITH LACHLAN I remember towards the end of one of Prince’s Melbourne stadium shows in 2012. It was the section of the show where he sat at a piano and started reeling off the hits. One after another, effortlessly chaining together some of the biggest tracks in pop history ± t racks he wrote, recorded and produced all by himself. Then all of a sudden, the slow, pulsing chords of Darling Nikki. Now this is in a period after Prince’s religious awakening, and a rejection of the deliciously lurid material of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. And Darling Nikki is the sole reason why CDs came with parental advisory stickers. The crowd took a collective gasp. Is he really playing this song, now? After the intro, just at the “masturbating with a magazine” line, Prince stopped playing the piano, and slyly turned to the crowd. “You didn’t think I was really gonna play that, did you?” Prince was fucking with us. Prince was always fucking with us. No one has done it better. He was everything, and he was everything on his own terms. An inspiration that will be taught for millennia to come. Thank U Prince. BRIAN ENO I’m Set Free (Inertia) When it comes to production, you couldn’t reach further opposites of the spectrum than Velvet Underground and Brian Eno. I’m Set Free is one of the Velvet Underground’s most beautiful compositions, a yearning earnestness and relief tinged with resignation. That resignation is the magic ingredient, and it’s not
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really here on Eno’s version. There’s not much added here ± the tonal lushness isn’t really needed ± but it is a nice reminder of the power of the VU original. KLLO Bolide (Good Manners) Kllo craft dance music that isn’t overtly danceable on Bolide, the kind that sneaks up and hits you in the hip bones. Everything is in its
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right place, surging walls of synth, tractor beam loops, before the dance floor payoff. FRIENDSHIPS Goey Slinga (Independent) You can’t just slap the name Goey Slinga on any old track, and thankfully this cut is sick enough to live up to such a title. This goes farkin harrrrrrrrrrd.
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PIKELET The Neighbour’s Grass (Chapter) Evelyn Morris’ Pikelet has provided a mercurial catalogue of output over the years, all of it excellent. The Neighbour’s Grass marks a dramatic stylistic turn from 2013 LP Calluses, delving into minimalist electronica that has indeterminable shades of hip hop and pop to form an arresting outing. It would be daring even if removed from the context of Pikelet’s most recent output, even more daring when considered in that sense. This is world class. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 34
HOW SICK IS MUSIC? HEAPS WICKED
AIR TOP TEN INDEPENDENT SINGLES 1. Cheap Thrills SIA 2. Never Be Like You FLUME FEAT. KAI 3. I Ain’t over You SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM 4. Hoops THE RUBENS 5. Alive SIA 6. Please Don’t Go JOEL ADAMS 7. Fire And The Flood VANCE JOY 8. Thick As Thieves THE TEMPER TRAP 9. Chandelier SIA 10. Elastic Heart SIA
TRIPLE J HOTTEST 100 1998 TOP TEN
(JuST BECAuSE wE REvISTED IT IN THE OffICE AND HAD A GOOD TImE)
1. Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) THE OFFSPRING 2. Cigarettes Will Kill You BEN LEE 3. Girls Like That (Don’t Go For Guys Like Us) CUSTARD 4. Celebrity Skin HOLE 5. Got The Life KORN 6. ! (Song Formerly Known As) REGURGITATOR 7. Harpoon JEBEDIAH 8. The Day You Come POWDERFINGER 9. Heavy Heart YOU AM I 10. Save The Day THE LIVING END
BEAT’S TOP TEN SONGS PRINCE SONGS 1. Sexy MF PRINCE 2. Purple Rain PRINCE 3. When Doves Cry PRINCE 4. Kiss PRINCE 5. I Would Die 4 U PRINCE 6. Cream PRINCE 7. I Wanna Be Your Lover PRINCE 8. Uptown PRINCE 9. Paisley Park PRINCE 10. Controversy PRINCE
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BaBaganouj
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MelBourne Ska orcheStra
PILL AR Of LIGHT (Independent)
COSMOS TERROS (Independent)
SIERRA KILO ALPHA (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
A unique mix of pleasure and pain, Babaganouj’s Pillar Of Light is the auditory equivalent of an ice cream headache, a shot of sugar-loaded delight that comes with its own distinct measure of aching. It’s sad, and depictive of struggles, but by its conclusion one is left resolutely uplifted. Unusually for an EP recorded by an up-and-coming band, it’s not a musical resume ± rather, it’s a stunningly self-contained work, one with its own thrilling internal logic. Would You Like Me mixes radio-friendly riffs with a heavy measure of fuzz, blowing pop constraints outwards, whereas Awhile is like a Vodka Cruisers commercial directed by Ingmar Bergman ± all Calypso riffs and unceasing reminders of man’s mortality. This is music that cares about you, an EP that draws a target on its listeners’ heart and aims for bullseyes. But more than that, it’s sincere and it’s unashamed, and a song like Do Rite With Me gains true power after each sweep of its cap-in-hand chorus. Pillar Of Light isn’t an exhibition or a desperate plea for the blogosphere’s attention. It’s the sound of a band making music they like, hoping perhaps you might like it too. And on that level it is an unmitigated success.
I kid you not, from the moment the needle drops on the M.S.O’s sophomore record, you’re up and running. Frontman Nicky Bomba is a seasoned hand at crafting a catchy tune, and his encyclopaedic enthusiasm is infectious. To hear him discuss the raucous ramblings of the band is enough to convince you to throw away your daily life, grab a horn and join the adventure. Indeed, adventure is the substance of Sierra Kilo Alpha. If their self-titled debut was an introduction to the band, this is a showcase of what came next. From opening track Escher ± the scope of which really is akin to the Dutch artist ± we find a band brimming with movement and energy that was only hinted at before. I suspect this is largely due to just how far the band has grown in the intervening years. Tracks like the treacherouslytitled single Funkchunk and the celebratory Satellite are some of the most polychromatic tunes around, while Sly Boots is so suited to the next James Bond soundtrack it would be a crime to miss the opportunity (it doesn’t hurt that secret agents are so entwined in the band’s character). Sierra Kilo Alpha is the sound of a band damned close to its peak. The pressure’s on for album #3.
By Joseph earp
By adam norrIs
Melody Pool
Cosmos Terros is like a shard of something ancient. Despite its layers of shimmering guitar and the cloud of reverb that hangs over the piece like cigarette smoke over a dive bar, there’s nothing man-made about the record. It’s a conglomeration of natural forces ± a glacier sailing over the coldest of oceans. Indeed, the mini-album’s freeform nature makes pinpointing its highlights surprisingly difficult. Opener Seek The Sun stakes its claim in familiar territory. The juddering, slow motion chorus will be well known to any fan of bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Explosions In The Sky, but there’s enough unique about the piece that it stands firmly on its own. A lot of that originality comes from Mt. Mountain’s ample serving of perversity. The wave of drums that sends Diablo right up to the precipice proves oddly seductive, and the breathy gasps knotting up Elevation serve in nice contrast to the song’s juddering rhythms. It’s all dark sex and darker intent, a terrifying mix of the entrancing and the evil. Cosmos Terros is a one-night stand of epic proportions ± the sound of two celestial bodies firmly coming together. By Joseph earp
Sean McMahon and the MoonMen
DEEP DARK SAVAGE HEART (Liberation)
olyMPia SELf TALK (EMI Music Australia)
SHINER (MGM)
After an acclaimed debut, many artists flounder when it comes to a follow up. However, Melody Pool again proves to be one of the most accomplished Australian singer/songwriters to emerge in recent years. The title track encapsulates chunky, country blues at its finest. Singing of broken hearts, the album opener reveals an instant sense of vulnerability. Old Enough comes next, a beautiful violin-assisted ballad. With lines like, “Starve me and carve me into all of your sculptures”, the song bleeds passive pain, seeming to bemoan the loss of real romance in a relationship. Finger-plucking its way into listeners’ hearts, Southern Nightshade is a sombre solution for a sorrowful soul. Pool breathes out longing lyrics, as if weeping with every word. The subject of Richard clearly made an impression on Pool, as she recounts a strained love affair with a drawn-out deep tone. Hitting high notes in the heat of it all, the singer’s vocal range is truly remarkable. Picking up the tempo, Romantic Things tells the tale of two people’s contorting lives alongside vivacious violin arrangements and moodshifting vocal melodies. How Long brings a darker side to the disc, whereas Love, She Loves is a surreal love song to the very end. The contrast between the two tracks reminds listeners of Pool’s unbelievably diverse composition style. Soon, the lines “Come rip the skin off my bones / My weary heart is sick of being alone”, sees the beginning of Mariachi Wind, a track that simultaneously touches on desire, devotion and devastation. Deep Dark Savage Heart is a raw representation of personal experience and emotional pressures. But Pool says farewell with Better Days, offering a glimpse of hope before closing up the heart-wrenching record.
Sean McMahon is often hailed as a musician’s musicians, which is a kind of backhanded compliment implying that the majority of casual listeners aren’t really going to engage, or that you need special industry ears in order to appreciate him. It’s not at all true though, as his latest outing with the MoonMen readily attests. Shiner is an interesting step for the Melbourne muso, moving from his accustomed country rock to an album steeped in Americana and alt-folk. And while there are moments of melancholy here, the overall tone is one of upbeat hopefulness. His voice manages to sound both world-weary and full of expression, as on the splendid Turn to You, and there is enough variety across the LP to keep you guessing. From catchy opener House of Mirrors to the eponymous closing track, there is a sense of having covered many miles of heartbreak and redemption. “My black umbrella, hasn’t seen the light of day, in so long,” he sings, and this cautious optimism rings quite sincere. There is something reminiscent of Eels’ Mark Oliver Everett to McMahon’s vocals, and indeed, were you to cross Eels with The Band, you might have something resembling Shiner. As parents go, you could do a whole lot worse. By adam norrIs
By phoeBe roBertson
Olympia has been a project of Olivia Bartley’s since 2011, but it’s only in recent months that her music has started to reach the audience it deserves. Self Talk is an ambitious debut record, but executed with such conviction that any doubts Bartley couldn’t pull it off are immediately expelled. The album starts off with Honey, which glides at a pace you wouldn’t normally expect for a opening track. The stripped back musical arrangement suitably accompanies Bartley’s ethereal vocals, allowing listeners to get to the emotional core of the song. The pace quickens with the modern psychedelia of Smoke Signals, which is hard to listen to without developing a mild obsession. The track is Bartley at her most confident, and also showcases her enviable skills as a guitarist. The following track, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, is also upbeat and bold in nature, with a dreamy, shimmering chorus that again proves Bartley is a master of melody. The acoustic-driven Somewhere to Disappear has a dark edge, heightened by Bartley’s haunting harmonies. Older single Tourists appears to be joyful, but once you listen carefully you’ll pick up on Bartley’s feelings of discontent. The songs on Self Talk are about much more than what’s on the surface, the album largely concerned with what Bartley describes as “coastal ennui”. Piano ballad Biscuits is Bartley at her most vulnerable, while Blue Light Disco comments on the infallibility of hope and also serves as a moment of sombre reflection. Summing up Olympia is no easy task, with Self Talk exploring many different musical styles and themes to the point that no two tracks sound the same. The experimentation and pop sensibilities intrinsic to Bartley’s music are enthralling, distinguishing her as one of the most dynamic performers in Australia at the moment. By hoLLy pereIra
THURS 28 & FRI 29 APRIL:
FRIDAY 6 MAY:
SATURDAY 14 MAY:
W/ THE OCEAN PARTY + INTIMATE SET FROM ELIZABETH MITCHELL (TOTALLY MILD) - ON SALE NOW
W/ VACUUM, MAKEDA, XAVIER IRVINE
- ON SALE NOW SATURDAY 30 APRIL - 3PM FREE IN FRONT BAR:
NEW LEASE :
LAST LEAVES (EX-LUCKSMITHS) + HOOPER CRESCENT + JULIAN SHELDON
SUNDAY 8 MAY:
SCOTDRAKULA FAREWELL DOVE SHOW
SEX ON TOAST OVER 2 NIGHTS - EP LAUNCH
CREPES SINGLE LAUNCH MY DISCO
28/4 W/ LAZERTITS + BEAUTIFUL BEASTS 29/4 W/ THE VAUDEVILLE SMASH + LAKE MINNETONKA SATURDAY 7 MAY - 3PM FREE IN FRONT BAR:
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NEW KITCHEN RESIDENTS NOW SERVING! MAIN LOGO
1 2 P M - L AT E E V E R Y D AY !
SATURDAY 30 APRIL:
DEEP HEAT ALBUM LAUNCH W/ LOVE OF DIAGRAMS + DEAF WISH + BITS OF SHIT + MOLLUSC - ON SALE NOW
TERRY + PAPPY + SWEET WHIRL
TWIN PEAKS (USA) W/ OUCH MY FACE + WHITE BLEACHES - ON SALE NOW FRIDAY 13 MAY:
CAMP COPE ALBUM LAUNCH SOLD OUT!
- ON SALE NOW FRIDAY 20 MAY:
W/ MESA COSA + GOOD MORNING + PREGNANCY - ON SALE NOW SATURDAY 21 MAY:
HOODLUM SHOUTS ALBUM TOUR
W/ HEADS OF CHARM, FRAUDBAND + BAD VISION - ON SALE NOW
TS
STYLIZED VARIEN
SEPPARATED
VARIENTS
ALBUM REVIEWS - BECAUSE YOU CARE WHAT WE THINK
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 35
GIG GUIDE WEDNESDAY 27 APR RICK GRIM’S ILLA TURBA
TH E B E N D I G O H OT E L On Wednesday April 27 The Bendigo Hotel are sweetening up your mid-week blues by hosting a metal fiesta. The prophets of thrash Rick Grim’s Illa Turba are headlining the night, with a bunch of guests including Manifesto, Guillotyne and Lizard Queen. Doors are at 8pm and it’s only a $10 entry fee.
THE E VE LYN The renowned Melbourne jazz guitarist Kumar Shome has announced he’ll be back with his good pals and backing band The Punkawallahs, to celebrate the release of their latest offering, Reservoirian. The album is set to encompass Shome’s unique fusion of jazz, folk, rock and world music. Supporting on the night are the gospel funk act Phat Sparrow, in addition to progressive rockers PSI PHI. It’s all happening at The Evelyn on Thursday April 28 at 8pm. Tickets are $10.
stay gold - feat: the brave + spectral fires + better half Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. the mangles + dr doctor + slowdancer + dj boring Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $5.00. twenty one pilots Forum Theatre, Melbourne Cbd.
Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $8.00.
Southbank. 8:00pm. $40.00.
winter york + seth henderson + sam scholfield
VALENTIINE
In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $13.00.
yuxx & the gang Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 8 backstage - feat: blue eyes cry + the shake shack boogie band Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. $10.00. dan parsons + anna cordell Retreat Hotel,
clive luca + closet straights + off to battle Tote cousin tony’s brand new firebird + uncle penny bags & the vibe-a-centrics + francesca gonzales
bach suites Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), buckman coe + dub princess + sneaky dread Toff
C H E RRY B A R Three-piece girl band Valentiine have been having a good old party during their April residency at Cherry Bar. It’s almost all over, so on Wednesday April 27 you better nip on down to enjoy some hearty rock’n’roll. Their special guests for the show are the Me-Graines and entry will set you back a mere $5. it all goes down at 8pm.
Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $20.00.
heads of charm + chelsea bleach + shrimpwitch
8:00pm. $12.00.
Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
hey hey it’s friday - feat: astro boys Royal Hotel
(essendon), Essendon. 10:00pm.
hollow everdaze + emily ulman + rvg Tote Hotel,
Collingwood. 8:00pm. $7.00.
cookin on 3 burners 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00. jackie bornstein + two guitars Paris Cat Jazz Club, lee abrahmsen + omega ensemble Melbourne
michelle nicole Brunswick Green, Brunswick. 8:30pm.
midnight express - feat: prequel + edd fisher Toff minton’s playhouse sessions - feat: the minton playboys house band The B.east, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
Northcote. 8:00pm.
7:00pm. $59.90.
Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
8:00pm.
Northcote. 8:00pm.
big easy soul sessions Carlton Club, Melbourne
Cbd. 8:00pm.
bopstretch Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. dizzy’s big band Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
Brunswick. 8:30pm.
8:00pm.
THE DRUN KEN POE T Sleepy West, aka Joel English, is one of the local music scene’s genuine nice guys. A relative newcomer to the live circuit, he has built a confidence and audience rapport that has seen him become gain momentum with deeply personal songwriting. His music is an optimistic blend of folk, roots, storytelling and blues. Sleepy West plays The Drunken Poet from 9pm on Thursday April 28. Free entry.
Q&A
officer parrot + hannah cameron Open Studio,
8:00pm.
ben carr trio + rob simone band 303, Northcote.
Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10.00.
SLEEPY WEST
Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
new impromptu quartet Dizzy’s Jazz Club,
twenty one pilots Forum Theatre, Melbourne Cbd.
Footscray. 8:00pm. $5.00.
melbourne improvisers collective Uptown Jazz
rick grim’s illa turba + manifesto + guillotyne + lizard queen Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. rubix radio on kissfm Rubix Warehouse, Brunswick. saltwood + rosenstein Open Studio, Northcote.
twin haus Workers Club (geelong), Geelong. 8:00pm. $12.25. wet love + the cockles + moylen Reverence Hotel,
darcy fox Lona Pintxos Bar, Armadale. 8:30pm. jarrod shaw Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.
In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm.
8:30pm.
7:00pm. $59.90.
luke howard + telling Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd.
Recital Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
jade alice + bernie Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8.00.
soul cupcake + dj vince peach + dj pierre baroni soul power - feat: mike steva Purple Emerald, the good egg thursdays - feat: henry who + tigerfunk + lewis cancut Lucky Coq, Windsor. 7:00pm.
timbalero thursday La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
ACOUSTIC FOXX
Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
hideous towns + karli white + tv + hooper crescent Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. high nights + huntsman + blood orange + winter moon Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm. lubricant + tol + grotto + spotting Bar Open,
Club, Northcote. 7:30pm.
mezz live Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights.
Thornbury. 7:00pm.
prophets Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 9:00pm. sex on toast + lazertits + beautiful beasts John
You’ve stepped away from your hard rock origins and become your own solo entity. Why the decision to jump over from electric to acoustic? I always liked to have a balance of electric and acoustic growing up, but I had way too many song ideas that I couldn’t bring to a band situation. After my last band Ownkind broke up, I decided that being a solo artist would allow me more creativity and control over my own career. Tell us about the narrative behind your works. What kind of themes and concepts does Acoustic Foxx explore? Lyrically it’s usually based on some sort of personal experience or how I perceive a situation; loss or love usually bring a song out of me. What is the latest thing you recorded, and can you explain the story behind it? I’m about to release my debut album Guiding Light as we speak. Since going solo in 2012 it’s been a really creative time for me, gigging heavily and writing a lot. I had a lot of songs to choose from so I chose what I thought were my best to record for this album. I hope people enjoy what they hear. Tell us about your upcoming album launch. Why should we head along? Well, on a special night like this it’s not much fun playing as a lonely solo performer. I’ve got my sixpiece band playing with me to really bring these songs to life. I’ve also got some other fantastic performers like Bob Crain, Niina and Tim Hulsman lined up. It’s going to be a great night of local music.
sitcom television + fuzzsucker + bad shades + horris green Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
ACOUSTIC FOXX is launching Guiding Light at Bar 303 on Saturday April 30 with Bob Crain, Niina and Tim Hulsman.
nathan slater quartet Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $20.00.
caravãna sun - feat: caravana sun + echo drama + hollow coves Northcote Social Club, Northcote.
Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm. $30.00.
chelsea bleach + eat man + high viz Old Bar,
noir - feat: ensemble liaison Melbourne Recital seven great inventions of the modern industrial age Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm.
7:30pm. $15.00.
Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00.
coastbusters + floyd fox + mother chucha
$25.00.
Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.
Brunswick. 8:30pm.
Yarraville. 7:00pm. $15.00.
julian temple + jesse morris Retreat Hotel,
deborah conway + willy zygier Kindred Studios,
mirva tarvainen + jorj’a + melburnian twenty seven winters Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. nathan mckinnon & alexandra samulenok Lona Pintxos Bar, Armadale. 8:30pm.
open mic Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm. open mic night Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm. open mic night Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm. rumble in the jungle - feat: joey elbows The ryan bingham + little georgia Northcote Social
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 36
THURSDAY 28 APR THE SKAMPZ
KUMAR SHOME & THE PUNKAWALLAHS
Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
aim ensemble night Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood.
FACEBOOK.COM/SOOKILOUNGE TWITTER.COM/SOOKILOUNGE
O LD B A R Old Bar has a habit of uncovering some of the best local music around, and on Wednesday April 27 they are welcoming some new up-and-comers to the stage. Perfect Whip have nabbed the headline slot, and supports include Dead Beat Club and Box Crunch. Fork out $7 and suss some fresh music. Doors are at 8pm.
WH O LE LOT TA LOV E If you’re down for some punk pop goodness, you’d best be heading down to Whole Lotta Love on Thursday April 28 to catch The Skampz. They will be filling up your evening with some tasty new originals and everyone who rocks up gets a free copy of their recent EP. To sweeten the deal, old school rockers Turn It Up and talented indie rockers Dynamic will be supporting. $8 door entry, 8pm start.
5:00pm.
TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ON SALE NOW AT OZTIX.COM.AU
PERFECT WHIP
tom redwood + brian morley Tago Mago,
wine whiskey women - feat: iris + snez Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.
foreign/national Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
$8.00.
Fitzroy. 8:00pm. 5:30pm.
william crighton + john flanagan Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $15.00.
feelin’ fine + plotz + sylas palms Grace Darling
Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $5.00.
Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. $17.00.
B E AT.C O M . A U
GIG GUIDE FRIKSTAILERS
WET LOVE
neil murray + matt walker Sooki Lounge, Belgrave.
la danse macabre + brunswick massive resident djs Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. mia wray + zac saber Workers Club, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
D IN G DO NG LOUNGE Originating from the digital cumbia scene in Bueno Aires, Frikstailers have created their unique South American rhythm by fusing elements of dancehall, hip hop, house and techno. Having released their latest EP Crop Circles last year, they’ll be joined by good friends Cumbia Cosmonauts. It’s all going down at Ding Dong Lounge on Thursday April 28 at 9pm. Tickets on sale through Oztix. 8:00pm. $24.50.
pugsley buzzard band Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm.
rick price + ellen rose Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm.
$30.00.
sleepy west Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 9:00pm.
SITCOM TELEVISION
THE BEN DIGO HOTEL Sitcom Television and Fuzzsucker are about to embark on a tour of the east coast, but to get things started they will be stopping in at The Bendigo Hotel on Thursday April 28. Come wish them well before they head off on the road, with support from Bad Shades and Horris Green. It’s only $7 so you’ve got no excuse. Just get yourself there by 8pm.
the jack earle big band Spotted Mallard, Brunswick.
T H E R E V E R E NC E Party punk two-piece and Footscray locals Wet Love are running rampant at The Reverence on Friday April 29. They’ll be joined by bluesy mates The Cockles and whimsical songstress Anna Williams in the front bar to celebrate the release of their second EP, Shed Bangers. Entry is $5 and it starts at 8pm.
OHMS
OL D B A R Melbourne’s noise pop outfit Ohms are launching their untitled EP at the Old Bar on Friday April 29. The band have been killing it on the DIY scene of late and if the single Eating My Lips is anything to go by, their new release is set to be a ripper. Department, Plaster of Paris and La Bastard will be helping them celebrate. The party starts at 8.30pm and entry is $10.
brad pot + wavevom + jurassic nark + gee seas + meeks
Russell, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $60.00.
ratatat + kirin j callinan + frikstailers 170
ecca vandal Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 2:00am. $7.00. einsteins toyboys + rattlincane Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $10.00.
eppsilon + 1/6 + yes no maybe + codix Penny Black,
9:00pm. $25.00.
bloodhounds on my trail + seasloth + kodiak galaxy Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. bottlecaps + the duvtons + the shorts + daybreak + new low 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.
random subjects + offspring of convicts + audemia + as crows fly 24 Moons, Northcote.
Williamstown. 9:30pm.
FRIDAY 29 APR Collingwood. 7:30pm. $12.00.
9:00pm.
8:30pm. $10.00.
captain spalding Customs House Hotel,
electric mary + palace of the king St Kilda Memo,
battlesick + the twoks + dear plastic + dive into ruin Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 7:00pm. $10.00. beastwars Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd.
ms mr Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $57.50. odesza Forum Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. psychic sun + fast handsome + three quarter beast + medicine dog Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick.
Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $5.00.
8:30pm. $15.00.
art vs music - feat: run rabbit run + ayxnmd + atom + slowly slowly + more Grace Darling Hotel,
$15.00.
St Kilda. 8:00pm. $18.00.
Brunswick. 8:30pm.
finishing school Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 9:30pm. $10.00.
friday night live - feat: brady james + taylor piggott + ben jansz + more Continental Hotel
Sorrento, Sorrento. 9:00pm.
ganggajang Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights.
8:00pm. $27.00.
gymnastics in the seventies Workers Club (geelong), Geelong. 8:00pm. $12.25.
hit n run Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm.
DALLAS CRANE
C H E R RY B A R Cherry Bar are providing some Aussie pub rock on Friday April 29 with headliner Dallas Crane taking to the stage. Joining them are The Sigit, who have come all the way from Indonesia to add some cracking support for the night’s festivities. The bands kick off at 8pm and you can pick up a ticket via Cherry Bar’s website.
B E AT.C O M . A U
Q&A
HENTAI MAGI Hey Roberto. So Hentai Magi are playing at the Tote this weekend. What made you guys head down to Melbourne for this show? Melbourne really has the best soil for bands. There is a high appreciation and a want for live music. The bands I’ve played with or seen, the busking I’ve witnessed on the street, the people that I’ve met and the art events I’ve been to were always influential and inspiring. As far as Sydney’s concerned, where do you fit in their scene? It’s hard to say. We were turned down from a venue last week for being too arty. The nights we play can be quite eclectic ± one night opened with an experimental hip hop group, Mozzarella Fanboyz, then us, then finishing with psych electro band Suiix. Places we’ve been playing are at Oxford Art Factory, The Townie in Newtown, and at The Annandale. The crowds can be fans, people who heard us on the local radio, local punters or followers from accompanying acts. Are you guys getting to play often? Are the lockout laws having an effect on your ability to play more shows? We are playing about once, maybe twice a month here in Sydney and would like to play a lot more. It’s been hard when the lockout laws are killing venues where music scenes once flourished and where new ones could sprout from, making it difficult to gain a following and form friends for the future. Music events are being pushed further away from dense foot traffic and the nightlife we have left. The hearts are strong and the music will never die but we’re hiking mountains in the dark, ball and chained by a corrupt government. HENTAI MAGI are playing at The Tote on Saturday April 30 with Dragons and Pure Shit.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 37
GIG GUIDE ROSIE & THE MIGHTY KINGS
THE DEAD PHARAOHS
THE EUREKA HOTEL The Eureka Hotel are hosting a classic party night of rock served up by four of Melbourne’s hardest working bands. The Dead Pharoahs have organised the night and will be providing their rhythmically driven night. Further bands booked in for the night include the bluesy, ballsy rock from Blue Balls, a well crafted set from Underground and all wrapped up with the renewed sharpie rock of City Sharps. First band starts at 8pm and entry is $10.
raw brit (status quo’s greatest hits) Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $27.00.
renato’s mudtrain Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 8:00pm.
ruby soho - feat: thrillhouse Sooki Lounge,
Belgrave. 9:00pm.
sex on toast + the vaudeville smash + lake minnetonka John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm.
$17.00.
SOUTHBOUND SNAKE CHARMERS
WHO LE LOT TA LOVE Melbourne’s blues rockers Southbound Snake Charmers have a new five track EP out, Voodoo Chicken Shack, which they’re celebrating with a launch party on Friday April 29 at Whole Lotta Love. D.R Malone and duo Mission Brown will be taking the support slots and the shenanigans will start at 8pm.
Q&A
TH E LU WOW Prepare yourself for a night of kitschy cabaret at Melbourne’s favourite tiki bar on Friday April 29. The LuWow will be putting on a bit of a saucy night, with performances from Rosie & The Mighty Kings as the main event, and also featuring acts from The Elvis Presley Show and Ferri Maya Burlesque Show. Ensure you snap yourself up a ticket when doors open at 7pm, $10 entry.
sunbeam sound machine + icypoles Post Office
kristin vs the spider Milano’s Tavern, Brighton.
Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $7.00.
Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 9:30pm.
8:30pm.
5:00pm.
the clichés - feat: the cliches Carters Bar,
max teakle & friends Lomond Hotel, Brunswick
the hadron kaleidoscopes + the burn + time junction + billy higgins jr + saul behan-dunne + more Canadian Bay Hotel, Mount Eliza. 6:00pm. the harlots Baha Tacos & Tapas Bar, Rye. 7:30pm.
roadhouse Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm. rodger delfos’ beatriders Pascoe Vale Rsl, Pascoe
Northcote. 8:00pm.
$10.00.
THE BELLIGERENTS
East. 9:00pm.
Vale. 8:00pm. $8.00.
steve lucas Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 5:00pm.
the sensational hurricanes + king kat Yarra
TH E WORK E R S C LU B Brisbane’s groovy psych boys The Belligerents are in the midst of a national tour, celebrating the release of their brand new single Before, I Am. The experimental has already been attracting a steady buzz, and was recorded in a DIY studio in a Stradbroke Island farm house. Catch up with The Belligerents when they hit up The Gasometer Friday April 29. Mesa Cosa and Alex Lahey are on for support and it’s going down at 8pm. Tickets via Oztix
the narelles + kit warhurst + ali e Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
the new savages Gem Bar, Collingwood. 7:00pm. the smiths tribute - feat: ash naylor + the naysayers + jms harrison + more Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $15.00.
Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $12.00.
You can catch PSYCHIC SUN at The Brunswick Hotel on Friday April 29 with Fast Handsome, Three Quarter Beast and Medicine Dog.
Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
the bear hunt + my piranha + pretty city dj set
tiny little houses + iv league + tali Northcote
Ten bands everyone should know about: Fuzz, Bully, Holy Serpent, Radio Moscow, The Black Angels, The Pinheads, Kaleidoscope, Ty Segall, Deftones, Gary Clark Jr. Nine food items for a kickarse dinner party: Bacon, cheese, guacamole, pulled pork, lettuce, chilli sauce, tacos, beer, tequila. Eight possessions that define you: Five guitars, three amps. Seven favourite movies/TV shows: Family Guy, Californication, Hook, The Departed, Hot Fuzz, Almost Famous, Wayne’s World. Six bad habits you can’t escape: Jack and Coke. I’d rather not commit any more to the printed word. Five people who inspire you: Lemmy, Anton Newcombe, Keith Richards, Louis CK, Cartman. Four things that turn you on: When the band is in the pocket, discovering good music amongst a digital marketplace of overcrowded junk, finding $20 in your jacket, breasts a la natural. Three goals for your music: Make ten records, play Splendour In The Grass, and headline shows overseas Two live gigs you’ll never forget and why: The first time we played to a packed house at Rad in Wollongong. The vibe was insane and the audience is right in your face. And probably the first time I saw Violent Soho about seven or so years ago playing to like 20 people at The Harp Hotel. I got to hang out with the band after the show and got so drunk I kept repeating questions to them. One day left before the apocalypse and you…: Turn all my amps on 10, riff out and party hard.
duncan phillips & the last stand Lomond Hotel, josh novak Lona Pintxos Bar, Armadale. 8:30pm. joshua seymour Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.
Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.
$99.00.
MITCH FROM PSYCHIC SUN
T H E R E V E R E NC E On Friday April 29, The Reverence Hotel are putting on a night full of face-melting, ear bleeding, heavy rockin’ tunes. Vintage rockers Wild Violet top the bill, joined by Katana Cartel, Tragic Earth, Rick Grimm’s Illa Turba & Cyanide Teeth. Doors Open at 7.30pm, $10 will have your entry covered.
tetrahedra + saatsuma + coco noire Evelyn Hotel,
thompson Festival Hall, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.
THE COUNT WITH …
WILD VIOLET
Hotel, Abbotsford. 4:00pm.
the slipdixies The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:30pm. traditional irish music session Drunken Poet,
West Melbourne. 6:00pm.
zerafina zara & alleged associates Smokehouse
101, Maidstone. 7:00pm.
SATURDAY 30 APR absolutely live - the doors Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 8:00pm. $25.00.
acts revelations + chips rafferty Old Bar, Fitzroy.
4:00pm.
bang (the ghost inside charity event) - feat: returners + annihilist + drown this fury Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20.00.
better late than never Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot
Vale. 8:00pm.
deep heat + love of diagrams + deaf wish + bits of shit + mollusc John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 7:30pm.
twin haus Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $7.00. watt’s on presents Prince Public Bar, St Kilda .
$15.00.
cariño son - feat: carino son Spotted Mallard,
gregor + laura jean + james tom Hugs & Kisses,
fortunes + leisure suite + couture + sal Evelyn
8:30pm.
Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12.00.
Brunswick. 9:00pm.
Melbourne. 8:00pm. $10.00.
continental shift + duo chamber melange Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 6:30pm. $29.00.
dj steve montgomery Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm.
grim rhythm + cosmic kahuna + space junk Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 5:00pm.
gypsy scholars + slow turismo + electric wallpaper + the raffaellas Reverence Hotel,
matt borg trio + safari motel Catfish, Fitzroy.
Footscray. 8:00pm. $10.00.
oka + dub princess + stryka d + more Rubix
The Shadow Electric, Abbotsford. 7:00pm. $7.00.
8:00pm. $10.00.
Warehouse, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $20.00.
salsa cumbia dance party - feat: dj moses + maria gallo Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00. sleazy listening - feat: arks + richard kelly + hysteric + k hoop Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm.
sugar blues Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
the baker suite Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $30.00.
the brodsky quartet + katie noonan Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 8:00pm. $65.00.
the entropy quartet Brunswick Green, Brunswick.
8:00pm.
vintage roots Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
9:30pm. $25.00.
we may never meet again (the music of amy winehouse) - feat: elly poletti & movement 9 Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00.
what the funk fridays Purple Emerald, Northcote.
9:00pm.
chris wilson Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:15pm. damon smith & the quality lightweights Tago
Mago, Thornbury. 7:00pm.
hugh william davies band + bill golding + kylie c hurst so good - feat: cities + jaron natali + andrew garton & the smitten bridge + more Bridges, Hurstbridge. 12:00pm.
hytest + don fernando Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 9:30pm.
in malice’s wake + the levitation hex + catacombs + espionage Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. julia jacklin Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm.
$10.00.
junior fiction + true barrymore + latreenagers + a.b.robb Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm.
$8.00.
kid radio Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 9:00pm. kings of oz - feat: angels + chisel + dragon choirboys + more Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm.
$10.00.
kristin hersh + broads + ben mason Northcote
Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $45.00.
kwasi + dos boy + javan ash + frame Penny Black,
Brunswick. 8:30pm.
leave your hat on (songs of joe cocker) Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $32.00.
littlefoot + mannequin death squad + overdoze + spare no words Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.
B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 39
Q&A
GIG GUIDE PITT THE ELDER
PRETTY CITY So then, what’s the band name and what do you ‘do’ in the band? My name’s Drew and I’m the drummer in Pretty City. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? I reckon we sound like a cross between the Dandy Warhols and the Smashing Pumpkins. What do you love about making music? I love playing with other people and making music where there was none before. Transforming noise into something that people can listen to and be moved by is pretty special. What do you hate about the music industry? You know what, I actually love the music industry. The vast majority of it, and the people in it are dead set legends. I would love the opportunity to be in it more and make more music. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? I’m going to cop a lot of hate here, but I’d have to say Angus Young. I absolute love AC/DC, but with the demise of Brian Johnson’s hearing, I just feel like they’re going to keep going around the mediocre-go-round until they just wheel out a cadaver on stage and ask us to pay $4000 dollars for the privilege. What can a punter expect from your live show? Energetic rock’n’roll with cool sounds, lights and heaps of catchy hooks to dance to. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We’ll be selling our debut LP, Colorize. We’ve got heaps of merch too, including T-shirts, and cassettes. Catch PRETTY CITY on Saturday April 30 at the Workers Club.
THE REVERENCE Saturday April 30 will see some mixed bill madness at The Reverence. There will be everything from folk punk to hardcore, girls and boys, and of course beer and pizza. Adelaide and Melbourne mates will all be together under one roof, featuring Pitt the Elder, Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys, Little Lamb & The Rosemary’s, The Berkeley Hunts and Todd Fogarty. Doors are at 8pm, $10 entry.
shepparton airplane + jacky winter + ferla + more Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00. slow grind fever #34 - feat: richie 1250 + mohair slim + buddy love + andrew young Bar Open,
Fitzroy. 10:00pm.
split seconds The Loft, Warrnambool. 8:00pm. supersuckers + gay paris + dave larkin Cherry Bar,
THE L ABOUR IN VAIN Colour Climax are a super jam group that includes members from The Union, Silver City Highway, The Livingstone Daisies, Dynamo, Barbarion, Peeping Tom, TTTDC, Dirty Mac, Sons of The Ionian Sea and more. On Saturday April 30 they’re hitting up The Labour In Vain for a huge party night. Get on down at 7pm.
CHARLIE MARSHALL & THE BODY ELECTIC
T H E G R A N DV I E W H OT E L Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric are hitting up The Grandview Hotel on Saturday April 30 to provide some old school rock’n’roll. In addition to their new album Won’t Give Up, the band are fresh from touring around Australia. Rick Swaney will be supporting and doors are at 8.30pm. Melbourne Cbd. 1:00pm. $40.00.
supersuckers + gay paris + dave larkin Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $40.00.
Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $15.00.
saturdays r covered - feat: radio star Royal Hotel (essendon), Essendon. 10:00pm.
POLISH CLUB
YAH YAH’S Melbourne’s favourite dive bar have got you sorted at 2am, when all of your mates have headed home and you’re still keen to steam roll through the night. On Saturday April 30, Polish Club will be on board to keep you lively until the wee hours. Entry is $7 from midnight onwards. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 40
8:00pm.
FIONA JOY
the wikimen Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm. theme and variations - feat: streeton trio Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 3:00pm. $49.00.
we may never meet again (the music of amy winehouse) - feat: elly poletti & movement 9
Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
T H E B E N D I G O H OT E L Melbourne’s In Malice’s Wake are headlining a show with some very special guests on Saturday April 30. Canberra based prog-metal outfit The Levitation Hex are back in town to promote their latest offering, Cohesion. They’re taking over The Bendigo Hotel to treat punters to a heavy, thrashy racket. Supports on the night are in the form of Catacombs and Espionage. Doors are at 8pm.
8:00pm. $30.00.
blues hip jive party - feat: jackson four + cadillac walk + keith hall + pat dow Doyles Bridge Hotel, Aspendale. 6:30pm. $10.00.
chris wilson Union Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. connor reid Lona Pintxos Bar, Armadale. 8:30pm. dylanesque Memorial Hall Healesville, Healesville.
T H E LU WOW Saturday April 30 will see The LuWow letting the Vulcan Scooter Sect provide the festivities, by putting on an end of season scooter dance party. ScooTiki will be a hell of a night featuring live entertainment from The Ska Vendors, The Breadmakers, Lance Ferguson, Joey Elbows and The Modettes. Advance tickets are available via both Vespa House and The LuWow for $10. Scoot on down at 8pm.
THE WORKER’S CLUB The fresh-faced 21-year-old Tori Zietsch, under the moniker Seavera, will be launching her debut single Carving at The Worker’s Club on Sunday May 1. The single blends lo-fi beats, sparkly layers and honeyed vocals – culminating in a track that is an outstanding release for someone so young. Tiaryn and Harmony Byrne are helping out with the support. Tickets are $10, doors at 8pm.
a blonde moment Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale.
8:00pm.
baby blue + kel day Old Bar, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. byo vinyl sunday session Compass Pizza,
Brunswick East. 3:00pm.
cherryrock016 - feat: kadavar + richie ramone + supersuckers + gay paris + the sigit + polish club + more Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 12:00pm. $89.00. hyde + location location location + on-ly + lionel Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $5.00.
kingdom of salmon + rogue wavz + the in the out matt corby + vera blue Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 8:15pm.
8:00pm. $10.00.
the kew call-out Kew Rsl, Kew. 2:00pm. $30.00. the real songwriters of melbourne - feat: napier + connor ross + little theatre + mo louie Workers Club, Fitzroy. 1:00pm. $10.00.
the winnebago lounge - feat: fiona lee maynard & her holy men St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 5:00pm. canzoni di mio padre Melbourne Recital Centre,
5:00pm.
sunday soul sessions Purple Emerald, Northcote.
9:00pm.
the horns of leroy The B.east, Brunswick East.
HENTAI MAGI
jr reyne The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:30pm. kraken folk session Drunken Poet, West
SCOOTIKI
SUNDAY 1 MAY SEAVERA
Southbank. 7:00pm. $85.00.
hue blanes trio Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. kelaart / mackey/ farrugia/magnussen Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $20.00.
tulalah Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.
peppercorn jazz band Open Studio, Northcote.
girl crazy + atom + mares + avoid Yarra Hotel,
phila para Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 6:00pm. rick price Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
Mallard, Brunswick. 8:30pm. $18.00.
canzoni di mio padre Melbourne Recital Centre,
dean’s martini Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
7:00pm. $25.00.
the peptides Tago Mago, Thornbury. 7:00pm. the whirling furphies + little foot Spotted
Southbank. 2:00pm. $85.00.
brian abrahams (a tribute to johnny hartman) + roger clark quartet Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond.
adrian whyte Open Studio, Northcote. 5:00pm. bach suites Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne),
9:30pm.
moonlap Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. seavera + tiaryn + liahona Workers Club, Fitzroy.
T H E TOT E Sydney’s Hentai Magi are returning to Melbourne on Saturday April 30, after causing a ruckus in their hometown with their latest album Pop-Sickle. Dance or wallow your way through the surreal, kinetic, double edged, noise punk brain child by frontman Roberto Klaic, backed by his eclectic musicians Jonathan Blumberg, Bruce Klaic, Jeramy Span and Nickolas Creecy. Two awesome local acts are supporting, in the form of Also, Dragons and Pure Shit. Wander upstairs at The Tote, doors are at 8pm and cover charge is $5.
$10.00.
the drunken poachers Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy.
303, Northcote. 7:00pm. $10.00.
2:00pm. $10.00.
winterplan + kt spit + honor eastly + astral skulls Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
$32.00.
Old Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $8.00.
zeb vescio trio Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm. acoustic foxx + tim hulsman + niina & bob crain
ulysses wulf + honeybone Workers Club, Fitzroy. vincey + emily ulman Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd.
riflebirds Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. russell morris Yarraville Club, Yarraville. 7:00pm.
$25.00.
8:30pm. $18.00.
9:00pm. $16.00.
pretty city + destrends + hedge fund Workers
the late show - feat: rex + danielsan + ransom + get busy + more Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 10:00pm. the senegambian jazz band + stav Catfish, Fitzroy.
IN MALICE’S WAKE
new lease - feat: last leaves + hooper crescent + julian sheldon John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 3:00pm.
Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm. $10.00.
stephen hough Melbourne Recital Centre,
Southbank. 7:00pm. $48.00.
5:00pm.
Southbank. 2:00pm. $40.00.
pitt the elder + little lamb & the rosemarys + stabbitha & the knifey wifeys + more Reverence
8:30pm. $35.00.
the shot glasses Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm. the vanguards Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 9:00pm. the who’s who of who cares - feat: kovac + dj whiskey houston + dj mr weir Gasometer Hotel,
mates- a celebration of friendship - feat: empat lima + flour + bad family + bad vision + mighty boys + more Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 4:00pm. $14.30. matt corby + vera blue Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 8:15pm. $69.00.
T H E E V E LY N Fortunes don’t have an excuse for their upcoming show, apart from their goal to warm up your winter hibernation and get you out of the house for a bit of a shindig. They’re sharing the stage with Leisure Suite, Couture and Sal. Get yourself to The Evelyn on Saturday April 30 to join in. Doors are at 8.30pm with a $15 entry fee, and its $5 tinnies all night to keep you nice and toasty.
B U R WO O D M U S I C C E N TRE New age composer Fiona Joy is launching her brand new Signature – Synchronicity, the counterpart to her 2015 project Signature - Solo. The launch will span over two days and will include a screening of the film clips, a Q&A with the production team, the main concert and a video reveal, as well as a meet and greet with the film team. The launch will kick off Saturday April 30 and run until Sunday May 1 at the Burwood Music Centre. Tickets available via SongKick.
Collingwood. 9:00pm. $15.00.
COLOUR CLIMAx
FORTUNES
Abbotsford. 7:00pm.
Melbourne. 3:00pm.
paulie bignell & tennessee two Lomond Hotel,
Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
YOU AM I
D I N G D O N G LO U N G E Legendary Australian rockers You Am I are taking to the stage in support of the special red vinyl edition of their tenth album, Porridge & Hotsauce, alongside the 7” Spilt Sauce EP of studio outtakes. Joining them are Indonesia’s The Sigit, and Draught Dodgers making their stage debut. It all goes down at Ding Dong Lounge at 9pm, Saturday April 30. Grab your tickets via Oztix.
B E AT.C O M . A U
1:30pm.
bell st delays Union Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 5:00pm.
ben david + steve rosewarne + joe guiton + jo neugebauer Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 3:00pm. bon ton rhythms Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. canyon Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 3:00pm.
$20.00.
carole king Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 2:30pm. $28.00.
chris pickering Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 4:30pm. chris wilson Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. clio + loni rae Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm. davey craddock Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm. elwood blues club Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 8:00pm.
glenn skuthorpe Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. green’s dairy angel ensemble Tramway Hotel,
North Fitzroy. 3:30pm.
greg walsh Pera, Brighton. 3:00pm. helen ryder band Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East.
5:30pm.
housewreckers Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 5:00pm. lot 56 + los pauncheros Mr Boogie Man Bar,
Abbottsford. 8:00pm.
michelle gardiner Customs House Hotel, Williamstown. 3:00pm.
WED 27TH APRIL
TOMBRIAN REDWOOD MORLEY THURS 28TH APRIL
POETRY WITH
STEVE SMART KIM JEFFS AND TIMOTHY TRAIN FRI 29TH APRIL SEAN SIMMONS (SOLO) SAT 30TH APRIL THE PEPTIDES
Q&A
GIG GUIDE TASTE OF INDIE TUESDAY
SCORCHERFEST
ON ThE RECORd
HIDEOUS TOWNS 1. The first Record I Bought: The album I was first obsessed with was Isao Tomita’s Snowflakes are Dancing, a collection of Claude Debussy’s works transferred onto a Moog synthesiser. 2. The Last Record I Bought: The last record I purchased was Martin Courtney’s Many Moons. Courtney is the frontman for the band Real Estate. I bought the album because it was laid back. I don’t usually go for this kind of album, but something about is really fresh and simultaneously takes elements of the old. 3. The first Thing I Recorded: I got involved in music through Musolist… “Singer looking for band.” The first recording we did was in our drumme’s granny flat. It was fun and you know what, it sounded alright. 4. The Last Thing I Recorded: We’ve been recording songs for an album since late last year with Matthew Hosking at Los Bomberos Studios in Northcote. We just released a double A-side Don’t Forget / Wake Us which we’re playing a show for at the Tote on April 28. Myself on vocals, Ryan DeCoite on bass, Chris MacLean on guitar, Ashley Stirling on drums and our friend Jarred Dexter on viola for the track Wake Us. 5. The Record That Changed My Life: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. This is the album that properly sparked my interest in music. You may say it’s a cliché but I don’t mind. I know it’s brilliant. The entire album is a work of art and I whack it on the record player anytime I need a reminder of who I am and where I came from. HIDEouS TowNS release Don’t Forget / Wake Us at the Tote on Thursday April 28 with support from karli white, T.V and Hooper Crescent.
KINGDOM OF SALMON
O ld BAR Sunday May 1 welcomes yet another edition of the Old Bar’s infamous Beersoaked Sundays. For this instalment Kingdom of Salmon will be belting out some salty tunes, joined by Rogue Wavz and The In The Out. Plus it’s $10 jugs of Unicorn Lager all night long. 7.30pm start, $8 entry.
mon shelford + tara walsh + ian maddick Yarra
Wh O lE lOT TA lOV E Scorcherfest is all about providing a platform for performers to play in a live music festival. The minifest encourages networking, expanding markets and widening audiences with a mixed bill of both local and touring acts. There’s a bit of everything on show for the next instalment on Sunday May 1, taking place at Whole Lotta Love, including Brendan McMahon of Satellite Gods, Aivy, Wasted &Wounded, Honeybrain and more. Tickets are available via the festival’s website. Things kick off nice and early at 1pm, with bands on until 11pm.
sunday sessions - feat: various artists Lucky Coq,
Ferntree Gully. 2:00pm.
7:00pm. $8.00.
millencolin + grenadiers + postscript 170 Russell,
3:30pm.
mondegreen + first baboon civilization Evelyn
MONDAY 2 MAY MILLENCOLIN
richie ramone + drunk mums + muscle car Cherry
tim ireland Union Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick.
7:00pm. $8.00.
Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm.
Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $5.00.
Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm. $33.00.
1 70 RU S S E ll Sweden’s favourite punk rockers are in Melbourne to relive the glory of the ‘90s. Monday April 2 will see the lads play one of their two shows in our humble city, which have been selling out like hot cakes. Some superior support is included for the night from Grenadiers and Bombs are Falling. 170 Russell is the place to be, with doors at 7.30pm. Snap up a ticket via Ticketscout.
cherry jam Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 6:30pm. matt corby + vera blue Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 8:15pm.
monday night mass - feat: dead boomers + miles brown + assad + sow discord Northcote Social Club,
Northcote. 8:00pm.
pool comp - feat: noel Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava.
7:30pm.
tooth & tusk + bears + alex macrae Evelyn Hotel,
Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $6.00.
sing oh de mayo - feat: the zebras + footy + monotone alone Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 7:30pm. $10.00.
irish session Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
RICHIE RAMONE
C h E R Ry B A R The iconic drummer of The Ramones, Richie Ramone, is making a stop in Melbourne to treat punters to some old school rock classics. He will be playing an exclusive headline show at Cherry Bar on Tuesday May 3. Drunk Mums and Muscle Car will be supporting and the night gets started at 6pm. Tickets are on sale via the venue.
jemma rowlands + sean mcmahon Tramway Hotel,
North Fitzroy. 7:30pm.
matt green Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. open mic nite Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 7:30pm.
schubert’s flights of fantasie - feat: kristian chong + sophie rowell Melbourne Recital Centre,
Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
monday night cajun dance - feat: the ‘johnny can’t dance’ cajun band Victoria Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 8:00pm.
6:30pm. $10.00.
sunday session - feat: brunsy Ferntree Gully Hotel,
girlhood art show - feat: the girl fridas + shrimpwitch + shiny coin + more Old Bar, Fitzroy.
4:00pm.
the hired guns Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. the houndlings Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North.
East. 9:00pm.
Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
8
girlhood art show - feat: the girl fridas + shrimpwitch + shiny coin + more Old Bar, Fitzroy.
TUESDAY 3 MAY
rick south + vibraveil + cloaked in fuchsia
vincs & wakeling + margot leighton Open Studio,
Windsor. 4:00pm.
Hotel, Abbotsford. 4:00pm.
monica wieghtman band Lomond Hotel, Brunswick
T h E PR I NC E P U B lI C B A R Taste of Indie Tuesday is back on Tuesday May 3 at The Prince Public Bar for yet another showcase of original, local songwriters. Lloyd Vlarem, Joe Matera and Bob Crain will be sharing the stage to provide some quality tunes and banter. Music starts at 7.30pm and as always entry is free for all.
anna’s go-go academy Bella Union Bar, Carlton. milonga Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 8:00pm. $10.00. unrepresentative swill Melbourne Recital Centre,
Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
unrepresentative swill Melbourne Recital Centre,
BECOME AN AMAZING LEAD GUITARIST
Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
CLASSIFIEDS 33c per word per week (inc GST) Send your classified listing to classifieds@beat.com.au. Payment options include VISA/Mastercard or EFT (1.5% surcharge for credit card payment). Deadline is Monday 11am, prior to Wednesday’s publication. Minimum $5 charge per week. We do not accept classifieds over the phone - sorry.
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 PIANo LESSoNS IN fITZRoY with Darina Chakarova. Passionate, highly experienced teacher. Enquiries: 0417 561 473, Book online: www.melbournepiano.com.au/fitzroy VoCAL CoACHING GRouP SESSIoNS IN fITZRoY with Darina Chakarova. Mondays 7:15PM. Call 0417 561 473, www.melbournepiano. com.au/SING. Book online: www.trybooking.com/ LARL BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 42
B E AT.C O M . A U
The Push PRESENT
Access All Ages WITh GRACE kINdEllAN The first ever New Slang gig is next Friday. In case you haven’t heard, it’s our new monthly all ages event to be held at The Channel at the Arts Centre on the first Friday of every month from 6pm to 9pm. If that isn’t exciting enough, we have a killer lineup to kick things off. Noise-pop/folk band Tiny Little Houses are stopping in for the only all ages show of their Milo Tin tour and Alex Lahey is playing fresh from her new single release You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me, which is absolutely going off on radio around Australia. Plus there will be support from inner-south high school band Moss and DJ Elldaychubbygal. It’s going to go off so get down early. Check out www.thepush.com.au for more details. In other news, we’re looking for someone to work full time as part of our sick team here at The Push. We are seeking someone to provide day-to-day office administration, bookkeeping and project administrative support at our office in Brunswick. The ideal candidate would have experience in office management and intermediate bookkeeping skills, including use of MYOB or similar accounting program. Find out more at www.thepush.com.au or email employment@thepush.com.au. Applications close 5pm Friday May 6. Local champions Camp Cope have just announced a free all ages show as part of their self-titled, debut album tour. It’s at Polyester Records, Brunswick St on Friday May 27 at 6pm. The album is out on Poison City Records and has been described as a cathartic release of personal angst set to thumping bass lines and chiming guitars. facebook.com/campcopemusic Looking for a chance to show off your sick DJ skills? Boombox events are hosting a DJ competition open to soloists and duos between the ages of 12 and 25 who live in the City of Bayside area. Applications close on Friday April 29 with a pre-competition meeting on Thursday May 12 and a potential competition date on Friday May 20. For more details and to apply visit bayside.formstack.com/forms/freeza_dj_comp. SYN 1700 diversity has a great range of grantfunded programs to help young people from different backgrounds access radio training for free. These include media mentoring for young ethnically diverse women, training for differently abled young people and broadcasting opportunities for young people to talk about their faith. The greater the diversity of voices on the airwaves, the more relevant the station is so don’t hesitate to sign up if it sounds like you’re kind of thing. More information is available at syn. org.au/diversity.
All Ages Gig Guide F R I dAy A PR I l 29
Fasttrack Talent Show: Grand Final Event w/ TBC after Heats at Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre, 35 Ferres Boulevard, South Morang, 6.00pm - 11.00pm, $15, baselinewhittlesea.com, AA
S AT U R dAy M Ay 2
Koroit Irish Festival Youth Stage w/ Gabby Steel, Nancy Schipper and Cooper Lower, at Commercial Road, Koriot, 11.00am - 4.00pm, Free, koroitirishfestival.com.au, AA Pay It Forward w/ Jay Reichelt, Reminiscence, Eddy Irvine, Arcade Road and LuVibe at Mornington Park Primary School, 11.00am - 2.30pm, Free, facebook. com/ImpaktFreeza, AA
Thursday 28th @ 8.30pm
PUGSLEY BUZZARD BAND (Southern drawl)
Friday 29th @ 9.30pm
DUNCAN PHILLIPS & THE LAST STAND (Alt-country roots) Saturday 30th @ 9.30pm
Wed 27th April
W I N E , W H I S K EY, W O M E N 8pm: SNEZ 9pm: Iris Thurs 28th April
PAULIE BIGNELL & THORNBURY TWO
Jarrod Shaw 9pm: Sleepy West
8pm:
(Twangsters)
Friday 29th April
Sunday 1st @ 5.30 pm
HELEN RYDER BAND (Soul country) Sunday 1st @ 9.00pm
MONICA WEIGHTMAN BAND (Country roots) Tuesday 3rd @ 8.00pm
IRISH SESSION (Charmin’ tunes)
6pm: Traditional Irish Music Session
Mark Campbell and The Ravens Saturday 30th April 3pm: Kraken Folk Session 9pm: The Vanguards Sunday 1st May 4pm: Amarillo 8.30pm:
Tuesday 3rd May
ALL GIGS ARE FREE EXCELLENT RESTAURANT & BAR MEALS
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8pm:
Weekly Trivia
The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
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PHOTOMARATHON
Beat talks to Jessica Hogg who’s bringing Photomarathon, a nine hour open access photography competition, to Melbourne. When Hogg moved here from the UK, it was obvious to her that the event was perfect for Melbourne – so she decided to make it happen. “I was involved in the event twice back in UK,” says Hogg. “PhotoMarathon seemed like something that Melbourne ought to have. Something that would work here among the creative inhabitants of this city. The concept fits in really well. People are always taking photographs of the graffiti, the train stations, and the laneways.” It has taken Hogg about six months to pull it all together after deciding to go ahead. “I had the seed in my mind. I got in touch with the UK organisers. They were very relaxed about me doing it in Melbourne. They told me they weren’t a legal entity – it was just a concept – so I could go ahead and do it. It isn’t a trademarked name. They gave me a big vote of confidence.” PhotoMarathon has been around for a while, says Hogg. “It started in Denmark, in Copenhagen, in 1989. There have been events all over Europe and in Canada. It’s been a global phenomenon.” Entrants to the PhotoMarathon are given three secret topics, followed by three hours to take three photos. You go back to HQ a second time for three more topics, do the same thing and then come back for the final three topics, finishing up with a nine page portfolio which comprises your entry. It’s a fun creative race relevant for people of all skills and ages.
“We are encouraging everybody to enter,” says Hogg. “We have reduced entrance rates for the under eighteens, so it’s a level playing field. They get the same topic as all the competitors. You get to see everyone’s creative thought processes and their individual interpretations of the topics. People can run wild with their imaginations throughout the nine images. There are lots of opportunities. Because you have only nine hours in total there is a limited space in which to do the work so the competitors are under pressure. They need to get their creative plans in place very quickly. It’s very important that the images are taken in the order that the topics are given in.” Not only is PhotoMarathon open access, everyone’s nine photos are exhibited at Magnet Gallery at 640 Bourke St. “We want as many people to come to the exhibition as possible – it will be wonderful,” Hogg says. “This event really highlights the diversity of
CROSSWORD NEEEERRDS, this week I went around the office and asked everyone to give me the first word off the top of their head. This is an insight into the minds that put your street press together each week. Forgive them.
DOWN
ACROSS
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LOCAL HAPPENINGS
creative interpretation – seeing what people can do with the same topic. They each have different ideas. It doesn’t matter if you’re not too great a photographer; it’s all part of the fun.” Hogg says she’s looking forward to receiving feedback about PhotoMarathon and wants to make it an annual event in Melbourne. “I would like to build it and put a unique Melbourne stamp on it, tailor the concept to make it more of what people in Melbourne would like. I’m really excited about it. I’ve got a good feeling about.” BY LIZA DEZFOULI PHOTOMARATHON MELBOURNE will take place in the CBD on Saturday April 30.
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AC/DC AUDITIONED TRIBUTE BAND SINGER FIRST Axl Rose wasn’t AC/DC’s first choice to handle the mic for their upcoming European and US shows. Darren Caperna of Dallas, Texas-based AC/DC tribute band Back In Black blogged that he and guitarist Mike Mroz were contacted by phone and flown out to a private rehearsal studio in Atlanta, Georgia, the week of March 14. The audition began with a soundcheck where the two jammed with AC/DC’s tech crew, and then were joined by the band after a cup of tea. What was to have been a three-song audition turned into all 21 songs from the Rock Or Bust set, with two additional songs that Angus wanted to play (Dog Eat Dog and Riff Raff) with Angus warning him they were still rusty on the later. Caperna gasped, “Did I just hear Angus apologising to me?.” He says he didn’t get the gig, he’ll always remember how friendly the band were. “Being in a tribute band for 16 years, we were hoping that we would be able to meet AC/DC one day – but this goes way beyond our expectations.”
HOW MANY FESTIVALS CANCELLED IN 2016? It’s not just Australia’s Stereosonic, Southbound (for weather) and Maitreya that closed the door on 2016. The number is even worse abroad. Live music trade bible Pollstar reckoned two weeks ago that 23 went dark. They included Tomorrowland and Gathering of The Vibes. Since then, New York’s Electric Zoo and the UK’s Hevy and the Drive Like Jehu-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties also went. THINGS WE HEAR Which newspaper is apparently trying to lift the injunction on the extra-marital affairs of a well known celeb? Was Courtney Love kicked out of Guns N’ Roses party at the Coachella festival because she “was literally falling over”, according to sources? Did Waka Flocka Flame really smoke so much weed (20 blunts) while in Seattle (where legal recreational pot is allowed) that he needed medical attention? (His rep said he didn’t need medical attention although Waka’s Instagram suggested there was an ambulance on hand). Triple j won Radio Station of the Year at the Third International Music Industry Awards in Hollywood. The weekend’s music, comedy and food Gum Ball festival was a sell-out for the first time in its ten-year history, with all 2500 tickets going. Its organisers also announced that the Americana-themed Dashville Skyline festival is back on over the September 30 and October 1 long weekend. In its report in the NSW Government’s inquiry into the Sydney lockouts, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that both the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education and the NSW and ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance are calling for the laws to be introduced not only across the rest of the city but also across the entire state. They say that the new rules have significantly reduced violence and that claims of a devastated live music sector are “exaggerated”.
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The amount of people waiting to buy tickets online for Splendour In The Grass 2016 was three times that of last year. 32,500 tickets went in 90 minutes. Of those, 17,500 are camping onsite. More tickets will be available on the festival’s resale facility. The fest’s ticketing agency Moshtix’s chief Harley Evans said, “Our team suspected the demand this year would be up there with previous years after the 2016 lineup was announced, but it’s fair to say the level of interest this year was well beyond everyone’s expectations. For Splendour to sell out yet again is a great shot in the arm for our industry, to see such an iconic event going from strength to strength.”
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The Victorian Government announced that the upcoming 2016/2017 state budget will provide $152 million to deliver a strong program of support to the $23 billion creative and cultural sector from July. The centrepiece will be Victoria’s first Creative Industries strategy, Creative State. It’s a $115 million investment to develop and keep the best creative talent across design ($16.4 million as it’s the fastest growing creative sector), digital games, film and television ($14.2 million to attract more opportunities to the state and support the Melbourne International Film Festival), fashion, music and the performing and visual arts, and enable Victorians to undertake ambitious, internationally recognised work. “Creative State lays out our plan for making Victoria a global creative centre and the place of choice for people embarking on creative careers,” says Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley. “Victoria has the best of everything, but we can’t take it for granted. The Creative State will create jobs, develop local talent and grow our creative industries. This is an investment that will deliver economic, social and cultural benefits for all Victorians whether they work in or enjoy our creative industries.” In addition, the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund will provide $20m to support a creative hub in the Latrobe Valley and $7m to support a cultural hub for Bendigo which will see it host a national arts and culture conference, and develop community participations programs to “celebrate multicultural communities”. There’s also a $50m boost for the State Library of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne and Melbourne Recital Centre.
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VIC GOVT. PUTS ASIDE $152M FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRY
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MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
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The current generation is less interested in clubbing, according to a British survey by The Guardian. It took in 196 responses from people aged 18 to 35. Of these, the majority said that it’d be safer to stay at home. Copping the blame were the state of clubs – rude aggressive bouncers, DJs that played what they wanted to and not what the crowds were to hear, and highly priced drinks. Joc Curran, owner for 23 ½ years of one of Brisbane’s great live music venues, The Zoo, is handing over the baton in June. New owner is local foodie and music champ Pixie. Police in Dayton, Ohio, are trying to chase fraudsters who sold tickets to a Limp Bizkit gig at a…. umm, local gas station. Selena Gomez’s tour of China in August was scrapped when authorities found a pic of her with the Dalai Lama. Bon Jovi and Maroon 5 had their tours axed for the same reason. The Game came to the defence of Kesha, saying Dr. Luke and Sony are treating her “like a slave” and calling on them to “let her do her own thing”. A crowd funding campaign has raised $23,000 for Sydney singer/songwriter Miriam Lieberman for a new album. She’s already started work on it, after dates in North Queensland. ENTRIES OPEN FOR JAZZ AWARDS Voting has opened for the 13th Australian Jazz Awards, held Monday June 20 at Bird’s Basement club in Melbourne. In a revamp of the rules, the public can vote but must be members of the (not for profit) Australian Jazz Academy. There are eight categories, closing date is Monday May 2. Details at www. australianjazzacademy.org.au LPA CALLS FOR MORE GOVT. FUNDING Live Performance Australia, which represents the entire live entertainment sectors, has asked the Federal Government to recognise the economic and cultural impact by providing it with funds in the Federal Budget on Tuesday May 3. Specifically it wants the return of the $72.8 million over four years the Government took from the Australia Council last year. Its CEO Evelyn Richardson estimated as a result of cuts of 40% (or 18 to 20) small to medium organisations “face going under”. Richardson also pointed out that of the $12 million allocated over four years to the alternate funding program Catalyst, it has only announced $1.6 million in projects. “The Government must commit to delivering the rest of the Catalyst funding. We do not want to see Government pocket more than $10 million that it allocated to our industry.” 34,000 people work in the Australian live performance sector, which supports more than 500 performing arts companies around Australia, and attracts over 18 million to shows. The live contemporary music industry alone
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generates revenues of $2.5 billion annually. AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY FILES TO BLOCK PIRATE SITES Australia’s three major labels Universal, Sony and Warner, music rights management company Alberts and collecting society APRA AMCOS have teamed up to take legal action so that Australian ISPs will block pirate site KickassTorrents and its associated sites. It’s the first time that the music industry has used a June 2015 court finding that movie, music and software rights holders can apply to the Federal Court to have foreign-based websites blocked, if the “primary purpose” of that website is to infringe copyright. The music industry says that such sites make “millions of dollars” from ad revenue but give nothing back to the people who created the content. Singer/songwriter Jenny Morris, also chair of the APRA board says, “Illegal offshore sites like KickassTorrents show a complete disrespect for music creators and the value of music. Australian music fans already have access – for free if they choose – to the world’s repertoire of music via more than 20 legitimate licensed online music services.” RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY FOR SYDNEY After being staged in Tokyo, Vienna, Warsaw and Stockholm, the Red Bull Music Academy Weekender will be held in Sydney this year in its 18th year between September 8 to 11. The event will cover signature music events, live performances, public artist lectures, club nights and art exhibitions. The first lineup announcement is on April 26, with tickets on sale two days after. VALE PRINCE As always, Barack Obama summed it up when he called Prince “a creative icon”. From the late 1970s, he reflected the changing landscape of rock music – melding rock, blues, funk, jazz, soul and psychedelic pop to the changing of artists’ relationships with major record companies to a bittersweet attitude to how the internet changed its distribution. He was in front of the pack each time. That he was a singer, songwriter, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and producer meant he was able to create a vision that was uniquely his own. He leaves behind a catalogue of great sexy, dirty, rocking, danceable and romantic songs through close to 40 albums, and some mindblasting three-hour live shows, whether they were scheduled arena concerts or late night jams in clubs where he paid tribute to the music of the icons who inspired him to write his first song at seven.
Lifelines Born: son Odin Reign to Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys and fitness expert and actress Lauren Kitt via a water birth. Expecting: Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and model Behati Prinsloo, seemingly a daughter judging by her buying habits. Married: US blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. and Aussie model Nicole Trunfio in Palm Springs, near where they first met at Coachella Festival four years ago. They have 15-monthold son Zion. Recovering: Kiss’ Paul Stanley from surgery to reattach a torn bicep tendon with stitches. Ill: due to Marie Fredriksson’s ailing health, Roxette announced they would give up touring permanently. Injured: ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill suffered a shoulder injury at a Lubbock, Texas concert after stumbling on a stair while going on stage. The band had to postpone several US shows. Charged: Chris Lytras and Paul Polito of Brunswick’s Railway Hotel and DJ Jason Peter Kolbeck of Two Floors Up nightclub in the CBD after police raids this month allegedly uncovered thousands of ecstasy pills, methamphetamine and cash, The Age reported. In Court: US hard rock band Ratt’s founding drummer Bobby Blotzer tries to stop bassist, Juan Croucier from performing under that name when he says he has sole rights. In Court: four men separately accused US hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa of the influential Zulu Nation of forcing them to give him oral sex when they were in their early teens. In Court: Nicki Minaj’s brother Jelani Maraj, 37, has pleaded not guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl over a certain period in New York. Died: Pete Zorn, one time member of Britain’s folk rock band Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson collaborator, 65, from cancer. Zorn played guitar, mandolin, saxophone and flute, Died: NSW-based alt-country singer songwriter Karl Broadie passed away after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
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