SOUNDWAVE 2011 (Melbourne Showgrounds)

It’s cold, overcast and around me are thousands of kids, all dressed in black, waiting for the doors to open so we can get the much anticipated Melbourne Soundwave Festival underway. Once inside, it was full steam ahead to the main stage to catch UK power pop rockers, FEEDER, start the day with a 30 minute set including Come Back Around, Lost & Found and my personal favourite, Just A Day.

THE SWORD packed in as many Sabbath-esque grooves as they could into their half an hour and once they hit the opening riff to How Heavy This Axe, the crowd erupted into a small circle pit of crazed topless slam-dancing. Horns were raised, thanks for coming.

MONSTER MAGNET have always been a force to be reckoned with when it comes to a live show and this time was no different. Armed with no fancy back drops and no onstage gimmicks, these 5 guys delivered the goods, as they rocked the hell out of the main stage kicking off with Tractor, new song Dig That Hole, and powering through their anthemic hits like Powertrip, Dopes To Infinity, and crowd favourite, Space Lord.

The biggest eye opener and surprise of the day would have to go to GANG OF FOUR. These veterans of the post-punk genre took to the stage proving that age is a just a number as they tore through 30 years of music. Guitarist Andy Gill beat his Fender like it had done something wrong, throwing it across the floor, kicking and attacking it in-between riffs and the occasional smirk whilst vocalist Jon King commanded the people like he was giving a sermon to an audience that seemed focused on every word. Truly mesmerising.

SOCIAL DISTORTION came on next to a thunderous applause. It has taken them 30 years to get to Australia and the crowd showed its appreciation by kicking into a moshpit frenzy as Mike Ness and his band kicked off with The Creeps. New song Machine Gun Blues went down just as well as old favourites Mommy’s Little Monster, Don’t Drag Me Down, Story of My Life and their staple roaring rendition of Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire. Let’s hope it’s not another 30 years before they come back.

I struggled to come to grips with HIGH ON FIRE getting a measly 30 minutes for their set but once they took to the stage after Dimmu Borgir ran overtime, I didn’t care. Matt Pike’s 9 string guitar belt out epic after epic of heavy riffage starting with Rumours of War and finishing with the title track off their latest offering, Snakes For The Devine, which would go down as one of the best live tracks I have ever heard played by anyone in years.

The MURDERDOLLS are still plodding along as the 2-man band complete with some hired guns as they entertained the crowd with their horror business goth punk rock. I didn’t hang around too long though as I needed to secure my spot for SLASH who didn’t fail to please me with a mixture of songs from his latest solo album and Guns N Roses classics, Nightrain and Mr. Brownstone before I had to suddenly leave for SLAYER. Down 1 guitarist with Jeff Hanneman replaced for this tour by Exodus’ Gary Holt, the thrash legends showed no signs of wear, even with Tom Araya just out of hospital and still on the mend. Blasting through newies World Painted Blood and Hate Worldwide, Slayer delivered on all accounts. Cult favourites War Ensemble, Mandatory Suicide and South of Heaven went down a storm while finale Angel Of Death was met with cheers as the crowd went fucking batshit in the moshpit.

KYLESA took to the stage immediately after and had a measly half an hour to prove to the crowd that they have every right of headlining this festival as anyone else did with an atmospheric sludge noise attack complete with not 1, but 2 drummers. Guitarist, Laura Pleasants, is captivating to watch as she attacks her guitar with such fierceness while vocalist Philip Cope roars over the mammoth sound emanating from the stage. An incredibly much-too-short set by a hugely underrated band.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, I thought, were going to be doing the first album from start to finish but that was restricted to the sideshows only. Here they played a mix of tunes from their albums finishing up with radio hit, No-One Knows, where we saw a wheelchair-bound fan lifted above the crowd and brought onto the stage to watch the band from the side. A memory he will no doubt live with for the rest of his life. Crowd chants of “Maiden” started once the last chord was played but not before Josh Homme and his team came back for one last song for the dead.

Seeing IRON MAIDEN live is always a treat. There’s just something incredible about a band whose show involves manic guitar riffs, epic length songs, an overly energetic front man with a vocal gift from the gods and a giant robot playing a guitar during the band’s finale. All of this wrapped up in a 757 jet named Ed Force One, emblazoned with the bands name and artwork, which flies the band across the world as they tear up a stage for 2 hours a night. From the moment the band’s video intro played on the screens, the hairs on my arms rose. The band dived headfirst into the title track of their latest opus, The Final Frontier, and the rush forward from the crowd had me getting the fuck out of there. I am too old to be trampled on by a bunch of stampeding fans. Watching the show from further back, the energy was no less felt. Newer songs were well received but the gold still lies within the band’s past as songs like The Trooper, The Number Of The Beast, Fear Of The Dark and Running Free are met with adulation. Upon the sets end, I was now happily exhausted.

While still in its infancy, one could say that Soundwave has quickly become the best outdoor festival this country has to offer. With such a strong line-up of some of the biggest names in punk, hardcore and heavy music, it’ll be hard to top this year’s line-up but I eagerly await to see just what they have in store for us next.

 

  

 

 

 

THE BIG DAY OUT – Melbourne, January 30th, 2011

So I don’t ever usually review shows I paid a ticket for but I have to rave about this one cos it was heaps awesome n stuff. Here’s the scoop; I bought a ticket cos Iggy & The Stooges was announced. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I was deported from the UK in May last year when I went to see Iggy & The Stooges at the Hammersmith Odeon so finally getting to see them was a big deal for me (I should state that the reason I was deported is that the UK Customs thought I was going to the UK work illegally so they refused me entry and didn’t attempt to ring my friends and confirm my reasons for being in the UK which was to see Iggy & The Stooges!). Then to add to the awesomeness, Andrew WK, The Black Keys, Airbourne and the Jim Jones Revue were added. I was uber excited! Sadly, closer to show time, The Black Keys cancelled their Australian show due to excessive touring burnout. I was kinda sad but once I got there, I didn’t care.

As soon as I got through the gates I headed to see the Jim Jones Revue. I am a huge fan of these cats and so seeing them live was gonna be sweet as! They came on stage to thunderous applause and tore it up, bigtime. I was fuckin stoked! Dancing like a dancey thing, groovin’ and movin’. It was wild. So wild that because I love you peeps, here’s a video I took of the JJR kickin’ off their set with “Dishonest John”…

From the JJR, I headed off quickly to the main stages to catch the last 20 minutes of Melbourne rockers, Airbourne. As always, a great rock n roll show was delivered to the enthusiastic crowd. What a band! Great songs, high energy, the whole kaboodle. Brilliant!

I then headed to see Andrew WK party hard with his band and party hard they did. What a set! AWK is good time party music. On a day that was a scorcher in the weather stakes (38 degrees), the crowd didn’t let that stop them from going fuckin’ apeshit in a huge circle pit once AWK sang his anthemic “Party Hard”. Here’s proof…

I waited around for a bit in the Lilyworld area for Andrew WK to make a solo appearance where he and random members of the crowd sang and played along to spontaneous covers of Billy Joel and The Troggs. It was pretty awesome. I had to laugh. Another good time for all involved. At this point, I managed to have a quick chat to Andrew who was more than nice. A top dude. Also spoke to his band members about Obituary. And why not? Classic stuff!

Time was drawing near for Iggy & The Stooges… a band I was longing to see. When 6:30pm rolled around, securing a front row spot, I was treated to an hour of pure rock n roll as the band launched into “Raw Power” and tore it up, inviting the crowd to get on stage and dance with him during “Shake Appeal” thus causing chaos for the BDO Security at the front of the stage. It took the security 3 songs to remove the crowd from the area between the stage and the barrier. Classic! It was heaps awesome. Want proof? Bust this…

After The Stooges were done, I headed back to Lilyworld as I had been tipped off on a band from Japan called Red Bacteria Vacuum. Well, that was indeed the best decision made that day as these 3 Japanese girls kicked out the fuckin’ jams with a blast of insane punk rock meets metal and pop. Totally off the wall and nothing short of mind-blowing. I suggest you check this band out STAT! When the band were done, I headed off. I didn’t need to sit through Rammstein or Tool. Nothing was going to compare to the bands I had seen that day. Yep, awesome.

Here’s a bunch of photos I took… enjoy!

  

 

   

   

BARONESS – The Gershwin Room, The Espy, St Kilda, November 19th, 2010

Today was a long day. After working 8 hours straight at my crappy job, I headed to the Espy to conduct an interview with Baroness vocalist and guitarist, John Dyer Baizley (which you will be able to read on this site very soon). After that was done, I headed to Albert Park and played some golf with Willie from the band Lamb Of God. How do these things happen? Who the fuck knows but it’s times like these I actually like my life. Outside of doing anything to do with music, I pretty much think my life is complete shit. But lets not get all emo now, this is about Baroness, not me.

After heading home to collect the car, I headed back to the Espy to see Baroness play one of their sideshows to their Metallica support (get there early otherwise you will miss them as they are on when doors open at 7pm). They got 2 shows left from this Metallica tour but this one, this was their show. No half hour set, no playing to a half empty arena, this was their time and dude, did they make sure that it was.

I arrived in time to see half of Akaname’s set as they played to a packed solid venue. These guys play heavy instrumental stuff kinda like Pelican meets Keelhaul. Very cool. Great riffs and a huge sound. They have a self-released, self-titled album out now. Grab yourself a copy. Akaname went down a storm. Great stuff! I was unsure just how many people ‘get’ the whole deal with Baroness but it appears there’s a shitload more now than there was when I saw them at the Corner Hotel earlier this year when they shared the stage with ISIS. Excellent!

Baroness came on at 11:15 and within minutes they tore the stage apart. Pulling tracks from every release (bar the split with Unpersons), they delivered. Bigtime. And the best thing, you could tell these guys loved every minute of it. They gave it 110%. You couldn’t have not been impressed by the high energy coming off that stage tonight. I mean, really, this was something else. These guys have grown in leaps and bounds since their last visit here and it appears no one left unimpressed. How could you be? These guys have the songs, they just need to deliver them in the best way possible… which they did… and then some. There’s a place in everyone’s life for Baroness and if they didn’t win you over this time then you’re either boring or you don’t listen to music, you just hear it and that’s your loss.

Baroness have proven themselves to be a major player with the big boys and to be honest, those guys at the top, they better watch out cos this band is gonna show ya whose boss… unintentionally too. That’s just the kinda band they are. They aren’t out to be better, they just love playing music and it just so happens that they damn well are better than most of the crap that is being branded as ‘heavy’ these days. Well played. If you were there, well, you were there. If you weren’t, you either had a neck injury or were just not awesome enough. Sorry. Better luck next time, eh?

Baroness’ latest epic, “Blue Record” is out now on Relapse / Riot!

 

 

 

www.relapse.com
www.riotact.com.au
www.yourbaroness.com
www.akaname.net

ACID KING – The Tote, Melbourne, October 10th, 2010

Back in the day, like the mid-90′s, I had this little distro thingo and I could order records in on the cheap and sell them to the people. Well, while doing this, I was ordering from a company called Mordam Records and one of the labels they looked after was Mans Ruin. I became hooked on Mans Ruin’s releases quite fast as they always had awesome cover art and had that “collectable” feel. I like well packaged stuff and since the artist behind the artwork of Mans Ruin was none other than San Francisco lowbrow legend, Frank Kozik, I tried to buy everything that I could from his label. I did alright, managed to score a good chunk of releases but there’s still a few I am missing.

One release I did get though was the 10″ record by a band called Acid King. I mean, let’s be honest here, the cover has boobs and pentagrams. Who would pass that up? I had no idea who Acid King were but the packaging sold me. I know, I’m such a male… but you get that. Anyway, I liked everything else that Mans Ruin had released so chances are I would have loved it anyway. And I did. I became engrossed in the slow doomy sludgey sounds of Acid King and then followed through and bought their 10″ record on Sympathy For The Record Industry. The hunt began to find more of Acid King’s music. The craziest thing of all is that when you listen to bands like this that are relatively unknown anywhere else in the world, you start thinking to yourself “there’s no way I will ever see them play” and you just go about your business, albeit uncomfortably, and live with the fact you can’t see every band that you want. Or something like that. So imagine my surprise when I look in the gig guide during the week and see that Acid King are touring Oz and playing Melbourne. Yeah, I was totally like “what the fuck?” and I had to see this band play. So today rolled around and off I went.

The band got on stage and began rockin’ at 8:30pm and played a good 90 minute set of ear damaging volume space travel rock n roll. This shit is trippy. It’s slow, it’s loud, it’s brutal, it’s sludgey, it’s Acid King. Think Kyuss but slower and a thousand times heavier with a female singer. Something like that. Crazy eh? It’s hard to get an understanding of it unless you experience it for yourself. I was right up the front to begin with but had to force myself back due to the severe ear damage I was no doubt putting myself through. Yeah, weak. Still, I did brave the 90 minutes and lived to tell the tale. Although the eeeeeeeeeeeeeee noise that’s in my ear is gonna make for fun times as I try to sleep tonight. Mind you, it coulda been worse but thankfully I wore ear plugs.

Acid King are pretty darn rockin’ for a band that doesn’t play fast. It doesn’t matter though cos they still have hooks and stuff to keep people diggin’, front row centre, swayin’ back and forth, just gettin’ into the vibe, know what I mean? It’s groovin’. I was pretty blown away just cos for a three piece, the sound freakin’ HUGE! Which is ironic considering vocalist, Lori, is about 5 feet 4 inches tall (not that I was measuring or anything). But for a short gal, she really let’s the audience have it. Sheer brutality. You love it.

After the show, the band casually hung around and talked with the punters about anything and everything. A nice cool vibe. Lovely people. Kickass band. Here’s some snapshots.

   

www.acidking.com

BUDD – The Old Bar, Melbourne, October 2nd, 2010

Yeah, so this review is a week old. What’s up with that? Well the story goes like this: I wanted to add a youtube video of the song “Jawa” that I filmed at this show but my housemate downloads heaps of porn and went over our monthly download quota so was unable to upload it. NEWS FLASH!!! You can now find that video under the photos below but firstly, to the review.

I remember the first time I ever saw BUDD play, around 1995, I think. My mate Tim plays in this band called Screamfeeder and he told me his mate’s were playing in Adelaide (which is where I lived at the time) and that I should go check them out. So I did. They were playing at this place called the Mad Love Bar which was down some side street off Rundle street. They were supporting the band The Mark Of Cain and my mates that were going were big TMOC fans so I was happy to go along. When we got there, the place was packed and Budd were just about to go on. This was when they had just released NAF, yeah I know, I was a bit late to the table but still, I got there.

The line-up in Budd at this time was Jeremy – Guitar and vocals, Narko – Bass, DD Meanie – Guitars and Skiddles – Drums. Once the band kicked in, let’s just say, I was extremely blown away. I had never heard something so heavy yet perfectly crafted. Like it was loud, noisy and insanely brutal yet there was clarity there. And the energy levels for a band playing sludgey groove riffs was incredible. When the Mark of Cain came on, I felt an anti-climax. Finally, I got to see one of Adelaide’s best be shown the door. And that’s not to dismiss TMOC’s greatness. They are indeed a top band but this night was BUDD’s night. It has been implanted on my brain ever since and still remains as one of the heaviest and grooviest shows I have ever seen. So much that I was in this band called Undertone at the time and I went home after the gig and stayed awake til 4 am writing this song called “Shut Off” (which you can hear at this website) that had shades of BUDD throughout. Mainly the stop/starting drums thing. I will always thank BUDD for the inspiration behind that song.

ANYWAY, so let’s fast forward about 15 years to the Old Bar last weekend. BUDD are celebrating a new release titled “Jawa” and since BUDD just don’t ever play enough shows, I had to get along. I mean, really, when a band hardly ever plays a live show, you start wondering if they’ll ever play again so you attend the shows just in case they get sick of it and call it a day. Cos, like, you just never know, right? So me and a couple mates headed out to the show…

Now I have to make a special announcement here…

I have to give my apology to the 3 other opening bands who I missed all the sets of cos I was busy about 20 metres down the road at the Burlesque Bar watching half-naked hot women drench their bodies in caramel sauce and then cover themselves in feathers. I think that warrants as a perfectly acceptable excuse for my missing your sets. I know what you’re thinking: Chicks = Trouble. Yes, you are right and I am guilty as charged. Now, back to the review…

So at midnight, I left the Burlesque Bar and skedaddled my way down to the Old Bar just before BUDD started and upon arriving, I was greeted with my favourite pedal board for any band ever. Purely cos of the confusing factor. This, my friends, is what creates the sweet sounds of a BUDD show (click for a bigger picture):

Opening with “Bocci” off their Prana album, I knew what was coming and it was gonna be huge. Luckily for me, I am smart enough to wear ear plugs these days. Yeah, weak but I like being able to hear stuff besides the constant ringing I have in my ears. The line-up is different these days featuring members of Christbait (Craig Westwood on the bass) and Ricaine (the drummer, Tom, I forgot the rest of his name, sorry dude!) but it’s still just as powerful. BUDD are in a genre all of their own. A band that should have been huge but never quite got there which still seems weird to me but I am a little off centre so that has no basis for anything, anyway. If you like heavy goove and listen to the likes of Pelican, Keelhaul, Baroness, Shellac, Boris, etc. then you should be all over this band. As the band continued playing their set, it was a good reminder that this band really are on their game and should be playing more often, making a lot more noise than 1 gig every 2 and a half years.

Also, there should be rare vinyl releases of this band all over the place but there’s not, which is just so retarded. I always wanted to hear this band on vinyl, granted I do have the double 10″ released on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label and the single sided etched 7″ on Fellaheen but their vinyl releases stop there. Ovit should have been on wax as should have both NAF and Yakfat. So why weren’t they? Well, when they were released, back in the day, it was at the time in the early 90′s when labels were thinking the CD was the coollest thing ever and that nobody was buying records. HA! Not the case. But anyway, talking with Jeremy after the show, it appears that the new album Jawa may just be released on wax after all. Yep, now you’re talkin’! I await this release with anticipation. So much that I didn’t buy the CD on the night cos I want the better format. Yeah, I’m that guy.

I must say, seeing BUDD again was damn exciting. Have always been a huge fan and it was good to see that they are still out there doing it. The crowd digged it and it appears people did miss their absence. Let’s hope it’s not another 2 and a half years before we catch them live again.

Here’s a bunch of photos I took of the show (click for a bigger picture). I made them black and white to go with that dirty, grainy sound that BUDD deliver so proudly.

  

 

  

http://www.myspace.com/buddmethanol

OVERKILL – The HiFi Bar, Melbourne, September 24th, 2010

It took them a long time to come to Australia but they finally made it. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes! What a night! I have dug Overkill for many years now (what metal fan hasn’t?) and I knew this was going to be a good show. The HiFi Bar was packed solid which was good to see. Overkill shirts were everywhere. Denim vests covered in patches were everywhere (I am guilty of this also). It was like 1986 all over again. Let’s get down to it.

Australia’s very own thrash band, Mortal Sin, played through a huge back catalogue of tunes for around an hour. Playing old classics and new thrashers. The first time I saw Mortal Sin was supporting Metallica at the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide in 1989. It was pretty chaotic. My second gig (the first was AC/DC in ’88) and what could be more thrash than seeing Mortal Sin and Metallica in 1989? Mortal Sin did a good job, even if I think some of the new guitar solos were a bit stock, they still gave the fans a good time. The crowd were happy. But this was only just the beginning.

Overkill came on at 10:30 and they killed it. There’s no other way to describe just how good this band was. They were 1 guitarist down on this tour but they didn’t let that stop them being the masters of thrash metal that they are. They know they were important and they should be damn proud that they still are. Bobby Blitz is easily one of the greatest frontmen in Metal. Period! He’s up there with the best of them. Bursting full of high energy, you can tell he has an honest love for what he does. His connection to the audience was honourable. No rockstar bullshit. Just a dude who gives 110% to his role. I’ve seen a lot of metal bands over the years but I’ll say it again, this guy, hands down, is one of the best frontmen I have ever seen.

They covered their entire career which if you are unaware, has clocked up around 15 studio albums and then some. Quite impressive and a feat they are no doubt proud of. With his long time co-songwriter and bassist, D.D.Verni, they have the style and genre perfected. Why were they not part of this “Big 4″ thing? Don’t get me wrong, I love those bands included in the “Big 4″ but surely Overkill would give them all a run for their money. Anyway, the set included so many classics and newie’s like Rotten To The Core, Hello From The Gutter, Coma, Thanx For Nothin’, Wrecking Crew, In Union We Stand, Old School, Ironbound, Elimination, plus blistering covers of The Subhumans classic Fuck You! and Motorhead’s Overkill combined together. It was simply incredible. What a band! They played a set that clocked in at just under 2 hours. Well worth it! Hell yes, thanks for coming. I’d do this again, without fail.

Here’s a video I shot of the band performing Hello From The Gutter. Enjoy!

And here’s some snapshots I took.

 

  

http://wreckingcrew.com/

CALLING ALL CARS @ Corner Hotel, Melbourne, September 18th, 2010

I was offered some freebie guest list action to last night’s show thanks to the good folk at Shiny. Pretty awesome considering I am a little broke at the moment due to paying bills, my loan off, etc. You get the drill. Anyway, for those who don’t know anything about Calling All Cars, they supported AC/DC on their Australian leg of the Black Ice tour and I reviewed their debut album on this site a few months back which you can read here.

I got to the venue around 9:30pm just as Young Revelry were to hit the stage. From the first note, these guys reminded me of The Black Angels from Austin, Tx but as the set went on, those similarities diminished and their sound became more like the grunge era; you know, Nirvana and stuff. They were alright. I didn’t mind them at all. Lots of wah pedal noise, reverb vocals and pounding drum beats. The guitarist needs a haircut though. Oh, and apparently, if you don’t like their music “you can fuck off”. That’s a direct quote.

Next up was Brisbane’s own Numbers Radio. Never even heard of these guys before (yes, I’m out of the loop) but they brought it bigtime. Good rock songs with high energy on the stage. Dudes were having fun and the guitarist is destined to be a rockstar. I liked their songs and the crowd did too. If I had money, I probably would have bought their CD to play on the radio show. But I don’t so I didn’t. They seemed to have made everyone happy and ready to rock. I’d like to hear them on record now to see if it lives up to their live show. Both the bassist and the guitarist have good voices that work well blended together. Good stuff guys!

Calling All Cars hit the stage in their first headline show at the Corner and they were stoked. The crowd were really into it and the band’s sound on stage was huge for a 3 piece. You could see how happy they were that all of this touring has paid off as they have perfected their live set over time and they have moved to that next level. I am sure they learned a lot from the AC/DC tour about upping your game to put your band that bit further ahead of the pack and it shows. Good stuff. Their set included all the hits from their “Hold, Hold, Fire!” album, a new song and a blistering cover of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s “Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll”. Nice one! They ended off the set with radio favourite, “Disconnect”, sending the crowd into a frenzy and then left the stage as the house lights rose and the venue emptied.

Here’s some photos of Calling All Cars doing their thing:

  

  

http://www.myspace.com/callingallcars
http://www.myspace.com/numbersradio
http://www.myspace.com/youngrevelry

SOULFLY – Billboards, Melbourne, September 8th, 2010

Let’s be honest here… I don’t listen to Soulfly. I couldn’t even tell you a single song title. Yeah, really. I mean, sure, I know who they are, I know that the dude’s from Sepultura and I know a lot of dude’s who wear basketball jersey’s, camo shorts and have shaved heads, goatee beards and baseball caps dig ‘em, but other than that, I know nothing about them. But then on Tuesday night a message came through asking me if I wanted a free ticket. Of course I accepted cos who knows, maybe I’d dig it? So I got to the venue at around 8pm and met my friend and in we went.

The first band were playing. They were called Incite which isn’t the best of band names but then again, either is Spiders In The Biscuit Jar and at the time we thought that was awesome (we were kids so quit the laughing). Word on the street is that the vocalist is the son of Mr Sepultura himself, Max Cavalera. Incite were pretty good. They got the crowd ready and the inbetween song banter was amusing. I dunno about you, but personally, hearing someone scream “Heavy Fucking Metal!” in death metal voice just makes me laugh. Still though, not a bad set. Pretty heavy stuff with some good riffs.

City Of Fire came on next. These dudes were like a supergroup with members from Fear Factory, Hatebreed and Strapping Young Lad. That’s a pretty beefy sausage party right there. I didn’t know what to expect when they came on and immediately I was diggin’ it. I hadn’t heard a single song by these guys either so for me to get rocked without knowing any of the tunes I thought was quite cool indeed. These guys did an awesome version of The Cult’s “Rain” which I thought was a highlight of the entire night. It just sounded cool in the middle of so much testosterone. Here’s a photo.

Soulfly came on and the place started jumping immediately. They have that groovy metal sound that has jungle drums and stuff to get people pogo-ing like they were at a Sex Pistols show in ’77. The driving beats and rhythm of each song had everyone dancing from the first chord til the last. I have to say, I liked ‘em. It was groovy. You could totally move to it. The only downfall was the amount of douchebags there. I mean, really? Being a tough guy drunk fuckwit pushing people around because you are metabolism-challenged is not cool. Whatever. Cavalera had the crowd in his palm and gave them everything they wanted including the Sepultura classic, “Roots”, in the encore along with crowd favourite, “Eye For An Eye”. It was a great set and the crowd loved it. Seemed the people were more than happy. And Max has crazy dreads.

Besides the few who got into “tough guy” phase, the show was most awesome and I am a converted fan. Granted, you won’t see me in a basketball jersey anytime soon but I was definitely impressed. Awesome stuff. Here’s some photos of Soulfly and one of the crowd goin’ sick.

  

 

  

NAPALM DEATH @ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne, September 5th, 2010

So last night I witnessed my first Napalm Death show. Yeah, true story. Let’s go back to the start… I first discovered Napalm Death when this dude at my highschool went to the UK and brought back a video tape that had some show he recorded off the TV there. It had Napalm Death and Slayer on it. This program was called ”Thrashed To Death” or something. Anyway, the segment was the old-school line-up of ND with Lee Dorian on vocals, Mick Harris on drums, Shane Embury on bass and Bill Steer on guitar. So I am watching this video and thinking to myself “what the fuck is this?” and couldn’t stop laughing. It was hilarious. Like really funny shit. There’s this dude with dreads trying to light a match on the monitors so he can light his cigarette. He starts headbanging with the cigarette in his mouth and it’s so funny. Actually, you can see that video for yourself right here as some kind soul has uploaded it to YouTube:

But back to last night… I arrived to the venue, caught up with my friends Leah and Dave and headed in as guests of Napalm Death guitarist, Mitch Harris. Yeah, we’re awesome. We wandered in and I saw some band but wasn’t sure who they were if it was Rotten Chop or Extortion. I apologise to whoever you were cos I forgot which band you were. Either way, they were extremely loud and full on.

Up next… Dying Fetus. These guys who were just brutal. There’s no other way to describe them except ”Brutal!” I thought they were most definitely a lot better than the records because you could see the energy on stage was just intense. I am a fan of watching bands like this live cos I think the music is so ridiculously fast and chaotic that the only way you can really experience it, is in the live context. Dying Fetus totally shredded and blasted through a shitload of songs in the time they had. Impressive.

Napalm Death came on to a thunderous applause. I was able to take photos; first 3 songs only and NO FLASH! Goddamn, I hate those rules! They’re lame. I don’t understand them and I hate the way the security are about these things. Fucking rude! Anyway, I snapped a bunch of pictures and all was good. So the band played all the hits; Scum, The Kill, Deceiver, You Suffer (yeah, all 1 second of it), Massappeal Madness, Suffer The Children, the title track from their latest album Time Waits For No Slave, and of course, no ND set is ever complete without their reworking of the Dead Kennedys classic, Nazi Punks Fuck Off! All up, a most brutal set and the dreadlocks were flying in all directions. Chaos indeed. I was pretty much blown away by their heavy riffs and intensity. I also liked vocalist Barney Greenway’s little words of wisdom between the songs. Now let’s hope that people put it into practice. It’s all good to cheer when a dude talks about peace but going outside and wanting to start fights cos you’ve had too much to drink and turned into a drunk fuckhead is just not cool. Not saying it happened, I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, it was indeed a good night. Ended up chatting to the band after the show and enjoying the gourmet food (since I hadn’t had any dinner, this worked out quite well). Heaps good! Here’s some photos I took.

  

  

SUPER WILD HORSES – Farewell Show @ The Curtain, September 3rd, 2010

Ever since I saw these girls play an instore at Missing Link Records, I was hooked. Sure, I have the first single they did and was totally into it but after seeing them play, my thoughts were confirmed. I dig ‘em. A lot. And it has nothing to do with the fact they’re cute and female. They could wear wrestling masks and I’d still think they were cool. Actually, I think anyone who wears a wrestling mask is cool so that doesn’t hold much merit. Anyway, you know what I’m saying; the music is what counts here. So anyway, this show was a bid to say farewell to the dynamic duo of cuteness (yes I put that there just to annoy the feminists and to completely disregard my previous comment) as they head off overseas for a journey across the USA which will see them taking in sites fom New York to San Francisco. They’re gonna love it. The USA is so freakin’ awesome and the USA people love us Aussies. Especially those who play rock n roll.

The girls advertised on their Facebook page that for the first 5 people to bring them mixed CD’s for their roadtrip across the USA, they’d get free entry. I took along a copy of “Too Dirty For Hippies”; a mixed promo CD released by some Brisbane dudes who love music showcasing the crop of Aussie rock from around 2003. Bands included are Mustang, Giants of Science, Greensteam, Aampirellas, Muscle Car, Jed Whitey and many more. This is a great CD and I figured that since I still had a couple of these CDs left over, they may dig a song or two from it and being that all the bands are from Australia, they may get a feeling that Australia is with them wherever they go. Or something. Anyway, I didn’t expect to get free entry as I thought the gig would be packed to the rafters by the time I got there at 9pm. Alas, I was the 2nd person hand delivering a mixed CD. Yay! Free entry! It was my first time to the Curtain so up the stairs I went. A decent sized room with a good stage and PA. They should look at fixing the toilets though. They’re horrible.

The first band on were Constant Mongrel. Never seen them before, or heard of them for that matter. Either I am out of touch or they’re new but I gotta say… what is it with this new wave of bands holding their guitars way too high? Like they’re having trouble reaching them or something so they set their straps so their guitars sit in front of their boobs. It doesn’t make any sense to me and looks totally awkward. Dee Dee Ramone wouldn’t be caught dead like that. And he’d know. Anyway, their sound was very indie pop with some reverb noise. They didn’t look like they were really having fun though. That always weirds me out when I watch bands. I like to see the band enjoying their show, I mean, isn’t that what it’s all about, having fun? They were ok. They had a tape on sale at the merch desk. Yeah, a tape! I didn’t buy it. I don’t have a tape player.

Next up were The Twerps. Another band who have succumbed to the short guitar strap syndrome and didn’t look like they were having fun either. Granted, it’s not always about having fun, some emo bands have made careers out of acting depressed, but I dunno, this new wave of indie pop rock bands are playing music that sounds fun so why not have fun? The singer did say he was sick though so maybe that was the problem. Either way, they do have a cute girl on guitar who has nice eyes and a nice voice so I think she should sing more. Their music didn’t really do it for me but either does that new song by Eminem and Rhianna and thousands of people like that so I guess it’s clear that I know nothing about music anyway.

The Erotics took the stage next and I had heard great things about them. They play a style of surf guitar meets rockabilly meets jungle stomp. Yeah, true story. I thought these guys were great musicians but the songs needed something else. Like a big chorus or something. I’m no expert on surf music though so maybe this is how it’s supposed to be and if that’s the truth then I am not the right person to be reviewing such bands so ignore my thoughts. Still, these dudes were having fun and tons of it. Was good to see since I was thinking that maybe the venue had everyone sign contracts to be unhappy on stage.

Then the finale came on. Super Wild Horses were all smiles as they took to the stage, first decorating it with Lai’s and paper lanterns, then painting the room with their simplistic yet catchy power pop rock songs. The whole “less is more” approach that these girls have towards music is awesome and definitely works in their favour. It just goes to show that you don’t need wailing guitar solos and huge production values to deliver entertainment (although when seeing the likes of Motorhead, it definitely helps). Halfway through the show, the girls swapped places and continued powering through the 13 songs they brought with them for us tonight. No encore, no rockstar bullshit, no attitudes. Just good ole fun. And I like it. I wish them all the best on their USA tour.

Here’s some photos of the girls doing their thing:

  

 

 

You can buy Super Wild Horses swag on HoZac Records. You can also pick up the latest 7″ single which is not available in shops but directly from the label as part of the HoZac Records Hookup Klub. Heaps good!

Have a look and listen to the Super Wild Horses right here and now:

Head on over to their Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/superwildhorses so you can hear tunes, see pics and also check out the venues and dates of their upcoming USA tour. Go see ‘em.

 

SIMON DAY @ THE RETREAT, AUGUST 29th, 2010

Tonight I headed to the Retreat to see Ratcat frontman, Simon Day, play a solo show with Suzie Stapleton. Arriving just 5 minutes before Simon took to the stage, it was indeed good timing. Truth be told, I have never been a huge fan of the Retreat though because I don’t like the way the room is set up. There’s too many chairs and tables and people are always walking past the front of the stage to get to the toilets or the beer garden making your viewing experience most annoying and also the band’s experience, no doubt, awkward. Still, I’ll pay that price to see Simon Day bust out some old Ratcat tunes. And that is exactly what he did.

  

His first set was a bunch of tunes that were for the most part, unknown to me. Still, it was enjoyable. The second set was where the gold was. All the Ratcat hits we know and love were played solo and the last 4 tracks played with Suzie Stapleton helping out on guitar. Hearing these tunes stripped back to just Simon and a guitar was quite strange as Ratcat’s music was always extremely noisy and fuzzed out yet now it was all melancholic and bare. An interesting way to hear such classics as That Ain’t Bad, Don’t Go Now, Baby Baby and Don’t Go In The Water.

Suzie Stapleton came on and followed with her mellow guitar fuzz ala The Drones. Not bad at all. Never seen her before so this was new to me. Four songs in and Simon Day got on stage with the band to run through the Ratcat song “Getting Away (From This World)” which was a nice touch. All smiles coming from me, that’s for sure. I should also say that Simon’s a nice chap. He signed a couple records for me and he has agreed to give me some insight into the book I am writing on the Australian music scene from the 80′s and early 90′s. Heaps good!

Of course, when you have such a huge collection of songs, you can’t play everything but still, it was good fun and a decent set. For those of you counting at home, here’s the setlist.

It shows Run & Hide but that wasn’t played unfortunately as that would be an interesting song to hear done in this setting, and Don’t Go Now and My Bloody Valentine were played in set 2. Not a bad set and I hope Simon returns to Melbourne with the full band of Ratcat to play a string of shows. Seriously, good power pop hardly exists now in Australia and they were definitely one of my faves. Yep, Rock.

THE DOMNICKS – The Spanish Club, Melbourne, August 27th, 2010

So tonight I saw The Domnicks. For those not in the know, The Domnicks combine the guitar twangin’ talents of Dom Mariani (The Stems / DM3 / Someloves) and Nick Sheppard (The Cortinas / The Clash) and together with Howard Shawcross (The Elks / The Jackals) on bass and Marz Frisina (DM3 / The Calhoons) on drums, they make a blend of blues swagger and rock n roll. If you’ve been tuned in to this site, you may recall my review of their “Hey Rock ‘N’ Roller” mini-album that came out on Off The Hip. If not, here it is again:

THE DOMNICKS – “Hey Rock ‘N’ Roller” (Off The Hip)
Dom Mariani (The Stems) and Nick Shepherd (The Clash, replacing Mick Jones when he went off to that Big Audio Dynamite shit) have gotten together to dish up a nice little mini-album of melodic garage rock n rollers. It definitely has that UK R&B soul from the 60’s and early 70’s and the track ‘Already There’ reminds me heaps of Grand Funk. Works for me! I love that shit. Mixed by the team of Rob Younger (Radio Birdman) and Wayne Connolly (The Welcome Mat), they have given The Domnicks a superb sound that is a sure fire hit and destined to be a fave for years to come. You see, truth be told, I am not the biggest Stems fan. I mean, I like ‘em but I am not a diehard “The Stems Are The Greatest!” type of guy so for me to praise this, you gotta trust me that I aint doing it for the cred. I am pissing in these guys pockets cos this is a really good record, well, CD. There’s not a dud track in these 8 songs. That’s pretty good bang for your buck in a world where people are buying singular tracks cos so many albums these days are filled with filler cos bands have gotten lazy. A solid release from these cats and I hope to see a follow up in the not to distant future cos these 8 tracks… I mean, a mini album? Really? Who does mini albums these days? Full length please.

I was pretty happy to hear they were coming to Melbourne to play a show and arrived to the Spanish Club all excited to hear tracks from this CD played live. Sadly, the turn out tonight wasn’t huge. A real shame cos this venue was quite big so with only around 50 punters, it looked quite empty. Plus, a lot of people chose to sit down while the band played which must have made the band feel really awkward. I mean, to be up on stage rockin’ out and getting into it and watching a handful of people dancing up the front and enjoying the band while a bunch of people were sitting 30 metres away against the back wall must make you feel a bit shitty. A bit rude to our friends from Western Australia but oh well… who am I to judge, anyway? Still though, The Domnicks gave it their all. It was cool to see! The songs sounded great and as the gig went on, the show got better and more people got groovin’. I liked it. Really. It was a gas and the tunes were a treat. I was glad to have been there. If they pass through your town, by all means go see them. It’s good honest rock n roll from people who do it cos they give a damn. Hell yeah! Here’s some photos I took…

  

 

OFF THE HIP RECORDS 100th RELEASE BBQ

For any small time label to get past release one is a feat in itself but when you have 100 releases under your belt and a shitload to follow, that’s commendable. Melbourne label Off The Hip Records has done just that. They have stuck with their product, stood by it through thick and thin, rejected digital downloads, and come out on top. Today, brothers and label owners Mick and Chris Baty couldn’t be happier. Not only do they run Melbourne’s finest independent record store, but they have also put on an incredible showcase of bands from the label all for a measly $15 complete with a bonus free CD for the first 50 payers through the door (I scored the 2006 release by The Dolly Rocker Movement, “Electric Sunshine”… just sayin’).

The day kicked off with label newcomers, The Living Eyes. A young bunch who are following in the footsteps of those other young lads from the label, The Frowning Clouds. It’s unfortunate for them as that is who their comparisons will be, what with their age and their style of music. The only thing missing, really, is the capes but there’s still time. It’s tough for any band to go on so early and to any rock n roller, 1:30 in the afternoon is early and with the doors only being opened for 15 minutes, The Living Eyes still bashed it out including a decent version of the covered-far-too-much, ‘Milk Cow Blues’. They’re still in the early stages but I give them a year and they should be really cookin’ with gas.

Mass Cult Suicide followed on and were a band I had never seen before. This trio played a bunch of lo-fi punk garage rock with the cute Yolanda (of Dollsquad fame) shredding on guitar. Not a bad effort at all even though the band did seem tired… or maybe they were a bit put off by the small crowd who chose to stand towards the back of the room… the usual standard of behaviour for punters who have arrived early to shows and are not yet filled with alcohol. Ha!

Tasmania’s Sole Stickers came on next and plowed through their new album from top to bottom. A great way to advertise your album that was just released on Friday. These guys were good. Nice and simple songs of garage power pop. Unfortunately for me, I haven’t heard the album so it was hard to appreciate the band at its full potential as I didn’t know the songs. Next time though, I should be well schooled and ready to rock as I believe this album was sent to be reviewed. Heaps good.

Melbourne duo Wrong Turn were up next and their noisy retro two-piece feed of grungey blues was just the thing the people needed to begin closing the gap between the mixing desk and the stage. I don’t mind Wrong Turn at all. They seem to get better and better with each show that I see. Sometimes I feel they need a bass player but then I see shows like this and realise they don’t cos it works without one. Good stuff.

Long time running power pop band, The Little Murders, came on next and got the crowd movin’ and boppin’ playing tracks from their ‘Stop Plus Singles’ CD released last year on OTH including my fave tune of theirs; ‘Things Will Be Different’. Good Sunday afternoon music.

The Cheats were up next and it was back to crazy garage rock as they powered through their stuff and unfortunately, the BBQ had started by this time and I was busy stuffing my face with food so I missed most of their set but I did hear it and that’s cool. Yep. Awesome.

The Russian Roulettes followed and these cats were wild. They are such high energy and having just returned from Europe where they shared the stage with the likes of KISS and Bob Dylan, the Roulettes show no signs of slowing down any time soon. No sirree, playing the same show as KISS was just the beginning and this gig was another ball-tearin’ taster of what’s to follow. This band’s gonna rock ya. Nice one!

Midnight Woolf took to the stage next and were as crazy as ever. Throwing their instruments around and rolling all over the floor, it was a mess of rock n roll antics and I was loving it. I saw these guys on Friday and thought they were great but tonight they were better still. The crowd were definitely movin’ and groovin’ now and the place was rockin’ and rollin’. I was diggin’ it. I still miss the female drummer though, she was cute.

The night continued with awesomeness as Johnny Casino & The Secrets played another mindblowing set kicking off with ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and finishing with an incredible version of the MC5′s ‘Black To Comm’. This finale was unexpected and completely brilliant. I have seen Johnny Casino numerous times and each gig just gets better and better. If you’re yet to experience this rock n roll outlaw, you need to rectify that, STAT! Tonight’s show, I was blown away and so were the rest of the people in attendance. Johnny had the audience in the palm of his hand and the place was jumpin’. Wow.

   

Before the almighty Spainiards hit the stage, local Spencer P Jones (Johnnys, Beasts Of Bourbon) took to the stage for a few solo numbers with the guys from Los Chicos gladly providing the backing. The guy’s a Melbourne institution and the crowd happily enjoyed this inpromtu set (SPJ was not scheduled to play but ended up on stage anyway). Classic! 

The night’s much anticipated performance from Spain’s Los Chicos was met with an ecstatic crowd who were ready to party and Los Chicos were kind enough to not let them down. In fact, the band really outdid themselves this time. From engaging the crowd into a gospel of rock n roll dancing to special guest stars tearing up the stage with them to the Chicos finishing off their set with a heartfelt yet messy yet ass-kicking version of GOD’s “My Pal”; a song so special to not only Melbourne rock n roll fans but also to punters of The Tote and tonight, special guitar duties were provided by none other than John Nolan of Powder Monkeys fame. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it was more rock n roll than most. The place erupted into more smiles, cheers and emotions than ever thought possible by the human form. It was the perfect ending to a 13 date tour for the Spanish crazies as they wind down and head home tomorrow. I tell ya, I for one will be sad to see them go. They are without a doubt one of the hottest bands I have seen this year. But you know what? The night was still not over. There was one band to go. But seriously, how could any band top this performance? The truth being that you couldn’t. I don’t make the rules, it was what it was; fucking awesome!

  

Buried Horses followed and brought the long day to a close. They gave it their best but truth be told, this was Los Chicos night. Thanks for coming.

After 10 hours of rock, I was exhausted. I said my goodbyes and whatnot and it was time to go. Today was sweet. Thanks to Chris and Mickster for putting this on. An excellent show indeed. I look forward to the next BBQ and here’s to release 200!

Thanks guys.

www.offthehip.com.au

ASH – Billboards The Venue, August 4th, 2010

Arriving early to the venue, I was greeted with an aftershow pass much to my surprise, which is good because I took along a piece of history just in case I had the chance to bump into Tim and Co. while at the show; a poster from their very first Australian tour in 1995. I secured this poster as I happened to have been in Melbourne at the time and was sitting in a cafe in Prahran and saw it on the wall and sneakily took it down and took it back to Adelaide with me. Now, here I was 15 years later taking it to an Ash show in Melbourne. How bizarre!

I walked in the venue and whilst witnessing some of the worst fringes in alternative rock history on members of the crowd around me, I got myself some water, took a look at the merch and thought to myself: “I’m glad the merch isn’t so good cos I can’t afford any anyway.” I’m happy with my Girl From Mars shirt… oldschool!

The first band came on but I forgot who they were and they weren’t my thing anyway. Good musicians but the music was a bit stock. We Are Scientists came on and I didn’t know their stuff. I know they’re a big deal at the moment but they’re not my thing. I asked my mate Kahlil, “do you know these guys?” He said he liked one song. They didn’t play it. He probably felt ripped off. Alas, again, I thought these guys were also pretty stock. I wasn’t blown away or anything but I listen to Poison so it’s clear I know nothing about music, anyway. Still, looking around the crowd, the girls were doing the indie dance head nod thing so their approval suggests that W.A.S did good. I should also point out at this time that We Are Scientists and Ash do indeed have a very attractive female fanbase.

ASH… wow! They came on stage to the opening track from their 1977 debut LP, “Lose Control” and I was lit up with excitement. Only moments before had I tweeted that them playing 1977 from start to finish would be the best thing ever (minus “Gone The Dream” cos that song just doesn’t do it for me - honesty is my only excuse, sorry). Could they have read my tweet? Tim kicked off with that opening riff and as soon as the band kicked in, the sound blew the goddamn roof off the place. They sounded huge! Well done to the soundguy for making this show sound heaps awesome. I was always hoping to one day hear them play this so I could have heard and witnessed Tim’s guitar-tapping, which he did a lot of in true Eddie Van Halen “Eruption” fashion (which, I should say, he acknowledged before their encore!). When they played “A Life Less Ordinary” as the second track my anticipation of them possibly reading my Twitter was dissolved. But that’s ok cos that song rocks… but when they kicked into ”Goldfinger”, the place went beserk. Oh and when I say beserk, I mean beserk in an indie dance kinda way (read: more head nodding than usual) although I did see a small group of people dancing. For a band who wrote so many lovey dovey slow songs, they know h0w to make them work in the live sense.

As the set went on, the band got really into it as much as the crowd did and by half way through, everyone was loving it. Not a single sadface amongst the crowd. Ash gave it their all. No rockstar bullshit. They just got up there, played music and rocked the fuck out. By the time they got round to Kung Fu (which surprisingly I thought would have been the encore), I was exhausted. Still though, I wasn’t going to not enjoy such a great tune and enjoy it I did. Following it up with “Arcadia”, the first of their A to Z series, I was loving it. These guys were on fire tonight. Hit singles “Girl From Mars” and “Burn Baby Burn” had the place going schizo with excitement and there were smiles all round. We saw the band leave the stage only to return with the night’s supergroup of both ASH and WE ARE SCIENTISTS on stage together, aptly named WASH, to run through a smashing cover of Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick” and finishing with Weezer’s “Only In Dreams”.

Wow! That was the word of the night. Wow! A perfect set. A great night. Hanging around after the show, I met other fans for the aftershow party including a dude who was invited to the gig and aftershow as he sold an item on eBay to Ash’s bassist, Mark Hamilton, and since he was gonna be in Melbourne anyway, he decided to save on postage and just collect it at the gig. Now, what was this item? It was a Yo Gabba Gabba lego type blocks thing. True story! Mark was stoked. I saw the hand over and the excitement of Mark’s face when he collected this item to take back home for his daughter. An awesome moment that I was happy to witness.

Met all the guys who were all nice and friendly and not rockstar or egotistical. They were just cool guys who love music. Was a tops night. I managed to confirm with Tim that yes indeed, they are only releasing singles from now on. They’re done with the albums thing. I totally understand his way of thinking. This also puts pressure onto the band as the single is usually the big song for the band so they’d have to make sure every song they write from now on was of the same calibre as “Kung Fu” (their Back In Black) and not “Lost In You” (their Stiff Upper Lip). Still, here they were doing 26 killer singles for each letter of the alphabet in the space of a year! That’s commendable. It also got ‘em into the Guinness Book of Records. Well played!