Brag#581

ISSUE NO. 581 SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

FREE Now picked up at over 1,500 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

MIS S Y HIGGINS

At the tail end of a big year, Missy pays tribute to Oz.

RYA N A D A M S

14 albums in, and nobody’s standing in his way.

CHE T FA K ER

After threatening to quit music, Nick Murphy wants to trust his gut.

G A BR IEL IGL E SI A S

Comedy’s Mr. Nice Guy is every bit as fluff y as we expected.

Plus

THEIR SECOND HOME

VANCE JOY AREA-7 WICKED

WED 24TH SEP

8"9 8*5$)&4 + GRMM + BIG WHITE FREE FR REEEE

8PMM

lorne marion bay byron VICTORIA

TASMAN IA

NEW SOUTH WALES

dec 28 2014

dec 29 2014

dec 30 2014

jan 01 2015

jan 01 2015

jan 03 2015

Until U n til

Until

Until U n til

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

ALT-J ÁSGEIR BIG FREEDIA THE BLACK LIPS BLUEJUICE COLD WAR KIDS DAN SULTAN DMAs GEORGE EZRA GLASS ANIMALS JAGWAR MA JAMIE XX JOEY BADA$$ JOHN BUTLER TRIO KIM CHURCHIL THE KITE STRING TANGLE MILKY CHANCE MOVEMENT THE PRESETS REMI RÖYKSOPP & ROBYN RUN THE JEWELS SAFIA SBTRKT SPIDERBAIT STICKY FINGERS THE TEMPER TRAP TENSNAKE TKAY MAIDZA TODD TERJE LIVE TYCHO VANCE JOY WOLF ALICE BOOGIE NIGHTS

ALISON WONDERLAND BADBADNOTGOOD CLIENT LIAISON DJ WOODY PRESENTS ‘HIP HOP IS 40’ AV SHOW SALT N PEPA TWERKSHOP COM E DY

DAMIEN POWER DANIEL TOWNES HARLEY BREEN LUKE MCGREGOR TOMMY DASSALO URZILA CARLSON

tickets on sale now fallsfestival.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 3

rock music news welcome to the frontline: the latest touring and music news...with Chris Martin and Tyson Wray

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THE BRAG

five things WITH

SASHA L SMITH FROM THE GRAND RAPIDS all that kinda stuff was that it was all about the melody.

Inspirations I was into heavy rock stuff 2. like The Angels, Rose Tattoo, Sex Pistols, then got into metal pretty heavily, then had a complete epiphany when I first heard The Stone Roses. You could actually make really cool-sounding stuff on the guitar without all the fretboard wanking. As someone just learning the guitar, and not intent on practising eight hours a day, that seemed like a good tip, and they had cool haircuts to boot.

3.

1.

Growing Up I remember listening to tapes on road trips in the HQ

Kingswood. Stuff like Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass, Jesus Christ Superstar, Elvis, Simon & Garfunkel.

I guess the biggest influence out of

Your Band The Grand Rapids are a neopsychedelic drone rock band out of Melbourne. We’ve been going for over seven years. Daniel (the other guitarist) and I met at a party and I was looking for a bass player and it all just started from there.

Keith (drums) was a high school friend of Daniel’s and joined a few years later, and Deon on bass has been on board for the last couple of years. I think the connection is we want to make dark, dense rock’n’roll, love recording and doing some sweet shows. Callum Barter engineered and mixed our debut LP Great Shakes and he is engineering our next record.

‘Copper Girl’, the seven-inch single which is our current release, was recorded by Callum and mastered

by David Briggs of Little River Band fame.

The Music You Make Personally I really dig Vibravoid, 4.

The Warlocks, Spacemen 3, Bad Liquor Pond, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Church, Ride, The Cult Of Dom Keller, The Cosmic Dead, Acid Mothers Temple, early Pink Floyd, The Seeds, The Byrds, et cetera. Live-wise we always like to

get the projectors out and get things nice and freaky, and loud is always good, real good.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The psych scene in Australia 5. is really, really healthy. Really cool bands coming out of all places.

There’s always something cool to go and see. Sydney is great in that it has some real cool psych club nights. It’s not really happening on that front in Melbourne so it’s cool that there are clubs like Velvet Cave and Live at Your Cosmic Mind going off, and Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice in the city is just pure gold.

What: Great Shakes out now through Psyche Ward With: The Dandelion, The Grease Arrestor Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Sunday September 28

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray ONLINE COORDINATOR: Emily Meller SUB-EDITOR: Emily Meller STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Lauren Gill, Roger Ma, Tyson Wray ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: James Ambrose, Ashwin Arumugam, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Georgina Pengelly - 0416 972 081 / (02) 9212 4322 georgina@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Furst Media MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr - patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 / 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Emily Meller, Debbie Shankar - gigguide@ thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Roger Ma, Debbie Shankar, Jacob Mills REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Blake Gallagher, Fergus Halliday, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Adam Norris, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Amy Theodore, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

As if we needed any further proof of their iconic standing in Aussie rock, The Church have announced details of their 25th studio album and a national launch tour. Having co-opted former Powderfinger man Ian Haug into the band, Steve Kilbey and friends release Further/ Deeper on Friday October 17. The tour begins with a run of dates playing only songs from the new record, including a gig at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday October 25.

Johnny Marr

KING JOHNNY RETURNS

The down-to-earth half of The Smiths’ brains trust, the one and only Johnny Marr, has locked in a new tour of Australia. The news comes right in time for the release of Marr’s new solo album, Playland, due Friday October 3 – it’s another instalment of jangledriven indie rock from the guitarist who shaped a generation. Where would we be without those riffs to ‘This Charming Man’, ‘How Soon Is Now?’ or later Modest Mouse’s ‘Dashboard’? In a poorer place, that’s where. Marr brings his Fender Jaguar and all that riffery to the Enmore Theatre on Thursday February 5. Tickets go on sale to Frontier members at 12pm Thursday October 2, and to the general public 10am Tuesday October 7.

THE PREATURES

The Preatures have added new tour dates to wrap up a massive 2014. The Sydneysiders are about to release their debut full-length album, Blue Planet Eyes, featuring the hit ‘Is This How You Feel?’ plus ‘Two Tone Melody’, ‘Somebody’s Talking’ and more. After smashing it out at SXSW, Coachella, Glastonbury and everywhere else worth playing, The Preatures are coming back home for a bumper Australian tour. They play The Hi-Fi on Friday December 5 with support from Holy Holy.

VIOLENT TIMES

Violent Soho will embark on a 23-date national tour later this year. It’s been a huge year for the Mansfield quartet: recently Soho have performed at Falls Festival, Big Day Out, Groovin The Moo, Splendour In The Grass and triple j’s One Night Stand alongside a completely sold-out headline tour. The upcoming dates will mark the last chance fans will get to see them before they go into hibernation to write album number four. They’ll hit the Metro Theatre on Friday December 5.

THE LIVING END

The Living End are back. Chris Cheney and co. have announced their first headline shows

in two years, backing up their dates with Jimmy Barnes for A Day On The Green. They’ve started work on album number seven, due out in 2015, and will give Sydney fans a taste at the Metro Theatre on Thursday November 6.

Tickets go on sale 9am Thursday September 25.

THE VINES AT THE VIC

The Vines will celebrate their comeback and new album with a one-off carpark gig in Sydney next month. Marrickville’s Vic On The Park will host the high-velocity three-piece with support from Chicks Who Love Guns and The Lulu Raes. Wicked Nature marks The Vines’ return after a three-year hiatus from touring. The show is on Sunday October 5.

CHANGING LANE

Three years after giving us To The Horses, Lanie Lane is back on the scene with a new album, Night Shade, and a fresh sound to boot. The record drops on Friday October 24, and lead single ‘Celeste’ is a window into Lane’s new direction – she’s developed a more mature sound, developed in the seclusion of rural Victoria where she wrote the new material. Lane will play a launch tour, her first in two years, including a date at Newtown Social Club on Thursday October 30.

Lanie Lane

Little May

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Fishished Art: No later than 2pm Monday Ad cancellations: Friday 4pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to.

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4 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

LITTLE MAY

The rise and rise of Little May is set to continue with the release of their debut self-titled EP on Friday October 10. After their earlier material landed them slots at Splendour In The Grass, Laneway and Bigsound, Little May will step out on a maiden national headline tour through November and December. Previously they’ve supported Mikhael Paskalev, and they’ll open for Rodriguez in Perth. After that, check out their haunting brand of folk at Newtown Social Club on Thursday November 27 and Friday November 28.

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xxx Johnny Marr photo by Jon Shard

WORSHIP THE CHURCH

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 5

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin and Lauren Gill

five things WITH

THE TEA PARTY

ANA VEIRA FROM HURST know, maybe it’s got something to do with flora? When I first heard ‘Whole Lotta Love’ I shat myself with excitement. Plant’s vocals.

That riff…

album in the next studio over, and I caught them all swimming in a pool together. It was a beautiful sight. But don’t tell them. They don’t know this.

Your Band Music, Right Here, Hurst is a group of hooligans Right Now 3.

5. who collectively love making loud We are pretty surprised with how noises and we write and produce all our own material. We have myself on lead vocals and keys, Jake Bisognin on gat, Ben Zamor on bass and Dick Dammit on drums.

The Music You Make We play rock music usually 4. written about our drummer or

dad is devoutly into tango and opera, my mum loves ABBA, and my older brother exposed me to everything else from electronica,

metal and R&B to rock.

Inspirations Robert Plant from Led 2.

Zeppelin and Brandon Flowers from The Killers. They are both babes in their own right. I don’t

Dan Kelly

my pet peeves. We draw a lot of influence from Jack White, Led Zeppelin, The Pixies and Radiohead. When you see us live, you can expect to see a lot of hair, bum and frantic jumping.

Music is my outlet, so I let it rage. We’re about to release our EP titled IV on October 1.

We recorded it up at The Grove Studios with Josh Telford. The Beards were recording their new

well our music has been received at the venues we’ve played so far. When we started out we were scared that we would be too heavy for most venues. We aren’t even that heavy. But when you see a girl with a keyboard and singing lead, I guess you expect something more… tame.

But people are always up for something different, which is what is great about the local scene.

There’s a lot of variety if you look for it. The latest local band I’m frothing over is Octavian. They have a killer sound.

Canada’s finest, The Tea Party, are back with their first new music in a decade. The Ocean At The End follows their reformation tour of 2012, and this year will mark Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood and Jeff Burrows’ 14th Australian tour. That’s right; they’re doing more for Australian-Canadian relations than the diplomats ever could. With support from The Superjesus – thanks no doubt to Martin’s recent buddying up with Sarah McLeod – The Tea Party play the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday October 15, alongside a series of tour dates across the land. We’ve got two Tea Party giveaway packs up for grabs, each including a double pass to the Enmore gig, a copy of The Ocean At The End and a tour poster. For your chance to win, head to thebrag.com/ freeshit and tell us the three people, living or dead, you’d invite over for your dream tea party.

Xxx

Growing Up My household is an 1. assortment of mixed nuts. My

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

What: IV out Wednesday October 1 independently Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Wednesday October 1

The Walking Who

DAN KELLY

Melbourne or Sydney – which one’s better? We know the answer to that one, of course, but it hasn’t stopped Dan Kelly asking the question on his new single, ‘Melbourne Vs. Sydney’.

Recorded with his Dream Band and mixed by London’s Aaron Cupples, the track is another adventurous addition to the Kelly catalogue. Ahead of Kelly’s fourth solo album, he launches ‘Melbourne Vs. Sydney’ in (of course) Melbourne and Sydney – see him at Newtown Social Club on Friday September 26 alongside Richard In Your Mind and Fraser A. Gorman.

PSYCH NIGHT

This Sunday September 28 marks the second edition of the psych-loving event at Frankie’s Pizza, Frankie’s Technicolour Psych Night. The bill is properly far out, man, with headliners The Grand Rapids

set to launch their new seven-inch and its lead track, ‘Copper Girl’. Joining the fun are The Dandelion, Dead Radio, The Grease Arrestor, The Citradels, Bad Valley, Dr Goddard, Fire Saint and God K. You know what to do.

All Our Exes Live In Texas

THE WALKING WHO

Oz rock three-piece The Walking Who are trundling on down to Bondi’s Jam Gallery this week.

It follows the release of their new video for ‘With Roses’ and a triumph in FBi Radio’s Northern Lights competition, which will see the band head to Iceland for festival and showcase dates (in other words, they’re about to get a whole lot cooler… right? Har de har). Catch them closer to home on Friday September 26 with support from Bonez and Them Dreamers.

NEWTOWN FESTIVAL 2014

The first round lineup for this year’s edition of Newtown Festival has landed. The event will take over Camperdown Memorial Rest Park again on Sunday November 9, with a headline set from the new-look Deep Sea Arcade. Also on the bill are Straight Arrows, sleepmakeswaves, Bloods, Astronomy Class, the Donny Benet Show Band, Daily Meds, Tigertown, Day Ravies, Richard In Your Mind, The Fabergettes, East, The Lulu Raes, Brave, The Morrisons, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Dusty Ravens, The Brassholes, Big Blind Ray and Fat Yahooza.

Josh Pyke

ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS

Having already won our hearts with one of the best band names going round, All Our Exes Live In Texas are hitting stage next month in support of new single ‘Tell Me’. Elana Stone, Katie Wighton, Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney play charming ditties and sing in four-part harmony, and are getting set to release their debut album. Forming only last year, they’ve already played with the likes of Megan Washington and The Perch Creek Family Jugband, and they headline Maitland’s Grand Junction Hotel on Saturday October 18 before Newtown Social Club on Friday October 24.

6 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

DRUNK MUMS ARE BACK

Strap on in, it’s going to be a rowdy ride.

Drunk Mums have announced their biggest tour yet in support of their latest single, ‘Nanganator’. The single follows ‘Plastic’, the previous cut from their forthcoming LP. Its launch tour saw them play sold-out shows across the country last year as well as support slots with The Bohicas and Dune Rats. Catch Drunk Mums this time on Thursday November 13 at Manly’s Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar and Saturday November 15 at Spectrum.

GARAGE SALE TRAIL

In those days before we got music from iTunes and instruments from eBay, everyone had their favourite musical treasure picked up from the unlikeliest of spots – a record store hidden in the alleyways of an unfamiliar city, a dodgy guitar shop harbouring priceless creations, or even the local garage sale. The City of Sydney is honouring the tradition of musical treasure-troving with a city-wide Garage Sale Trail on Saturday October 25, and ambassador Josh Pyke says it’s the perfect place to find your new musical love, from preloved vinyl and instruments to music magazines. “My drum kit, piano and most of my guitars are all pre-loved,” Pyke says. “I think second-hand instruments and music gear are often better than new stuff.” Who knows what you might find on the streets next month – just head to garagesaletrail.com.au for more details and to find hundreds of locations.

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THEATRE ROYAL | FROM 24 SEPTEMBER CALL 1300 723 038 | VISIT ticketmaster.com.au

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 7

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * Which reality show singer, who started going to psychic classes after her career went kaboom, wants to set up an online clairvoyance service? * Which serial gatecrasher of live music events who claims to be a music journalist met her match with one exasperated door person, who told her to get her editor to send her a text affirming her qualifications? * When attending a Melbourne hospital for a checkup, did Kanye West’s minder really ask for the waiting room to be cleared? The hospital refused. * Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ is now five times platinum. It’s just entered Canada’s chart, while Dream Your Life Away has debuted in the US charts at number 17.

* On the eve of a massive 23-date national tour, Violent Soho’s Hungry Ghost album has gone gold. * Sydney’s Little Sea are in Los Angeles for a month, meeting with label executives and working with some hot writers like The Swaggernautz, Jayson DeZuzio (Christina Aguilera), Neal Avron (blink-182, Fall Out Boy), Nick Monson (5 Seconds Of Summer, Lady Gaga), Trevor Dahl (One Direction) and Mitch Allen, who’s sold two million records with various artists. * Original AC/DC singer Dave Evans returns to play the Ukraine for three shows in October after his first tour of Brazil ‌ Seekae are off behind their new Future Classic album The Worry, doing 15 shows through Europe and the US between October 20 and November 15 ‌ Singersongwriter Jack Carty plays four NZ dates in late October

DUTCH TECHNO FESTIVAL AWAKENINGS COMES TO OZ Amsterdam techno festival Awakenings, which drew 60,000 people to its 2013 event, is entering the Australian market. Last week its owner Monumental Productions B.V. agreed to sell out to NY-based EDM empire SFX, which wants to roll it out to Australia and the UK. Aussie promoter Totem OneLove, which is also owned by SFX, will have an Awakenings stage at this year’s Stereosonic.

NEW SIGNINGS #1: SHOCK INKS RICKY & MARK Shock’s latest signing is Seattle hip hop duo Ricky & Mark, who release their first EP Get A Real Job You Fucking Losers here on Friday October 17. Ricky Pharoe emerged in the 1990s and was a mastermind behind Art Vandelay, while producer and multi-

‌ Country music act Lachlan Bryan will do 21 American shows between October 8 and November 4 behind the US release of his Black Coffee album ‌ Jeff Lang is touring Japan. * At Bluesfest head honcho Peter Noble’s Bigsound keynote speech, he talked about his love for visiting Buddhist cities (being a Buddhist after a stint as a Pentecostal Christian), having four or five approaches to sell Bluesfest, how his split with festival co-founder Keven Oxford was so violent he was in hospital, and how he’s been asking Neil Young to play the festival for years. * On an off night in Melbourne, Robbie Williams and band hit the Paris Cat Jazz Club for a two-and-a-half-hour jam session with singers like Megan Washington and Fem Belling (who was so awesome she got a high-five from Robbie) before

instrumentalist Gajamagic was in bands like Blood Brothers, Neon Blonde and Past Lives.

NEW SIGNINGS #2: OVERSEAS DEALS FOR DMA’S On the eve of their first shows in the US and Europe, Sydney’s DMA’s have signed with Mermaid Avenue/Mom & Pop Records for the States and Partisan Records for Europe.

They’ll release the band’s new seven-inch single, which is due out in Australia through I Oh You this November.

NEW SIGNINGS #3: SONY/ATV WORLDWIDE DEAL FOR IGGY AZALEA Sony/ATV has signed NSW’s Iggy Azalea to a worldwide publishing deal through T.I.’s company Grand Hustle. It covers existing and

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he took to the stage with his dad, music director Guy Chambers and the Atlantic Horns. * AC/DC have fans everywhere.

Member for Orange Andrew Gee stood up in Parliament to ask 2BS Gold Bathurst to drop its long-time ban on AC/DC music. “It is un-Australian and a position that we do not want to see in the country,� he said. * Will Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah pick up on the January tour by German metal band The Ocean? They went on social media to reveal the tour had keeled over (the first promoter “proved to be a flake�, they said) and asked for metal-minded promoters to help. Maddah tweeted for their personal details and said he’d contact them on the weekend. * As we suggested some months ago, The Gum Ball festival takes a break in 2015 as its promoter plans, after ten years, to travel and get married.

future works. Sarah Stennett, her manager at Turn First Artists, said, “It was clear from Iggy’s first meeting with Sony/ATV that they were as excited about the next phase of Iggy’s career as all of us at Turn First and that their excitement was genuine.�

NEW SIGNINGS #4: NATIVE TONGUE & NPG Australia’s Native Tongue will represent Prince’s NPG Music Publishing for Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The catalogue covers his hits and the two upcoming albums Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum.

NEW SIGNINGS #5: DECCA AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES Decca Australia, which launched last month with Robert Rigby as executive manager of A&R, has signed The Voice contestant Matthew Garwood to work the adult contemporary market. His album is called The Tattooed Tenor, which is presumably how they plan to market him.

SYDNEY GUITARISTS ON JAZZ AWARDS SHORTLIST Five of the ten young jazz guitarists on the shortlist for the 2014 National Jazz Awards are from Sydney. All in their twenties, they are Peter Koopman, Paul Mason, Carl Morgan (originally from Canberra), Matthew Smith and Oliver Thorpe. The winner gets $12,000, a studio session on ABC Classic FM and a set at Stonnington Jazz Festival in May. The runner-up gets $6,000 and recording time at Pughouse Studios in Melbourne. Third place gets $3,000. The finalists will perform at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival (October 31 – November 3). The judges are Stephen Magnusson, James Muller and Mike Nock and the winners from last year, Joseph O’Connor, Steve Barry and Parisbased Daniel Gassin.

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Fri 5 Dec

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The Electronic Music Conference (EMC) is calling for artist applications for EMC Play, a program of showcases to discover the next crop of EDM talent. EMC Play will see dance music labels host events over two nights at Sydney’s Kings Cross and Darlinghurst entertainment precinct this December 3 and 4. A programming committee to review applications includes Nathan McLay (Future Classic), Dan Zilber (FBi), Jon Hanlon (Sony Music, Konkrete), Jane Slingo (Young Strangers), Anthony Colombi (Global PR Pool), Andrew Jackson (Milton Archer), Tim Duggan (Sound Alliance) and Neil Ackland (Sound Alliance, EMC). Application fees are $30 and can be submitted at electronicmusicconference.com/artistsubmission.

VENUES UPDATE Sydney’s live music venue Bellevue Hotel has a new GM, the UK-born Ben Pearce who worked at Bondi’s The Eastern ‌ At the 2014 Hotel Industry Awards for Excellence on the Gold Coast, Brisbane’s Eatons Hill Hotel took out Best Entertainment Venue in Australia for the second year ‌ NSW-based Lantern Hotel Group has acquired The Waterworks in Botany for $8.25 million, and is looking set to buy Newcastle’s Exchange Hotel ‌ The Deus CafÊ is introducing

live music in November, collaborating with Matt and Dan Rule of Annandale fame ‌ Melbourne’s Middle Park Hotel and Albert Park Hotel were bought by the Colonial Leisure Group for between $4 million to $5 million from the Melbourne Pub Group, leaving MPG with the Prince of Wales and The Newmarket in St. Kilda.

Lifelines Split: former Big Day Out CEO and one-time publisher of the BRAG and The Music Network Adam Zammit and interior designer and model Michelle Leslie, two years after their high-profile marriage in New Zealand.

Hospitalised: One Direction’s Liam Payne injured his arm while breakdancing in Las Vegas celebrating bandmate Niall Horan’s 21st birthday.

Hospitalised: King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill will undergo double bypass surgery after he suffered a second heart attack, the first being in 2012.

Recovering: Jimmy Barnes was ordered by doctors to abandon all promotion behind his number one album 30:30 Hindsight to get rest after elective back surgery and further complications and setbacks.

He returns to tour on October 1.

Recovering: Corrosion Of Conformity drummer Reed ‘Mule’ Mullin after shoulder surgery from an injury four years ago.

Sentenced: the six Iranian teens arrested for appearing in a YouTube video dancing to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ were sentenced to up to one year in prison and 91 lashes. The sentences have been suspended for three years, meaning they will not go to prison unless they reoffend.

In Court: US rapper Gucci Mane pleaded guilty to assaulting with a bottle an army staff sergeant who wanted a picture with him at an Atlanta club last March. He got extra jail time to be served concurrently with the 39 months (now reduced to 26) for illegal possession of a firearm.

Suing: Iggy Azalea is going after ex-boyfriend Maurice Williams for releasing early masters, which she said he stole from her computer.

The lawsuit didn’t mention a sex tape they allegedly made on her 18th birthday, which he also plans to release.

Suing: Frank Ocean’s father Calvin Cooksey will take action against Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons for allegedly calling him a “deadbeat dad� on his website Global Grind, which he says would affect his future earnings.

Died: Peter Gutteridge, an architect of New Zealand’s 1980s Dunedin Sound through his bands The Chills, The Clean and The Great Unwashed. He later went on to form Snapper and recently toured America.

Died: UK bassist John Gustafson (Ian Gillan Band, Roxy Music, Quartermass), 72. The Liverpool player’s first band The Big Three signed with Beatles manager Brian Epstein on John Lennon’s recommendation.

Died: Queensland country music singer Viv Kehl, 81, had a fatal heart attack while performing onstage at the Country Revival Show.

Died: US country music performer George Hamilton IV, 77. He was one of the first Nashville-based artists to blend country with folk, recording songs by up-and-coming songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell.

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BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 9

Alt-J

W

Green. “He was never that interested in anything other than playing guitar; it was always for him just a hobby that kind of went further than he intended it to. So it made sense the more I thought about it.”

“The way we wrote the first album, we couldn’t really recreate that,” says drummer Thom Green. “We could come close but it would never be the same – it could’ve been a fl uke. Could it be done again in different circumstances?

We were slightly worried actually, but once we started we realised it wasn’t a fl uke, we defi nitely knew what we were doing. It came to us quite quickly and quite easily as well. It just started to happen, so the pressure became a lot less.”

Although the success of An Awesome Wave and their subsequent fame cost Alt-J one of their founding members, it was something the group had been trying to avoid from the beginning.

While the band as a whole may be famous, Green and his bandmates have managed to largely avoid fame on a personal level, partly by design and partly as a result of their natural character.

hen you record your debut album in relative anonymity, with almost no expectations, and it goes on to sell over a million copies worldwide and win the Mercury Prize, how do you follow that up? How can you possibly recreate that magic for the next album with all this new pressure?

That was the problem faced by Alt-J when they decamped to Hackney in London to record This Is All Yours, the follow-up to 2012’s An Awesome Wave.

While any second album anxieties were quickly allayed, the band also had to deal with the shock departure of bassist Gwil Sainsbury just days before beginning work on the new record.

Sainsbury quit in January after realising that touring the world as part of Alt-J was not something he wanted to do. His decision took Green completely by surprise, although with hindsight he says he should have seen it coming.

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“To start with, we didn’t actually show our faces on the posters and stuff like that,” he says.

“We weren’t really too bothered about people knowing what we looked like. We haven’t quite got famous; we’re not like a famous band or anything, we never get recognised. We’ve never been in videos or on album covers or on the posters or anything like that.

We never get recognised, even in London.”

And even though Alt-J have since realised their audience’s need to connect with them and opened up a little, it remains a situation they aren’t entirely comfortable with. “I

BY KEIRON COSTELLO

“I DON’T THINK PEOPLE REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT WE LOOK LIKE. WE’RE NOT AFTER THAT KIND OF ATTENTION, REALLY. WE LIKE TO THINK THAT OUR MUSIC SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.” don’t think people really need to know what we look like. We’re not after that kind of attention, really.

We like to think that our music speaks for itself. It’s not like we don’t want to be recognised, it’s just we don’t think that our faces make that much of a difference.”

While fame and the prospect of putting himself in the public eye might still sit uncomfortably on Green’s shoulders, Alt-J’s rise did produce one positive sideeffect: the favour of Miley Cyrus. A friendship forged between Cyrus and Green on social media led to her vocals being sampled on ‘Hunger Of The Pine’, the lead single from This Is All Yours.

“I realised she was following me on Twitter, and knew she was a fan of Alt-J. We’d heard she used ‘Fitzpleasure’ in her live show – during costume changes she

played it over this weird video. So I thought, ‘Fuck it, I’ll ask her to do a remix.’ She said yes, she was really into the idea and she sent me the stems and we got talking.”

After remixing Cyrus’ track ‘4x4’, Green and the band were working on ‘Hunger Of The Pine’ in the studio and realised that part of that remix, specifi cally Miley’s “I’m a female rebel” vocal line, fi t perfectly with their track. Cyrus was more than happy to be sampled and even intervened on behalf of Alt-J when her label was requesting an exorbitant amount to license the sample. As a result, Green speaks very highly of the oft-controversial pop starlet and her contribution to This Is All Yours.

“We really liked it – it’s as simple as it just sounded good, really. It doesn’t really mean anything that it’s Miley Cyrus, it just happens to be her voice,” he says. “We have a lot of respect for her, she’s a really good person and she’s a very hard-working performer. She’s got an incredible voice and it’s quite inspiring. She’s very in control – a lot of what you see in the papers and media and stuff like that is not really what she’s actually like.”

The popularity of Alt-J’s new singles – with the Miley-sampling ‘Hunger Of The Pine’ leading the way – is such that the band’s upcoming Sydney and Melbourne shows sold out within minutes.

Alt-J have also booked dates for tours across the United Kingdom, Europe and North America over the next few months, but Green caused a minor panic earlier in the year when a broken ankle threatened to derail their plans.

He suffered the injury while trying to hail a cab after a group dinner one night, slipping on the kerb and fracturing his ankle as well as damaging the ligaments in his lower leg. Although he was bedridden for two weeks and on crutches for a further couple of months, Green is quite lucky as the injury shouldn’t have any impact on his drumming or the tour. “The timing of it was perfect; we’d just finished writing and recording. We only had some promo shoots to do, which was a bit hard with the cast and crutches, but I’m getting around alright.”

Even though they are frequent visitors to our shores, having toured here three times in the space of nine months following the release of An Awesome Wave, Alt-J are planning on seeing plenty more of Australia. In addition to their sold-out October shows, they’ll be returning for the Falls Festival at the end of the year, and Green and his bandmates can’t wait to get back.

“For us it’s quite an exciting place to be. It’s like a holiday really, doing what we’re doing, doing what we love,” he says. “We did Laneway Festival last year, and it was one of the best times we’ve ever had, it was like a holiday. I think, overall, it’s the place we look forward to coming to the most.”

What: This Is All Yours out now through Liberator With: Grace Where: Enmore Theatre When: Tuesday October 7 And: Also appearing at Falls Festival, Lorne, Marion Bay and Byron Bay, Sunday December 28 – Saturday January 3 xxx

“He was never really that happy.

He hated touring, didn’t like doing any promos, didn’t like speaking to people outside the band,” says

Green was initially upset with Sainsbury, but with the passing of time he’s come to accept his decision and respect him for following through with what he wanted. “I slowly kind of realised that it was the best thing for him and the best thing for the band as well. It’s kind of a good thing; it’s made us come together and work harder.”

WAVE AFTER WAVE

thebrag.com

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Trivium Get Set By Rod Whitfield

Area-7 The End Of An Era? By Augustus Welby

C

ould you imagine living at a time when the sound of brass wasn’t welcome on the airwaves? Whimper not at this dystopian vision and instead bow down to a band that helped repeal this former injustice. That band is Area-7 and their corrective weaponry, a stack of damn catchy ska/punk tunes.

“Triple j refused to play our first record,” says Area-7 frontman John ‘Stevo’ Stevens. “They flatly refused to play Road Rage when it first came out because it had horns in it. Then all of a sudden, within 12 to 18 months, they had all of our records on high rotation.”

Area-7 formed in Melbourne in 1994, but it wasn’t until the 1999 single ‘Second Class Citizen’ – and the subsequent album Bitter & Twisted – that the impact of the seven-piece was felt nationwide. The tremors of this breakthrough still haven’t subsided.

“We can play something like ‘Second Class Citizen’ to a bunch of 15-year-olds now and they get it,” Stevo says. “The difficulties with youth and growing up, they don’t really change from generation to generation. So in some ways, the anthemy kind of songs are a little bit timeless, which is great.”

Yes, your arithmetic is correct; it’s now 20 years since Area-7’s inception. In the spirit of all things loud and sweaty, right now they’re in the middle of an Australia-wide anniversary tour. Following this run of dates, the band is locked in for Soundwave 2015, which will likely be the last time Area-7 play live.

“I think this will be it for us,” says Stevo. “We’re really honoured that AJ [Maddah] and Chris O’Brien sought us out to play on this [Soundwave] tour. We can quite happily walk away from it and say, ‘That was a great time for the last 20-odd years, thank you very much, but time to give some of the new guys a crack.’”

Area-7’s 20th birthday has inspired plenty of reflection for Stevo. And believe it or not, he’s largely pleased by what he’s found.

“We were lucky enough to have a moment in the sun and a lot of bands don’t get to do that. I can quite easily hold my head up high and think Area-7’s done some fantastic things. We put ska into the mainstream. We’re really proud of that and we’re still proud of the records.

The moment in the sun Stevo mentions involved Bitter & Twisted hitting number three on the ARIA charts and reaching gold sales status.

2001’s Say It To My Face perpetuated this success, with its sardonic anthem ‘Nobody Likes A Bogan’ making the ARIA top 30. However, scanning across the Area-7 timeline, it’s hard to ignore that they haven’t released anything since 2005’s Torn Apart. So what went wrong?

“We were tied to an American record label that closed up shop in Australia,” Stevo explains.

“We were ready to go on our next step and our record company closed their operation here in Melbourne in one day. So we were left languishing for a couple of years, not really knowing who to talk to.”

Of course, bands don’t have to keep releasing music to qualify as a band. Performing in front of adoring audiences is equally as important and Area-7 never stopped playing live.

Meanwhile, there is a chance they’ll leave fans with a parting gift.

“We wrote new songs that we actually played live but aren’t on any records,” Stevo says.

“So there’s still an opportunity for us to record something as an EP or a digital release that we might do just before we call it quits.”

What: Soundwave Festival 2015 With: Slipknot, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Slash, Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Lamb Of God, Fall Out Boy, Ministry, Judas Priest and many more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1

L

ong-running American mainstream metal act Trivium are absolutely no strangers to Australian shores, having toured here at least half a dozen times over the course of their almost decadeand-a-half-long career. They have played the Soundwave Festival several times, but it has been quite some time since the last headlining tour of their own. That is set to change, however, this coming November, when the band returns for a full-blown headline tour of the eastern seaboard and Adelaide.

Speaking from his home in “kinda sunny” Florida, Trivium bassist and backing vocalist Paolo Gregoletto cannot wait to get back here, despite the 20-hour-plus plane ride they face.

“We’re really excited because this is the first time we’ve done a headliner in – I want to say five years. We’ve been really adamant to do it again, and just always getting on AJ [Maddah], every time we see him, if he’s over in the States, or if we see him at Soundwave, we tell him we really want to come back and do a headliner. The fans have been asking for it, so we’re really excited for it. “[The flight] is long, but we always just look forward to getting down there. We kinda just get used to it. We’re numb to it now.”

What makes Trivium’s visit even more exciting for Aussie fans is that they are bringing legendary Swedish metal act In Flames with them – a band with similar appeal, whom they’ve toured with several times over the years and are actually a great source of inspiration.

“We’re very stoked to have them with us,” Gregoletto says. “They’re just one of those bands; not only has their career been a big influence on us, but [they’re] just really great guys, and a band we’ve done a lot of touring

with throughout the years. We’ve become very close friends, and I’m sure the shows are going to go well and we’ll be hanging out a lot after and before the shows, because those guys do a lot of the same stuff we do.

So we’re really looking forward to it, and the fact that we’re able to pair up together makes it even better for all the people down there.”

Trivium released their sixth album Vengeance Falls approximately a year ago, and while it gets harder and harder to write a live setlist, the band intends to cover as much ground as possible. Especially since this is a headline tour, as opposed to the abbreviated sets usually offered at festivals.

“Yeah, I was up in Orlando the other day with Matt [Heafy] and Corey [Beaulieu], we were actually working on new stuff,” says Gregoletto. “We were talking about the set – we’re going to get kind of an email chain going on and try to figure out what we’re going to do.

“We’re just going to try to play as much material as possible, and cover all the albums as best we can. And throw in a surprise or two as well. We have to balance it all out, but I think we’ve got a good idea what we want to do from the new record, and the old ones as well.”

This tour is also set to be the last leg of the Vengeance Falls album cycle before the band starts work on a new record early in 2015. “We’re talking about how we want to record and where – the beginning of the year is pencilled in as record-making time.”

What: Vengeance Falls out now through Roadrunner/Warner With: In Flames Where: UNSW Roundhouse When: Friday November 21

Sepultura A Heavy Heart By Rhys McRae

T

hree decades on and it seems nothing can stop the Brazilian freight train that is Sepultura, but for a fringe metal band borne out of a military dictatorship you wouldn’t expect much less. Those three decades have not gone by without challenges, most notably a major lineup overhaul when founding member Max Cavalera left the band in 1996 after the release of the seminal Roots album. Last year saw Sepultura release their 13th studio album, The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart, and they’re set to touch down on Australian soil for the first time in 11 years next month.

Bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto, Jr. has been with Sepultura basically since their inception, so there’s no better man to offer an understanding of how they’ve managed to stick around for 30 years. For Pinto, there’s really only one pure and simple reason for their success.

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11 years is a long time between visits, but Pinto is hoping Sepultura’s younger audience will be out in force alongside the old guard on this trip Down Under. The band never meant to stay away so long, he says.

“We’re expecting at least the old metalheads to come and see us,” Pinto laughs. “It would be nice to see some young faces in the crowd, which we have been seeing lately at our concerts – a lot of young kids coming to see us, which is very positive, but we have very big expectations for this [tour]. It’s been over a decade and I know we tried on our part, but it was really not up to Sepultura. I think there was a lot of politics involved. We never got a chance to play the main festivals and this run will help us re-establish confidence with the Australian promoters.”

Bringing up the 1996 departure of Cavalera, and ten years later his drumming brother Igor, turns the conversation slightly icy. They’re still not on speaking terms, but Pinto’s memories of the group pre-’96 aren’t tinged with hateful memories. Instead, he chooses to highlight the better times.

“Definitely up to ’96 we had great moments together, otherwise we never would have made it up to that point – and after that everything changed,” Pinto says. “We had to turn the page and keep the life going. It’s part of life and you just have to learn and keep

moving forward. That’s what we’ve been doing since then. Moving forward. [We] respect what we’ve done in the past, but [we’re] always looking for the new challenges, the new music and the new tours. That’s what we do, that’s what we’re here for.”

What: The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart out now through Nuclear Blast/Universal With: Graveyard Rockstars, Dawn Heist Where: Manning Bar When: Sunday October 5 thebrag.com

xxx

“I think the main reason is the music,” he says. “That’s just what we’re here for. What we know [how] to do and what we’ve done all this time. It’s the music itself. The fusion [of Brazilian music and metal] came naturally.

When we were kids we tried to avoid all the

Brazilian mixture because we were fed it.

[You] listen to it all the time, everywhere, but once you start to travel all over the world and living outside of the country you start to miss it. I know a little bit of that, and that ended up being reflected in the music and in such a way it made us different and unique from other bands from the whole continent, including the United States. That’s the difference.”

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Missy Higgins Stories Of Oz By Adam Norris the old tour posters plastered over the walls, featuring none other than Higgins herself. “I’ve always wanted to get into journalism or creative writing before I thought that I could ever make a living out of music,” she says. “That’s the direction I would have gone in a Sliding Doors scenario. I liked the idea of writing an actual memoir, but I didn’t feel that I’d quite come to that point of my life yet. I’m not sure anyone would take a memoir by me seriously.”

She laughs, while a large friendly dog pads past the door. It’s the kind of casual, relaxed detail that hallmarks this interview; chatting with Higgins is a lot like catching up with a distant cousin. The atmosphere is relaxed, free of pretension.

Y

ou always hope to begin an article with “So-and-so really isn’t what you’d expect.” It suggests that not only is there a greater mystique to the artist that the rest of the world is ignorant of, but through being the savvy journalist that you are, you’re the one to finally reveal the truth about them to the world. In this instance, however, Missy Higgins turns out to be as lovely and approachable as you always suspected.

Her latest release, Oz, is surprising for two reasons. Chiefly, it is an

album of covers – a kind of Great Australian Songbook for tunes that many folk will be unfamiliar with.

Secondly, it features what essentially amounts to an autobiography without, well, the autobiography.

“I’m just not old enough yet,” she continues. “I still feel like I’m in the middle of my career, it still feels like I’ve got plenty of albums to go. Also, you’d have to be able to take a big step back from your life, I think, and get a certain amount of objectivity to be able to project any sort of wisdom on your past. I’m just not sure if I’m there yet. But I don’t know what else I’d write about if I didn’t write about my life. I’ve always been quite a navel-gazer, I guess. I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I’ve been through, where I’m going, why I’m here, that kind of thing. It just made sense to create an extension of that.”

“I think my main objective with the book was to just have a bit of fun dabbling in writing,” Higgins explains. We’re chatting over a coffee table strewn with music journals, appropriately enough, though adding an element of surrealism to the conversation are

For both committed fans and the casual radio listener, at the heart of Higgins’ output is an accessibility that characterises Australian songwriting. She sings of universal truths without the need to dress up sentiment or inflate meaning. The result is a sort of everyperson story;

lyrics that are direct and deep, that speak to us all.

“I think along the way I figured out that what is the most potent kind of storytelling is the personal stuff.

There’s a certain vulnerability that people appreciate in songwriters, and I think a song becomes universal when you’re being completely honest about how you felt. I think my songs are more about the feeling at the core of what’s going on, rather than what is actually going on. There’s not many things that are specific to time and place, it’s more what was I emotionally or spiritually going through. When you really get to the heart of the matter that way, I think something becomes universal.”

There is an added bonus in avoiding specific details here. While Higgins is hardly anonymous these days – it’s no stretch to suggest she’s a household name now – there is still the capacity to maintain a level of privacy and control. Despite the often bittersweet frankness of her lyrics, we are still only being invited into a small portion of her life; the figure that many of her fans know and love remains something of a construct.

“It’s interesting. In a way I’m very open and vulnerable in my songs, but on the other hand I’m only giving away a tiny bit of who I am. I can pick and choose exactly what I do give away because I’m not talking about specific experiences. I still keep my private life private, I’m not Instagramming pictures of my partner and I kissing every day, you know? I like to keep that kind of thing sacred. But as far as human emotions are concerned, well, I’ll talk about that until the cows come home. There’s a lot that you can give away in a song without actually

revealing much of who you are. I still feel like there are very few people who know who I am.”

Ultimately, you suspect this is for the best. All fans fictionalise their heroes to some extent, and maintaining a personal connection to a song often comes at the expense of genuinely knowing the artist. This does not compromise the feeling of empathy and familiarity in Higgins’ body of work, however, and when she finds herself before an audience, the connection she feels is genuine.

“The more vulnerable I am in my songs, the greater the high when I play them live. You suddenly feel this connection between you all, this mutual understanding. Whether that’s real or not, you definitely feel as though there’s something, a revelry that’s almost church-like.

You feel like you’re all somehow in it together, and I think that’s what keeps me wanting to write songs.

Even if sometimes it’s hard at the time. I’d love to be able to just sit down and write a song about a guy I saw on the bus, because it wouldn’t be such a harrowing experience to get it out. But in the end, I think that’s the stuff that feels the best.”

What: Oz out now through Eleven With: Dustin Tebbutt, Jherek Bischoff Where: Enmore Theatre When: Saturday October 4, Sunday October 5 And: Also appearing at the Civic Theatre, Newcastle on Friday October 3; The Concourse, Chatswood on Monday October 6; and Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith on Tuesday October 7

Vance Joy xxx

Top Of The Pops By Meg Crawford something really beautiful recently. I was reading the new Tim Winton book, Eyrie, and he says, ‘It’s easier to fill a void than contemplate it,’ and I was like, ‘That’s awesome.’ I feel like there are those little nuggets of gold that you can get from a book. Whether or not I ever try and build on the concept or use it for a song, they all go on the scrapheap, those kind of nice ideas and thoughts.”

It’s as if Keogh has already had a couple of different lifetimes already.

He used to play footy for Coburg in suburban Melbourne and was well on the path to being a lawyer. Luckily for us, he’s given those careers a swerve and he says he feels more relaxed as a consequence.

S

inger-songwriter James Keogh, better known as Vance Joy, is a whip-smart, measured and thoroughly pleasant dude.

Keogh’s had a wild flurry of success with his beautiful brand of folk-pop since ‘Riptide’ found fame, and his debut album Dream Your Life Away, released this month, shot straight to the top of the ARIA charts. Couple all that with the fact that fans are mad for him and you might expect some ego, but there’s absolutely none. He’s also quite physically imposing and his hair makes him seem even bigger, but he’s got that air of gentleness about him that big fellas sometimes emanate. Basically, 14 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

he’s the sort of bloke you’d want as a mate and you could totally take him home to visit your mum.

The moniker Vance Joy is an amalgam of names from one of his favourite novels, Bliss by Peter Carey. Keogh likes the freedom that comes with operating behind it, and although he’s committed to it for the foreseeable future, he doesn’t necessarily intend for it to be his identity for all eternity. “Vance Joy’s a musical project,” he explains. “If you have an alias then you can float into something else one day. Idols of mine are like Damon Albarn who’s done all of this solo stuff, but he’s

also done Gorillaz and Blur amongst other projects … Gotye as well. It’s almost like a self-effacing approach that they have. I really admire that.

They let the music do the talking.”

Given that he’s taken his name from a novel, it’s safe to say Keogh is a little bookish, and it shapes his music. “I really do enjoy reading, it’s like a vacation, but I’m not a super-voracious reader,” he says. “I don’t chow down books really easily, but I feel like what I read stays read. You can get a lot of good lines or ideas or a general feeling or atmosphere from a book and you can channel that into a song. I feel like it’s good mental exercise. I read

“It’s a work in progress, but I’m doing something I really love and I feel like I’m expressing myself,” he says. “The goal eventually is to become a fully realised person. I know it comes with maturity: you grow into your skin and you also accept what you are and your limitations and you work with what you’ve got. At the point in my life where I was playing footy and at uni, I was still trying to find my path, but I had an instinct that it wasn’t for me. I had a dream in my heart about playing music. So, settling into myself and being able to follow my dream has allowed me to be more relaxed.”

He’s said that he’s inspired by a love of Jeff Buckley, Paul Kelly and The Pogues. Buckley and Kelly you can see, but aren’t The Pogues kind of a curious influence? “You know how you have that catalogue of songs that you always go back to?” Keogh asks.

“There are these songs that I smashed and loved, that cut me to the core or that I had a really powerful experience listening to. That list includes songs like ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ where [Shane MacGowan] says that line about, ‘All your funny

little ways’. I really love that intimacy.

There’s something about the way he’s describing his relationship and the person that he loves. You see a window into their world with that line and there’s something humble and melancholy about it. They’re the kind of lines that tug at my heart and I feel like I want to emulate that kind of thing.”

Keogh can rest easy because that’s something he does very well – his songs turn the minutiae of relationships into something beautiful. While he’s not preoccupied with romance, it definitely provides grist for his creative mill. Take the song ‘Emmylou’, where he affectionately talks about a partner wearing socks to bed. However, Keogh’s songs are not strictly autobiographical. He describes it as a careful balance, and you get the impression that he remains a bit private. In a world where social media makes it easy to overshare, Keogh’s got a quiet word for us on the beauty of circumspection.

“Woody Allen would say that we create these little relationship pickles to entertain ourselves,” he laughs.

“But if you’re writing entirely from your own personal experience, you’re not going to appeal to everyone; some things are not going to be universal. I do want to have that personal thing, but there’s a fine line between saying something that’s completely specific to you and something that can be shared with people.”

What: Dream Your Life Away out now through Liberation With: #1 Dads, Airling Where: Enmore Theatre / Civic Theatre, Newcastle When: Friday March 27 / Saturday March 28 thebrag.com

Ryan Adams Out Of The Ashes By Augustus Welby

A

t least according to the loose definition of the term, Ryan Adams is a solo artist. However, he’s never embarked on a record alone. Earlier this month the US alt-country savant released his 14th album. Interestingly enough, it’s the first self-titled effort of his 15-year ‘solo’ career. The eponymous designation doesn’t signify that he’s run out of ideas. Rather, the title stems from the fact that, for the first time, Adams had complete control over the record’s construction.

“I made it in my own studio, I self-produced it and there’s no doubt that it’s what I wanted,” he says. “There was nobody standing in my way.”

Ryan Adams follows 2011’s Ashes & Fire, which marked a return to lone billing after a five-year, five-record run playing with backing band The Cardinals.

Accordingly, the Glyn Johns production was a stripped-back and largely acoustic affair. The self-titled LP is actually Adams’ second attempt at making his 14th album. For the first one, Johns again sat in the producer’s seat, but at the 11th hour Adams vetoed its release.

“The record was finished and it was pretty cool, but there wasn’t enough of an exploratory, celebratory feeling to it,” he says. “Because there was another producer at the helm, it just didn’t feel to me like I had done enough discovery.

What eventually happened was I let some more time pass and created a new record at the end of another year after that session. I was finding a different sort of energy that, to me, felt like, ‘Oh, this is something with a lot of energy and power.’”

Even though the rejigged album was recorded in Adams’ own LA-based PAXAM studios, it’s not pared back to the extent of its predecessor. In fact, electric instrumentation dominates the release as Adams openly indulges his arena rock influences.

Ultimately, the autonomous recording scenario permitted Adams the necessary freedom to push into further reaches of his creativity.

“I [got to] stay in the studio longer enjoying recording and being a songwriter and someone that records,” he explains. “I have that freedom to do that as long as I like, until I decide that I want to go out and tour and release a contemporary record. My ego doesn’t necessitate that I need to go and be in front of people every year. I just want to create songs for me, which is what I do.”

For a headstrong individual – which Adams certainly is – having executive power is undeniably an upside of operating as a solo artist. However, with no bandmates to bounce off, nor a producer to evaluate the merit of the output, creative uncertainties are liable to start piling up. Not so for Adams.

“In my version of what art is, there are no wrong answers, nor is there any room for doubt,” he rebuffs. “It is a place free from an idea about commerce, it is a place free from an idea of opinion. What happens to it after is an entirely different thing – it’s an appropriation of a piece of art.”

The conception of creativity that Adams advocates here might even be a prerequisite for making quality artistic statements. However, staying focused on the art in its pure expressive form while maintaining a secure income isn’t a straightforward matter. Remarkably, even though Adams has been a professional musician since the late 1990s, he dismisses any capitalistic urge.

“It’s not just what I do for money, it’s what I already did. I had a job before, working in house development. I built new plumbing and I also worked on roofing. That was my job, but I made music on the side and came to where I couldn’t keep my job and also make music. I had to stop working the job to do music.

“I don’t have a quest to keep my job,” he continues.

“My job right now is making music only because that’s just what I do all the time, but if it ever changed I would still just make as much music.

Some people read all the time, some people play golf or some people like to watch TV. I make music.”

While Adams’ self-presentation is refreshingly free from anxiety, it’s doubtful that someone whose work hadn’t received constant approbation and yielded financial reward for almost two decades could make these sorts of statements.

Nevertheless, when it comes to applying himself to his art, Adams’ Zen perception stays firm.

“I don’t change what I do to make money. I just do what I do and if it works, I do it more. It’s sort of a circular process. I don’t do stuff that I don’t want to do.

“I don’t know anyone, at least in my circle of friends, that gets creative and explores their unconscious mind and who they are in the hopes that the actual act of it is going to afford them something. Most of the people I know are compulsively creative because they’re artists and that’s just what they do. So their path in life and their path in their art is about exploring that.

“I don’t release records in that contemporary way where each one is a shot at somehow being a hit or making me a star or something,” he adds.

“I make the work, it has a point to it, it’s a story on its own and I make it available to whoever wants it.”

What: Ryan Adams out now through PAX-AM/ Sony thebrag.com

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ray chen

with timothy young Jet-setting virtuoso Ray Chen is one of the brightest stars in the new generation of violinists. Joined by pianist Timothy Young, this program has all the spectacular fireworks you could wish for, from elegant and subtle melodies to exuberant acrobatic repertoire.

MON 10 NOV 7PM & SAT 15 NOV 2PM CITY RECITAL HALL ANGEL PLACE, SYDNEY

“From the first notes there was no doubt of being in the presence of something special” THE STRAD

Under 30? Tickets are just $30*!

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or visit musicaviva.com.au/Chen *Terms and conditions apply. Booking fees apply. Under30 tickets are subject to availability and will be seated in the best available B and C reserve seats.

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THURSDAY

4 TH 11 TH 18 TH 25 TH

SKYSCRAPER STAN DAI PRITCHARD MESA COSA THE PEEP TEMPEL

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7 TH 14 TH 21 ST 28 TH

DEFRYME BAND IN TEXAS WENDY ICON TECHNICOLOUR PSYCH NIGHT

WENESDAY FROM 9PM

10’O’CLOCK ROCK FROM 10PM

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frankiespizzabytheslice.com • facebook.com/stcfrankiespizza 50 HUNTER STREET, SYDNEY 16 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

BRAG’s guide to film, theatre, comedy and art about town

arts in focus

Andrew Dice Clay

put up or shut up also inside: xxx

G A B R I E L I G L E S I A S / W I C K E D / A R T S N E W S / A R T S G I V E AWAY / R E V I E W S thebrag.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 17

arts frontline

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Chris Martin and Roger Ma

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five minutes WITH

CARL VINE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF MUSICA VIVA first concert was presented in December 1945. Over the years Viva evolved into an entrepreneur focused on importing the world’s finest chamber musicians, and is now the world’s largest entrepreneur of chamber music.

What types of audiences are you hoping to reach?

No special education or experience is needed to enjoy chamber music. Many of our most loyal supporters are ordinary folk who have discovered it by accident, and been captivated by the extraordinary beauty of witnessing first-hand the intimate musical interaction of virtuosi playing the music that they most adore. Nothing is needed but good ears and an open mind.

What else does Musica Viva do to connect with a wide audience? It’s not just about highbrow classical music, is it?

Beethoven was often employed by the aristocracy, but his music became famous because of outdoor concerts for the general public. There is nothing innately highbrow about classical music – it is simply fine music best enjoyed while giving it your undivided attention. Musica Viva has a national education program that reaches more than 200,000 students each year, and hundreds of outreach events including master classes for young musicians, concerts in regional centres, festivals and other presentations.

What: Musica Viva Season 2015 With: Tafelmusik, Goldner String Quartet, Maxim Vengerov, Musica Viva Festival and more More: musicaviva.com.au

SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM He’s the man behind some of the finest moments in musical theatre, and now Stephen Sondheim is being celebrated in Sydney. Sondheim On Sondheim premiered on Broadway in 2010, and combines reinterpretations of his most celebrated works with brand new material written by Sondheim for the occasion, plus in-depth video interviews with the man himself. The Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre production plays at the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Theatre from Wednesday October 1 – Saturday October 18, and features Blake Erickson, Rob Johnson, Louise Kelly, Debora Krizak, Phillip Lowe, Monique Sallé and Christy Sullivan, all directed by Craig Stewart.

We’ve got two double passes to the show on Wednesday October 1. For your chance to win, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us your favourite Sondheim musical.

Musica Viva pohto by Keith Saunders

M

usica Viva is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2015 – tell us about its history.

Musica Viva’s founder, Richard Goldner, an inventor and viola player, fled Austria for Australia in 1939 in the wake of Hitler’s invasion of Vienna. Distressed to discover chamber music was non-existent in Sydney, he formed an ensemble in honour of his teacher who had perished in a Nazi concentration camp. The

What are the highlights in the Sydney series in 2015?

Our 2015 season starts with a great jolt of invention with the Canadian period chamber orchestra Tafelmusik, and their new staged multimedia extravaganza, House Of Dreams.

As a special birthday treat we’ve saved up our most popular artists of the past decade: Steven Isserlis and Paul Lewis from Britain, the Modigliani Quartet from France, and the Eggner Trio from Austria. Sydney’s own Goldner Quartet has a special national concert tour to mark its own anniversary of 20 years. Just one group appears for us for the very first time – brilliant UK vocal ensemble I Fagiolini.

How does Musica Viva go about programming a suitable season?

The season comprises seven ensembles that tour the whole country, presenting two concerts each in Sydney. It is constructed around the chamber music pillars of two string quartets plus one piano trio. To those I add a recitalist (or two in 2015), a larger or outside-the-square event (Tafelmusik) and some sort of vocal component (I Fagiolini).

MOONLIGHT CINEMA RETURNS

Cinema lovers can enjoy summer under the stars as Moonlight Cinema returns to Sydney this year. Alongside the usual lineup of new release and classic films at the stunning Belvedere Amphitheatre location in Centennial Park, Moonlight Cinema will this year feature Saturday night live music sessions, Doggie Nights for pooch pals, and food trucks. The Moonlight Cinema season runs from Thursday December 11 – Sunday March 29. Stay tuned to the BRAG for full program details as they’re announced.

CULT CLASSICS IN THE HOUSE

Event Cinemas George Street has kicked off its In The House Film Festival, celebrating cult film classics and landmark movies from the last 25 years. The program suits anyone who needs to brush up on those must-see films of the last quarter century. Jaws will screen on Friday September 19; Labyrinth on Friday October 3; The Crow on Friday October 17; An American Werewolf In London on Friday October 31; Blues Brothers on Friday November 14; Spaceballs on Friday November 28; and Pulp Fiction on Friday December 12. The festival is exclusive to Event Cinemas George Street. For more info and tickets, head to eventcinemas.com.au.

(Uncle Vanya) for a riff on the classic ’50s film All About Eve. Calpurnia Descending plays at Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 2 from Saturday October 11 – Saturday November 8.

Dixieland

DIVE INTO DIXIELAND

Sydney filmmaker Roman Stills has spent the last three years abroad in the US, but he returns home to exhibit his latest short film, Dixieland, at Surry Hills’ Blacklisted Gallery next month. Shot in New Orleans, the piece is a distinctive take on the impact of Dixieland music on N’Orlans over time. The screening takes place on Tuesday October 7.

Peter Carey

EVERYBODY LIKES A HAPPY ENDING

Fancy a little laughter at the start of the working week? Yeah, of course you do. Paddington’s beloved Happy Endings comedy club is making its triumphant return of a Tuesday night to give you just that. Kicking off Tuesday September 30, The Unicorn Hotel gets back to its comedic roots with a gala launch featuring Simon Kennedy, Cam Knight, David Smiedt, Sean Woodland, Chris Radburn and more.

William Forsythe’s Quintett will tour Australia as part of Sydney Dance Company’s 2015 season. Quintett will be one half of a double bill for SDC’s premiere 2015 season, Frame Of Mind, which also features a new work

by Rafael Bonachela set to music

by The National’s guitarist Bryce Dessner. The second Sydney season in September 2015 will feature the triple bill, Triptych, while in November SDC and Carriageworks will collaborate on New Breed. For the full 2015 program and booking info, visit sydneydancecompany.com.

18 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

VISCOSITY

Brixton Lounge and Dining in Glebe is becoming a pop-up art gallery. Presented by Artfuly, Viscosity showcases new artworks from New South Wales-based artists Cathryn McEwen, Sarah Sharpe, Lynne Sung and Bronwyn Woodley Graham on subjects referencing landscape, in particular interior and exterior bodies of water. Viscosity opens Thursday November 6 at 6pm and runs until the end of January.

CALPURNIA DESCENDING

Independent theatremakers Sisters Grimm make their return to the Wharf 2 Theatre this year with new play Calpurnia Descending.

Following their critically acclaimed Little Mercy in 2013, the Melbourne-based queer DIY theatre group’s Calpurnia Descending pairs Ash Flanders with Paul Capsis (Pinocchio) and renowned veteran actor Sandy Gore

PETER CAREY IN CONVERSATION

Decorated Australian author Peter Carey will appear in conversation with Jennifer Byrne at the Sydney Opera House this October. The Ideas At The House and Sydney Writers’ Festival event sees Carey, the only Australian to have twice won the Man Booker Prize, talking about his career and his new novel, Amnesia. The book explores the relationship between Australia and the US in an era when it’s as relevant as ever. Carey speaks at the Studio, Sydney Opera House on Monday October 20.

BALTIC FILM FESTIVAL

The Baltic Film Festival, set to debut in Sydney this year, showcases films from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Lithuanian sports documentary The Other Dream Team will open the festival on Wednesday October 15, covering the real-life events of the 1992 Lithuanian national basketball team at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The festival will be held at Dendy Newtown from Wednesday October 15 – Saturday October 18. For more info, visit thebalticfilmfestival.com.

thebrag.com

Sydney Dance Company photo by Justin Ridler

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY SEASON 2015

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BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 19

Andrew Dice Clay [COMEDY] The Diceman Cometh By Paul McBride force in comedy for more than 30 years. He’s also one of only a small handful of comedians to have sold out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row, and has a considerable acting career under his belt. For the first time ever, Clay will appear on Australian stages for The Diceman Cometh Down Under tour on a round of theatre shows throughout October.

First of all, why has it taken so long for you to come to Australia?

The truth is, I really don’t go anywhere. I don’t leave the States.

Australians have always been coming to see me here so I just figured, ‘Why not?’ They’re cool people. Let me tell you something, Australian people know how to have a good time.

A

ndrew Dice Clay is one of America’s most controversial and outrageous stand-up

comedians. Banned from MTV and many other television and radio stations, he has been a polarising

When you were first starting out and throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, there seemed to be more comedians willing to take a chance and be ‘controversial’. Do you think fewer comedians are willing to take a risk now?

Yeah, you’ve got a lot of dirty comics out there but, you know, dirty and funny are two different things, so a lot of them just curse for the shock

Gabriel Iglesias

value of cursing, but it’s not shocking anybody anymore. You’ve got to paint pictures. I know how to paint those comedic pictures – those filthy, dirty, comedic pictures.

You’ve been known for making some pretty controversial statements about certain groups of people in the past. Have you ever regretted anything you’ve said in your shows, as time has passed?

You know what, not really. It’s all done in comedy’s sake. No – the stuff I talk about, it’s base. It’s relationships, it’s what goes on between people – you know, sexual, but it’s sexual cartoons.

Do you think you could have ever been as successful as you have if you hadn’t been seen as controversial?

I honestly didn’t set out in my career to be controversial. It just came with the territory. I never even thought that way. I’m an actor and a comic, so it’s all about acting for me, it’s all about performance and theatre, it wasn’t about being controversial. The media did that. I never even used to think of that stuff.

How was your experience working with Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine? How did that come about for you?

Working with them was unbelievable, because from doing nothing, all of a sudden I’m working with what I call Hollywood royalty, from the Baldwins to Cate Blanchett, who was just – to me she was just a throwback to what movie stars used to be. She’s unreal and she’s deserved every award she’s won. I love her, that’s it. And I’ve loved her for a long time before I did the movie with her, but doing the movie, I got to see how cool a person she was – down-to-earth, grounded, familyorientated. Just a great girl.

What are you most looking forward to about coming to Australia?

You know what, to me it’s just going to be a whole experience. It’s just going to be fun. The shows are going to be great. I’m going to have some of my people with me and we’re just coming there to have a blast.

Where: Enmore Theatre When: Wednesday October 8, Thursday October 9

Lucy Durack and Jemma Rix in Wicked

[COMEDY] The Fluffer By Augustus Welby

O

ver the last decade, Gabriel Iglesias’ star profile has grown to massive – nay, fluffy – proportions. In addition to being one of the world’s best-loved stand-up comedians, the delightful Californian is now a fully-fledged Hollywood actor. What’s more, he also hosts the popular Comedy Central TV show Stand-Up Revolution. Despite his extensive workload, live comedy remains his number one priority.

Iglesias has just returned to Australia for his biggest tour yet, and will roll into Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena on Saturday night.

As evidenced by this year’s feature-length stand-up movie, The Fluffy Film, Iglesias has seamlessly transitioned into venues of this size.

“What I do is very relatable,” he says. “I’m not that controversial. My comedy is very… fl uffy.

It’s stories about things that people can relate to – stories about family and relationships.”

Iglesias’ comedy essentially revolves around the inanities and amusements dotted through everyday travails, and specifically the relationships he has with his girlfriend and adopted son. His material is never shy on hilarity, but the stories generally appear to be a direct retelling of lived events.

“My son now recognises the look in my eyes when he’s done something that I’m going to talk about in my comedy,” he laughs. “He gets mad, but he’s going to do the same. I can already see signs of it in him – inheriting my humour.”

While his teenage boy now knows that what happens privately is liable to be repeated in front of thousands of people, that doesn’t mean Iglesias is in ‘performance mode’ when he’s not onstage. “When I’m at home the last thing I want to be thinking about is work. I don’t want to be one of those comedians. I hate it when comedians are trying to be funny all the time.

When I’m at home I just want to relax.”

Even though Iglesias refrains from turning each situation into a joke, judging by the content of his comedy it seems safe to assume he’d have a pen and paper on hand at all times, ready to jot down every humorous incident. Well, that’s not quite how it works.

xxx

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As unconventional as this technique might sound, it works wonders for the fluffy antihero.

Last year, Iglesias placed ninth in Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid stand-up comedians.

This is certainly a noteworthy feat, but having your financial particulars disclosed to the public isn’t so great.

“My managers wanted to release that information because it’s a big achievement, but I wasn’t too happy about everyone knowing how much I’m earning,” Iglesias says. “After that happens you have all these people calling you, asking for favours. You know, I have every charity knocking at my door.”

Either way, this detail further emphasises the extent of Iglesias’ growing star status. By now he can’t leave the house without being recognised, which is a part of the job he happily accepts.

“Honestly, I love it when people come up to me and they want to get a photo or tell me they like my comedy. The only problem is, my family don’t like it so much. But I can’t be mad about it – I know what I signed up for.”

Where: Qantas Credit Union Arena When: Saturday September 27

Wicked [MUSICAL] Defying Gravity By Adam Norris

H

aving clocked in over a thousand performances as the fair-haired witch of Oz in hit musical Wicked, Lucy Durack is now back for her second turn as Glinda the (mostly) Good. Who among us hasn’t spent time as a child in front of the mirror, imaginary microphone in hand while we sing our hearts out to capacity crowds or deliver speeches that will inevitably lead to the Oscars or Tonys? Many of us come to distance ourselves from these fledgling ambitions, but as far back as she can remember, performance spoke to Lucy like nothing else.

“I pretty much was that girl singing alone in the back garden. I was given a pair of tap shoes when I was at school, and the first CD I ever bought with my own money was the Australian cast’s recording of 42nd Street. I wore out the shoes by constantly dancing out on our concrete in the back, because when you’ve got the outside lights on, windows can make excellent mirrors,” she laughs. “So that’s how I was able to create my dance studio. I wasn’t any good at it, but I loved it. Plus, I’m the eldest of 13 grandchildren, so I had access to a large cast at every family get-together. There were always 13 Von Trapp children in our stories.”

While the Swiss Alps may now have been replaced by the fantasy land of Oz, Durack’s love of musicals has never diminished. Nor does it seem like audiences are growing tired of the tale of Glinda and Elphaba (Jemma Rix), AKA the Wicked Witch of the West.

“When I started with Wicked it was already such a huge success, I sort of took it for granted a little bit,” Durack recalls. “But I think every audience has its own character.

When we were in Brisbane for Wicked it was during those terrible floods, but it was

amazing to see people so enthusiastic. I think there was a level of escapism for them, and they were such a generous audience.

Every audience has its own personality. You just never know, sometimes you’ll just find a great, surprising audience out of nowhere, and it has a bit of a snowball effect. If they’re really supportive, then we tend to work just that little bit harder to try and give them a better show.” She pauses, then laughs.

“Though if you have a really dull audience as well, you’re really like, ‘Oh God, here we go.’”

Despite having already enjoyed massive success and found herself quite a coveted role, Glinda’s character is not the simplest part to undertake. With such history on both stage, film and in literature, it does not immediately strike you as a performance with much flexibility for an actor. For Durack, however, this opened up entirely new performance possibilities.

“Once you’ve been doing a show for such a long time, you can’t change the words or anything but you realise there actually is quite a lot of room to play. Give emphasis to a line you ordinarily wouldn’t and see how that shifts things. That’s one of the joys of being in a show for this long, that you can try these different things. Even accidentally: sometimes you’ll get a laugh by trying out something new, and then you’ll spend the next couple of weeks trying to work out how it happened. The last thing you want to do is try the same thing out every night. I like to shake things up a bit. So the show is always moving and growing, and I think that coming back to Glinda is more rewarding with greater life experience behind you.”

What: Wicked Where: Capitol Theatre When: Season opens Thursday September 25

thebrag.com

Wicked photo by Jeff Busby

“I don’t write anything down,” he reveals. “When I get onstage I just tell stories about the things on my mind that I think are funny. I’ve never written it out. Even in school, I couldn’t really understand things by writing them down. When I want to try out new material I do gigs at a small club here in LA. Sometimes I’ll take a recorder and

listen back to the shows to see what jokes are working.”

Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and bareboards around town

■ Film

Step Up: All In

STEP UP: ALL IN

WE ARE THE BEST!

In cinemas now It’s surprising to think that a dance movie franchise could make it all the way to a fifth film, and that this most recent instalment has earned a cinema release, but this is the case with Step Up: All In. Apparently continuing on from the previous movie, Step Up: All In follows Sean and his dance crew The Mob as they move onto new opportunities and fresh challenges. Not having kept up with the Step Up movies since the first in the franchise – or as I like to refer to it, the love story of Channing Tatum meeting his wife – I was a little in the dark about the previous adventures of The Mob. But as it turned out, this was not going to be a problem.

The film spends a lot less time on plot than it does on dance-fighting, but this is probably a wise move. The story certainly works for what it is, but the choice to focus mainly on dancing provides plenty of opportunities for the accomplished dancers in the film to show off what they do best.

In cinemas now

I went into this movie with low expectations, but I ended up having a pretty good time. It’s not exactly Citizen Kane, but nor is it trying to be. It’s not afraid to make fun of itself, which is a nice surprise, and I ended up laughing along with the fi lm much more than I was laughing at it. If you’re not into dance movies then you’ll obviously give this one a miss, but if you are then this should make for a fun bit of escapism.

Louisa Bulley

EUROPE Playing at the Seymour Centre until Saturday September 27

Europe photo by Kurt Sneddon, Blueprint Studios

She returns back to her life in an undisclosed European city where she must “shoot her brains out” every night while performing classic tragedies with passionless gusto, and “tear her heart out” every day in a meaningless relationship. Meanwhile, in Australia, Douglas clings to hope that their love is true, his obsession causing him to give up his life to fly halfway across the world on the romance and allure of Europe and the exotic woman it possesses.

It sounds like any old love story, but in the hour or so of stage time it encompasses, it snowballs into so much more. It’s the love affair between Old and New Worlds and the fascination of a continent rife with thousands of years of blood and gore versus the allure of the exciting, shiny new one.

Minimal stage production meets minimal casting in James Beach’s interpretation of Gow’s play. Onstage, there’s little more than a vanity and chair to suggest Barbara’s dressing room, and little more

How to describe Lukas Moodysson’s We Are The Best! without resorting to a litany of synonyms for ‘jubilant’? Better to describe the surprising, gratifying ways it is just that, since saying that the fi lm is a crowdpleaser about three misfi t teenage girls who start a punk band in early ’80s Stockholm conjures a whole shopworn narrative and corresponding clichés, which Moodysson – working from a screenplay based on a graphic novel by spouse Coco Moodysson – largely avoids.

We Are The Best!

For one, Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara (Mira Grosin) – two spiky-haired, androgynous teens, who identify as punk rockers despite punk’s cultural moment having passed – don’t encounter adversary so much as bemusement. Their classmates ‘get’ their lifestyle, but remind them that punk is dead, while their parents don’t disapprove so much as ignore them entirely. It’s only when Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), a shy, musically gifted Christian girl, joins their band to the chagrin of her strict mother that a rare semblance of confl ict emerges, and is also where the fi lm is at its weakest.

■ Theatre

On the surface, Michael Gow’s Europe is a story of unrequited love. It’s the tale of European actress Barbara (Pippa Grandison) who steals the heart of Australian bloke Douglas (Andrew Henry) while performing in Australia, only to leave him high and dry after a week of tumultuous love.

■ Film

Europe than a chair and coffee table to depict her apartment. The cast of two is a wellchosen one, with both actors shining in harmonic equilibrium. Grandison delivers a perfectly timed comedic performance of enough sarcasm and smugness to encompass the European ethos without distancing the audience. Henry, on the other hand, takes his leave as the childish, innocent and utterly lovestruck character who we can only place our sympathies in as he attempts to grapple with the idea that his affections are unwanted.

Fortunately, this subplot is a minor one, and it’s a testament to the spirit of the fi lm that its lack of narrative stakes is never a fl aw, buoyed instead by delightfully unaffected performances from its young cast and cosy, grainy verité cinematography (rarely has woolen winter-wear been fi lmed with such vivid tactility). It’s something of a return to form for Moodysson, who made his name with similarly warm, humanist fi lms like 2001’s Together and 1998’s Show Me Love, before the making a 180 with 2003’s gruelling Lilya 4-Ever and following it up with a few self-consciously experimental curios (A Hole In My Heart and Container). We Are The Best! is the product of a fi lmmaker at home in his comfort zone, but in the best possible sense. It should be mandatory school excursion viewing for young girls and boys alike.

Ian Barr

But while the actors do their best with the script, it’s the directional execution that lets this production down. The transition into new scenes is jilted, relying too heavily on the characters to explain the environment, which only serves to confuse, leaving one wondering, “Where are they and why?” – and not in the thought-provoking, open-ended sense.

Sadly, the tragedy is not in the unravelled romance but in the ravaging of the script.

Stephanie Yip

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Rock With Laughter

Neel Kolhatkar

Rock Lily, The Star, Thursday September 25

xxx

The monthly comedy event at the Rock Lily is back for September with headliner Neel Kolhatkar. The talented 19-year-old stand-up, social commentator and impressionist is bound for a big future, having skyrocketed to fame with his YouTube video ‘Australia In Two Minutes’.

Mikey Robins hosts the event again this week with opening acts Brett Nichols and Gary Bradbury.

The laughs kick off at 7:30pm, and entry is free. For more info, visit star.com.au.

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 21

BARS SMALL

B R A G ’ S G U I D E T O S Y D N E Y ’ S B E S T W AT E R I N G H O L E S

A Work In Progress 50 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri noon-late; Sat 5pm-2am Ash St Cellar 1 Ash St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri 8.30am-11pm Assembly 488 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9283 8808 Mon – Tue 5-11pm; Wed – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Australian Heritage Hotel 100 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 2229

Mon – Sun 10.30am-midnight Balcony Bar 46 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3526 Tue – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight BAR100 100 George St, The Rocks (02) 8070 9311 Mon – Thu noon-late; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun noon-midnight Bar Eleven Lvl 11, 161 Sussex St, Sydney CBD (02) 9290 4712 Thu 4-10pm; Fri 4-11pm; Sat 3-11pm The Barber Shop 89 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 9699 Mon – Fri

2pm-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight The Baxter Inn Basement 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-1am Bulletin Place First Floor, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight deVine 32 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 6906 Mon – Fri 11.30am-11.30pm; Sat 5.30-11.30pm Frankie’s Pizza 50 Hunter St, Sydney

CBD Mon – Sun 4pm-4am Gilt Lounge 49 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 0000 Tue – Wed 6pm-midnight; Thu & Sat 6pm-2am; Fri 5pm-2am The Glenmore 96 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 4794 Mon – Thu, Sun 11am-midnight; Fri – Sat 11am-1am Goodgod Small Club 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney CBD (02) 8084 0587 Wed 5pm-1am; Thu 5pm-2am; Fri 5pm-5am;

Tell us about your bar: LL is situated in the middle of Llankelly Place, Sydney’s hottest new dining hub in Potts Point, directly off the buzzing Kings Cross strip of Darlinghurst Road. Inspired by the bustling Hong Kong bar/dining scene, LL’s modern Asian menu is a dining experience not to be missed.

What’s on the menu?

LL offers modern Asian cuisine, for which influences are taken from South East Asia, China and Japan… with some twists from West Coast USA. We recommend the crispy tofu with black sesame and tahini sauce, an LL staple which has been in the menu since day one. For the meat lovers, and when you just don’t feel like Asian food, we have an awesome double cheeseburger.

Care for a drink?

The chilli coconut martini – well-balanced sweetness and a bit of heat.

Top: Chilli and coconut martini; Above: Almond crusted prawn tossed with chilli, garlic and shallot with Thai dipping sauce

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Sounds?

Very broad, we have live music on Fridays and during our daytime yum cha sessions with our house band Myall High featuring lead singer on electric harp,

TH

EK

42 LLANKELLY PLACE, POTTS POINT 9356 8393 TUES-FRI 5PM – LATE / SAT 11AM – LATE / SUN 11AM – 10PM

OF

LL WINE AND DINE bar E E W

very cool! During dinner service depending on the night you will hear anything from old-school classics like Bobby Womack and Roxy Music all the way to Powderfinger, Sticky Fingers and the Arctic Monkeys.

Highlights: The place is unique. Once an old adult bookstore which fronted an illegal gambling den, the building has also served as a brothel, swingers’ club and stronghold steel room. After a facelift it’s now an intimate restaurant/ bar where guests can enjoy different experiences every time they visit, from laneway dining under the retro lights of Llankelly Place, to the Red Den back room with our luxe Hong Kong-inspired design, to banquet dining in our upper mezzanine ‘high rollers’ room. And always a simple classic cocktail perched up at the front bar watching the colourful characters of Kings Cross stroll (stumble) by.

The bill comes to: One entrée, one main, dessert and a cocktail will be approximately $70pp. We recommend dishes to share.

Website: llwineanddine. com.au

Sat 6pm-5am Grain Bar 199 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9250 3118 Mon – Fri 4pm-1am; Sat noon-1am; Sun noonmidnight Grandma’s Basement 275 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 3004 Mon – Fri 3pm-late; Sat 5pm-late The Fox Hole 68A Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 4369 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight The Grasshopper 1 Temperance Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9947 9025 Mon – Wed & Sat 4pm-late; Thu – Fri noon-late The Lobo Plantation Basement Lot 1, 209 Clarence St, Sydney CBD 0415 554 908 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri 2pm-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight Mojo Record Bar Basement 73 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4999 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Morrison 225 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9247 6744 Mon – Wed 7.30am-midnight; Thu 7.30-1am; Fri 7.302am; Sat 11.30-2am; Sun11.30am-10pm Mr Tipply’s 347 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 4877 Mon – Sun 10am-late Palmer & Co. Abercrombie Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3172 Mon – Wed 5pm-late; Thu – Fri noon-late; Sat – Sun 5pm-late Papa Gede’s Bar Laneway at the end of 348 Kent St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 5pm-12am Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern 199 Elizabeth St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm Rockpool Bar & Grill 66 Hunter St, Sydney CBD (02) 8078 1900 Mon – Sat lunch & dinner The Rook Level 7, 56-58 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 2505 Mon – Fri 4pm-late; Sat 4pm-late The SG 32 York St, Sydney CBD 0402 813 035 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Shirt Bar 7 Sussex Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 8068 8222 Mon –Wed 8am-6pm; Thu – Fri 8am-10pm Since I Left You 338 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4986 Mon – Wed 5pm-10pm; Thu – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Small Bar 48 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0782 Mon – Fri noon-

midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Spice Cellar Basement 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney CBD (02) 9223 5585 Mon – Sun 4pm-late Stitch Bar 61 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0380 Mon –Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-2am; Sat 4pm-2am Tapavino 6 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay (02) 9247 3221 Mon – Fri 11am-11.30pm Uncle Ming’s 55 York St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri 11am-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight York Lane York Lane, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 1676 Mon – Wed 6.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 6.30pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight

Bar-racuda 105 Enmore Rd, Newtown (02) 9519 1121 Mon – Sat 6-midnight Blacksheep 256 King St, Newtown (02) 8033 3455 Mon – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat midday-midnight; Sun midday-10pm Bloodwood 416 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 7699 Mon, Wed –Thu 5pm-late; Fri – Sat noon-late; Sun noon10pm Cornerstone Bar & Food 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh (02) 8571 9004 Sun – Wed 10am-5pm; Thu – Sat 10am-late Corridor 153A King St, Newtown 0422 873 879 Tue – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 1-10pm Cottage Bar & Kitchen 342 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8084 8185 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Different Drummer 185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9552 3406 Mon – Sat 4.30pm-late Earl’s Juke Joint 407 King St, Newtown Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Freda’s 107-109 Regent St, Chippendale (02) 8971 7336 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri noon-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm The Green Room Lounge 156 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8021 8451 Wed 5pm-late; Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-1am; Sun 5-10pm Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville (02) 9519 9911 Mon – Fri noonmidnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm

Kelly’s On King 285 King St, Newtown (02) 9565 2288 Mon – Fri 10am-3am; Sat 10am-4am; Sun 10am-midnight Knox Street Bar 21 Shepherd St, Chippendale Tue – Thu 4pm-l0pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-9pm Kuleto’s 157 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 6369 Mon – Wed 4pm-late; Thu – Sat 4pm-3am; Sun 4pm-midnight The Little Guy 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9200 0000 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Mary’s 6 Mary St, Newtown Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Midnight Special 44 Enmore Road, Newtown (02) 9516 2345 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Miss Peaches 201 Missenden Rd, Newtown (02) 9557 7280 Wed – Sun 5pm-midnight The Moose Newtown 530 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 0072 Wed – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm Mr Falcon’s 92 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9029 6626 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-midnight; Sun 2-10pm Newtown Social Club 387 King St, Newtown (02) 9550 3974 Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon10pm The Oxford Tavern 1 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 Mon – Thu middaymidnight; Fri – Sat midday-3am; Sun midday-10pm The Record Crate 34 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9660 1075 Tue – Wed 11am-10pm; Thu – Fri 11am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm The Royal 156 Norton St, Leichhardt (02) 9569 2638 Mon – Thu 10am-1am; Fri – Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-midnight Secret Garden Bar 134a Enmore Rd, Enmore 0409 284 928 Wed – Sun 5pm-11pm Timbah 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9571 7005 Tue – Thu 4-9pm; Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 2pm-midnight; Sun 2-8pm The Workers Lvl 1, 292 Darling St, Balmain (02) 9555 8410 Wed – Thu

5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 2-10pm ZanziBar 323 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 1511 Mon – Thu 10am-4am; Fri 10am-6am; Sat 10am-5am; Sun 10am-12am Zigi’s Wine And Cheese Bar 86 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (02) 9699 42221 Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Sat 2pm-midnight; Sun 2pm-9pm

121BC 4/50 Holt St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 1582 Tue – Thu 5-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight Absinthe Salon 87 Albion St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 6632 Wed – Sat 4-10pm Backroom 2A Roslyn St, Potts Point (02) 9361 5000 Bar H 80 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 1980 Tue – Sat 6pm-late The Bearded Tit 183 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8283 4082 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat midday - midnight; Sun midday - 10pm The Beresford 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 8313 5000 Mon – Sun noon-1am Black Penny 648 Bourke St, Redfern (02) 9319 5061 Tue – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon11pm Brooklyn Social 14 Randle St, Surry Hills 0451 972 057 Mon – Sun 12pm-2am Button Bar 65 Foveaux St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1544 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Café Lounge 277 Goulburn St, Surry Hills (02) 9016 3951 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sunday 4-10pm Casoni Italian Bar & Eatery 371-373 Bourke St, Darlinghurst Wed – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm The Carlisle 2 Kellett St, Kings Cross (02) 9331 0065 Thu – Sun 6pm-late The Carrington 565 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9360 4714 Mon – Sun noonmidnight; Sun noon10pm Ching-a-Lings 1/133 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 3333 Tue – Wed 6pm-11pm; Thu 6pm-midnight; Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm The Cliff Dive 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst Wed – Sun 6pm-4am The Commons 32 Burton St, thebrag.com

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK Pour it in your mouth-hole... (responsibly).

House 122 Flinders St, Surry Hills (02) 9360 0088 Mon – Wed noon-2am; Thu – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon-11pm Love, Tilly Devine 91 Crown Ln, Darlinghurst (02) 9326 9297 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Low 302 302 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1548 Tue – Sat 5pm-2am; Sun 6pm-2am Mr Fox 557 Crown St, Surry Hills 0414 691 811 Mon –Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Norfolk 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 3177 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon10pm

PLUM LUCK @ PALMER & CO ABERCROMBIE LANE, SYDNEY Origins: The Plum Luck is one of the six new additions to the Palmer & Co cocktail list. Its creation was inspired (along with the remaining five) by the concept for our spring list, ‘lime prohibition’.

This is in answer to the skyrocketing prices and dwindling quality that Australia experiences over the spring months. The entire menu focuses on alternate citruses, prohibition-era techniques and a highquality end product. With this in mind, Marc Green, one of Palmer & Co’s best and brightest, created a drink around mandarins, with the hope of creating a spring garden feel when enjoying the drink.

Santiago Queirolo Plum Pisco, Punt e Mes (sweet vermouth) and a house-made mandarin cordial come together in a pretty special little number that is sure to be a favourite in no time.

Ingredients: Santiago Queirolo Plum Pisco, Punt e Mes, housemade mandarin cordial, tonic water (to top).

Method: Shake all ingredients and serve over rock ice in a crystal old fashioned glass. Top with tonic, flame grapefruit zest over the glass and garnish with a mint bouquet.

Glass: Crystal old fashioned.

Garnish: Flamed grapefruit zest, mint bouquet.

Best drunk with: An unquenchable thirst (this’ll do the trick).

During: A time in need of inspiration, contemplation or jubilation.

While wearing: Clothes (optional).

And listening to: For us, Muddy Waters – but I think you’ll find this pairs pretty well with just about anything.

More: merivale.com.au/palmerandco

16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst Wed – Sun 6pm-4am The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 1487 Tue – Sun noon-late Darlo Bar 306 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 3672 Mon – Sun 10am-midnight Darlie Laundromatic 304 Palmer St, Darlinghurst (02) 8095 0129 Wed – Sun 5-11pm Eau De Vie 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst 0422 263 226 Mon – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 6pm-midnight The Flinders 63-65 Flinders St, Surry Hills (02) 9356 3622 Tue – Thu 5pm-3am; Fri – Sat 5pm-5am The Forresters 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon10pm Gardel’s Bar thebrag.com

358 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 8399 1440 Tue – Sat 6:pm - 12am Gazebo 2 Elizabeth Bay Rd, Elizabeth Bay (02) 9357 5333 Mon – Thu 3pm-midnight; Fri – Sun noon-midnight The Hazy Rose 1/83 Stanley St, Darlinghurst (02) 9357 5036 Tue 3-11pm; Wed – Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Hello Sailor 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9332 2442 Tue – Sun 5pm-1am The Hills 42 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3814 Mon – Sun midday-2am Hinky Dinks 185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6379 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 1-10pm

Hollywood Hotel 2 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9281 2765 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu – Sat 10am-3am Hustle & Flow Bar 105 Regent St, Redfern (02) 9310 5593 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight

The Passage 231A Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 6116 Mon – Thu 5pm-late; Fri – Sun noon-late Play Bar 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 0885 Wed – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Pocket Bar 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 7002 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am; Sun 4pm-midnight

The Winery 285A Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 0833 Mon – Sun noonmidnight

Anchor Bar 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi (02) 8084 3145 Tue – Fri 4.30pm-late; Sat – Sun 12.30pm-late

The Rum Diaries 288 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9300 0440 Tue – Sat 6pm-midnight; Sun 6-10pm Speakeasy 83 Curlewis St, Bondi (02) 9130 2020 Mon – Fri 3pm-late; Sat – Sun noon-late Stuffed Beaver 271 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 3002 Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon10pm

The Bay Jam Bar 2A Waters Rd, Neutral Bay 0407 454 0815 Tue – Fri 11am-midnight; Sat – Sun 7am-midnight

Bondi Hardware 39 Hall St, Bondi (02) 9365 7176 Mon – Wed 5-11pm; Thu 5pm-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm

Firefly 24 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 0193 Mon – Wed 5-10pm; Thu 4-11pm; Fri – Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon9.30pm

The Bucket List Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive (02) 9365 4122 Mon – Sun 11am-late

The Foxtrot 28 Falcon St, Crows Nest Tue – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 5-10pm

The Corner House 281 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 8020 6698 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun

Harlem On Central Shop 4,9-15 Central Ave, Manly (02) 9976 6737 Tue – Sun 5pm-midnight

Hemingway’s 48 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9976 3030 Mon – Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 8am-10pm

32 Belgrave St, Manly (02) 8065 4805 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm

Honey Rider 230 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 8880 Tue – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm

Moonshine Lvl 2, Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly (02) 9977 4977 Thu – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 3-11pm

In Situ 1/18 Sydney Rd, Manly (02) 9977 0669 Mon 9am-6pm; Wed – Sun 9am-midnight

The Pickled Possum 254 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 2091 Thu – Sat 9pm-1am

The Hunter 5 Myahgah Rd, Mosman 0409 100 339 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

SoCal 1 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9904 5691 Mon – Tue 4pm-midnight: Wed – Thu midday-1am; Fri – Sat midday- 2am; Sun midday-midnight

Jah Ba Shop 7, 9-15 Central Ave, Manly (02) 9977 4449 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Local Bar 8 Young Ln, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 0027 Mon 5-10pm; Tue – Wed 8am-10pm; Thu – Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 8am-10pm Manly Wine 8-13 South Steyne, Manly (02) 8966 9000 Mon – Sun 7am-late The Mayor 400 Military Rd, Cremorne (02) 8969 6060 Tue – Fri 10am-late; Sat 8am-late; Sun 8am-10pm Miss Marley’s Tequila Bar

The Stoned Crow 39 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest (02) 9439 5477 Mon – Sun noon-late White Hart 19-21 Grosvenor St, Neutral Bay (02) 8021 2115 Tue – Thu 5pm-late; Fri 4pm-late; Sat 2pm-late; Sun noon-8pm Wilcox Cammeray 463 Miller St, Cammeray (02) 9460 0807 Tue – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri - Sat 11am-11pm; Sun 11am-10pm

Your bar’s not here? Email: chris@thebrag. com

Santa Barbara 1 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross (02) 9357 7882 Wed 6pm-1am; Thu & Sat 6pm-2am; Fri noon2am Shady Pines Saloon Shop 4, 256 Crown St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight

Li’l Darlin Darlinghurst 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 Mon – Sat 5pmmidnight

Sweethearts Rooftop 33/37Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point (02) 9368 7333 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sun noon-midnight

The Local Tap

The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 2235 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

Fat Ruperts 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 1033 Mon – Fri 6pm-late; Sat 4pm-late; Sun 4-10pm

Roosevelt 32 Orwell St, Potts Point 0423 203 119 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight

The Soda Factory 16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills (02) 8096 9120 Mon – Wed 5pm-late; Thu 5pm-2am; Fri – Sat 5pm-5am

LL Wine and Dine 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point (02) 9356 8393 Tue – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri 5pm-late; Sat 11am-late; Sun 11am-10pm

The Victoria Room Lvl 1, 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9357 4488 Tue – Fri 6pm-midnight; Sat noon-2am; Sun noon-midnight

3-10pm

Queenie’s Upstairs Forresters Cnr Foveaux and Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Tue – Sat 6pm-late

Jekyll & Hyde 332 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 5568 Wed – Fri 4pm-late; Sat 8.30am-late; Sun 8.30am-evening

Li’l Darlin Surry Hills 420 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills (02) 9698 5488 Mon – Thu noon-3pm & 5-11pm; Fri – Sun noon11pm

Vasco 421 Cleveland St, Redfern 0406 775 436 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm

Tio’s Cerveceria 4/14 Foster St, Surry Hills Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Unicorn Cellar Basement, 106 Oxford St, Paddington (02) 9360 7994 Tue – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

• • • • •

Restaurant Cocktails Private Functions Sunday Yum Cha Live Music

A l l @ L L Wi n e & D i n e 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point

9356 8393

For reservations call o r e m a i l L L @ b a r g e 8 . c o m

L L w i n e a n d d i n e . c o m . a u facebook.com/LLwineanddine

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 23

Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK PERFUME GENIUS

making permeable emotional transactions remains in tact.

Too Bright Matador/Remote Control

Mike Hadreas (AKA Perfume Genius) has the unique ability to be openly sentimental, yet avoid nauseating schmaltz. The Seattle songwriter has a reputation for being rather fragile. However, this fragility isn’t a sign of whimpering weakness.

Rather, by boldly exposing his vulnerability, he raises the flag of defiance.

Too Bright – Perfume Genius’ third record – was produced by Portishead’s Adrian Utley.

Accordingly, Hadreas sounds tougher and weirder than ever. Thankfully, his knack for

From here, we’re led through a gallery of seemingly disparate sounds and moods. The piano isn’t absent, but it’s no longer Hadreas’ primary accomplice. At various moments, glittering keyboards, soundscape ambience, unnerving vocal pitch-shifting and pulsating synth-bass take over the arrangements.

Too Bright might be unsettling at times, but it’s not disjointed. Much like taking an acid trip or getting a restyled hairdo, once you take the plunge, sensory thrills and enriching satisfaction awaits.

Augustus Welby

xxx

Mike XxxxHadreas’ third effort is a triumph of great emotional resonance.

The record commences with ‘I Decline’, and specifically the line, “I can see for miles, the same old life / No fate, I decline.” While ‘I Decline’ is the sort of piano ballad we’ve grown accustomed to from Perfume Genius, this resolution is equivalent to Hadreas grabbing your hand and saying, “Just trust me”.

BLUEJUICE

JACK CARTY

KAREN O

SLASH

THE TEA PARTY

Retrospectable Dew Process

Esk Gigpiglet/Inertia

Crush Songs Cult/Inertia

World On Fire Dik Hayd/Sony

The Ocean At The End Anthem/Sony

One of Australia’s biggest neversay-die bands has gone ahead and said it – 2014 marks Bluejuice’s final year after time as perennial underdogs, festival heroes and complete genre rebels.

Jack Carty’s third full-length studio album maintains his signature floating melodies, exploring ideas of love, natural beauty and home.

When you go to buy an album on iTunes, you’re able to listen to a 90-second preview of each track in order to get an idea of the full thing. A similar feeling happens with Crush Songs, the official debut solo LP from Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O. These songs, recorded several years ago, are all scratchy, breathy sketches and ideas that are far more closedin and introverted than your typical YYYs affair.

The legendary axeman behind the iconic riffs on ‘Paradise City’ and ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ is back with more decadent hard rock to charm your eardrums into an orgasmic wax-fest.

It’s good to have The Tea Party back. After a decade and a half of cranking out some of the most eclectic and surprising progressive rock you will ever hear, this Canadian institution took a break in 2005, which lasted six years, and it has taken them another three to release any brand new music.

A greatest hits package of sorts has been rushed out in accordance with their farewell tour – and, like most compilations of its kind, it’s questionable in its tracklisting.

It’s anyone’s guess as to why the band’s breakthrough radio hit, ‘Unemployed’, was ignored, yet the execrable ‘George Costanza’ was added in. As a matter of fact, both of the band’s EPs have been left out, meaning that a complete retrospective is off the cards.

Still, there’s plenty to remind you of why Bluejuice were such fun to begin with, from the brassy energy of ‘Vitriol’ and ‘The Reductionist’ to the strangely touching balladry of ‘On My Own’ and ‘Aspen, New York’. Final single ‘I’ll Go Crazy’ also serves as a bittersweet taster as to what could have been for a fourth LP. A patchy but overall fitting sendoff to a truly unique beast in the Australian music spectrum.

Goodnight, sweet princes. The party just won’t be the same without you around.

The presence of co-writer Josh Pyke on ‘The Joneses’ is blaringly evident with its bouncy hits and crude but cute storytelling techniques. But it’s clear that Carty has also carried this influence into other tracks on the album, overlapping layers of vocals in true Pyke style for ‘If I Am A Candle, You Are A Spark’. If anything, it’s worked to strengthen his artistic voice and create a more cohesive sound.

Even ‘Interlude’ makes you sit right up in your chair and listen every time, evoking visions of rivers and the smell of salty beach air.

In fact, much of the album has this same tactile feel, particularly noticeable on the title track ‘Esk’ as Carty describes an eye-opening trip to Tasmania he took with his girlfriend.

However, while the stories and melodies throughout the record are sweet and pretty, there are moments when it all feels a bit twee, and just a touch clichéd.

Esk would go down nicely sipping tea by an open fire. Just not with too much sugar.

David James Young

The problem is that when one listens to the aforementioned iTunes previews, there is still more to come. When the songs fade out on Crush Songs, they’re gone for good. You might not have even had a minute with them, and the album’s already onto the next one.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with short songs – Yeah Yeah Yeahs have plenty of ’em, and they’re almost always great. The ideas on Crush Songs, however, allude to something greater and more fleshed-out, which makes the 26-minute runtime all the more disappointing.

It’s an interesting experiment, and one that fans will invariably adore for its rawness and honesty. Perhaps, however, it wouldn’t have hurt to have spent just five minutes more in this world.

World On Fire is Slash’s second studio album featuring his star cohorts Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) and The Conspirators – Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass). It’s a slow burn at one hour and 17 minutes for a whopping 17 tracks, but you won’t be counting the time and yawning through filler fluff.

This album is a solid rock’n’roll fireball from start to finish. It’s loaded with rip-roaring energy and attitude from a group of experienced musicians who know how to churn out infectious anthemic track after track. The stomping bluesy riffs of ‘Beneath The Savage Sun’ and jaw-dropping solo on ‘Safari Inn’ are album highlights. Meanwhile, the title track is the perfect intro to Slash and friends’ stadium rock style; speedy and lavish guitars flirting with the astounding musical talent of each member.

Slash saves the best for the last, ‘The Unholy’ – a soaring, apocalyptic conclusion to a ballsy album that is sure to set rock fans’ pants on fire universally.

Kylie Finlay

Erin Rooney

All up, it’s been a full decade between studio albums for this classic power trio, but it was most definitely worth the wait. The Ocean At The End makes it sound like they have never been away nor missed a beat. The album opens in typical style, with three tracks of very Led Zeppelin and world music-inspired progressive power rock, before the quieter, more ambient ‘The Maker’ kicks in to provide a beautiful wash of dynamics. ‘Black Roses’ features bluesy and country-tinged moments, and makes it even more apparent that this isn’t just another rock album. In fact, it’s a real journey across extremely varied soundscapes. My only complaint is that the band cuts just a little too close to the bone with its Zeppelin influence on occasion. But that’s kind of what The Tea Party have always done, so it comes as no surprise.

Overall, this is an excellent return, and should get Tea Party fans worldwide very excited indeed.

Rod Whitfi eld

David James Young

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK Legalize Everything inhabits the grey area between ’60s garage rock and the Texan-style psychedelic wave popularised by bands like 13th Floor Elevators and The Sonics. It assaults your ears with a reasonable amount of the treble-heavy, tubescreaming guitar licks of Wailers-era West Coast grunge, but quickly changes gear to the more melodic, rhythm-driven Texas psych.

THE FROWNING CLOUDS Legalize Everything Rice Is Nice/Inertia

24 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

The balancing act of both sounds is the most important element driving the album, as well as being the most divisive. There is a notable improvement in sheer musicality from The Frowning Clouds’ earlier albums, as well as a more diverse approach to their blended version of the genre.

However, the tempo and style changes are occasionally jarring.

The bizarre addition of a kazoo in ‘Move It’ almost ruins the song before the elongated, Tame Impalaesque walking breakdown at the end brings it straight back. In spite of this, Legalize Everything is a step in the right direction for some of the best among Aussie garage rockers.

The Frowning Clouds are continuing to solidify themselves as part of the strong foundation of contemporary garage rock in Australia, while making their own meaningful contributions to the genre itself.

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...

CANT - Dreams Come True GESAFFELSTEIN - Aleph THE KILLS - Blood Pressures

HIGHASAKITE - Silent Treatment GOSSLING - Harvest Of Gold

Jacob Mills

thebrag.com

snap sn ap

spod

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

bonjah + timberwolf

PICS :: KC

19:09:14 :: The Lansdowne Hotel :: 2-6 City Rd Chippendale 8218 2333

19:09:14 :: Newtown Social Club :: 387 King St Newtown 1300 724 876 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 25

snap sn ap

live reviews

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

BOY & BEAR, HOLY HOLY Sydney Opera House Sunday September 21 It’s a testament to the strength of a support act that even being fractionally late entails clambering over the indignant legs of 20 people before being able to take your seat.

From go to whoa Holy Holy had the crowd energised, belting out tunes like it was their last chance to do so (which I suspect is what all of us are secretly hoping for in a show; that chance to claim attendance at the infamous Last Gig before the band was eaten by wolves on the way back to the van). They gave a tight set, full of snappy tunes and lyrics with the entire audience eating out of their hands. Fun fact: Holy Holy weirdly resemble a set of folk music action figures. Corkscrew-haired guitarist, beret-wearing lumberjack on keys. High school geography teacher on bass, crooked card shark on drums. Lead singer Timothy Carroll dressed as a kind of pirate dandy.

You’d like to believe that when they aren’t performing, they’re off solving mysteries in abandoned amusement parks.

gettin’ glammy

Other songs, however, saw them throw off the uncertainty and deliver some truly exceptional numbers, including a rousing ‘Three Headed Woman’, ‘Back Down The Black’, the unexpected inclusion of ‘Fall At Your Feet’ (which midway drifted into ‘Heart Of Gold’ before returning), and captivating performances of ‘A Moment’s Grace’ and ‘Lordy May’.

Taken individually, each of these songs is strong and offers something interesting.

Taken across a hundred-minute set, however, they tend to lose power and potency. You felt as though Boy & Bear weren’t really pushing themselves; that there is little challenge to be had.

Nonetheless, it was a great gig that held the audience charmed.

Adam Norris

PICS :: AM

Boy & Bear’s Dave Hosking makes for a very laidback frontman, swaying gently along to the music. Throughout the night it became easy to forget the crowd and find yourself picturing a much more intimate affair; chilling

out at your mate’s place, say. That sounds quite pleasant – and it truly was – but the flip side is that at times things felt a little too casual. Several songs – ‘Harlequin Dream’, ‘Rabbit Song’, ‘Bridges’ – struggled to find any lift, and the energy of the night was somewhat patchy. Of course, not every song is intended as roof-raising, foot-stomping revelry, but it was difficult to shake the impression that there were times the band just wasn’t able to find the right connection.

21:09:14 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

SASKWATCH, SIETTA, BABY LIPS & THE SILHOUETTES Manning Bar Friday September 19 Last Friday was one of those rare and lucky shows at Manning Bar when the sound mixing was just right and every layer of music in each group, from the melody lines to saxophone hooks, was given a chance to shine.

the love junkies

PICS :: AM

Baby Lips & The Silhouettes opened the night with a spacey set of progressive jazz. Between the brassy horn section, sleek vocal harmonies and steady bass, their performance was incredibly tight for a seven-piece. Proving they were more than they seemed, they pulled out some sneaky tricks along the way by intermittently switching instruments with each other, and the bassist even jumped onto vocals to try his hand at rapping.

20:09:14 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9360 1375 S :: KATRINA CLAR OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

26 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

KE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

Darwin act Sietta may have been expecting a larger crowd than the sparse audience that greeted them. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop them from bringing big vocals, booty shaking and heavy bass that cut through the relative quiet in the crowd.

But despite their solid efforts, the audience remained reluctant to join the fun, making

the atmosphere feel a little flat.

So it came with great delight when the nine members of Saskwatch took the stage, lighting up the venue with a new kind of giddy happiness and a big, bright sound.

As they opened with ‘Give Me A Reason’, people came seemingly from nowhere to the dancefloor, entranced by the confidence and fierce energy of frontwoman Nkechi Anele.

While their set was filled mostly with tunes from their recent album Nose Dive, Saskwatch dropped some old favourites, including their popular cover of Little Red’s ‘Coca Cola’, which was met with particularly intense cheers. More pensive beauties like ‘Call Your Name’ brought the audience out of numb joy and into reverie, until another energetic track would make an appearance and the party raged on.

As Anele exhibited her powerful, sexy dance moves onstage, there were some pretty questionable ones going on in the audience – a goofy mix of head bops and boogies.

But the beauty of it was that no-one cared, because it was all about the music and the mood, and when that happens, anything goes.

Erin Rooney

thebrag.com

snap sn ap

saskwatch

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

sara bareilles

PICS :: AM

19:09:14 :: Manning Bar :: Manning Rd Camperdown 9563 6000

21:09:14 :: City Recital Hall :: Angel Pl Sydney (02) 8256 2222 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 27

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week SEPTEMBER 24 – 27

Sticky Fingers

Metro Theatre

Sticky Fingers 8pm. $33.70.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Loretta D’Urso + Andrew Kidd Court House Hotel, Lithgow.

7:30pm. free.

Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra Coopers Hotel, Newtown.

8:45pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Billie McCarthy Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. $17.20.

Gang Of Brothers Jam Night Spring Street Social, Bondi.

9pm. free.

Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington.

8pm. free.

Wallace Golan Play Bar, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

28 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Loretta D’Urso Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free.

Mick Hambly Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm.

free.

Round Mountain Girls The Vanguard, Newtown.

6:30pm. $26.80.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Jo Fabro Band Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Who Funk Rock Show With The Khats

The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

The Mess Up Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free.

The Owls Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 8pm. free.

Tijuana Cartel + Kalidad Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

Tori Darke Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free.

Victoria Avenue Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Stuart Jammin + Andrew Kidd Rosehill Hotel, Clyde. 7:30pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Bandaluzia Flamenco Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. $32.30.

Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

50 Million Beers Shady Pines, Darlinghurst.

4pm. free.

Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Anthony Charlton Hornsby RSL, Hornsby. 7pm. free.

Anything But Arnold Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

Ben Finn PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

9pm. free.

Blake Tailor Duo Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill.

8pm. free.

Bodyscapes Pact Centre, Erskineville. 9pm. $17.20.

Brad Johns Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

6pm. free.

Butterscotch’s Playground Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 10pm. $10.

Cath & Him Hornsby RSL, Hornsby. 8pm. free.

Dan Kelly Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $23.

Eclypse Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

Antiskeptic

8pm. free.

Evie Dean The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm. free.

Frank & Ethel The Vanguard, Newtown.

6:30pm. $28.80.

Gabriel Levin + Green Manalishi + Mono Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free.

Gerard Masters Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

5:30pm. free.

Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

8pm. free.

Groovin Hard Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Hue Williams Lane Cove Club, Lane Cove.

7:30pm. free.

Jake McDougall Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

5pm. free.

James Englund The Grand Hotel, Rockdale.

5:30pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

Jess Dunbar Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

9pm. free.

Joe Echo Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

10pm. free.

Josh Owen AKA Jayowenz Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

7:30pm. free.

Krishna Jones Parramatta RSL, Parramatta.

5pm. free.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

Mammals Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

7:30pm. $13.30.

Mandi Jarry Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Marty Simpson Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free.

Matt Jones Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

Melody Rhymes Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

4:30pm. free.

Mercians + Avivaa + Siren Lines + Mar Haze FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.

Moving Pictures + Cranky Alice Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $45.

Nick Sun Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

9:15pm. $17.

Raw Showcase Manning Bar, Camperdown.

7:30am. $16.50.

Rob Eastwood Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

6:30pm. free.

Rob Henry Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

4:30pm. free.

Sam Lyon Duo Panthers, Penrith. 8pm. free.

Shining Bird + Bad Jeep + Main Beach + Beached Friends DJs Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 9pm. free.

Soundproofed Colonial Hotel, Werrington.

9pm. free.

Sticky Fingers Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

The Bobhawks Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard.

9:30pm. free.

The Catholics Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

The Field Duo Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free.

The Walk On By + The Depressionists + Fabels + Strange Horizon Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale.

8:30pm. free.

The Wildbloods Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

thebrag.com

xxx

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Brumby + Backyard Soccer + Cypher + Lazarus + Taxon + Lovely Empire Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm. $16.95.

Captain Cook Captain Cook Hotel,

Paddington. 8pm. free.

Dead Language - feat: Tim Blunt + Laura Hancock + Bootykka Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Fat Bubba’s Chicken Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Lionel Cole + Dallas James The Vanguard, Newtown.

6:30pm. $20.

Matt Jones Le Pub, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

Nick Sun Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

9:15pm. $17.

Rock Show With “Dead Language” Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. free.

Sally Whitwell + Quintessential Doll Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

Shredders Lair Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 6pm. free.

Sticky Fingers Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

The Happy Hippies Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

6:30pm. free.

Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

10 O’Clock Rock Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

10pm. free.

A Team Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 9pm. free.

Adam Page + Gerard Masters Trio Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. $17.20.

Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Alkemie Night - feat: Live Music + DJ Sudek Spring Street Social, Bondi.

9:30pm. free.

Antiskeptic + Young Lions + Cambridge Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $25.

Black Diamond Hearts Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Black Zeros Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free.

Chris Raicevich + Andrew Kidd Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale.

7:30pm. free.

Damn Humans + Origin Of Janken + Noveux The Bald Faced Stag, Leichardt. 8pm. $11.95.

Gary Allan Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7pm. $89.90.

Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

Hue Williams Lane Cove Club, Lane Cove.

7:30pm. free.

Lou Lungo’s Blue Groove Band Hotel Hollywood, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Matt Jones Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 8pm. free.

Matthew Fagan + La Fiesta Trio The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $30.

Nick Sun Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

9:15pm. $17.

Nicky Kurta Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free.

Pat Brady Pioneer Tavern, Penrith.

12pm. free.

Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Starr Witness + Alanka Mass Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free.

Steve Smyth Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $10.

Steve Tonge Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7:30pm. free.

Sticky Fingers Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

The Khats Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

Robbie Williams

Xxx

Tomorrows Tulips + The Babe Rainbow Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $20.

Tori Darke Cyren Restaurant , Darling Harbour. 6pm. free.

Vanessa Heinitz Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 9:30pm. free.

Victoria Avenue Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. free.

Voice Kids Concert Panthers, Penrith. 4pm. $55.

Zoltan Adria, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Zoltan Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9:30pm. free.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Paul Hayward And Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Bearing The Bell - The Hymns Of Thomas Tallis St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney. 7pm. $32.30.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

After Party Band Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

10:30pm. free.

Alex Cameron + That Feel + Roy Molloy Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 9pm. free.

Alex Hopkins Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

Andrew Dyce New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

10pm. free.

Angie Dean Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

6:30pm. free.

Beatnix - Beatles Show Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 7:30pm. free.

Benn Finn Trio The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

9pm. free.

Big Blind Ray Shady Pines, Darlinghurst.

4pm. free.

Big Steel Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

9pm. free.

Black Diamond Hearts Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay. 9pm. free.

Blood Bank (A Benefit For Mick Blood) - feat: Lime Spiders + Psychotic Turnbuckles + But Jacques + The Fish? + Spurs For Jesus + The Amazing

thebrag.com

Woolloomooloosers The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 3pm. $25.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

5:30pm. free.

Cath & Him Brighton RSL, Brighton Le Sands. 8pm. free.

Dan Spillane Panthers, Penrith. 8pm. free.

Daniel Romeo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. free.

Dave Phillips Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

David Agius Band Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

DJ Sloppy Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

10pm. free.

Drew McAlister PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

9pm. free.

EK Collective + Babicka + B2B Ben Fester Club 77, Woolloomooloo.

10pm. $10.

Endless Summer Beach Party Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

Funkstar Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Geoff Rana Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

6pm. free.

Geoffrey O’Connor + Ela Stiles + Bad Jeep Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.

Harbour Masters Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free.

Heath Burdell Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free.

Hello Cleveland Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

7pm. free.

Hits & Pieces Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8pm. free.

Iron Lion Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 9:30pm. free.

Jake McDougall Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

12am. free.

Jeremy Phillipps + The Main Guy And The Other Guys + Edema Ruh + Phaux Real The Gaelic Club, Sydney.

7:30pm. $10.

Jess Dunbar Duo Albion Hotel, Parramatta. 9pm. free.

Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

7:30pm. free.

Juana Molina Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $37.

Leon Fallon Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9pm. free.

Leonie Cohen Trio + Christa Hughes Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

Lionel Robinson Penrith RSL Penrith. 2pm.

free.

Loco Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill.

8pm. free.

Luke Zancanaro Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 8pm. free.

Manalion + Souljahz The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. free.

Mandi Jarry Le Pub, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Matt Price Panthers, Penrith. 5:30pm. free.

Melody Rhymes Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 10pm. free.

Moving Pictures + Radiators Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. $45.

Nick Sun Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

9:15pm. $17.

Pop Fiction Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9:30pm. free.

Premonition + The Depressionists + The Reunion Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free.

Rave Anthems Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

Replika Duo Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free.

Robbie Williams Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 8pm. $109.

Rumours Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $27.

Spewfest 2014 - feat: Tensions Arise + Our Lat Enemy + Not Another Sequel Just Another Prequel + Cryptic Scorn + In Death + Internal Nightmare + Antonamasia Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $15.

Sticky Fingers Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

Suite Az Penrith RSL, Penrith. 8pm. free.

The Kamis Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

The Shadow Embrace Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 10pm. $12.20.

Tim Conlon Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Tim Densley Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

8pm. free.

Tim Shaw Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free.

Tori Darke Club Cronulla, Cronulla. 7pm. free.

Upstairs And Underground - feat: Jeremy Phillips +The Main Guy & The Other Guys + Edema Ruh + Phaux Real The Gaelic Club, Sydney.

7:30pm. $10.

Veruca Salt Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $59.

Pidcock Foundry616, Ultimo. 6pm. $27.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Blake Tailor Panthers, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Bombay Bicycle Club + East + City Calm Down Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $69.90.

Curbside Twisters Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Dan Spillane Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 6pm. free.

David Agius Duo Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 2pm. free.

Emerald Scar + Crimson Horror + Second Nation + Unhinged + Brumby + Overnight Rental Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 3pm. free.

Felicity Robinson Surfies Cronulla, Cronulla.

2:30pm. free.

Greg Agar Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free.

Ian Blakeney Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

2pm. free.

Joe Echo Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

1pm. free.

Leon Fallon Pritchards Hotel, Mount Pritchard. 1pm. free.

Matt Jones Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

8:30pm. free.

Nick Sun Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

9:15pm. $17.

Redlight Ruby Northies Cronulla Hotel,

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Latin & Jazz Jam Open Mic Night World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Greg Agar Cock & Bull, Bondi. 7pm. free.

Maybeshewill Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $59.

Stuart Jammin + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti + Rick Taylor + Andrew Kidd Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

7:30pm. free.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 30 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Festival Come Down Party Venue 505, Surry Hills.

6pm. free.

Jazzgroove - Dubious Blues Trio + 3ofmillions Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $17.20.

Old School Funk & Groove Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Swingtime Tuesdays The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $9.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Blues Tuesdays Spring Street Social, Bondi.

7:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Blues Brothers Show The Vanguard, Newtown.

6:30pm. $35.80.

Declan Kelly + Sam Joole Rob Moir + Tess, Jimi & Tulll Bar 34 Bondi, Bondi Beach.

8pm. free.

Triumphant Tuesdays - feat: Dave Eastgate Karaoke Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

8:30pm. free.

thu

24 Sep

25 Sep (9:00PM – 12:00AM)

(9:00PM – 12:00AM)

fri

26 Sep

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

27

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Sep

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC The Gene Fehlberg Band Hotel Hollywood, Surry Hills.

4pm. free.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 29

wed

sat

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28

Cronulla. 6pm. free.

Reece Mastin Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 2:30pm. $50.

Robbie Williams Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 8pm. $109.

Technicolour Psych Night II - feat: The Grand Rapids + The Dandelion + Dead Radio + The Grease Arrestor + The Citradels + Bad Valley + Dr Goddard + Fire Saint + God K Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 6pm. free.

The White Brothers Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

1pm. free.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sun

28

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Sep

(9:30PM - 1:15AM)

mon

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

tue

29

30

Sep

Sep

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(9:00PM – 12:00AM)

Peach Montgomery Garry Owen Hotel, Rozelle.

3pm. free.

Sydney Blues Society Botany View Hotel, Newtown.

7pm. free.

Van-Anh Nguyen & Chris BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 29

gig picks up all night out all week...

Tijuana Cartel

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25 Antiskeptic + Young Lions + Cambridge Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $25.

Tijuana Cartel + Kalidad Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 Dan Kelly Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $23.

Mammals Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 7:30pm. $13.30.

Shining Bird + Bad Jeep + Main Beach +

The Babe Rainbow

Beached Friends DJs Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 9pm. Free.

Juana Molina Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $37.

Tomorrows Tulips + The Babe Rainbow Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $20.

Rave Anthems Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27

Robbie Williams Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park.

8pm. $109.

Alex Cameron + That Feel + Roy Molloy Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 9pm. Free.

Veruca Salt Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $59.

Blood Bank (A Benefit For Mick Blood) - feat: Lime Spiders + Psychotic Turnbuckles + But Jacques + The Fish? + Spurs For Jesus + The Amazing Woolloomooloosers The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 3pm. $25.

Geoffrey O’Connor + Ela Stiles + Bad Jeep Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.

Juana Molina

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Bombay Bicycle Club + East + City Calm Down Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $69.90.

Technicolour Psych Night II - feat: The

Grand Rapids + The Dandelion + Dead Radio + The Grease Arrestor + The Citradels + Bad Valley + Dr Goddard + Fire Saint + God K Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 6pm. Free.

/

30 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

xxx

AUSTRALIAN FILM TELEVISION AND RADIO SCHOOL thebrag.com

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

brag beats

joel rafidi plus: + club guide + club snaps + weekly column

chet faker talk is cheap

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 31

brag beats

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Martin and Roger Ma

five things WITH

JOHN COURSE

Rus

DEF JAM

Surry Hills’ Play Bar is kicking it retro-style this Saturday September 27, with the Def Jam crew set to take over the decks and the dancefloor once again. It’ll be a journey through decades’ worth of hip hop breaks and rhymes, headlined by one of the Sydney Def Jam founders Rus. Joining him are DJ Lambam, host of The Black President Show on Koori Radio 93.7, and Play Bar main man Benny Hinn AKA Daniel Robertson.

Growing Up I remember my sister 1. and my mum playing music from when I was very young, and I used to sit next to the ‘three in one’ (turntable, tape deck and radio for those who have never heard of it) and listen. As a teenager I started recording stuff off the radio and actually worked out the timing of the recording head of my tape-to-tape player (a cassette player with a play unit and a record unit) so that I could cut out talking and edit recordings to make my own mixtapes. Then I started DJing through scratching and mixing when I was 16 and have been immersed in music ever since… so no complaints at all so far.

2.

Inspirations Carl Cox has always inspired because he’s technically a brilliant DJ, but he also actually enjoys himself when he plays and his enthusiasm from the console I think is infectious to the crowd. The first time I saw him play he had four turntables running and he absolutely rocked the place

– I was like, “Wow!” To top it off he is a down-to-earth, cool dude.

3.

Your Crew I started out DJing in Frankston, and Andy Van (Vandalism/Madison Avenue) and Colin Daniels (head honcho at Inertia now) were very close mates – we started our label, Vicious, together back then. Fastforward to now and the label is still running. DJ-wise I play venues with Colin McMillan (the notorious Funky Col), Tom Evans, Brad Sassman, Greg Sara, Luke McD, and tend to hang at the venues where they all play as well.

4.

The Music You Make And Play The vibe I am bringing to my sets at the moment is very house-orientated, from Toolroom tech housey vibes to deeper stuff, but definitely with a funky edge. Labels like Off Recordings, Suara, Toolroom and Defected are really delivering amazing music. I tend to use lots of a capella when I play, and mix a lot.

FLEX COP

Brisbane deep house producer Flex Cop has kicked off the launch tour for his Placebo EP, and it lands him at The Spice Cellar this Saturday September 27. Flex Cop has won friends in all

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

I think the music scene is really buzzing. There is so much attention on Aussie artists right now, from Flume to Will Sparks to our own Peking Duk and everything in between. There’s a real friendship too and most of the artists breaking are helping others around them, which is awesome. The lockouts in Sydney are a joke and are really affecting the inner-city vibe in that city, but Melbourne is really rocking with lots of cool venues, one-off events and super-solid club nights. Such an out-of-touch approach by the ruling powers in Sydney is hard to believe in 2014 so let’s hope they get voted out at the next election (although I have to add the fact that there seems to be no united argument from the industry up there, which is not good either and doesn’t help).

Where: Marquee When: Friday September 26

the right places, having been commissioned to remix tracks by DCUP, Haze-m and Subsonnik, and worked with vocalists Stee Downes and Cari Golden. Joining him at Spice are Murat Kilic and Monkey Tennis.

MARCUS SCHOSSOW

Swedish producer to the stars Marcus Schossow might well be the soundtrack to your October long weekend. That’s sure to be the case if you get over to Marquee, where the much-buzzed house fella takes over on Saturday October 4. Schossow has collaborated with the likes of Coldplay, Axwell, Icona Pop and Lana Del Rey, and 2014 has been his biggest year on the scene yet.

Devotees are patiently waiting for a new record from the Swede, who released his Outside The Box LP in 2009, but for now it’s your chance to see the man in the flesh.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

K.L.PARTY

DJ, producer and new voice of triple j’s House Party, KLP, has been a revelation on the airwaves this year, but behind the decks is arguably where she works best. In the great tradition of triple j parties, KLP is set to headline the House Party Tour, landing at Chinese Laundry this Friday September 26. She’s bringing Bar 9, Hatch and Habstrakt along for the ride – just make sure you’re there early.

IT’S A MIRACLE

Hip hop’s newest scene-stirrer Miracle will be taking over Easy Saturdays at Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel. He’s supported some big-name acts such as A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino and Chingy, and recently performed alongside 360 on his massive national tour. Expect to hear songs from fresh new album Mainland, which dropped less than two months ago. Miracle plays Selina’s on Saturday October 11.

LISTEN OUT AFTERPARTY FT. TEED

On the back of an Australian visit for Listen Out, UK producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs has been announced for the festival afterparty at Chinese Laundry.

TEED’s list of collaborations includes work with Dillon Francis, Disclosure, Foals and Little Dragon, and fans are looking mighty forward to his Sydney DJ set this weekend. He’ll be joined at Laundry by spinners A-Tonez, Hatch, Avon Stringer, Matt Ferreira, Fingers, GG Magree, Offtapia, DJ Just 1 and Keyes. The Listen Out afterparty follows the festival on Saturday September 27.

Holy Balm

Two giants on the global scene are coming together for an October long weekend party at the Greenwood Hotel.

Argentina’s Hernan Cattaneo and Detroit man Stacey Pullen headline the Code party for T1000 Events – the same minds behind London’s mammoth SW4 outdoor dance festival. Cattaneo returns to Australia on the back of his wellreceived Balance 026 compilation, chock full of the progressive house that made his name. Pullen, meanwhile, is a true innovator on the Detroit techno scene, and returns to our shores for the 15th time in 16 years. Also appearing at the Greenwood are Dillan Joseph, Space Junk, Ben Howard and Cadence. It all goes down on Sunday October 5.

32 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

EARS HAVE EARS

Hernan Cattaneo

FBi Radio’s weekly experimental music program Ears Have Ears presents its seventh showcase this month. Sydney’s lo-fi dance trio Holy Balm are headlining the night alongside the likes of Brisbane’s electronic/synth duo Workshop, post-punk act Ill Winds and local experimental tape manipulator Lortica. Ears Have Ears Presents #7 is on at The Red Rattler in Marrickville on Friday September 26.

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Uone photo by Gustavo Cabello

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BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 33

Chet Faker Playing The Game By Shaun Cowe music festivals – I like the boutique ones, like with the nicely curated lineup. I’m looking forward to it though, I haven’t been home since June.”

Exploring the subject of boutique festivals and talking about his favourite gigs on tour so far, Murphy becomes a little indecisive. For him, there are a lot of boxes to tick to make a standout gig.

“You can have a good show for different reasons – that’s why there’s never really one standout gig. It could be a good gig because me and the band played really well, or because the crowd was insane, or because you were just in a good mood and maybe you made up something on the spot that went really well, or you liked the venue maybe. There’s just so many things.”

Since his cover of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ in 2011, Murphy has been on a steady incline to chart-busting dance hits and radio stardom. When asked if there was any advice he’d like to go back and give himself before mainstream success, he admits there’s one thing he would have liked to know early on.

I

“Usually the only time I think about quitting music is when I’m doing press, if that gives you an idea,” he says. “It depends, man. Depends on what kind of day I’m having.

It depends on the interviewer.

Like, press can be easy-breezy

but sometimes it can be nasty. It depends if you get a journalist that’s just not interested in your answers or if they’ve already decided what the story’s gonna be about and they’re just trying to get you to say something with leading questions.

to paint a picture of the rock’n’roll peaks that come with fame. For Murphy, however, the reality is a near-constant touring schedule and occasional bouts of homesickness.

He’s the first to admit he’s still new to all this.

“It’s funny, sometimes you’ll do a really big-name publication and they’ll have the worst interviewer ever and then you’ll do some tiny little blog with 50 followers and it will be one of the best journalists you’ve ever spoken to; like, mad research.

It’s really hit-and-miss.”

“It’s all about a good balance between touring, time off and recording. Too much recording and you go crazy and too much touring and you go crazy, and at the moment I’m doing a lot of touring.

And everyone has their own good balance. You know, this is my first really intense year of touring, so I’m still finding where my balance is, in terms of how much touring I can do without going loco. And I’m learning a lot about myself, which is important.”

With the Flume and Chet Faker collaboration ‘Drop The Game’ having taken over the airwaves since its release last year, it’s easy

When asked whether he has any tracks due out in the near future, Murphy’s a bit vague. He promises songs are in the works, but can’t put a timeframe on when they’ll be released.

“I’m working on stuff but it’s just [a matter of] time. I don’t have time, which sucks because making music is the whole reason I’m doing this [touring], but it’s ironic that I’m doing so much now that I don’t have time to make music.”

As Murphy gets to talking about the tour, it becomes apparent that he’s keen on returning to Australia. Doubly so, in fact, seeing as he’s billed to play the Listen Out music festival this month. “I like the Listen Out lineup for sure. There’s different types of dance

What: Listen Out 2014 With: Flume, Zhu, ScHoolboy Q, Four Tet, YG, Ta-ku and more Where: Centennial Park When: Saturday September 27 And: Built On Glass out now through Future Classic/Opulent

Joel Rafidi Worlds Apart By Augustus Welby

A

ussie hip hop has long been a catch-all term for any hip hop music made by Australian natives. However, in recent years the scope of locally birthed hip hop has become too vast to fit underneath one umbrella. Hailing from Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, Joel Rafidi is one of the new rap crop who feels no affinity with Aussie hip hop’s archetypal acts.

“Yes I’m Australian and I create hip hop, so it’s Aussie hip hop in that sense,” he says. “But you can’t really compare it to any other Aussie hip hop that’s out there from any other artist. There was always that friction, people saying, ‘You’ve got to rap in a 100 per cent Aussie accent, every single syllable, every single word.’ I can’t really say that any Australian hip hop artist has really inspired me that much.”

Earlier this month Rafidi released his debut record Phases. While many of his countrymen spit lyrics in a tough ocker brogue over boombap beats, Rafidi pairs his earnest rhymes with US-influenced pop and R&B production. This makes sense when you consider his major influences.

“2pac – All Eyez On Me. That album was what really dragged me into hip hop,” he says. “Then from there, the creativity of Kanye. There’s no arguing that he’s really made hip hop so much more accessible for

34 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

everyone, in terms of his production and the craziness that he’s brought to the table.”

A quality that’s shared by these noted influences is that they’re not only good rappers, but they’re also esteemed pop songwriters whose work surpasses the limitations of genre. Phases was preceded by the singles ‘Do It Again’ and ‘I’ll Be Good’, which are concerted attempts at pop crossover success.

“It’s important for any artist to get radio airplay and have those singles out there, as well as the raw stuff that’s true to you,” says Rafidi.

“I’m not prejudiced about music whatsoever, on any level. My genre is Frank Sinatra/Tupac Shakur, in my opinion. On a melodic level, if it sounds good to me I’m going to run with that.”

Even though the record contains some commercially friendly tunes, Rafidi doesn’t disguise his own personality. In fact, he’s been working hard at developing a unique lyrical style since a young age.

“I really discovered hip hop when I was 14 or 15 years old,” he says. “I was always shy growing up and it was a way for me to distract myself, writing down lyrics. Then from there it was just putting my rhymes down to beats and recording myself on GarageBand and just going back and forth and criticising myself.”

The solace that Rafidi found in rapping soon evolved into a committed creative pursuit.

However, despite major success for the likes of Hilltop Hoods, 360 and Illy, Australians attempting hip hop are still liable to run into resistance. Rafidi admits that his hip hop expedition hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but steadfast selfbelief keeps him on track.

“I was at Wollongong University three to four years ago doing a commerce degree and I was like, ‘I fuckin’ hate this, I don’t want to be here.’ Something struck me where I was like, ‘Music’s what I have to do.’ It’s the only thing that really makes me happy. I just said, ‘This is what I’m doing and I’m going to do it and nothing’s going to stop me.’

“From the moment that I decided I want to do music forever, my belief has been unwavering. There’s nothing else in the world that I could ever imagine myself doing.

The only opportunity is for me to keep doing it and keep getting better and keep creating.”

What: Phases out now through MGM Where: Tatler / The Brass Monkey When: Thursday September 25 / Thursday October 9

thebrag.com

Chet Faker photo by Lisa Frieling

t’s been a couple of months since Chet Faker, AKA Nick Murphy, announced in an interview that he was considering leaving the music industry, and catching him on the phone from sunny Los Angeles, he admits that it was his way of venting steam. Between the hectic touring schedule and media frenzy since the release of his chart-topping debut album Built On Glass, the bearded Melburnian has had little time to catch his breath.

“I guess I’d just tell myself… it sounds like a Disney movie,” he laughs. “But just to trust my own gut instincts, you know? So many times over the last few years I’ve been convinced by someone telling me, ‘No, this is how it’s done.’ There is no actual one way to do music – it’s not a science.

If something doesn’t feel right it’s because it isn’t right. It’s that simple.

I know that now, but when you’re first starting there’s so many people around you it’s easy to think that they have your best interests at heart.

You’ve gotta ask yourself, what do they get paid to do and who’s paying them, you know?”

Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray

ISSUE 137 - JUNE 2014

)$6+,21 )$6+,21 )$6+,21 -2851$/ -2851$/ -2851$/ ISSUE 137 - JUNE 2014

ISSUE 137 - JUNE 2014

Bondax

MELBOURNE - SYDNEY - BRISBANE - ADELAIDE - PERTH

MELBOURNE - SYDNEY - BRISBANE - ADELAIDE - PERTH

MELBOURNE - SYDNEY - BRISBANE - ADELAIDE - PERTH

) ) 5 5 ( ) ( ( 5 ( ( (

O

ne of the most exciting acts on the 2014 Listen Out lineup, UK duo Bondax, have revealed a Sydney sideshow. Recently they’ve been smashing it on some of the biggest stages around the world, including festival appearances at Bestival, Creamfields and Beacons. This is also their debut voyage Down Under so I wouldn’t expect tickets to last long. They’ll be playing live at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday October 2. Now all I’m waiting for is a Four Tet sidey – can someone please make this happen?

Tour rumours: a little birdie has told me that Detroit techno don Juan Atkins will be returning to Sydney next March, which will no doubt appease fans after his Australian tour in 2013 had the pin pulled at the 11th hour due to health concerns. Word on the grapevine is that Modeselektor and Apparat’s electronic supergroup Moderat have locked in a summer visit, while the one and only Flying Lotus is said to have confirmed a return in early 2015.

More Detroit techno goodness: Jeff Mills has directed, scored and written a new film titled Life To Death And Back as part of his ongoing residency for Le Louvre

in Paris. The film explores “the Ancient Egyptian walk through life to death and reincarnation”, and will be released next March. He’s also just announced another film, The Exhibitionist 2, which is a sequel to his 2004 film focusing on his live performances. He’ll be in Australia midnext month, though the Sydney date is still to be confirmed.

This week’s best releases: Tin Man’s latest full-length Ode (on Acid Test) proves that he can do no wrong, Recondite’s Caldera (on Hotflush) is super-tight, while other must-listens include Kim Brown’s Somewhere Else It’s Going To Be Good (on Just Another Beat) and Novacom and Basin’s self-titled split (on Slumdiscs). Oh, and that new Aphex Twin record? Thumbs up.

Releases to look forward to: Xosar has just released the first snippet of her upcoming full-length BOP004 (Opal Tapes). The track is called ‘The Pit’ and it is fucking ballistic in the best possible way. Get hyped – the record drops in December.

Next month will also see Gunnar Haslam release his sophomore record Mirrors And Copulation on the seminal L.I.E.S. imprint.

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Jeff Mills

I MAG I N E BE I NG MAD E TO

RECOMMENDED FRIDAY OCTOBER 3

FRIDAY OCTOBER 17

SATURDAY OCTOBER 4

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1

RADIO SLAVE, FUR COAT

Sasha Chinese Laundry

Basenji Civic Underground

LXURY The Imperial Hotel

AGWA Yacht Club

SUNDAY OCTOBER 5

Hernan Cattaneo, Stacey Pullen Greenwood Hotel

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10 DJ Spider Club 77

Peter van Hoesen The Imperial Hotel

Sidney Charles Mantra Collective

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 Ten Walls The Hi-Fi

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16

Del Rio Resort

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22

Lost Disco: Seth Troxler, Âme, Pachanga Boys, Optimo Greenwood Hotel

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 Stimming The Spice Cellar

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28 Powell The Imperial Hotel

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29

OutsideIn: Pantha Du Prince, Seekae, Client Liaison Return To Rio: Ten Walls, Lake People, Laura Jones, Manning House, Sydney University Gavin Herlihy

Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos?

Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. thebrag.com

FE E L L I KE C RAP J U ST FOR

BEING

LEFT

H A N D E D.

Okay, that’s hard to imagine? But being gay, lesbian, bi, trans or intersex is no different to being born left handed, it’s just who you are. So stop and think because the things we say are likely to cause depression and anxiety. And that really is pretty crap.

GO TO LEFTHAND.ORG.AU TO WATCH THE VIDEO

STOP t THINK t RESPECT

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 35

club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week

Flex Cop

Flume

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27 HIP HOP & R&B

Sydney Def Jam - feat: Rus + DJ Lambam + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Tall Black Guy Civic Underground, Sydney.

9pm. $20.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27

CLUB NIGHTS

Centennial C t Park

Listen Out Flume + Chet Faker + Zhu + ScHoolboy Q + Four Tet + Ta-ku + more

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

Frat Saturdays - feat: DJ Jonski Side Bar, Sydney. 6pm. free.

Grant Smillie + Piero Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Listen Out - feat: Flume + Chet Faker + Zhu +

ScHoolboy Q + Four Tet + Ta-Ku + Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ Set) + Snakehips + Shlohmo + Bondax + Young Fathers + Yahtzel (DJ Set) + Golden features + Tkay Maidza + UV Boi + Deja + Slumberjack + Just A Gent Centennial Park. 2pm. $137.

Listen Out After Party feat: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ Set) + A-Tonez + Hatch + Avon Stringer + Matt Ferreira + Fingers + GG Magree + Offtapia + DJ Just 1 + Keyes Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $27.70.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

Matter (A Night Of Dark Ambient Noise) - feat: Abre Ojos + Host + Transcendental Warlords Kaleidoscope Gallery, Chippendale. 7pm. $10.

One Night Stand - feat: Simon Caldwell The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 7pm. $15.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Jillionaire + Ember + A-Tonez + Natnoiz + Acaddamy + Matt Nugent + Fingers + Jace Disgrace + Eko + Danny Lang + DJ Just 1 + Dylan Sanders + Sushi + Pro/Gram + Heke + Skoob + Trent Rackus Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $27.70.

Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Spice 27.09 - feat: Flex Cop + Murat Kilic + Monkey Tennis + Robbie Lowe The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

7pm. free.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28 HIP HOP & R&B

One Day Sundays Vic On The Park, Marrickville.

1pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney.

8pm. free.

S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfish, Kings Cross. 4pm. free.

Sunday Spice 28.09 - feat: Murat Kilic + U-Khan The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

9pm. $15.

Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 29 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 30 CLUB NIGHTS

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

2pm. $137.

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Various Local And International Acts World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free.

Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Kings Cross.

10pm. $12.

Mantra Collective - feat: Space Junk + Aboutjack + Whitecat + Antoine Vice The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

7pm. free.

Mitsu And The Beats Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free.

The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 CLUB NIGHTS

HIP HOP & R&B

Joyride Lo-fi, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

Fear Of Dawn Goldfish, Kings Cross. 8pm. free.

Full Up! - feat: Mikey Glamour + Nick Toth + Jimmy Sing + Prince Andrew Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

Hot Damn Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10.

Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + 36 :: BRAG :: 581 : 24:09:14

HIP HOP & R&B

Cypher Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $22.50.

Hustler Fridays - feat: Mc Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm. free.

Vent@Valve - feat: Izzy & The Profit + DJ Maniak + Big Red Cat + Casa + King Shifty & John 94 + 316 Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

Compound X Chubby - feat:

Aaron Andrew + Steven Sullivan + Subaske + Zeus The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. $10.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

John Course Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

K.L.Party (Triple J House Party Tour) - feat: KLP + Terace + Hatch + Jawz + Bar 9 + Habstrakt + Blackmale Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Phat Play Fridays - feat: DJ Adverse + Makoto + Caratgold Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Thank Funk It’s Friday The Ranch, Eastwood.

9:30pm. free.

The Wildbloods - feat: Richie St. James + Heart Of Mind + Ben Hardie + Boson Higgs Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

John Course

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27 Grant Smillie + Piero Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Listen Out After Party - Feat: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ Set) + A-Tonez + Hatch + Avon Stringer + Matt Ferreira + Fingers + GG Magree + Offtapia + DJ Just 1 + Keyes Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $27.70.

One Night Stand - Feat: Simon Caldwell The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 7pm. $15.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 Cypher Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $22.50.

John Course Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

K.L.Party (Triple J House Party Tour) - Feat: KLP + Terace + Hatch + Jawz + Bar 9 + Habstrakt + Blackmale Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Vent@Valve - Feat: Izzy & The Profit + DJ Maniak + Big Red Cat + Casa + King Shifty & John 94 + 316 Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10

Spice 27.09 - Feat: Flex Cop + Murat Kilic + Monkey Tennis + Robbie Lowe The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Sydney Def Jam - Feat: Rus + DJ Lambam + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Tall Black Guy Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $20.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28 S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Sunday Spice 28.09 - Feat: Murat Kilic + U-Khan The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 9pm. $15.

thebrag.com

snap

sosueme ft. jessie andrews

PICS :: JA

up all night out all week . . .

17:09:14 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247

It’s called: LNDRY presents Official Listen Out After Party feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

It sounds like: The best music you have ever heard.

Acts: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Hatch, Avon Stringer, A-Tonez, Offtapia, Matt Ferreira, Keyes, Fingers, King Lee, DJ Just 1.

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Anyth ing can happen, be there to hear for yourself.

And one you definitely won’t: ‘Where You From’ – Beau Ryan ft. Justice Crew.

Sell it to us: You weren’t already sold?

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The night of your life.

Crowd specs: Anyone is welcome with a friend ly attitude.

Wallet damage: $20-30 Where: Chinese Laundry, cnr King and Susse x St, under The Slip Inn When: Saturday September 27

hau

PICS :: KC

party profile

LNDRY presents official listen out after party

20:09:14 :: Play Bar :: 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills 9280 0885 ARU MUG AM :: KATR INA S :: JAM ES AMB ROS E :: ASH WIN OUR LOV ELY PHO TOG RAP HER CLA RKE :: ASH LEY MAR ::

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14 :: 37

snap

live review

up all night out all week . . .

ONE DAY Enmore Theatre Friday September 19 The Enmore was a hometown venue for the Inner West hip hop supergroup One Day, but the show was about so much more than just the Mainline album they dropped this year.

It was a history lesson, a retrospective, the culmination of years of rhyming and roaming and playing together. Each of the acts that make up the group supported themselves and each other, showcasing their individual journeys while collaborating at every turn.

Witnessing the intrinsic connections shared by the players gave the songs they did together even more gravitas than what can be heard on the record – there are rawer emotions and a deeper anger, which can be lost under layers of production, that rush to the surface during a live performance.

PICS :: AA

PICS :: AMT

orkestrated + christina novelli

20:09:14 :: Marquee :: The Star Sydney Pyrmont 9657 7737

Multitalented rapper/producer/crooner Joyride kicked things off clad in pink tie-dye before “kids from the suburbs looking for something to do” Jackie Onassis brought a set worthy of the ‘Special Occasion’. MC Solo joined them for the apt ‘Back Home Again’, and they made the night by bringing

back Joyride for a ‘Drunk In Love’ cover.

Joyride spun tunes as Spit Syndicate played songs like ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’ and ‘Amazing’, before throwing out their cover of ‘Latch’ with Left’s Sarah Corry joining them onstage. Horrorshow were indeed kings amongst many, dropping ‘No Rides Left’ alongside ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’ and their twin cover of ‘Can I Kick It’ and ‘Walk On The Wild Side’.

The group then reassembled clad all in black, taking the stage as the headlining One Day and opening with ‘Many Hands’.

The train line motif that literally brought them together was put into words for ‘Mainline’, and the braggadocio-laden ‘Milka’ was another highlight. Reggaedriven ‘S.D.R.O.’ elicited some choice crowd reactions, and after an emotional thanks to fans and family – “We are your crew and we wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for you” – they finished up with ‘History’.

In the end shit got pretty real with the boys from the mainline, but they kept a balance between fun and fierce. They’ve come a long way, but they proved their future’s bright.

Natalie Amat

KE PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA CLAR

party profile

hand that mc a mic #4 It’s called: Hand That MC A Mic #4 It sounds like: Pure hip hop goodness.

Acts: Electric Elements, Sleepwalkers, Beast side, Decypher Us, Casa & Jae Moon and more.

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Electr ic Elements – ‘Give It All I Got’, Beastside – ‘Shark’, Decypher Us – ‘Late At Night’.

And one you definitely won’t: ‘Gangnam Style’.

Sell it to us: Hand That MC A Mic is a perfor mance platform for up-andcoming MCs, started in 2011 by Electric Eleme nts, that aims to expose artists to the live performance scene. Electric Eleme nts have developed the event and invite six upcoming MCs onstage to perform live during their set.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Cheap drinks and big energy.

Crowd specs: Hip hop heads, beat lovers, writers, artists, lovers of music, cheap drunks, rap aficionados and those just looking for a good time.

Wallet damage: $10 presale (gobookem.com) or $15 on the door.

Where: Brighton Up Bar, 77 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst

s.a.s.h sundays

PICS :: AM

When: Friday October 3

21:09:14 :: Home :: 101/1-5 Wheat Rd Darling Harbour 9266 0600 38 :: BRAG :: 581 :: 24:09:14

ARU MUG AM :: KATR INA S :: JAM ES AMB ROS E :: ASH WIN OUR LOV ELY PHO TOG RAP HER CLA RKE :: ASH LEY MAR ::

thebrag.com