24.05.17 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Issue
190
Melbourne / Free / Incorporating
Championing Their Melbourne Music Community Rembering: Chris Cornell
Tour: Julia Jacklin
Release: Bernard Fanning
From your first day at SAE, you’ll start creating in world-class facilities, on the latest software and equipment, all under the guidance of our expert lecturers – because at SAE, we believe to be job ready, you need to know the job.
ENROLMENTS FOR MAY CLOSE SOON
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BRISBANE | BYRON BAY | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | ADELAIDE I PERTH I ONLINE 2 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
DONNY McCASLIN GROUP Friday 2 and Saturday 3 June The Toff in Town
The Donny McCaslin Group leapt to worldwide prominence for their extraordinary contribution to David Bowie’s Blackstar. Don’t miss this emotive musical memento from collaborating with one of the greatest artists of all time.
melbourne jazz.com
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 3
ROCKWIZ LIVE! TWENTYSEVENTEEN
BALLARAT JUNE 9 HER MAJESTY’S THEATRE SHEPPARTON JUNE 10 EASTBANK CONCERT HALL BENDIGO JUNE 13 ULUMBARRA THEATRE MORWELL JUNE 15 KERNOT HALL BURNIE JUNE 17 TOWN HALL LAUNCESTON JUNE 18 PRINCESS THEATRE HOBART JUNE 19 THEATRE ROYAL CANBERRA JUNE 22 CANBERRA THEATRE ALBURY JUNE 23 ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE ALBURY JUNE 24 ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE THIRROUL JUNE 27 ANITA’S THEATRE THIRROUL JUNE 28 ANITA’S THEATRE NEWCASTLE JUNE 29 CIVIC THEATRE GRAFTON JUNE 30 SARATON THEATRE TAMWORTH JULY 1 TOWN HALL DUBBO JULY 2 CONVENTION CENTRE
CAIRNS JULY 6 CONVENTION CENTRE TOWNSVILLE JULY 7 CONVENTION CENTRE MACKAY JULY 8 CONVENTION CENTRE ROCKHAMPTON JULY 11 PILBEAM THEATRE GLADSTONE JULY 12 GLADSTONE ENTERTAINMENT CONVENTION CENTRE BUNDABERG JULY 13 MONCRIEFF ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE LOGAN JULY 14 ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE GOLD COAST JULY 15 THE ARTS CENTRE MARYBOROUGH JULY 17 BROLGA THEATRE CALOUNDRA JULY 18 THE EVENTS CENTRE BUNBURY JULY 22 STAGE ONE THEATRE MANDURAH JULY 23 BOARDWALK THEATRE GERALDTON JULY 25 QUEENS PARK THEATRE PERTH JULY 28 HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE PERTH JULY 29 HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE
ROCKWIZLIVE .COM. AU
4 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
250 High st, Northcote Hill 9482 1
Wesley Anne
Bar, Restaurant, Etc.
Thursday 25 May
Friday 26 May
Saturday 27 May
Sunday 28 May
YES QUEEN
Secret Native
+ Callum Gentleman
6pm free front bar
Don’t Thank Me Spank Me
Melody Moon ‘Wings Out Open Wide’
6pm free front bar
EP Launch
6pm free front bar
‘Winter’ Screening
Market Lane w/ Jhana Allan
2pm $8 band room
w/ Winter York + McRobin + Zlatna
8pm $10 band room
The Blue Two Few
8pm $6 bandroom
6pm free front bar
WEDNESDAYS
$15 Jugs of Coburg Lager Mon - Fri before 6pm
TRIVIA with SPARKS 7.30pm
Thursday 1 June
Friday 2 June
Saturday 3 June
Sunday 4 June
Long Stand (duo)
The Boys
Zoe Fox
6pm free front bar
6pm free front bar
James Ellis & The The Jealous Guys Moulin Beige
Jhana Allan w/ Cathy Burke
4POHXSJUFST 4BUVSEBZ
8pm $10
show $TBA 8pm
6pm free front bar
Open from 2pm Mon - Thu, 12pm Fri - Sun 250 High st, Northcote Hill wesleyanne.com.au / 9482 1333
Tuesday 6 June
4pm free front bar
7.30pm $20 / $30 meal and show deal
THE
EDINBURGH CASTLE THU 25 MAY
TIARYN
H OT E L
FREE
WEDNESDAYS
M R S S M I T H T R I V I A , 8PM
6.30PM
FRI 26 MAY
PUB BINGO WITH TREV & SPARKS 7PM
BEER O’CROCLOCACK 6PM-9.59PM PAY THE TIME FOR PINTS BETWEEN
DJ MARNI LA
FREE
SAT 27 MAY
KHRISTIAN MIZZI
GAN BERNARFRDEE &6.30PME M MONDAYS
ROO &WINE $14.99 TUESDAYS
$12 BURGERS $12 PIE NIGHT
WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAYS
$12 PARMA
$15 COBURG LAGER JUGS BEFORE 6PM
27 WESTON ST, BRUNSWICK MON-THU 3PM TO LATE
ar
FRI-SUN NOON TO LATE
CHARLES WESTON HOTEL@GMAIL.COM OR GIVE US A BELL ON 9380 8777
Pizza & Bar
FRIDAY 26 MAY
BEN MASTWYK & LISA CRAWLEY 6PM FREE DJ K I T CO N V I C T 9PM FREE BEER GARDEN SATURDAY 27 MAY
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MONDAYS ROO & WINE $14.99
WEDNESDAYS $12 PIE NIGHT
TUESDAYS $12 BURGERS
THURSDAYS P O T & PA R M A $1 5
$ 1 5 J U G S O F CO B U R G L AG E R M O N - F R I B E F O R E 6 P M
L I V E DJ ’ S
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681 SYDNEY RD. BRUNSWICK, (03)9386 7580 WWW.EDINBURGHCASTLE.NET.AU
za
Monday 29th May Piano KaraokeNight w/ Lisa Crawley 7.30pm free Tuesdays Muso Tuesdays 7pm $5 Thursdays Trivia with Conor 7.30pm free Friday 26th May Funkalleros Duo 7pm free Saturday 27th May Hallways: Soft Meat / Tender Edges 6pm free Sunday 28th May Anything Elephant 4pm free 319 Lygon st East Brunswick
9387 6779
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 5
Credits Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Editor Bryget Chrisfield Arts & Culture Editor Maxim Boon Gig Guide Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au
Music Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Ministry
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House Of Cards
Contributors Bradley Armstrong, Annelise Ball, Emma Breheny, Sean Capel, Luke Carter, Anthony Carew, Uppy Chatterjee, Daniel Cribb, Cyclone, Guy Davis, Joe Dolan, Dave Drayton, Guido Farnell, Tim Finney, Bob Baker Fish, Cameron Grace, Neil Griffiths, Kate Kingsmill, Tim Kroenert, Pete Laurie, Chris Maric, Fred Negro, Obliveus, Paz, Natasha Pinto, Sarah Petchell, Michael Prebeg, Paul Ransom, Dylan Stewart, Rod Whitfield Senior Photographer Kane Hibberd Photographers Andrew Briscoe, Cole Bennetts, Jay Hynes, Lucinda Goodwin Advertising Dept Leigh Treweek, Antony Attridge, Brad Summers sales@themusic.com.au Art Dept Ben Nicol, Felicity Case-Mejia, Alex Foreman vic.art@themusic.com.au Admin & Accounts Loretta Zoppos, Ajaz Durrani, Meg Burnham, Emma Clarke accounts@themusic.com.au Distro distro@themusic.com.au Subscriptions store@themusic.com.au
Poised To Topple Engrossing Netflix political drama House Of Cards returns for its much anticipated fifth season in all its binge-worthy pleasure on 30 May.
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Seattle indie-rock mavens Minus The Bear have revealed their plans to bring their sixth and latest album, Voids, to Australia this August for a whirlwind east coast run.
info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au 459-461 Victoria Street Brunswick West Vic 3055 PO Box 231 Brunswick West Vic 3055
— Melbourne
Hoodoo Gurus
Prepare For A Pummelling The Fist Full Of Rock tour is just that, with a line-up featuring Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Jebediah and Adalita. This combination of acts will be performing at select venues during August and September. 6 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Bear In The Void
c / Arts / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Ministry Of Plenty
American industrial metal Juggernaut Ministry are returning for an Australian tour in September. They will be supported on their east coast dates by fellow industrial-rock group Filter.
Where and when? For more gig details go to theMusic.com.au The Snowdroppers
Snowdropouts To celebrate their tenth anniversary and say goodbye to fans one last time before they call it quits, The Snowdroppers have announced a national tour in October and November.
Minus The Bear
Bernard Fanning
$1569.54
Brutal Bernard Building the anticipation for his album Brutal Dawn out this week, former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning has announced a national tour with his band The Black Fins in October.
The price some Ed Sheeran Australian concert tickets were going for on resale site Viagogo, not long after presale began. This was even before tickets went on sale to the general public.
THE MUSIC â&#x20AC;˘ 24TH MAY 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ 7
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Maddy Madness
Maddy Jane
Tasmanian singer-songwriter Maddy Jane is currently in the midst of an extensive run of shows supporting the likes of Polish Club, Tash Sultana and, soon, Luca Brasi, and now she’s adding to that activity with a quick three-date headline tour this July and August.
Jamatar
Coranderrk
Jam Good Jamatar is straight up killing it. The young producer has joined 123 Agency and has a brand new single to share. He’ll take Reflect to Melbourne and Sydney in June.
Fight For Coranderrk Witness a recreation of the fight for dignity and justice between the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve and the Aboriginal Protection Board in Coranderrk by the Ilbijerri Theatre Company on Friday and Saturday at Footscray Community Arts Centre .
mortician: …then we’ll embalm and dress the body- me: sounds like a heavy undertaking mortician: yes you’ve said that four times already @DanMentos 8 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Legoland
Legrow Up Adult Lego fans rejoice! No longer will you need to find a kid to drag along to visit Legoland Discovery Centre when the monthly Adults Only Night begins this Thursday.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
[ Formerly The Hi- Fi Bar ]
Crashing In
Catherine Traicos
Catherine Traicos has unveiled Crashing, the first single from her upcoming sixth release, and will be bringing her hypnotic indie-rock sound to audiences in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne in June.
THU 25 MAY
INSOMNIUM FRI 26 MAY
CHILD
SAT 27 MAY - SOLD OUT!
SLUMBERJACK - MELBOURNE
Jerry Seinfeld
SAT 03 JUN
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE SUN 11 JUN
RIFF RAFF FT. DJ AFTERTHOUGHT SUN 11 JUN
NO CHILL CLUB TAKE OVER
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Aussie fans have already lost their marbles over news that Jerry Seinfeld will be here for a stand-up tour, now a third and final Melbourne date has been added due to overwhelming demand on 7 Aug at Hisense Arena.
SAT 01 JUL
FURNAPALOOZA FRI 07 JUL
PRIMORDIAL SAT 08 JUL
PAUL DEMPSEY & BAND
“BLINDSPOT” NATIONAL TOUR
FRI 14 JUL
ROOM39
LIVE IN MELBOURNE
THU 20 JUL
LANY
FRI 04 AUG
THE BOMBAY ROYALE
Bark Bonanza
The Barkly Barks Dog Festival
Back for another year this Sunday, Barkly Square will be the location for Brunswick’s favourite four-legged festival. The Barkly Barks Dog Festival will include a pug race, dog parade, pop-up stalls and much more that canines and canine-lovers alike will enjoy.
“RUN KITTY RUN” ALBUM LAUNCH
SAT 05 AUG
ILL NINO
SUN 06 AUG
MINUS THE BEAR SAT 26 AUG
RICHIE KOTZEN SALTING THE EARTH TOUR TIX + INFO
MA X WATTS.COM.AU 1300 843 443
125 SWANSTON ST, MELBOURNE
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 9
“S
Music
Ready & Cable
10 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Cable Ties’ Jenny McKechnie, Shauna Boyle and Nick Brown cover the basics with Sam Wall. Cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd.
o do you know Shrimpwitch?” asks Cable Ties singer/shredder Jenny McKechnie, peeking over the top of a menu at Fina’s Vegetarian Cafe. Turns out both bands had their first show together at Wetfest, the mini — fest that McKechnie organises with her other outfit Wetlips. “‘Cause Wetfest was just in our backyard it was a pretty casual affair, we both just jumped on first and uh, had a hit out, played like five songs.” “It was a good impetus to get the thing happening,” adds bassist Nick Brown. “’Cause we’d sort of had a few jams and then, like, a backyard gig is a pretty low bar to clear, as far as feeling competent goes. But it gives you the opportunity to go, ‘Alright, second week in March. We need to be able to play four or five songs.’ Then you kind of, get it together.” And so they did. Two years and a regimen of relentless gigging later, playing with everyone from The Peep Tempel to The Kills, and the trio have developed a sound that could peel an apple. “We played, just, heaps of shows,” says McKechnie, “We had September I think of that year where we played at The Old Bar like seven times or something ridiculous.” “Well, it was at least four times,” suggests drummer Shauna Boyle, “’cause I know we were calling it our unofficial Old Bar residency.” “Yep, I remember. I had 13 gigs in that month,” says McKechnie. “We both had something like that,” adds Boyle, who currently also plays with Customer. “And there was seven or eight Cable Ties ones,” McKechnie continues. “So yeah, that was awesome, just like, that stage where you say just ‘yes’ to everything.” “I miss doing that,” admits McKechnie. “I don’t know, that’s what I love about playing. It’s just, playing with all your mates at the Oldie on a bloody, Tuesday night, and not having to worry about all the music industry bullshit. Which we have to deal with a bit more now,” laughs the singer. Despite reservations about the wider functions of the music machine, the band have found the perfect environment in Melbourne’s thriving live scene, which led to signing with Poison City Records ahead of the release of their self — titled debut LP. They joined the beloved local label — home to the likes of Batpiss and Camp Cope — “a few of months ago now”, McKechnie confirms, although it sounds more like a companionable partnership than anything you’d call a ‘contract’. “I guess we don’t even call it, or see it, as signed,” considers Brown, which gets a couple of affirmatives from his bandmates. “They’re puttin’ out the record, if that makes sense.” “It’s us going to Andy [Hayden] and Thommo [Sarah Thompson] every so often like, ‘Weugh! Whadda we do?! [laughs] Help!’” squeaks McKechnie. “Which they’re always
really good at responding to.” Apart from the vocals and some guitar — or “the good shreds” — the record was mostly knocked out over a couple of winter days in a Fairfield warehouse studio that Brown laconically describes as “super cold”. It was an experience they survived by huddling around bar — style heaters and drinking “a lotta tea with whiskey in it”, shares McKechnie, but it was a particular struggle for Brown. “I’m the soft one,” he says, which McKechnie expands, “Too delicate to pick up the bass amp.” “Sometimes I pick up the bass amp. I’m pretty good between about 20 and 22 degrees Celsius. I’m like — I think I’m a pretty good musician in that kind of range. Like, as long as it’s not humid or too dry.” “Too hot,” says McKechnie. “Or too cold,” adds Boyle. Brown nods amiably, “Yeah.” Album complete and frostbite averted, the trio are set for their debut national tour. It’s a fairly gruelling seven — week schedule — maintaining their regular work week while jumping interstate each weekend. “I think that’s just the reality for bands, you know?” says Brown. “In Australia the distances are too vast, the audiences are too small... You can’t just knock out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights. Especially not outside of three largish cities.” The real challenge isn’t just logistical, however. It’s the also the band’s first major step away from the community and support network that they’ve built right here on their Melbs home turf. “It’ll be a big learning experience for us when we go on our national tour,” says Boyle. “And to see how we are received outside of our bubble.” “Yes. Playing to an audience of people who came to see us, not to see a different band,” adds McKechnie. Entering the national arena is an exciting but daunting proposition. From ‘pay to play’ shows to getting lowballed on support slots there are myriad ways to get the shit end of the drumstick making music. The pitfalls change as you progress, but recognition doesn’t in any way equal immunity. Leonard Cohen didn’t spend his twilight years on the road because he loved touring. Though only having played together a couple of years, Cable Ties have established their politics explicitly. If you’ve ever heard McKechnie howl “I am not a production unit/I am a human being” until her voice cracks you
shouldn’t really need SparkNotes to get a grasp of their core principles — but still they get clueless booking agents offering them exciting opportunities like playing support slots out of state at a massive loss. “And for a band that has completely opposite values to us,” says Boyle. “I don’t know,” considers Brown. “There’s some level of ‘whatever’ associated with bands that people want to buy into and take advantage of. They wanna, you know — it looks good to have a diverse line — up on your bill when you’re a fuckin’, dude punk band. And so, if you can offer people fuckin’, bullshit money to come and play with you...” “And then get rewarded for having a diverse line — up,” finishes an exasperated McKechnie. “But you know, exploiting them. The bands that are playing with you — great.” “The thing that I love about music is like, the music community in Melbourne,” says McKechnie. “And that’s, putting on events like Wetfest, and having a music community with pretty strong political values... About people’s identities and how you treat each other. And then you sort of move outside this nice Melbourne bubble that you’ve created for yourself with all these bands and suddenly you realise that the music industry itself is the opposite of that. It’s this hyper — exploitative, capitalist thing. “Suddenly you’re getting offers to play for about 5% of the total door cost of some fucking touring band. And they’re like, ‘The exposure!’” “Yeah,” Boyle nods. “But I mean, if you’ve only been a band for like six months or something you’d probably just be like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’” “And if everyone keeps saying yes to that shit,” resumes McKechnie, “which, you know, of course people will, because they need to get out there. But if everyone keeps doing it then they’ll keep being able to exploit bands.” It’s a clever business model, and not one that’s limited to the music scene. If you can convince young artists across the creative spectrum that only way to get work is to undercut each other for nothing, and have them thank you for the pleasure, you’re laughing. If you’re curious Cable Ties’ opinion of the practice, have a listen to the unnerving portrayal of forced dependency on album opener and early single The Producer. “[It] means that people who can’t afford to spend their time doing free work aren’t going to get into creative industries,” says McKechnie. “You’re making these creative industries a lot more boring. And the people who should, whose voices should be being heard through art aren’t because they can’t. They don’t have, you know, parents they can fall back on when they’re broke. They don’t have a safety net to go back to. So if they have to... You have to give up eventually.”
Suddenly you’re like getting offers to play for about 5% of the total door cost of some fucking touring band. And they’re like, ‘The exposure!’
What: Cable Ties (Poison City Records) When & Where: 2 Jun, The Eastern, Ballarat; The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine; 23 Jun, The Tote
Whatever Blows Your Hair Back According to McKechnie there’s two thing’s Cable Ties aren’t so flash at: “Not good at visual art, not good at coming up with video concepts. At all.” Which is surprising considering the quality of the recent clip for Say What You Mean, in which Cable Ties rise up against their evil office overlord — played with apple — thieving aplomb by Tankerville’s Matt Chow — and destroy their awful office. “That was Flags [Chris Matthews, Defero Productions], who filmed and put together the video for us,” says Boyle. “Flags kind of had like a run sheet,” tells the drummer, “with all the little ideas of the shots that he wanted to have. For example, like, when the boss would come over and scream at Jenny and then there would be a shot of Jenny with her hair kind of blowing back. So that was one of our favourite things to do because... We could’ve just had a hair dryer but Flags was like, ‘No I’m gonna get a leaf blower,’ like a two — stroke leaf blower inside the office.” “And we were inside an actual office building,” adds McKechnie. “During office hours,” continues Boyle. “There people like having a video conference and stuff in the next room.” “We stank out the whole floor with petrol fumes,” McKechnie laughs. “We could only use the leaf blower for like 30 seconds at a time because we were all kind of dying from fumes,” adds Boyle. “But it was quite effective. It looks pretty good.”
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 11
Music
My Narrow Street Acclaimed singer-songwriter Ryan Adams delivers Steve Bell a passionate sermon about the power of song and the redemptive capabilities of rock’n’roll.
U
S songsmith Ryan Adams has always poured his heart and soul into his art, and while he’s often visited terrains rife with despondency and selfrealisation, few of his albums have been as beautifully desolate as his recent 16th long-player, Prisoner. Conceived and penned during the fallout of his all too public divorce from wife of six years Mandy Moore, Prisoner’s songs once more take difficult personal experiences and mould them into something that Adams altruistically hopes will prove of some benefit to others. “As a producer I would say, and maybe it’s the wrong way to put it, but I would say that that record is for everyone
I think that they are banner moments of humanity.
but me,” he tells. “I made it and it is me — I am in that record, and it is born of necessity and it is born completely from things that I needed to say and is genuine in every complete way — but it’s not a mirror, it really isn’t. It’s meant to nourish other people. “And the best thing you can do — for me and the feelings and the crazy things that have gone on in my life — is to take some of the more twisted parts of a life and turn them into something possibly beautiful for other people to grow from or learn from or experience them in a way that makes them want to love life more. That’s the best that I could ever hope. “It’s like you take that bitter seed and you plant it and you grow something good with it, as opposed to eating it and getting sick. That’s how I see this stuff: I see it
12 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
as my way of experiencing these things in a new way again, and as cheesy as it sounds I’ve always just been a true believer in the art of rock’n’roll since I was very young, and I suppose I always will be. It will always be my narrow street.” For Adams his songs are so much more than a mere diary entry or signpost, possessing massive cultural import. “They’re all born out of necessity,” he reflects. “At some point my psyche — whether it be something on my mind or something deep in my mind — it pushes something out that I need to make. I think that something like writing songs is maybe a bit like if you’re someone who works with glass — you only have to break a few things before you realise that it’s not for you. It’s a fragile thing. “I don’t really make music that has anything to do with a trend or a time. I don’t think my music could ever really be part of any one kind of a thing — that’s been the problem. I love songs. I like talking to people in a song, I like being in a song and I like correlating my feelings in a song. And I’ve learned a lot about life in songs. I think if anything honestly in modern contemporary culture has ever been so grossly overlooked, undermanaged and treated with such lack of respect, it’s songs. “Because how many people that we both know — or will ever know — will ever learn about some of the ideas of how to help themselves in the moment where they feel their heartbreak for the first time — they’re not reading Shakespeare, they’re listening to a song. Or the first time they have a crush and they feel wild and out of control about it: they’re not standing in front of a painting at the Met Gallery — I mean they might be — but they’re probably listening to a song, a song is probably their friend. How many children are conceived by the blue light of a dashboard by some lovely couple out at midnight parked some place, or listening to some crazy record that they both love? “And how many people fall in love because a perfect moment happens and just at that perfect moment while they’re looking at each other and realising that they’re not just friends, just a wonderful piece of music comes on that says something. Maybe it’s The Flamingos’ I Only Have Eyes For You which plays at that very moment and they talk about it when they’re 80: ‘Do you remember when that song came on and you first looked at me in that funny way and I knew?’ “Songs are these very powerful and very magical things, they’re extremely important, and I think that they thing are banner moments of humanity. They’re ineffable and immovable and I think that they say everything about who we are, and they have to do it in three and a half to five minutes or you’re going to bore the hell out of someone.”
What: Prisoner (Paxam Records/EMI) When & Where: 26 May, Margaret Court Arena
ON SALE NOW VIA
WWW.CORNERHOTEL.COM AND 1300 724 867
57 SWAN ST, RICHMOND, 3121
24/05 - JULIA JACKLIN SOLD OUT 26/05 - RADICAL FACE USA 27/05 - THE CHERRY DOLLS 28/05 - JULIA JACKLIN SOLD OUT 02/06 - ELECTRIC MARY 03/06 - POLISH CLUB SOLD OUT 04/06 - POLISH CLUB SELLING FAST 09/06 - ‘BRAZILIAN AFTER PARTY’ FT.
11/07 13/07 -
JAPANDROIDS CAN - SELLING FAST
LEAPS & BOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT
FT. AUGIE MARCH + MORE
14/07 - THE UNDERTONES UK 15/07 - GL 22/07 - THE TESKEY BROTHERS 28/07 - THE CURE’S ‘WISH’ 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW FT.
STEVE KILBEY (THE CHURCH) + EVIL DICK (HITS)
ZAMBABEM, MANDACARU + DJ PAPRIKA 10/06 - BAD//DREEMS SELLING FAST 15/06 - KIRIN J. CALLINAN 16/06 - BUSBY MAROU SELLING FAST 17/06 - CLOWNS + NIGHT BIRDS USA 23/06 - HUSKY 24/06 - D.D DUMBO SOLD OUT 25/06 - ‘LIVE IT UP’ WITH
PETER COMBE AND THE BELLY FLOP IN A PIZZA BAND MATINEE 25/06 - D.D DUMBO SOLD OUT 29/06 - DUSTIN TEBBUTT SELLING FAST + LISA MITCHELL 30/06 - DUSTIN TEBBUTT SOLD OUT + LISA MITCHELL 01/07 - ELECTRIC LADY
FT. ALI BARTER, ALEX LAHEY + MORE
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29/07 - FRENZAL RHOMB SELLING FAST 14/08 - NEW FOUND GLORY SOLD OUT 15/08 - NEW FOUND GLORY SOLD OUT 16/08 - NEW FOUND GLORY SOLD OUT 17/08 - AMY SHARK SOLD OUT 18/08 - AMY SHARK SOLD OUT 19/08 - AMY SHARK SOLD OUT 21/08 - AMY SHARK SELLING FAST 02/09 - TROPHY EYES SOLD OUT 03/09 - TROPHY EYES SELLING FAST 09/09 - THE GETAWAY PLAN 15/09 - WEEKENDER FEST ‘17 SELLING FAST 06/10 - AGAINST THE CURRENT USA - SELLING FAST 08/10 - ONE OK ROCK JAPAN - SOLD OUT 12/10 - PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT UK - SOLD OUT 13/10 - PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT UK - SOLD OUT 14/10 - PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT UK - SELLING FAST 19/10 - THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN USA
PARADISE LOST UK 16/12
THE GETAWAY PLAN 09/09
SOLD OUT
ONE OK ROCK
THE TESKEY BROTHERS
SELLING FAST
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DUSTIN TEBBUTT + LISA MITCHELL
AMY SHARK
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THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
WEEKENDER FEST ‘17
JAPAN 08/10
22/07
21/08
29/06
SELLING FAST
20/10 - THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN USA - SOLD OUT + TURNOVER USA 16/12 - PARADISE LOST UK PLUS HEAPS MORE AT WWW.CORNERHOTEL .COM
USA - 19/10
15/09
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PALLBEARER
18/07
06 & 07/07
DAMIAN COWELL’S DISCO MACHINE
ALICE IV Y
11/06
USA
08/06
USA
14/07
16/06
SELLING FAST
WINSTON SURFSHIRT 01/06
KLP
‘MIX MATCH TOUR’ 27/05
25/05 - SEAN HEATHCLIFF
16/06- DAMIAN COWELL’S DISCO
MACHINE 23/06- HEY GERONIMO 27/05 - KLP ‘MIX MATCH TOUR’ 25/06- CATHERINE TRAICOS DUO MATINEE 28/05- I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE MATINEE MERRI CREEK PRIMARY BENEFIT GIG 25/06- LACHY DOLEY GROUP 29/05-‘WIND IT UP’ LAUNCH FT. AUSMUTEANTS / 30/06- BEN OTTEWELL GOMEZ - UK CONSTANT MONGREL / THE FACULTY 01/07- COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS 01/06 - WINSTON SURFSHIRT SELLING FAST 06/07- PALLBEARER USA - SELLING FAST 02/06- WINSTON SURFSHIRT SOLD OUT 07/07- PALLBEARER USA - SELLING FAST 03/06- AIRLING SOLD OUT 08/07- STEVE GUNN SOLO - USA 04/06- AIRLING SELLING FAST 14/07 - ALICE IVY 08/06- THE NORTHERN FOLK 15/07 - JULIEN BAKER USA - SOLD OUT + THIS WAY NORTH (GOING AWAY SHOW) 18/07 - JULIEN BAKER USA - SELLING FAST 09/06- SLOWLY SLOWLY 21/07 - 68 USA 10/06 - PRETTY CITY 11/06- UNDERGROUND LOVERS SELLING FAST 19/08 - DEEZ NUTS 26/05 - BARO
PLUS HE A PS MORE AT W W W.NORTHCOTESOCIA LCLUB.COM THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 13
Music
Growing Pains Julia Jacklin and Brynn Davies catch up on all that’s happened since she released Don’t Let The Kids Win last year.
W
hen Julia Jacklin came into The Music’s Sydney office in September last year, she was bubbling with relief that the ball was finally rolling on the album cycle for her debut LP Don’t Let The Kids Win - “I recorded it last year, and I’m releasing it this year and I’ll be touring the rest of this year and next year, and then I’ll record an album the end of next year or the middle of next year,” she’d said, excited at the prospect. She was gentle-mannered, carefully contemplating her answers and expressing honest truths about her fears of failure and acute awareness of the time/success continuum. Little did she know how much her life was about to change.
I feel a coming of age moment is happening right this minute for Julia the performer.
This time around we’re chatting in the middle of another massive overseas jaunt, her second go-round the UK, America and Europe, and she’s preparing to return home for her biggest Australian headline shows to date. “I’m in Kansas City right now, on tour with Andy Shauf. It’s been a really big year for me in terms of travel. [I] feel like I spent 70% of my life looking out the window of a moving vehicle. But it’s been pretty amazing to be able to play with great musicians and meet people who are super into the record, from Dallas to Oslo to Munich. Got to play NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert in DC, that was pretty crazy for me. I’ve been watching that for so long. It was kind of on top of my ‘dream/probably never going to happen music achievement’ list.”
14 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Remembering our previous conversation surrounding her literal experience of ‘coming of age’, riffing off her track of the same name, the question is asked once again - but this time, does she feel that she must separate the two experiences - the growth of Julia Jacklin, the musician, and simply ‘Julia’? “I’m not entirely sure to be honest,” she shrugs. “I feel a coming of age moment is happening right this minute for Julia the performer. Just finally understanding touring, understanding what I need on tour and having more of an idea of what it actually means to be a full-time musician. I had no idea even six months ago. I feel finally like I have the confidence to ask for what I want and need without worrying that I’m being too demanding. That took a long time.” Jacklin’s music, her video treatments (which are all her own, doubling as director) and general aesthetic revolve heavily around a nostalgia-drenched sentimentality. Recently, she returned to her Blue Mountains hometown of Springwood to shoot Coming Of Age, schoolmates behind the lens and Jacklin and her younger brother in front. “I mean, I think it’s just a longing for that time when everything seemed so uncomplicated. For a lot of people that’s childhood. I’m sure from the beginning of time people have looked backwards thinking things were much better then. I guess right now things seem pretty dark moving forward. “I just spent a lot of my youth wanting to get out of the suburbs I guess. I just thought once I got into the city I’d become a much more interesting person. I used to daydream about all these really cool friends I was going to make once I got there and how cool they’d think I was. I like revisiting that feeling in the clips because I think it has informed a lot of what I’ve done. Now I appreciate the quiet of where I grew up because I spend most of my life in cities and venues now.” Does she get recognised when she rolls back into p Springwood these days? “I doubt they recognise who I am. Well, actually, my mother works at the local school and she seems to have my publicity covered with the loca community, so maybe,” she laughs. “I’m less local emb embarrassed than I used to be being in front of the cam camera. Now I’m like ‘Shit, we have one day to do this and only a certain amount of sunlight so just do it and cring later.’” cringe With a whirlwind eight months of shows and press coming to a close since the release of the record, Jacklin is looking forward to settling down in an actual house, taking some time and reinvigorating her inspiration. “I’ve been writing some stuff, trying to write everyday. I just need some time off I think. I don’t want to write a record about cars and petrol stations and stage sound issues. Going from someone who just happened to write songs, to someone who now only writes songs and writes songs for a living, is a challenging transition, but I’ll figure it out.”
What: 24 & 28 May, Corner Hotel
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THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 15
Music
Brutal Bernard Bernard Fanning tells Rod Whitfield of the motive behind dropping two albums so close to one another, and chats about life after four solo albums. ernard Fanning’s fourth solo record Brutal Dawn has come pretty hot on the heels of his third, Civil Dusk, with there being only nine months in between the two releases. This came about because of the wealth of songs he had written over the preceding couple of years. However, instead of doing a double-album release, or indeed the whole Guns N’ Roses thing (releasing two separate albums at the same time) he decided to do it his own way. “It’s a pretty different process putting two records out in a row,” he says, “even doing more promo now, so quickly after having done a lot for the last record, is
B
was unavailable for one of the sessions and Hirst just happened to be in Byron at the time. “He’s one of the greatest drummers,” he says, “and that energy and power that he brings to stuff, he really brought that song up and gave it a good kick up the arse. He just made it have a lot more zing that I thought it was going to have. When you see someone that’s that good at something in action, whether it’s playing drums or snooker or tennis, it’s just awesome to watch.” Fanning admits that it’s a little difficult to get his head around the fact that he is now four albums and well over a decade into his solo career outside his former iconic rock act Powderfinger. “Yeah, it’s weird,” he states,
It’s more about saying ‘what’s next?’ rather than saying ‘weren’t we great’, and patting ourselves on the back
“it’s weird but it’s also just everyday reality. I obviously look back very fondly on my days in Powderfinger, I had a really awesome time and I’m really proud of what we did. But it’s not part of my everyday reality now. I’ve never been one to look back too much or to worry about what’s happened. “It’s more about saying ‘what’s next?’ rather than saying ‘weren’t we great’, and patting ourselves on the back. I certainly appreciate those days, I just don’t want to talk about it all fuckin’ day!”
What: Brutal Dawn (Dew Process/Universal) When & Where: 26 & 27 Oct, The Croxton
really unusual. I’ve never done it before. But it is a new record, and they kinda go together. It’s an unusual kind of situation. About half way through making the first one, we said ‘We’ve got heaps of material here, but we don’t want to make a 20-song album.’ So we did it over two. So we’re presenting them together and apart,” he laughs, “it’s an odd feeling but I’m really happy with it.” Fanning feels that he has upped the ante on the new album. “I feel I’ve bettered Civil Dusk,” he opines, “there’s always that novelty thing, that this is the new thing, but I just feel like this one just hangs together better.” He managed to secure the rather illustrious services of one of Australia’s greatest ever drummers, Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst, on one of the key tracks on the album, America (Glamour And Prestige). His regular drummer
16 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
WED 24 MAY
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SAT 27 MAY EVE 5-7 (FREE):
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TUE 30 MAY
MAKE IT UP CLUB
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 17
Music
Frontlash Good Schmidt
Paying The Price
This sea-son is strong as hell. Uuuunbreakable!
Witchie-Boo Speaking of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Tituss Burgess performing Poor Unfortunate Soul from The Little Mermaid at Vulture Festival was beyond amazing. Make it happen Disney!
What A Waste
Lashes
Who’d have thought a three-part snoop into our garbage could be so entertaining. If you’ve ever wanted to put a tracker into a Coles recycling bin or go dumpster diving with one of The Chasers, ABC’s War On Waste is the show for you.
Tituss Burgess. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Backlash Not On
Why is there any confusion about whether it’s assault to trick someone into thinking you’re wearing a condom during sex? Get consent or fuck right off.
Avolatte
We know it’s a gimmick, but serving coffee in old avo skins? Gross.
Dis-Romp There isn’t a man alive with the pizzazz to pull of the romper. Idris Elba, maybe. Everyone else needs to put on their bigboy pants.
18 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Slumberjack’s Morgan Then chats to Brynn Davies about the amount of work and equipment it takes to bring Fracture from the studio to the stage.
“T
he Perth scene is tough, really tough,” muses Morgan Then, one half of future bass duo Slumberjack. “People like a lot of really, really heavy shit there, like drum’n’bass and dubstep and heavy trap. I love dubstep. Fletch and I are always chasing that feeling like when we first heard Bangarang by Skrillex. But a lot of dubstep that’s coming out now is very cookie cutter.” Then and I are chatting mid-Groovin The Moo tour - he’s in a Melbourne cafe about to attack a seriously orgasmic looking pork thing (he sent pics) and his co-’jack, Fletcher Ehlers, is already occupied with his lunch. Following on from this run of festival dates, Then and Ehlers are continuing on with their own headline tour in support of their second EP Fracture. The coinciding tours mark the first time Slumberjack’s songs are being performed live - “We bought crazy-expensive equipment to even accommodate the show. And this equipment isn’t even the centre of the show people who froth on it are people like me and Fletch - nerdy tech guys. The fans and the audience see the end result and they don’t understand the hardware and technology that goes behind it. It’s insane. “We have this one thing called the switcher, and it switches when a laptop fails seamlessly. We have two laptops running the
show, and if a laptop fails, Fletcher and I won’t even notice that there was a problem in the set... And we’ve got two racks travelling with us. The whole thing has cost us a lot; a lot of money, a lot of frustration - but no frustration anymore because now when you’re on stage, nothing fails!” Did they find out the hard way that they needed a switcher? “We have, our second year of Splendour,” he laughs. “We were DJing, we had the laptop on stage and the tracks were playing fine. But when we were doing the next one it started playing backwards. And so Fletcher had to run back off stage and pick up a spare USB, so we weren’t running off the laptop anymore. When things go wrong, when they can go wrong, they will go wrong,” he says sagely. Though their current Fracture tour is Ozbound, the boys have worn tracks on festival circuits around the world. How do Aussie festivals and audiences differ from those they’ve experienced overseas? “Different,” he says decidedly. “I think America in general actually is more interested in the artists that are playing... We play shows in America and fans who have never heard of us before would do their research and listen to all our music and find out all about us... Australians also have a reliance on press and radio. “People here - not in a bad way - but they’re used to being spoon-fed music... We tend to be more laid-back because we know we’re gonna be served commercial music or mainstream music and independent music all at the same time and we get to take our pick. In America, most things on the radio, it’s very, very mainstream. So sometimes the dance music fans get sick of it, and they’ve learned that if they want new music and new artists they’re gonna have to do their own research.”
When & Where: 27 May, Max Watt’s
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THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 19
Music
Across The Seas
MUSIC BOX Nelson Campus, Box Hill Institute
Don’t bother waiting until 2018 if you’re looking to begin your career in music, Box Hill Institute are offering mid-year intake for music courses including Certificates, Diplomas, Bachelors and Masters programs. Offering a broad range of courses including studio recording, production, performance, composition and many more, Box Hill Institute’s success can be seen in the number of students who have gone on to be nominated for or won Grammy and Aria Awards. Come to their open day Saturday 3 Jun at the Whitehorse Road campus in Box Hill to get a closer look at facilities, meet teachers, and witness what students have accomplished.
20 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Ahead of her debut Australian headline tour, Lisa Hannigan chats with Martin Jones about how her musical pen pal days with The National’s Aaron Dessner helped shape her latest album.
E
ver since she stomped her indelible mark on the Way To Blue Nick Drake tribute concerts here some years ago, Irish siren Lisa Hannigan, has been winning over Australian fans with her plush voice and sharp songwriting. Her imminent fourth visit to our shores will be her first as a headliner, accompanied by a scaled down version of her touring band. “Everybody wants to go to Australia,” Hannigan says of her blossoming relationship with our audiences, “and it’s so hard to get there obviously just because it’s expensive to fly so many people there - and for this set we’ll be doing the trio thing as opposed to the full band. It’s a total dream to go... I’ve been there a few times not doing gigs and I just love being in Australia, and hopefully the more you go the more you can come back and play to more people.” Hannigan has an entire new album of material to present to us from her latest, At Swim, a stylistic detour from her previous work, thanks in large part, to the influence of The National’s Aaron Dessner. “I think that song I actually co-wrote with Aaron Dessner, who produced the record,” Hannigan responds when we comment on the creepy synths and beats backing new track, Barton.
“He actually sent me, not the backing of it that ends up on the record, but that sort of strange, I think it’s on the OP-1 he played that, which is a tiny little mad synthesiser the size of a pencil case. So I’ll be bringing my OP-1 [to Australia]. But that was something that Aaron sent to me when we were in our musical pen pal phase. He would just send me things and I would just sort of warble into them and send them back to him. So that one does sound really different to anything I’ve done before. In the mixing stage Bryan Devendorf from The National put down that mad little fizzy drum pattern, and that just brought the whole thing together.” The Dessner partnership came out of the blue; an unsolicited email offering his assistance appeared in Hannigan’s inbox right when she was struggling with writing new material for the album. Stunned by the serendipity, Hannigan took him up on the offer, although there was no guarantee the two would gel. “I think, well, there’s always that question when you’re working with any kind of producer,” she affirms. “But I was a fan of Aaron’s production work, he had some made some records that I absolutely loved. For example, This Is The Kit’s album Bashed Out, and that was so sensitively done, she has such a singular sound. Aaron brought so much to it without damaging her, for want of a better word, her self. And I think all his producing records are like that. I think he’s a very, very sensitive producer in that way.” “And also I really wanted it to sound different,” she laughs. “But we worked really well together.”
When & Where: 25 May, Thornbury Theatre
Luke Yeo wa rd Pic: Tajette O’Halloran
The King returns to his throne when former King Cannons leading man Luke Yeoward returns to Melbourne to launch his debut solo album Ghosts. After crowdfunding the launch of his solo career and developing the project in the USA, the Melburnian is ready to share his creation live with fans. The muchawaited reveal will take place at The Toff on Saturday with supporting acts Deep Street Soul, The Moonhops and DJ Kilmarnock Steve. Yeoward likes to think Ghosts is “is a reminder that anything is possible and anything can change”.
s
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 21
Theatre
Trumped Up A little under 70-years since 1984 first herald a future of authoritarian tyranny, our political reality feels eerily similar to Orwell’s fiction. Director Corey McMahon tells Maxim Boon about staging this story in the age of Trump.
S
ince the 1949 publication of cautionary parable 1984, political moves impinging on the democratic freedoms of individuals have often been branded “Orwellian”. Today, however, that adjective has seemingly been replaced by a new term: “Trumpian.” This substitution is more than just a matter of semantics. Orwell’s dystopian vision of a future where authoritarianism and technology collude to oppress a nation’s citizens on every level - even their thoughts was inspired by the atrocities committed by the Nazis and later in Stalinist Russia, and the ominous ambitions
I’m in awe of this production and the story that underpins it.
those regimes harboured for the future. Likening Donald Trump - a scandal-wracked wannabe politico, whose fledgling tenure has been marred more by ham-fisted bluster than anything truly totalitarian - to Hitler or Stalin, might be deemed sensationalist. But much of the anxiety and outrage that has been provoked by the insurgent rise of populist rhetoric has been stoked not by deeds done, but by potential horrors yet to unfold. Given how electrified these topics are in the minds of most thinking, feeling people in Western democracies, it’s all but inevitable that Orwell’s depiction of a world under the tyrannical yoke of legislated mind control should feel eerily prescient. This synergy isn’t lost on director Corey McMahon, as he prepares the first 22 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Australian cast production of Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan’s blockbusting adaptation of 1984 for British theatre company Headlong, which has enjoyed global success since it opened in London around three years ago. Since then, it’s been seen by more than 400,000 theatregoers worldwide, including several sold out houses during the 2015 Melbourne Festival, when the original British cast toured the show to Australia for the first time. The production’s connections to the political zeitgeist were already apparent when the show first premiered, but few of those involved could have predicted just how uncanny this parallel would become in the ensuing years. “When I was first approached about directing the Australian tour, any thought that Donald Trump would actually become President was laughable. At that point, the production was an adaptation of a narrative that had an ongoing relevance in terms of people’s concerns about surveillance and austerity,” McMahon recalls. “Then, of course, when Trump actually got into office, it suddenly felt like many people were reaching out to Orwell for answers. I think 1984 offered some level of understanding about what had happened, and how things might evolve.” McMahon shoulders a hefty responsibility in his role as the revival director of this production. Not only must he faithfully reproduce the calibre and focus of MacMillan and Icke’s original staging, nurturing a similar world-class level of performance from his Australian cast, but he must also preserve the essence of Orwell’s fiction, even as it strains towards our geopolitical reality. “There are challenges, but there’s no point reinventing the wheel. The show already works so well - that’s a real blessing,” he explains. “My job is to honour what Robert and Duncan have created, but it’s also important to step back from the work and question the choices they’ve made, and how I can communicate those ideas to the actors. It is fascinating to be part of this show at this point in time. I’m in awe of this production and the story that underpins it, and personally, in terms of my politics and what I like to see in the theatre and what I believe theatre should be doing, it’s hugely rewarding.” The total abolition of freedom of speech is a core theme in Orwell’s narrative, and the resonance between this and the erosion of free and open reporting in our post-truth, “Fake News” era is striking. It’s for this reason that McMahon sees theatre becoming perhaps the most valuable medium for challenging State suppression of truth. “Maybe we’ve all been blindly hoping that things don’t turn out to be how they are in Orwell’s book. Of course, we’re not there yet, but certainly, things are in motion that could conceivably reach that end point. It’s fascinating for myself and the cast in a way, because we’re in this bubble really - we’ve been focused on serving the play and the vision of its creators. But none of us are immune to what’s going on in the outside world, and regardless of what we do on stage, the audience will make their own connections between this story and current events.”
When & Where: 31 May - 10 Jun, Comedy Theatre
Music
Be Brave
New Zealand folk singer Aldous Harding tells Steve Bell why her new album Party isn’t exactly party music.
Y
oung New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding has carved herself a niche in recent years with her distinctive brand of hypnotic folk, quietly intense music delivered with a restrained fervour that suits the austere soundscapes perfectly. Her new album Party is awash with beautifully minimalist arrangements - stark vistas where Harding’s spectral vocal have free rein to peak and trough as they please with the album recorded in the UK in tandem with esteemed producer John Parish, the pair bunkering down for ten days in his Bristol studio. While Parish is undoubtedly best known for his work with PJ Harvey - to whom Harding is oft compared - her inspiration to travel so far in search of aural perfection actually came from closer to home. “I just loved Laura Jean’s record that she did with him so much, and that was kind of the record that made me decide that I would approach him,” Harding recalls of the Melbourne folk singer’s eponymous 2014 long-player. “I think I made a pretty good choice and now I’ve got a friend for life as well, so that’s nice. And a record.” And while Harding admits that she and Parish got on very well in the studio, there wasn’t much time for relaxation given that the songs were still coming thick and fast. “For some of the songs we had
arrangements sorted [before the sessions], but I actually wrote Imagining My Man, Living The Classics and Blend while we were recording,” she tells. “I think I wrote them in about an hour each or a couple of hours each. My memory of that time is pretty foggy. It was eight months ago and I’ve done a lot since then, but I remember it being very present and very tiring - very, very tiring - just because it’s such a small place and it’s just non-stop focus. It has to be. It’s very much like work, but a nice kind of work.” And while Harding received plenty of traction for her darker 2014 self-titled debut, she didn’t let external expectation weigh her down on Party. “I put pressure on myself to make a good record because I was doing it with John Parish and a lot of people worked hard so that I could make it, including myself, so there was pressure to have something that I felt was credible and that I felt John was proud of,” she reflects. “I just wanted to make a record that I thought was good, was solid. “Most of the songs on Party are love songs, but I don’t know that I was trying to make a lyrical thread, it was just one song at a time. They’re obviously not as tortured [as songs on the debut album] - I feel a lot freer and a lot more comfortable now, but that’s just because I’m getting older and I’m getting over it. I was just trying to be a bit braver this time around I guess.”
FID-GET
O U T TA H E R E The foot tappers and pen clickers of the world now how a brand-new way to frustrate their loved ones and co-workers and fidget gadgets are quickly taking over every classroom and workplace. The stress relief fidget cube has six sides and six ways to indulge your restless impulses, with buttons to click, switches to flick, ball bearings to roll and more. Fidget spinners are undeniably addictive, although why is a bit of a mystery. They’re supposed to help with anxiety and stress relief, but if you’ve constantly spinning a piece of metal in people’s faces they probably won’t agree. You can even get one shaped like a batarang! Finally, if you think pen twirlers are the worst then this is your lucky day! Super bendy and covered in magnets the Think Ink Pen is described as a “dicreet fidgeting tool”. Although Right underneath that the Kickstarter page has a video of someone spinning it on a chain like an upside down helicopter rotar, which might draw some attention.
What: Party (4AD/Remote Control)
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 23
Music
Decompressing Cash Savage chats to Brynn Davies about grief, Janis Joplin and writing a letter to the thing she didn’t know she wanted.
“I
actually started a band in high school with Nick Finch who now produces the albums. I told myself I’d never be a country musician and we used to joke about it, that we’d become country musicians when we were 25 - at 15, 25 seemed a long time away - and low and behold, I play country music!” Cash Savage laughs over the phone. “I’m dishonest to my 15-year-old self.” Savage grew up in a musical family, with both parents musicians and her uncle being the one and only Conway Savage of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fame. “I haven’t really aspired to emulate many people, but I’ve always
been a big Janis Joplin fan. I love how she phrases and structures the sound of her voice through the lines of her song, and that goes for Patty Smith as well. And Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane,” she adds. “[Joplin] can just go from like zero to 100 in her voice; she’ll be doing these little soulful bits and then it just goes into this fuckin’ 100% crazy wail without any effort. It’s like she doesn’t even take a breath in-between.” Savage and her band The Last Drinks have been touring their third album One Of Us since 2015, and demand shows no signs of waining, just recently selling out Melbourne’s Corner Hotel. “It’s gotta be a dream, as a Melbourne musician it’s on the bucket list,” she enthuses. The album’s blues grunt and mellow country tones 24 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Everyone gets a heads-up that they’re not supposed to record or anything, so they set up a really safe space there so you feel like you can really talk about anything you want. recounts a difficult period for Savage. “This latest album is much more about grief than anything else... Between me and my partner we knew about four or five people who suicided. I’ve lost count now. Two of them were quite close, and none of them had anything to do with each other. It was just a weird time. But at the same time I was having wonderful times with the band, and our first international tour, and I got married, so it was quite a juxtaposition of emotions and that’s what One Of Us is to me, all those different emotions in one album,” explains Savage. Her appearance at Women Of Letters in April opened Savage up to an entirely new style of performance. “I was very much out of my comfort zone, I don’t normally stand and read! I know it probably doesn’t seem that different, but it is that different,” she muses. “I was quite nervous beforehand. It went really well, there’s a lot of love in the crowd. Everyone gets a heads-up that they’re not supposed to record or anything, so they set up a really safe space there so you feel like you can really talk about anything you want which is quite nice as a performer. “The theme this time was A Letter To The Thing I Didn’t Know I Wanted, which was a hard theme for me, but I wrote it to my marriage - not to my wife, but to my marriage. Who knows that they want to get married? Not me! I don’t know many people that would think about it in this day and age... but then when you get married there’s things that do actually change. The way that the world sees your relationship, which is an interesting thing. I dunno. I’m so fucking bored of how politicised my own marriage is, so it feels like a funny thing to talk about.”
When & Where: 27 May, The Curtin
Music
Family Matters
Iconic indie-rock mainstay Bill Callahan tells Steve Bell about preserving relationships with both his family and the places he plies his trade.
U
S singer-songwriter Bill Callahan has spent over 25 years at the musical coalface - releasing 11 albums behind the band moniker Smog, then through the last decade issuing five more under his own name - but he’s been fairly quiet of late following the release of his acclaimed 2013 album Dream River (and its 2014 dub reimagining Have Fun With God). The reason? He and his wife recently welcomed Callahan’s first son Bass into the world, and family commitments rightly tend to take precedence over career factors. “I had a kid so a lot of my energy has been going towards being a papa,” Callahan smiles. “It’s amazing and lots of work and very tiring, so I’ve been adjusting because it used to be that music was basically my only responsibility and I could focus 100% of my energy onto that, and now it’s not. “I think it changes your brain having a kid, and it changes the whole shape of your life - it just changes everything. So I’ve just been trying to figure out what I want to say with this new brain, that’s why it’s been quiet for a little bit longer than usual.” But now he’s returning to Australia for three Melbourne shows, and then heading up to play the Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE, where he delivered spellbinding sets in 2015, (according to Callahan “definitely
a highlight of my touring existence”). Both cities find him playing two shows a night, a model he’s taken all over the world recently. “The first one I did was in New York about a year and a half ago, and really it was a way to try and continue touring and still have a family,” he explains. “That was one of the main drives, but I also just like the idea of; you do a big travel and go to a big city somewhere, but then you get to stay there instead of moving on the next day and the next day and the next day. It was just a way to sort of feel a little bit more grounded on tour with or without my family. “I also had a phobia where I don’t like to play the same club twice, even two nights in a row - that never felt right to me, but I wanted to overcome that. I think a club space should be your friend, so instead of looking at a club as something to step into for one night and get the hell out of there forever, I try to look at the performance space as something organic that you can develop a relationship with. A few days isn’t much of a relationship, but it’s always a way to push myself and the performances in a way that doesn’t happen just doing oneoff shows.”
When & Where: 29 - 31 May, Howler
Thra-ck In The Saddle
After decades of uncertain sequel rumours, Jim Henson’s groundbreaking 1989 fantasy adventure film The Dark Crystal is returning to screens, just not in the form that most expected. The Jim Henson Company have partnered with Netflix to produce a prequel TV series called The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance. Filming is set to begin later this year with an as yet undisclosed premiere date. A teaser trailer has been unveiled which, while sparse on details, gives a glimpse of the creative team constructing the many puppets that will go towards recreating the iconic world of Thra.
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 25
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
T U B E
food
Once upon a time, there were cookery books. Then came the TV cookery show and celebrity chefs. But for home cooks and avid foodies in the 21st century looking to stay on the cutting edge, the best culinary content today is found online. Here are some of our favourite YouTube cookery channels.
My Drunk Kitchen No YouTube cookery list would be complete without hooning heroine Harto and her loose unit mates. For the past six years, she’s been getting on the grog, chucking back the terps, and attempting to cook stuff while getting gradually more and more shitfaced. Sceptics might say Harto is a one-trick pony, but what a pony! While we can’t recommend imbibing excessive amounts of alcohol before using dangerous kitchen appliances and scorching cooking surfaces, we defy you to watch My Drunk Kitchen and not fall into a binge watching shame spiral
lasting many hours — it is sidesplittingly, rib-ticklingly, mouthwateringly wonderful. You may not end up with a particularly well-made meal, but you’ll be heartily fed with more LOLs than you can handle.
The Scran Line Homegrown hero Nick Paterakis has made an art form of the humble cupcake. His baking tutorials are as beautiful as they are delicious — this is a chef who has style and substance in equal measure. The Scran Line also boasts a huge following on other social media platforms, including a whopping 276,000
Binging With Babish Ever found yourself salivating over the delicious dishes being devoured on your favourite TV shows and wished you could reach through the screen and steal a bite? Well, now you can! Intrepid chef Andrew Rae has painstakingly fathomed out how to reproduce some of TV’s finest feasts including the perfect sandwich from Adventure Time and some of the most memorable Burgers of the Day from Bob’s Burgers. It may sound like a gimmick, but Rae applies gourmet precision to his TV homages, so expect nothing less than topnotch cookery tuition as you learn how to make Rick And Morty’s Szechuan Sauce or Homer Simpson’s Moon Waffles.
26 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Instagram followers! So what’s the secret of The Scran Line’s success? Baking channels are ten a penny, but what stands Paterakis apart from the crowd are the vivid colours, beautiful camera work, and stylish, wildly inventive designs of his art-cakes. The channel already has some impressive followers, including Lady Gaga. Paws up for The Scran Line y’all!
Five highlights from Chris Cornell that aren’t Soundgarden
Music
Say Hello 2 Heaven
Vale Chris Cornell 1964 – 2017 Why Chris Cornell Was The True Frontman Of The Grunge Movement
A
nd with that, another frontman from the world of grunge is gone. But unlike those that passed before Chris Cornell, his loss is sudden and unexpected. In a musical world already reeling from high profile deaths over the past 18 months, the loss of the 52-year-old is another shock. Admittedly grunge obviously hasn’t been a musical thing for a while; a chilling full stop put on it by Kurt Cobain when he decided to empty the contents of his shotgun into his head back in 1994. But for a whole generation of teenagers it was a musical awakening that shook up the musical world in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Four bands stood above everyone else. But of the vocalists for those acts (Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden), Chris Cornell stood out as a true frontman of a band. (Yeah, sorry for those who want to bump Stone Temple Pilots up to the podium - their status as not being from Seattle pretty much never had them truly accepted, despite their successes). The others had almost reluctant singers. Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley sung from
places of despair and anguish. Cobain could be unpredictable, sure (how many guitars were smashed at Nirvana gigs one wonders?), while at times Staley could be seconds away from being on the nod while performing thanks to his heroin addiction. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder too didn’t seem comfortable in the spotlight, preferring to divert attention to other members of the band. But Cornell came from the Robert Plant mould of performer - cocksure, flowing hair, a hell of a voice and, let’s face it, he was pretty easy on the eye when performing with his shirt off courtesy of those abs and man-v. Soundgarden’s chugging rock differed too from the others, less of the quiet/loud dynamic prevalent. And now Eddie Vedder is the last grunge frontman left standing. It’s probably not something he wants, but whether he likes it or not he’s the last of a movement that burned intensely for only a short period, but left a legacy still felt today. There’s no need for a re-telling of Soundgarden’s career here. Their place in rock’s annals is assured. But now it’s the end of an era. A lot is already being made of Cornell mixing in the refrain from In My Time Of Dying in the last show he performed with Soundgarden as they jammed out on Slaves & Bulldozers. A traditional gospel song, with lyrics such as “Jesus, going to make up my dying bed/ Meet me, Jesus, meet me”, people are wondering if it was some sort of foreshadowing of his death, which happened not long after he performed it live. But even with the added poignancy of those lyrics, maybe we should focus instead on one of the lyrics in Slaves & Bulldozers itself: “Now I know why you’ve been taken”. Chances are, we probably won’t. Mark Neilsen
Chris Cornell live at Soundwave. Pic by Rohan Anderson.
If you are suffering from depression or need assistance, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636.
One of Cornell’s most emotional and powerful vocal performances, not surprising considering it was delivered as part of Temple Of The Dog. The group - essentially Cornell fronting what would become Pearl Jam - was formed in tribute to his friend Andrew Wood, frontman of Mother Love Bone, who had died from a heroin overdose.
Seasons A simple acoustic number, just Cornell and a guitar (doubled at times), it was a world away from the raucous heavy rock of Soundgarden. It featured the delicacy of his voice too, gentle falsetto creeping in where before there was rock god howls and screaming. It was also on the Singles soundtrack that captured the zeitgeist of the grunge movement (Pearl Jam! Mudhoney! Alice In Chains! And damn near every other Seattle grunge band of note at the time, but not Nirvana)
You Know My Name Cornell, Chris Cornell. Here he goes bombastic, courtesy of having a theme song to a James Bond movie (the 2006 version of Casino Royale). Goes to a whole other level beyond a standard Cornell rock song courtesy of orchestral backings.
Billie Jean Takes the funky Michael Jackson track and slows it right down. Its almost dirge-like delivery is a perfect showcase of Cornell’s voice. You can imagine it being performed from the corner of a dive bar somewhere. It’s devoid of its original groovin’ bass line and synth stings, but this acoustic guitar and drums driven version gives it a level of power not witnessed in the original. Quite possibly the best take on it too (even including The Bates).
Cochise As statements of intents for new acts go, this one was one of the best. Anticipation was already at fever pitch for the project (Chris Cornell fronting Rage Against The Machine? Holy hell!), but they knocked it out of the park with their debut song. It deserved all the fireworks that accompanied the song in the video clip. Oh, and that 11-second wail too about threequarters of the way through the song. Goddamn. THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 27
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Cable Ties
Album OF THE Week
Cable Ties
Poison City Records
★★★★½
Plenty of bands with a fierce live show have failed to catpure that energy on record. No stress there, Cable Ties have proven over a handful of 7”s that they lose zero heat from the stage to the studio and their debut LP burns like a slap in the face. Drummer Shauna Boyle and bassist Nick Brown are rhythm section gold together. Pick whichever song you like and guaranteed those two will have you hooked by both ears in five seconds or less, pinned like a deer in the headlights and ready for Jenny McKechnie to deal a stunning coup de grace. They trundle on with the mesmerising inevitability of a landslide and are just as inescapable. McKechnie sings with almost operatic weight and fury that jackknifes into sudden razor-edged squeals, her lyrics slicing into some deeply toxic aspects of both the Australian psyche and the music industry, from Cut Me Down’s brutish, uncaring masculinity to Faustian bargains with skeezy record execs in The Producer. Same For Me came out in March last year and it’s still one of the best songs in town - from the rumbling bass line to McKechnie howling, “it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright”. Wasted Time is a brilliant choice to close; a (comparatively) sedate sort of spoken word declaration that builds into a powerful and fitting crescendo. Cable Ties make catchy, conscious punk at its finest and now the proof is on record. Sam Wall
Bernard Fanning
In Hearts Wake
Brutal Dawn
Ark
Dew Process/Universal
UNFD
★★★★
★★★★ Bernard Fanning has such a fantastic voice and natural charisma that it can be easy to overlook the uneven output of his solo career (especially given the classics he has under his belt with his former outfit). While 2005’s Tea & Sympathy was a justifiable hit, followup albums Departures and Civil Dusk haven’t felt quite memorable enough to compete with his best works. Brutal Dawn feels like a step in the right direction. Ramshackle and eclectic in a way Fanning hasn’t really been since Powderfinger’s Internationalist with the rootsy folksiness of his best solo work to date, Fanning’s latest album is potentially the best work he’s delivered since his debut (or Powderfinger’s Dream Days At The Hotel Existence, depending on your 28 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
preferences). Songs like Isn’t It A Pity and How Many Times feature choruses as evocative as they are memorable while, across the record, there’s an unpredictable air to the album’s instrumental arrangements that proves entrancing. One does feel Fanning is still building towards a real classic (and this isn’t it). In a way, the former frontman is rediscovering himself as an artist and songwriter. But, as it stands, Brutal Dawn is a lovely addition to his discography; one even lapsed followers would do well to seek out. Matt O’Neill
Winter brings shitty weather, illness and long nights. Occasionally, an album arrives at the same time, offering respite in the form of an all-out aural assault. In 2017, that album is Ark. Byron Bay’s favourite heavy music proponents have released not so much a concept album, but a record with a distinct theme; water, and its necessity to humankind. You don’t have to dig far to find evidence. The album’s tracklist, with titles like Waterborne, Flow and Elemental, gives a none-too-subtle hint of the environmentallyaware theme that carries on from their two most recent releases, Skydancer (2015) and Earthwalker (2014). Musically, Ark kicks off with a bang. Passage and Nomad both kick out the cobwebs
that might be lying in any unsuspecting ear cavity, before In Hearts Wake settle in with a series of dense, quality and, importantly, accessible tracks. Arrow sees frontman Jake Taylor contrast a melodic vocal line with a trudging rhythm section in the closest IHW come to a ballad, which is sure to alienate fans of the band’s harder sound. Luckily, moments like this are few and far between on Ark. Flow offers a similar vocal style but more complex instrumentation, and the ship gets righted quickly (pun totally intended). Dylan Stewart
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Lil Yachty
Orsome Welles
Frenzal Rhomb
Teenage Emotions
Rise
Hi Vis High Tea
EMI
Independent
Independent
Justin Townes Earle Kids In The Street New West/Warner
★★★
★★★★
★★★½
★★★★
Teenage Emotions, the debut album from 19-year-old Lil Yachty is hard to pigeonhole in the best possible way. The rapper and singer has a certain sound of his own and doesn’t adhere to any strict genre conventions. The album, which attempts to encompass parts of what it’s like to be young at this point in time, is packed with collabs and features including Stefflon Don, Diplo, Sonyae Elise, YG, Kamaiyah, Evander Griiim, Australian singer Grace and fellow Atlanta natives Migos. Teenage Emotions is new, fresh, different, diverse and full of good vibes.
This EP is well named, as it should see the further upturn of the fortunes of this ridiculously hard working, talented, but underrated Melbourne rock act. Rise is five tracks that skillfully walk a fine line between remaining straight-ahead enough to appeal to your regular hard rock fan, while being interesting enough to stimulate the palettes of prog-rock aficionados everywhere. And only adding further credence to that broad appeal is the unique voice and personality of frontman Michael Vincent Stowers, who really shines here. Australia is a treasure-trove of alt/prog rock talent, and this band is a gem among the gold.
Aussie punk stalwarts Frenzal Rhomb can still cram as many hooks and killer licks into 90 seconds as any of their wouldbe heirs. Ferocious lead single Cunt Act delineates a diabolical range of everyday discourtesies, Ray Ahn Is My Spirit Animal — a tribute to the Hard-Ons’ bass player — has circle pit written all over it, while the band’s subversive humour is let loose during Don’t Cast Aspergers On Me. For a change of pace there’s Food Court, an urban-angst anthem that sees Jay Whalley sitting despondent under fluorescent lights, watching fights break out amid revellers coming down from ecstasy. Vintage Frenzal.
US troubadour Justin Townes Earle has always worn his troubled soul on his sleeve, his songs routinely beautiful but containing a perpetual undercurrent of hopelessness and despair. Now his life has stabilised - he’s newly sober, newly wed and facing impending fatherhood - and accordingly, his seventh album’s tone is one of contentment and cautious optimism. This doesn’t diminish his potency in any way - the songs are still rife with depth and empathy - while his trademark Americana stylings have given way to a subtle but sophisticated soul vibe. Growing up has never sounded so alluring.
Tim Kroenert
Steve Bell
Madelyn Tait
Rod Whitfield
More Reviews Online Dream Evil Six
theMusic.com.au
Solstafir Berdreyminn
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 29
Live Re Live Reviews
San Cisco @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
Allah-Las, Donny Love The Curtin 20 May
San Cisco @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
San Cisco @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
San Cisco @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
Thelma Plum @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
30 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Thelma Plum @ 170 Russell. Pic: Clinton Hatfield
We’re not 100%, but judging from the shirts at the merch desk and singer/guitarist Andrew ‘Hog’ Hodges’ drawled advice to “keep it on the dirty down low”, smart money says Donny Love’s opener is called ‘Keep It On The DL’. It’s a cracking tune, full of jangly strumming and funky sax and Hodges does a pretty impressive job of playing trumpet one-handed towards the end. There’s some prime dorky dance moves on display too; their saxophonist stutter-steps on the spot like a samba instructor. They play through Hey You, recent single No Sense and breakout track Carnivorous Man before wrapping up with a “cheery number” called Death Friends (“So how do you, how do you handle death/ How do you approach the idea”). Like most of their tracks, it has some sharp lyrics draped in upbeat, off-kilter, -tropical pop and delivered larrikin panache. Allah-Las might be the chillest dudes out, and they take over the stage with languid positivity and zero fuss. Drummer Matthew Correia relieves vocalist Miles Michaud of his singing duties for 200 South La Brea and he might not belt it like Levon Helm, but he is pretty fucking good. Guitarist Pedrum Siadatian injects a fuzzy heaviness into the intro and chorus, which was absent on the record and makes for a nice bit of aural roughage in their otherwise smooth sound. Then it’s his turn on the mic next for Worship The Sun cut 501-415 and wouldn’tcha know it he’s a pretty schmick singer himself. The first lazy chords of Sandy peal out and easily snag the night’s high score on the Cheer-OMeter. People bob along happily as the band sing “time after time girl” in dreamy reverbed unison. Afterwards, they drop the vocals entirely for some warbly goodness from the guitarist in a five-minute
instrumental that rolls straight into Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind). Catalina somehow hits a whole new level of relaxed before we get a couple more tracks off last year’s Calico Review in Strange Heat, Autumn Dawn. At this point a few people are heard saying that all of Allah-Las songs sound the same, and there’s some validity to that. There’s not a huge variety of sound as the LA lads switch back
People seem a bit shy at first but a couple of the Donny Love blokes break the ice and a goodly portion of the room floods the stage. and forth between chill surf rock and chiller surf rock, but hey, if the shticks good stick with it. A dude in a beret jumps on stage to help out on tambourine for No Voodoo and stays for Could Be You, a definite highlight from Calico Review and probably the liveliest moment of the night. Correia takes over vocals again for their cover of The Human Expression’s Calm Me Down, which they’ve been doing a few years now. For a second it almost sounds like they’re going to cover Little Red Riding Hood and then Spencer Dunham’s bass rumble combines with Siadatian’s bluesy noodling to assemble their breezy first single Catamaran. While Michaud expresses his gratitude for the good times and positive vibes they’ve had in Oz — ”We’re the Allah-Las, it’s been a pleasure. Beautiful beaches, beautiful food, beautiful people” — Correia starts doing a spot-on rattlesnake impression with a set
eviews Live Reviews
of maracas in each hand. The two switch places, the singer getting behind the skins so the drummer can croon Long Journey out front and centre. Correia thanks us himself, then tells us this is the final track and everybody needs to get themselves up on stage. People seem a bit shy at first but a couple of the Donny Love blokes break the ice and a goodly portion of the room floods the stage to dance to Every Girl. There’s no encore but it’s worth sticking around for a beer — the ‘Las take over the decks downstairs and spin everything from Bollywood hits to TOPS’ new single Petals in an impromptu post-set set.
Sam Wall
Bleeding Knees Club, The Pinheads, TV Dinners Northcote Social Club 20 May Melbourne pop-punks TV Dinners fire up the stage as the first act of the evening. Punters enter the Northcote Social Club bandroom and energetically escape the evening chill in their bouncy songs. The Pinheads ignite chaos from their opening song and the energy of the band mixing with the crowd is contagious. Although frontman Jez Player is in and out of the crowd, the stage is cramping with the band’s other five members and the constant stream of stage divers. We overhear one girl says to her friend, “That’s a bold move,” as the rest of their entourage head straight for the thick of it. She’s not wrong. We’re all immersed within their psychedelic rock’n’roll rhythms and their set passes by in a loud blur of leaping excitement and, although it’s now their closing song, Player is barefoot and ready for more as he stands upon the drum kit. Guitarists Luke Player and Al Webster are soon shredding on
Despite the security guard’s attempts to protect daring punters from themselves, Truth Or Dare only encourages the stage diving.
the floor and their frontman’s back in the crowd swigging someone’s drink, while drummer James Kates has tucked himself under the corner of a huge spraypainted banner that reads ‘BKC’. As Bleeding Knees Club begin their set, we eagerly reassemble our mosh pit. Have Fun fuels us and the bandroom is a bouncing sea of hands, heads and feet. The crowdsurfing doesn’t stop, and we even get a “Melbourne! Melbourne! Melbourne!” cheer. Despite the security guard’s attempts to protect daring punters from themselves, Truth Or Dare only encourages the stage diving. After encountering some sound difficulties we’re given impromptu covers of Vengaboy’s Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! and the chorus from Tubthumping (“I get knocked down/ But I get up again”). Soon everything’s back in order and bassist Gio Alexander wishes us (an early or late?) Happy New Years. Chew The Gum receives an outstanding reception and we’re all behind its high energy to keep the mosh pit bouncing. We catch (almost all) of the persistent stage divers during Teenage Girls, after which frontman Alex Wall says he thinks he has “chipped his teeth”. He’s probably not the only one. Closing with Spaghetti, the boys get among the anarchy of their crowd; Wall crowdsurfs with his guitar, joined by lead guitarist Michael Barker before they’re
both returned to the stage and say farewell without an encore, but with a big thanks.
Mikaelie Evans
San Cisco, Thelma Plum 170 Russell 19 May T-H-E-L-M-A is spelt out in large silver balloon letters on the stage to celebrate the arrival of Thelma Plum. She’s got a fresh look with a short pixie-like blonde haircut to match her bright new track Future Kids. “This is actually my favourite place in the world,” she says in front of her live audience, who are glad to have her back in Melbourne. Plum gives new life to her much-loved older songs including Around Here, which departs from the familiar solo acoustic folk to a mature band production with drums and electric guitar bass lines to add more depth. She shares a powerfully emotive new song written for her brother that she says will be on her highly anticipated album. The stage illuminates with coloured party lights and a blue-sky backdrop featuring a tropical palm tree for San Cisco to kick-start the disco. Did You Get What You Came For is the perfect introduction to their new sound, which is packed with glittery synths and catchy riffs to get us grooving along. “So we’ve just released our third record The Water, has anybody heard it?” asks frontman Jordi Davieson. “We hope you have because it’s so much better when you sing along!” It’s clear that the audience has already given it a few spins over the last couple of weeks to know most of the words by now. Davieson admits, “We were about midway through recording the album and it was hard. But then we watched The Lego Movie and wrote a song about it!” The result of this is a super funky disco-infused track called The Distance. It’s evident that the colourful plastic bricks have
inspired their catchy lyrics as he sings, “Baby, tessellate/I wanna connect with you/if it ain’t too late”. It’s fun and exciting to hear the band explore a different style to further enhance their quirkiness. They’ve reinvented themselves and have developed their style with new layers of electronic sounds combined with their familiar indie-pop to keep us dancing along. “Have you ever been really close with someone and then it just disappears? That’s what
Did You Get What You Came For is the perfect introduction to their new sound, which is packed with glittery synths and catchy riffs to get us grooving along. this one’s about,” reveals Davieson before launching into their relatable summer anthem Hey, Did I Do You Wrong?. They give us some light and shade with B Side, which is probably the happiest song they’ve ever written, and Wash It All Away, which, in contrast, goes out to all those fucked up relationships. Just when we think we’ve predicted the encore, San Cisco continue to surprise us by changing things up. Davieson reappears solo to play an acoustic version of Waiting For The Weekend before the rest of band comes back on stage for the uplifting Sunrise and RUN, dedicated to all the Isabellas.
Michael Prebeg
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 31
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
accosted by the equally gifted yet entirely irritating Liraz Weinberg (Sue Jones), who’s adamant about filling the vacancy. Minnie’s aspirations are relatively sedate, but her greatest wish is that her 38-yearold granddaughter Rachel (Virginia Gay) should marry Minnie And Liraz and start producing great-grandchildren as soon as reproductively possible, to satisfy an almost medieval preoccupation about furthering “the family line.” Playing bridge with someone she - and her husband Morris (Rhys McConnochie) - find unbearable isn’t high on Minnie’s list of priorities, but Liraz has other assets that might sweeten the deal. The pair agree on a contract: Minnie will join forces with Liraz to win the National Seniors’ Bridge Championship, so long as her new partner sets Rachel up with her nerdy but eligible grandson Ichabod (Peter Paltos). It’s perfectly inoffensive and charmingly twee story, but lacks any true substance, depth, and perhaps most crucially, relevance. The characters are simple, to the point of being crass; two-dimensional, one tone tropes driven by motivations that are frustratingly simplistic. Moments of arbitrary sentimentality are occasionally dolloped on, but largely these are superfluous to the ultimate conclusion. When genuine empathy would ring true, the emotional terrain of these characters is often warped to fit the plot. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with finding the humour in the grim reality of aging. Indeed, Katz’s set up is absolutely ripe for satire. But this play ends up groping at several competing comic tones that sit uncomfortably together. Naturalistic character comedy jostles with overplayed farce. A comedy of manners somehow stumbles into gallows slapstick. But the key to a successful comedy is counterpoint, and a lack of any genuinely touching pathos is perhaps Minnie and Liraz’s biggest sticking point. With nothing to tug the heart strings as well as tickle the funny bone, it’s difficult to feel invested in the fates of this strange collection of people.
John Wick
Minnie And Liraz
Theatre Until 24 Jun, the Fairfax Studio
★★ In Lally Katz’s new play, Minnie and Liraz, a rather bleak indictment of our society’s elders is given a sappy, silly coating of pantomimic, predictable comedy. Set in a “luxury” retirement home for Jewish seniors, the twilight years of the residents’ lives are occupied by various gentle activities, such as “memoir classes”, and even the occasional bit of water aerobics. But for those aging adrenaline junkies in search of a bigger high, there’s nothing quite like a hand of bridge. Amongst the retirement home’s most talented players is Minnie Cohen (Nancye Hayes). When her bridge partner of 17 years unexpectedly falls off the mortal coil, she’s quickly
Maxim Boon
32 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
John Wick: Chapter 2 Film
★★★½ It’s been a few years since Keanu Reeves reminded us all of his badass bona fides by playing the titular Mr Wick in the 2014 action movie that became something of a surprise hit. But Hollywood has never let a talented trigger finger lay idle for too long, and so we have John Wick: Chapter 2, which gives Reeves another reason to load up and start shooting. This time around, it’s not payback driving John Wick. Getting out of the assassination game back in the day required a favour from crime boss Santino (Ricardo Scamarcio), as well as an assurance that John would stay retired. John killing everyone in sight in the first film broke the agreement, and now Santino is calling in his favour. He wants his sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini) rubbed out so he can rise through the underworld ranks. And while John is reluctant to do the job, refusal to comply equals certain death. The thing is, John’s a walking target anyway, with Gianna’s bodyguard Cassian (Common) and Santino’s mute trigger-woman Ares (Ruby Rose) hot on his trail. Let’s be honest, though: it’s not so much why John goes about his bloody business in Chapter 2 as how he goes about it that really grabs the audience’s attention. Admittedly, it was a grimly funny joke in the first John Wick that our hero racked up a big body count as he avenged a dead puppy. But it was really the long and beautifully choreographed scenes of gunplay, and the elegantly brutal way Reeves moved through them, that helped set the movie apart. The byzantine rules and customs of Wick’s world with its gold-coin currency and swanky hotels catering exclusively to the hitman crowd - provided some interesting texture the first time around, but Chapter 2 dwells on it just a little too long at the expense of keeping the action moving forward steadily and speedily. Still, when Reeves activates his arsenal, Chapter Two gets a jolt of energy and reminds its audience of what a fascinatingly lethal character this sometimes underrated actor makes John Wick. Guy Davis
OPINION Opinion
Howzat!
Local Music By Jeff Jenkins Golden Holden Mark Holden was a great singing show judge. Sure, he would often flick the switch to vaudeville, but beneath the silliness is a lot of substance. Very few Australian artists have had a career like Mark. In some ways, his story is similar to Rick Springfield — pop star in Australia, tries his luck in the US, deals with some dark days, before finding success. Unlike Rick, however, Mark didn’t become a star in America, but he wrote a hit for The Temptations — after hearing Lady Soul, Smokey Robinson told Mark he wished it was him; “I don’t think I’ll ever beat that” — and made records with acts as diverse as David Hasselhoff, Donny Osmond, Andrew Strong and Milla Jovovich. And he wrote songs for Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, Belinda Carlisle, Delta Goodrem, Jo Beth Taylor and Nikki Webster. Mark has now documented his eventful life in a book called My Idol Years. Essentially, it’s a story of resilience. “It’s not about the 99 nos but rather about the one right yes,” Mark writes. “Rejection is a part of life, especially in showbiz. Get used to it.” Back in Australia, Mark helped Vanessa Amorosi become a star, co-managing her
career and co-writing most of her early hits. “I will never work with anyone more talented and more inspiring,” he says. The book is dogged by some sloppy spelling mistakes: Manager John Woodruff is “Woodroofe”, Glenn Wheatley is “Glen”, Diane Warren is Diane on one page and Dianne on the next, Jon Bon Jovi is “John”, Andrew Klippel is “Klipple”, and Donny Osmond is referred to as “Donnie”. But Mark’s lust for life shines through. There’s not a lot of sex or drugs, but this is an honest and revealing account of a bloke who takes his music seriously but not himself. Pop star, actor, producer, songwriter, manager, family man and now lawyer. But most of all, Mark Holden is an entertainer. My Idol Years is a touchdown.
Target Audience Central Victorian artist Archer is launching his new single, My Little
Mark Holden
Sweet Aussie Sweetheart, at the Gasometer on Saturday. Women over 65 get in free.
Step Up Don’t forget to show PBS some love during their Radio Festival.
Hang On LRB scored their one and only number one single 40 years ago this week — Help Is On Its Way.
Hot Line “How many times can we say we’ve hit the bottom and still find a way further down?” — Bernard Fanning, How Many Times.
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 33
OPINION Opinion
The Heavy Shit
James Abram, Garfield
Moderately Highbrow Visual Art
A
rthur Boyd’s artistic legacy in this country is rightfully and well and truly established - you don’t Wank And get to append the letters AC and OBE to your name lightly. Perhaps less well-known than his paintings Theatre is the 1,100 hectares of land and property known as Bundanon that he and wife Yvonne gifted to the people Foyers With of Australia in 1993. Dave Drayton The swathe of land near Nowra now plays host to residents year round, and I was lucky enough to join their ranks this last month. It is not only artists that are offered these residencies, but creatives from all practices. While in residence I caught rare glimpses of or heard snippets from the Australian Art Quartet, The Good Room, and the Opera Project; had I not been neck deep in work of my own, or obsessing over the wombat underneath my verandah that I’d named Arthur Ruhtra II in a double tribute of sorts, I could tell you what they were developing. As it stands I can only offer a snippet of my attempts to channel Boyd’s artistic skills in a writing project that commemorates each American president with a beau present (a poem composed using only the letters in the addressee’s name). Here’s one for the ambidextrous, James Abram Garfield, who could reputedly write a response to a question simultaneously in Greek and Latin.
OG F l ava s Lil Yachty
Urban And R&B News With Cyclone
M
any a rapper has been accused of destroying hip hop. In the ‘90s Bad Boy’s Puff Daddy and Ma$e especially raised the ire of the culture’s guardians. The latest ‘culprit’ is Atlanta’s Lil Yachty (aka Miles McCollum), who’s associated with the mumble rap phenom. But the 19-year-old singer/rapper has mostly copped it for his supposed naivety — and for disregarding hip hop’s history. It’s all very ridic.
34 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Chris Cornell @ Soundwave Sydney 2015. Pic: Rohan Anderson
McCollum — recognisable with his transgressive fashion and nautical imagery — belongs to the #CarefreeBlackBoys movement. He’s bringing levity, and subversion, at a time when hip hop is again becoming overtly political. McCollum broke out with 2015’s One Night. He guested on DRAM’s mega-hit Broccoli and, significantly, Chance The Rapper’s ‘cred’ Coloring Book. Recently, he fronted a subliminal remix of Katy Perry’s Chained To The Rhythm. He’s aired copious EPs and mixtapes. Now this “King of Teens” — touring Oz with Splendour In The Grass — is dropping his debut album, Teenage Emotions. The artwork has been praised for promoting inclusivity. Alas, the lead single Peek A Boo (with Migos) has contradictory sexist lyrics. In fact, Teenage Emotions could be an experimental mixtape like Young Thug’s Jeffery. After Migos, the sole ‘big’ feature is Aussie singer Grace. And, while Diplo helms the post-trop banger Forever Young, McCollum relies on lesser-known producers. He offers more of his artfully playful “bubblegum trap”, AutoTuned yacht rock (the hooky standout Bring It Back with ‘80s sax), synth&B (Moments In Time), and avant-pop balladry (Made Of Glass). The reggae Better is about clean-living — McCollum indulging in neither drink nor drugs.
OPINION Opinion
Metal And Hard
I
got up feeling so down... Rock With We lost another great voice Chris Maric last week. The passing of Chris Cornell was a crushing blow to the music world. The man had fans from so many places, musically speaking, and had a tone that was instantly recognisable. Soundgarden were a band who wore their Sabbath influences on their sleeves proudly and, at 52-years-old, he left this world way waaay too soon. The outpouring of grief and emotion has been humbling. Of course, I’ve seen plenty of metal purists being typical assholes about it, claiming they were never fans or whatever. So why say anything at all? I guess it hits people around my age hardest as he was a major influence in those all-important formative teenage years. From the first time that I saw the video for Loud Love on rage when I was about 13, I was hooked. The rumble of Jesus Christ Pose and the distorted start to Rusty Cage... they are in my musical DNA as much as Master Of Puppets is. As a teen in the ‘90s, when grunge supposedly killed off metal, I didn’t leave one for the other — all those ‘new’ bands from Seattle just expanded my palette! You can’t bang your head all the time. I had posters on my wall of Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam right alongside Sepultura, Kreator and Cindy Crawford ha ha. And they were still heavy, just not thrashy. Soundgarden and AIC were definitely more metal riff-wise than say Nirvana or Mudhoney, but it was all from the same circle and up against the horrible pop music of the day, the more guitar stuff that was around, the better! I first saw Soundgarden at the 1997 Big Day Out on the Gold Coast and they were of course brilliant. That whole era was. On that bill was them, Fear Factory (the live video for Self Bias Resistor is from that show) Prodigy and Beasts Of Bourbon, who blew up the PA several times cause they are so bad ass. It’s hard to imagine Soundgarden’s massive radio singles from the mid-’90s being as big today. They’ve become classics by default through age, as I write this Pearl Jam were just played on WSFM, they even play Blink-182 now! These iconic bands whose heyday was two decades ago now are a product of their time and new rock bands just aren’t cutting through to the same level anymore. Maybe it’s me looking
back with rosecoloured glasses, but honestly, I don’t think so. Will any of today’s bands be held in such high esteem in 2037? I still reckon they’ll be playing Bowie then, not stuff from right now. I remember a long night at a Sony conference in 2001. Everyone was immediately brought out of their weariness when we were first introduced to Audioslave by the video for Cochise, which came bursting out of the TV for the first time in all its glory. Suddenly we had a kickass rock song in a field of pop blandness once again. What a fucking song that was! We need a new Cochise for the modern age! I never met the man in person, but I know many who have and they all say he was a true gentleman and a very humble guy. I just hope he is at peace now. The demons he was battling unfortunately won the fight and took someone very special. While we keep losing artists of this calibre, they certainly aren’t being replaced at the same rate. I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota, oh yeah.
theMusic.com.au: breaking news, up-to-theminute reviews and streaming new releases
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 35
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 24
Customer
Devin Townsend Project + Sleepmakeswaves: 170 Russell, Melbourne Ziggy Zeitgiest + Reuben Lewis + Fabric: 303, Northcote Stoka + The Constables + Spiritus: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Luca Brasi
The Music Presents The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack: 25 May Howler Horrorshow: 9 Jun Chelsea Heights Hotel Aspendale Gardens; 10 Jun Barwon Club Hotel South Geelong; 11 Jun 170 Russell
Nina Ferro: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Mellowdias Thump feat.Various DJs: Boney, Melbourne Muddy’s Blues Roulette with Jimi Hocking: Catfish (Front Bar), Fitzroy Two Headed Dog + A Basket Of Mammoths + Cloud + The Slugg: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Julia Jacklin + Jaala + Rough River: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Orsome Welles: 11 Jun The Loft Warnambool; 8 Jul Evelyn Hotel
Alysha Joy + Dufresned + Setwun: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Mick Thomas & Roving Commisission: 17 Jun Caravan Music Club
Loobs + Muscle Mate + Hollie Joyce: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Luca Brasi: 23 & 25 Jun 170 Russell
Lomond Acoustica feat. Mick Pealing + Nick Charles + Accidental Bedfellows + Wayne Jury: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
The Lemon Twigs: 25 Jul The Curtin Two Door Cinema Club: 25 Jul Festival Hall Sigur Ros: 27 Jul Margaret Court Arena At The Drive In: 28 Sep Festival Hall
Customer Service We’re always down for a free gig, and luckily Melbourne pop act Customer are giving us not one but five free residency gigs. With three down already, catch them for round three at The Tote’s Front Bar Wednesday night.
Brent Parlane: Open Studio, Northcote Residual: Railway Hotel, Brunswick Little Wise: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick The Skids + Rabid Dogs: The Bendigo, Collingwood Open Mic Night: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Daniel Champagne: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Disco Volante feat. Latour + Noah + Spacey Space + Various DJs: Onesixone, Prahran
Customer + Bitch Diesel + Culte: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood
The Footscray Gypsies: Open Studio, Northcote
Two Steps on the Water + Geryon + Romy Vager: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood
Village People + Bjorn Again: Palais Theatre, St Kilda
Chugs + Defects + Inn House: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Low Down Big Band: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Trivia: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Daniel Champagne: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Warplane + Ballads + Soda Eaves + Purr: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Thu 25 Kickin The B at 303 feat. Cookin’ On 3 Burners: 303, Northcote Melody Moon
Taking Flight
Funk Buddies + Copperhead Brass Band: Bar Open, Fitzroy Anchovies + Ogopogo + Seth Henderson: Bella Union, Carlton South
The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack
The Vinyl Frontier: Belleville, Melbourne
Partially recorded from her solar-powered van, powerpop goddess Melody Moon is launching her new EP Wings Out Open Wide to the world this Sunday. Celebrate and grab a copy at Wesley Anne from 2pm.
Wine, Whiskey, Women feat. The Taylor Project + Joyce Prescher: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Yukumbabe + Crystal Myth + The Mochasins: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Archer: The Loft, Warrnambool Yes Yes Whatever + Tom Walker & The Sick Individuals + Children Of The Sun + The Burbs: The Old Bar, Fitzroy 36 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Wendy Matthews: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Tiaryn: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick Kattimoni: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Vir Das: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne The Hemusans + Colour Fires + Tony Dork + Cark Karst: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack + New Venusians + Frida: Howler, Brunswick Ty Alexander + Gareth Ed Lindsay: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Tuning In The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music) are undertaking an Aussie tour to celebrate their EP Do It For Nothing. Heading down to Howler this Thursday night, they’re bringing along indie-rockers New Venusians and Frida.
Cold Irons Bound: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Insomnium + Orpheus Omega: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Sean Heathcliff + Poppongene: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Edit the Empire + Moonlight Broadcast + Astrohymn: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Gigs / Live The Guide
KLP
Fri 26
Gostwyck + Bollard + Georgia Smith: 303, Northcote
Art vs Music feat. The Braves + Dada Ono + Griya + more: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Lisa Hannigan + John Smith: Anglesea Memorial Hall, Anglesea
The Black Sorrows + Vika & Linda Bull + Colin Hay + Mental As Anything + Deborah Conway: Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Easy Browns Truckstop Chicken Jam Band + Slim Jeffries + Spit + Crazy Comfort: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Delusions of Grandeur feat. Barcelos + Francesca Gonzales + Plotz + Splendid: Howler, Brunswick
Celibate Rifles + She’s The Driver: Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong
KLP: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Northcote Party Club
In Store with Dave Graney & Clare Moore: Basement Discs (12.45pm), Melbourne
From the triple j studios to the stage, party queen KLP is hitting up Northcote Social Club for her Mix Match Aussie tour. Join the electronic producer as she rips apart the dancefloor this Saturday night.
Global Safari with DJ Eddie Mac: Belleville, Melbourne
Hidden Forest Invades with Slice n Dice: Kay St, Traralgon The Tropes + Narcopaloma + Magpie: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Hail Hail Rock & Roll - Tribute To Chuck Berry & The Blues with Chris Wilson + Charlie A’Court + Chris Russell: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Alleged Associates: Spottiswoode Hotel, Spotswood
San Lazaro: The B.East, Brunswick East Diploma + Postscript + Gladstone + The Beggars’ Way + Angry: The Bendigo, Collingwood The Wildbloods + The Attention Seekers + Black Bats + Sky Roller: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Pierce Brothers: The Croxton, Thornbury
Patrick Roberts: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Trust feat. Terry Francis: Boney, Melbourne
Sean Heathcliff
Smalltown with Ben Pearce: Brown Alley, Melbourne Julia Morris: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne Vir Das: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne
Road Train + Offspring of Convicts + The Deadlips + Zenith: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
The Funkalleros: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
Baby Blue + Closet Straights + Swim Team: The Curtin, Carlton
Radical Face + Kyle Lionhart + Jack The Fox: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Boadz + DG Gravy: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Ben Mastwyk + Lisa Crawley: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
The Donny Benet Show Band + Broadway Sounds + Silver Lining: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
DJ Kit Convict: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick
Mane: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood
Madre Monte + Lamine Sonko & The African Intelligence + Dj Don Salazar: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
The Naysayers + Sweet Gold + Dole Cheque: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Ministry of Sound - The Reunion Tour 2005 x 2008 feat. Sneaky Sound System + Bang
OIL + Cooper Bowman: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Ben Whiting + Jack The Fox + Davy Simony: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Sneaky Sound System
Sarah Mary Chadwick + Sweet Whirl: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Biddlewood + James Moloney & The Mad Dog Harrisons + King River Rising + Brunga’s Band + Teenage Dads + Hannah Kate + Andie Isalie: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood Feelds + JP Klipspringer + Alana Wilkinson + Slowcoaching DJs: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Flash-back Friday
Anchovies + Ogopogo + Seth Henderson: Trades Hall, Carlton Yes Queen + Callum Gentleman: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Market Lane + Jhana Allan: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
Bringing you the best in clubbing from 2005 - 2008 is The Ministry Of Sound’s Reunion Tour. Featuring the likes of charttoppers Sneaky Sound System, travel back in time to electrohouse party mayhem this Friday at The Prince.
LSDoom + Dr Garbanzo + His Human Beans: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood BBQ Hague + Intrinsic Light + Mote: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
A Boy And His Rose is the second instalment for alternative act Sean Heathcliff (Snakadaktal). Witness the EP recreated with a five-piece band in the intimate environment of Northcote Social Club this Thursday evening.
Johnny Cash The Concert: Walk The Line feat. Daniel Thompson + Stuie French: Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool
Loose Tooth Sensation feat. Totally Mild + Pure Moods + DJ Emerald: The Curtin, Carlton
Monica & The Mindreaders + Max Teakle & his Honky-Tonky Friends: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
The Southend Rainbows + Tenderhooks: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Ryan Adams + Middle Kids: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne CHILD: Max Watt’s, Melbourne
Sarah Blasko: Theatre Royal, Castlemaine Lisa Hannigan + John Smith: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury
A Rose On The Cliff
NGV Friday Nights feat. Gawurra: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank Baro + Good Morning + Nasty Mars: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Hello Tut Tut + The Seduceaphones: Open Studio, Northcote Chasing Ghosts: Penny Black, Brunswick La Dance Macabre with Brunswick Massive: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Odlaw + Psychic 5 + Adalita: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Gang DJs + Goodwill + John Course + Riot In Belgium: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Sarah Blasko: Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC), Geelong
Grave Street Blues + Bukowski + Deluso + Stand Tall + Stranger: Reverence Hotel, Footscray
Leah Senior: The Loft, Warrnambool Amyl & The Sniffers + The Dorks + Hexdebt + Super-X: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Ministry of Sound - The Reunion Tour 2005 x 2008 feat. Sneaky Sound System + Bang Gang DJs + Goodwill + John Course + Chardy + Riot In Belgium: The Prince, St Kilda Chris Corsano + Maria Moles + Nat Grant + Matthias Schack-Arnott: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood The Ocean Party + Golden Syrup: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Lyall Moloney + Coast & Ocean + Jai Whiteman: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Secret Native: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Winter York + Mcrobin + Zlanta: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 37
Comedy / G The Guide
Still Movement + Ali E: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood
The Pheasantry + Ian Bland & The Lamington Drive Orchestra: Union Hotel, Brunswick
Elli Schoen
Stingray + Aperol Skitz + DJ Guantanamo Rave: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Don’t Thank Me, Spank Me!: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
The Tall Grass + Harry Howard & The NDE + Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Tim Smyth + Holy Trash: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Sun 28
Sat 27
Jamie MacDowell Hammond Combo: 303, Northcote
Slow Grind Fever #47 feat. DJ Richie 1250 + DJ Mohair Slim + DJ Pierre Baroni: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Stephen Magnusson: Bella Union, Carlton South
Grand Wazoo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Feelin’ Groovy: The Simon & Garfunkel Project: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Celibate Rifles: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh
Boadz: Catfish (Front Bar), Fitzroy
Wade Piva & The Heartaches + Rennie Paonessa + Venus Court: Catfish (Upstairs), Fitzroy
Cherry Blues with Bluebirds + Steph Fischer-Ivancsy: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
As Good As Gold
Khristian Mizzi + Megan Bernard: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick Fifth Friend + Murphy + Dead Planet 1964: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Vir Das: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne
Exquisite melodies and husky vocals reside in young Fremantle singer Elli Schoen. She’s launching her raw and authentic EP Gold Mess this Saturday at The Workers Club.
Slumberjack + Kuren: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Sarah Blasko: Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan No Fixed Address + Madder Lake: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda KLP + Vincent Sole + Janeva: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Empat Lima + Ciggie Witch: Open Studio, Northcote Echo Drama: Penny Black, Brunswick
Pour Vous, Mon Amour Following off the back of the recent release of his single Mon Amour featuring Brisbane newcomer Austen, Kuren is the main support to Perth dancefloor duo Slumberjack this Saturday at Max Watt’s..
Keggin: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Losumo: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick DJ Smoke Bellow: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick Momentum feat. Z.F.E.E + Raw Humps + WVRBVBY + Elle Shimada + The Core-tet: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Mike Elrington + Josh Batten: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick Cookie Baker: Gin Lane, Belgrave FOKR Funk-Raiser 2017 feat. Various Artists: Howler, Brunswick The Three Kings: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Gostwyck: Long Play, Fitzroy North
38 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017
Anything Elephant: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East Julia Jacklin + Jaala + Rough River: Corner Hotel, Richmond
The Cherry Dolls + Bitch Diesel + Sugar Teeth: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Kuren
The Dead Pharoahs + Suburban Prophets + The Juicy Texas Mortals: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
The Drunken Poachers: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Afternoon Show with The April Family + Katie Brianna + Greta Ziller: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Aetherial + Terrarium + Armata + Massacre Of Innocence: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Afternoon Show with Black & Blue: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Cash Savage & The Last Drinks + Spike Fuck: The Curtin, Carlton Kraken Folk Club + Cisco Caesar: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Archer: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Lazarus Mode + Tame The Sun + SAOL: The Loft, Warrnambool Afternoon Show with David Grimson + Jay Wars: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Mod Vigil + Witch Hats + The Spinning Rooms + Root Rat: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
The Prairie Oysters + DJ Tropical Breeze: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Charles Maimarosia: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Safety in Numbers: Mental Health Funraiser with Small Town Fiasco + The Tall Grass + Jamie Hutchings + Lincoln Le Fevre + Dave Larkin + The Decoys + Daysworth Fighting + The Family Thorax + more: Reverence Hotel, Footscray
Luke Yeoward + Deep Street Soul + The Moonhops + DJ Kilmarnock Steve: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Parsnip + Planet Slayer + Phlow + Speed Camera: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood
Bang feat. Saviour + Hindsight + The Comfort: Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne
Horace Bones + Bench Press + Press Club Band + Tony Dork: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Together Again with Small Town Romance + The Bakersfield Glee Club: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Ellie Schoen + Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird + Tim Gordon: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Hanksaw: Surabaya Johnny’s, St Kilda
Matinee Show with Pamela St + Jimmy Harwood Band + Split Stroke + Corey & Charlotte: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Chasing Ghosts: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
All Ages Matinee Show with The Vanns: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Thongbirds + Brunswick Delta + Jess Hieser: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Black Sorrows + Vika & Linda Bull + Colin Hay + Mental As Anything + Deborah Conway: Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) (Costa Hall), Geelong Thee Loose Hounds + Loobs + Fuzzsucker: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Snow Cone with+Arbes + The Great Outdoors: Howler, Brunswick Don Morrison’s Raging Thirst: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Mt Mountain + Buried Feather + The Black Heart Death Cult + Bananagun: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood
The Union Club feat. Majestic Diva Show with The Killer Bs: Richmond Bowling Club, Richmond
Legions of Steel Festival 2017 feat. Harlott + Desecrator + Taberah + Damnation’s Day + Espionage + Gypsy + Trigger + Demonhead + Katana Cartel + Triple Kill: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Gibbirish: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
Kevin Crawford Trio: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury The Black Sorrows + Vika & Linda Bull + Colin Hay + Mental As Anything + Deborah Conway: Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
Kyle Lionhart
The Lion King Byron Bay’s neo-folk singer Kyle Lionhart is bringing his huge vocal range, and dynamic guitar arrangements to the support slot of electronic-folk maestro Radical Face. Have your senses immersed in folky bliss this Friday at Corner Hotel.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Marty Kelly & Co. + Moreland City Soul Revue: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Man Club Benefit with Electric Mary + The Peptides + Stackhouse + more: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda
I Hear Dead People (Merri Creek Primary Benefit Gig) with Various Artists: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Bowlines + Adam Simmons: Northcote Uniting Church, Northcote Miss Brigid & Her Mixed Nuts: Open Studio, Northcote Afternoon Show with Kate Lucetta + Oliver Jach + Matthew Procter: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Brittle Sun + Sarah Eida: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Trouble Peach: Reverence Hotel, Footscray
Rancho Relaxo with Noise In My Head + Len Leise + Salvador Ricardo: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Derek Richards + Rhia Simone + Princess Fist + Ruby Soho + The Radness: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Afternoon Show with Jamie Hutchings + JMS Harrison + Cabin Inn: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Rhysics + The Pink Tiles + Department: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Pappy + Parsnip: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood Syn 1700 Fundraiser with Apes + Cracker La Touf + Children Of The Sun + The Basement Bees: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood Matinee Show with Ulysses Wulf + Real Feelings + The Grogans: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Sampha: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Carl Barron: Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC), Geelong
Bonnie Tyler + Eurogliders + Rick Price: Hamer Hall, Melbourne Bill Callahan + David Quirk: Howler, Brunswick 2nd Show feat. Bill Callahan + David Quirk: Howler, Brunswick
Ausmuteants + Constant Mongrel + The Faculty: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Karate Boogaloo + Tom Girl: Open Studio, Northcote Riva Starr: Portsea Hotel, Portsea Paul Williamson’s Hammond Combo: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Matt Walker: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick The Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra + Rhonda Burchmore: The Apartment, Melbourne Thee Loose Hounds + Latreenagers + Trauma Boys: The Old Bar, Fitzroy The Pilgrims + The Rollercanes + Sunborne + Pockets: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Muscle Mate + Crystal Myth + Weatherboards: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
The Cherry Dolls
Ch-Ch-Cherry Bomb The Cherry Dolls have established themselves in Melbourne’s rock’n’roll scene, and continue to blow minds with their reverb heavy tracks. Prepare to get your face melted on Saturday night when they heat up The Corner Hotel.
Khristian Mizzi
Angel In Disguise Celebrating the release of his self-titled EP, Khristian Mizzi is bringing his hypnotic, soul stirring sounds to Charles Weston this Saturday. Have a calming start to your weekend with his angelic serenade. Sampha: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Carl Barron: Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC), Geelong Bill Callahan + David Quirk: Howler, Brunswick
Tue 30
2nd Show feat. Bill Callahan + David Quirk: Howler, Brunswick
Wars + Audego + FigrHed Beats + more: Aeso Studios, Fitzroy
Midnight Bends + Samuel McDonald: Open Studio, Northcote
Make It Up Club feat. Various Artists: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Lucy Dobro: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Bill Evans Band + Dean Brown: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Dead End + Erin Will Be Mad + Black Bats + Seance Mystere: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Chasing Ghosts + Tim Smyth & The Holy Trash + The Diecasts: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
The Attention Seekers: The Eastern, Ballarat East
Muso Tuesdays feat. Various Artists: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East The Vacant Smiles + Tram Cops + Bad Bangs: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Harry Jakamarra + Brooke Russell: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Daniel Champagne: The Loft, Warrnambool Wild Meadows + Bosco Sash + Yukumbabe + Big Dumb Jerks: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Now.Here.This with Zii + La Hazel + Logo: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Riva Starr: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Large No 12s: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North Fight the Giant + Valerie Avenue + Dirty Smoky: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave The Thin White Ukes: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Afternoon Show with The F.A.Q.s + Anthony Rea & The Charm Offensive + The Gravy Tram: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Man City Sirens + Squid Ink + EDEN + Mission Brown: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Gabriel O Pensador: The Curtin, Carlton The Stetson Family + Gob Iron Stringband: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Andy Kentler Trio: The Gasometer Hotel (Front Bar), Collingwood
Jack & The Kids + Jumbo Mavis + The Hiding + Orches: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Iraamin + Tumi The Be + Skye: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Tess McKenna + The Band Who Knew Too Much: Union Hotel, Brunswick The Blue Two Few: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Melody Moon: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote Saviour + Hindsight + The Comfort: Wrangler Studios, West Footscray
Mon 29 Melbourne Polytechnic Music: 303, Northcote Comedy at Bird’s feat. Jimeoin + Cal Wilson: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Cherry Jam: Cherry Bar, Melbourne The Oh Balters: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Anything Elephant
Pizza La Vida When you mix a free gig and pizza together, you know you’re onto something good. So as a final send-off before they go on tour, Anything Elephant are bringing their tunes to Compass Pizza Bar this Sunday arvo.
THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017 • 39
40 • THE MUSIC • 24TH MAY 2017