Harvest Melbourne Sunday 11/11/2012

All of my videos from Harvest Festival Melbourne 2012 can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAcODj1sWkRUfOCfs0d2G0exsW7FgvgW9

I attended the Harvest festival in the Brisbane botanical gardens in 2011 and seeing Portishead there will always remain one of the best gig experiences I've had. The entire festival was a great day that somehow managed to attract the 'right' kind of music loving crowd.

So this year I took up the opportunity to become a Harvest festival foundation member. The thing was that I had a wedding to attend in Melbourne the weekend that Harvest was on in Brisbane. But thanks to Campbell Newman it turned out I was to be on 'extended leave' (ie. took a voluntary redundancy) around this time so I extended my travel plans so I could attend the Melbourne Harvest festival on the weekend before the wedding. After hearing about what went down in Brisbane, I think it was fate guiding me toward the perfect day that was to be had at Werribee Mansion (festival site) in Melbourne.

The sun was out and the sky clear and blue, with a cool breeze blowing. After reading about the public transport issues affecting trains to Werribee, and not being much familiar with Melbourne I decided to take the paid option to guarantee me a seat on a bus to and from the event. I'm glad I did as this worked well and was a hassle-free trip.

Entering the festival grounds as the gates opened gave me ample time to check out the surroundings and get my bearings on stage locations. One thing that had annoyed me at last years festival in Brisbane was the epic distance between the two stages that were hosting the majority of the bands I planned on seeing; I spent half of the time weaving through crowds to get from one end of the grounds to the other. No such issue this year in Melbourne as all stages were comfortably traversable distances apart from each other.

The grounds were large and lush with paths leading between trees and a large lake in the middle. The organisers had done well in making us feel welcome and the quirky little art installations just added to the atmosphere.

I started the day watching River City Extension on one of the larger side stages. Their Americana-infused upbeat tunes seem perfectly suited for this beautiful weather and rural location. At the end of their set I returned to the main stage to watch Los Campesinos! (the '!' is part of the name). Someone/something had alerted me to this band about 18 months previous because I found that I'd previously 'acquired' their 2008 album Hold On Now, Youngster... and the fact that it remained on my PC suggested I'd enjoyed their stuff. Seeing them live confirmed this and their brash danceable pop rock drew a decent crowd for the time of day, some choosing to watch from a distance in the shade of one of the large trees, with others happily bopping away on their feet in the sun.

Having listened to a song or two of Dark, Dark, Dark, Nona Marie Invie's voice was enough to make me want to check them out. Whilst the voice was just as great live, the sweet pop songs were a bit too quiet for this environment and acted as a bit of a buzz kill after the high of Los Campesinos!.. so I returned to the main stage to watch the remainder of their set and just in time to catch the lead singer climb off stage into the crowd to sing "Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks".

Next up was Dark Horses. I'd read an interview with this band that had one of the members mentioning something along the lines of "'We wear black because Rock’n’Roll is dead" and "the clothes we wear are an integral part of the band" (I'm probably misquoting terribly). The second statement had me concerned and the suggested self-importance was obvious in their on stage presence. A couple of their dark and moody rock n roll tunes (to me reminiscent of Jonneine Zapata)  showed promise but for me they became a bit boring as their set went on, so back to the main stage I went for The Dandy Warhols.

Although I was a fan of these guys back in their hey-day, that day has long since gone and I think it's time for Courtney Taylor-Taylor (is there an echo in here?) to accept that and move on. The familiarity of the songs may still have some appeal but here they just seemed to drone from one to the next.

I was aware of a bit buzz around the next band, Silversun Pickups. I'd seen them once before at Valley Fiesta in 2007 and was looking forward to hearing their sonic fuzz live again. They had a fill-in bass player (the original one was off having babies) who just seemed to be having so much fun grinning and dancing on stage with this being her first time in Australia. The energy these guys had was great for the afternoon slot with the drummer head-banging away with every beat. Incidentally he seemed to be attempting to rival Jon Stanier in the 'who can have the most ludicrously high positioned cymbal' competition.

This post is getting epic and I don't have time right now to finish it right now (maybe later) so here are the rest! Beck and Santigold were my favorite for the day with an honorable mention to Cake.

Liars
Cake
Ben Folds Five
Beck
Sigur Ros
Santigold

Radiohead 9/11/2012

My brief stream of consciousness style review:

I went in prepared to be standing around for two hours plus, trying to make the most of listening to unfamiliar/sub-par new (new = post-OK Computer in my book) tunes being sung by a guy with a croaky voice. I should have known better.

I knew these guys were great instrumentalists. I'd heard the fables of their live show experience. They brought the goods. Thom's voice had healed since the jet-lagged NZ show, the band were tight and everything you could ask of them, and the light show and maneuvering screens added another element to the whole shebang.

I'd been listening to an assumed setlist based on most played songs this tour, so had exposure to a good percentage of the songs. Of course The Bends / OK Computer tunes were a real treat, and granted I don't mind some of the newer tunes, but there were still the occasional self-indulgent art-rock moments. The good thing is that Radiohead's talent even make those moments tolerable.

I'm way underselling this show, it was a great night and I'm sure fans of the newer material would have been blown away. I'm very happy I took the opportunity to see what the fuss was about. I only had my Samsung Galaxy S3 to record on so here's the result:

Compilation 1 (the early stuff):

Compliation 2 (the 'new' stuff):

Brisbane Riverfire 2012

This years 2012 Brisbane Riverfire date had been moved a few weeks forward from previous years, apparently so as to coincide with school holidays and to be a big finish to the Brisbane Festival. It was a big weekend all up with Parklife music festival on at the Botanic Gardens the same Saturday as Riverfire, and Monday being the new public holiday.


Direct link to playlist http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAcODj1sWkRVSbxRpOcOxE2D4Qu7TDOUL

The afternoon aerial displays this year featured the F/A-18 Super Hornets, ARH Tiger helicopters and the Black Hawk Helicopters. The first fly over by the two Hornets personally gave me a real buzz as they screamed directly toward our highrise before pulling some serious Gs at the last minute to fly straight up the face of the building and into a vertical climb high into the sky. Hair raising stuff. The subsequent fly overs were still awesome but they didn't seem to get as close as the initial one, but maybe it just felt that way because the first took us by surprise. I only captured video of the subsequent fly overs so I can't compare.

The twin Tiger choppers look like the kind of tactical airborne killing machines that would strike adequate amounts of terror into any opponent. Thankfully that was not their task today. They flew up the river before performing some very tightly synchronised manoeuvres. I'm not sure if it was planned but there was a cruise ship heading directly toward the downdraft wake of one of the choppers hovering close to the water and so the passengers on the deck copped their own special show there.

The Black Hawks got a bit more elevated than the Tigers as they flew up the river buzzing our building at a 28th floor level close enough to see the pilot, and to feel like you could reach out and touch them. Later on they repeated the feat with a night run complete with search spotlights lighting up the river below.

Then came the fireworks. The start was signalled by one final flyover with the Hornets dropping ribbons of flares across the night sky reminescent of the now defunct dump-and-burn manoeuvre the F-111s used to perform before they were retired a couple of years back.

The Story Bridge display was as impressive as usual, with the 'fire curtain' making a repeat appearance drawing many 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the crowds.

But I felt the view up the river to the Kangaroo point cliffs was more impressive this year compared to previous. You could really notice the split-second timing of the same fireworks expoloding in synchronicity above the different locations along the river and over the city. I found that the addition of split-colour fireworks (a first this year?) really added an extra wow factor too.

Punters raving away to Parklife at the Botanic Gardens Riverstage didn't miss out either with the fireworks coinciding with the performance of one of the headline acts, Nero. Here's a video from one such excited punter.

I'll leave you with some comments posted on a Facebook friend's page that made me stop and think. Here's Lawrence English's ( https://www.facebook.com/lawrencepenglish/posts/10151110128819262 ) thought provoking take on the afternoon military display:

"Today we wage war upon ourselves. [...] I'm struck by a sense of decadence in a people, who can celebrate a city with the machinery and sounds of terror that have destroyed so many other similar cities around the world. We revel in a bombastic dream of war that would make others cower. How lucky we are, and most of us don't even realise it. Happy Riverfire, let them eat cake. "

I do recall having conflicting emotions of awe, and guilty sorrow/shame at one stage during the display for the same reasons. But the awe won out as the guilt was quickly suppressed. Maybe it was just my mind pleasing my hedonistic side.

Lawrence's comments also reminded me of a conversation I had with a sales assistant in the city on Friday before Riverfire when the Hornets had been rehearsing their flyovers. I asked if she had heard the planes today and she commented yes, and it had given her quite a scare as she is from Israel and the sound of a screaming bomber overhead has different connotations there. She had to remind herself that she was in Australia, where things like that don't happen.

Happy Riverfire indeed.

Best new Aussie music from independent/unsigned artists - and it's free! (AKA My picks from Triple J Unearthed) PART 1

Tip: scroll down the page if you want to skip the intro and get straight to my song recommendations.

Australia's Triple J radio has gone through numerous changes since it's inception in the 80's. Although being an avid listener in the late 90's, I rarely tune in nowadays. There came a time during the noughties when all too frequently I'd turn it on and think "wow these songs are really bad". Whether it was me and my musical tastes growing older, or it was the poor choices of the head musical programmer at the time, something had changed and it was no longer pleasant listening for me.

For a while I turned to 4ZZZ Brisbane community radio for my new (and old) music needs. I loved hearing of awesome new local bands through what was essentially word of mouth; a 4ZZZ programmer plugging their new favourite band that they saw at a show on the weekend. The thrill of discovering bands that were as good as (or better) than your favourite international acts and then being able to see them play a show to 50 people at the local pub, kept alive my interest in hunting down new music.

Nowadays we have Triple J Unearthed. And along with that came the associated digital radio station playing "100% Unsigned and independent music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Since purchasing a new stereo that incorporated a digital radio I've been listening to Triple J Unearthed to feed my need to discover decent new local music.

Amongst the bands that are OK but need a little more work there are those gems that really shine through. I've been keeping a list of tunes that catch my ear and I feel are worthy of recommendation. For the sake of giving you some kind of indication of the styles of music I've very loosely categorised the suggested tunes into genres as per below. Out of each genre I've also indicated my preferred stand out track via the blue highlight (pretty I know). Note that I'm sure there are plenty of other great tracks I haven't heard yet so please make recommendations in the comments section.

In part 1 (this one) I'm covering what I refer to "Upbeat Pop" and "Dance".

Future posts will cover "Soul swing funk", "Blues", "Roots and acoustic", "Electronic chilled", "Guitar rock", and "Hip hop".

UPBEAT POP

These are a collection of foot tapping, hip shaking, smily facing singalongs and I think it is for this reason that these are my favourite tunes to recommend. If you enjoy the stand out track then give the rest a go too because it was difficult choosing just one.

Band:	Twincest
Song:	I won't go
Sounds like:	Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) meets Kimbra harmonies meets jungle beats.
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/890956/I%20Wont%20Go%20301211.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=46976

Band:	Jessica Cerro
Song:	Anyone but me
Sounds like:	Washington / Lily Allen
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/935447/Anyone%20But%20Me%20Jessica%20Cerro.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=53229

Band:	Vance joy
Song:	Riptide
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/968015/Riptide.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=56137

Band:	East End Villains
Song:	They don't deceive me
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/957957/04%2004%20They%20Dont%20Deceive%20Me%20(Mastere.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=33298

Band:	Jenny broke the window
Song:	Fancy dress
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/763425/02%20Fancy%20Dress.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=37239

Band:	Dead letter chorus
Song:	Run wild
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/847792/Dead%20Letter%20Chorus%20-%20Yearlings%20-%2003%20Run,%20WIld.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=12668

DANCE

Not much to say about this other than again all of these tracks are as excellent as each other so check them all out if the genre is for you. If they don't get your feet moving then you probably need to see a doctor.

Band:	Protokol
Song:	Street Fighter CSS
Sounds like:	Dirty house?? (Sorry, crap at my sub genres)
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/892960/Street%20Fighter%20(radio%20edit%20128kbs).mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=22351

Band:	Jake Press
Song:	Now that you're gone
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/913410/nowyouregonejakepress.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=50307

Band:	Wolfie
Song:	Cakes
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/830399/Cakes%20-%20Original%20Mix.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=48243

Band:	Jordan F
Song:	A new day
Sounds like:	80's synth
Listen:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/977542/A%20New%20Day.mp3
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=54266

Band:	Peking duk
Song:	Bonasa
Sounds like:	MSTRKFT / Daft Punk
Listen:	They've removed the track from the site but you can hear their stuff here http://www.youtube.com/user/pekingdukmusic/videos
Profile:	http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=36943

Part 2 and more to follow.

Bloc party warm up show at the Zoo Brisbane 2012

I really really really really have no idea why I hadn't bothered to see these guys before. I enjoyed Silent Alarm when it was released but for some reason I cannot recall I hadn't bothered to check them out live on their previous visits to Australia. When I read there was a Splendour In The Grass festival warm up show announced with just two weeks notice, I knew seeing the band in a small venue like the Zoo would be a special gig so made sure I got along. Oh yeah. I'll definitely be seeing them again.

The band played an energetic set that kept the crowd dancing crazy all night and included previewing new tracks from the upcoming record 'Four', to be released next month. Both the old and new tracks sounded great and the latter included Kettling, Octopus, Real Talk, So He Begins To Lie, Team A (about prescription drugs according to Kele). They also played what Kele described as the first song the band ever wrote together 'This Is Not a Competition' which would appear to be the first time they've played it in about 9 years.

The Zoo don't allow cameras so I only got bits on my mobile. Note this has been posted on a new channel that I might be using more often in future so subscribe if you want to!

The Tea Party at the Tivoli - Reunion Tour 2012

90's 'Moroccan roll' (I see what they did there!) band The Tea Party reunited and played their first show in Brisbane for eight years. I half expected them to be doing the same as a lot of other 'classic' bands have been doing of late and playing one or two 'classic' albums in full. For some reason I never had the fear that this reunion tour could go pear shaped and was confident they'd been playing the best of the best. After witnessing the first song, two words popped into my head. Oh. Shit. This was going to be a good night. I wasn't wrong.

The setlist for the night was a best-of with tracks pulled from all of the bands records except for their latest, Seven Circles. The majority featured were from The Edges Of Twilight which was sure to please the older fans of which there were many present tonight. The band were on fire and there was no sign of Jeff Martin's cold which he'd mentioned he was recovering from at a previous gig on this tour.

Anyone familiar with The Tea Party live show experience will tell you about the variety of instruments that usually make an appearance, and tonight was no different. Jeff Martin moved through his usual array of electric and acoustic guitars (I counted at least four), including a double neck Gibson, and playing slide on 'Sun Going Down' (lifted from the bands first album which was released more than twenty years ago now!), always playing them with the fevour The Tea Party's songs inspire. At one point Jeff was playing an electric guitar with a bow emulating Jimmy Page; an obvious influence on the band's sound. A theremin made an appearance, but obscure instrument of the night goes to the esraj played at the beginning of Save Me.

Jeff Burrows showcased his drumming chops throughout the gig excelling during the bands cover of the Rolling Stone's 'Paint It Black' and mixed it up with some tabla action and even taking to the cymbals with his bare hands during their audience-rousing rendition of 'Winter Solstice'.

Stuart Chatwood was getting heavy on the bass right from the opening notes of their first song 'The River'' before switching to the keys to play *that* melody for 'Psychopomp', and also joined Jeff Martin on the acoustic for the bluesy Led Zepplin cover 'Nobody's Fault But Mine'. The eerily tragic sound of the mandolin made a welcome appearance for 'Shadows on the mountainside' and Stuart seemed to be playing with some box looking thing (that's what they call it in the industry, trust me) during 'Winter Solstice'.

I captured stuff from every song played except for Zahira (perfect time to go to the bar *cough*) and they've all been uploaded here for your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL63AB0CB5E3C9CFCE

After the gig I read that the band were recording this tour for a crowd-funded double live album so if you enjoy my videos then imagine how great the professionally recorded and mixed album will sound! I encourage you to pledge toward helping fund the album, and if you're that way inclined you can pick up some special The Tea Party items or live experience packages whilst you're at it http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/theteapartylive. I wasn't sure about uploading the videos given they would be potentially using some of these songs on the album so I got in touch with the official website and was told it shouldn't be a problem (unless I hear otherwise).

Rumble Rock Wrestling (feat. Regurgitator) at the Arena

Rumble Rock is an annual event put on to raise funds to help keep local community radio station 4ZZZ up and running. This years event was held at the-venue-previously-known-as-a-megaclub-after-being-known-as-a-rock-arena, The Arena, and featured the heavy hitting entertainment of Pro Wrestling Aliance Queensland, the sexy but dangerous Northern Brisbane Roller girls, along with a selection of local bands (Undead Apes, Spirfireliar, JJ Speedball) and headlined by Regurgitator.

The format of the night was band, followed by wrestling, followed by band etc. The Arena hasn't changed much since I was last in there other than the gents bathroom sinks being given an upgrade. The same negatives still irk me; those damn pillars blocking the view of the stage and the roof of the gents toilet being at my shoulder height, and yet still I feel a warm welcoming nostalgia wash over me as I wander through the mingling early crowd. I'm surprised by how many hot looking 'rock chicks' are present at such a seemingly machismo event.

The first band Undead Apes kick off proceedings laying the foundations for the style of 4zzz punk rock music we'll be treated to for the rest of the night. Being a staple on the Zed airwaves, their song Taxes always brings a smile to my face when I hear the line "You think you’re bad like Michael Jackson, when really you’re just crap like Michael Jackson".

Then there is the wrestling. Not having experienced any rock n roll style wrestling in the flesh before I had feared that this might be a lame and cringeworthy affair. I couldn't have been more wrong, as it soon became apparent that this was going to be entertainment, hilarity and pain to the max!

First we had the introduction and trash talking of the players, with apt wrestling names such as Kelso Kahoniz, Niki Nitro and the Australian Wolverine. There are man mountains, hot lady wrestlers, and midgets all champing at the bit for a piece of the action. All 15 or so wrestlers are introduced as two separate teams (Team 4ZZZ vs Party Rock Nation) but this minor detail is soon lost and forgotten once the wrestlers are in the ring.

Having the wrestling ring take up half of the ground floor ensures the crowd are right amongst the action. Although there is a hip-high fence to keep people 'safe', such a minor hurdle is of no concern to professional wrestlers and on numerous occasions they end up doing their thing amongst the crowd, including taking it up the stairs to the top level to take advantage of the pointy cornered tables for eye gouges, as well as being able to throw their opponents off the second level balcony for that added impact! And yes that really did happen.

One wrestler flips another off the balcony taking out the crew below

Plenty of props for inflicting pain appeared throughout the night including a guitar, fold up chair, frying pan, ladder, trash can lid, thumb tacks.. and perhaps the most entertaining, a selection of dildos! One match featured a "Naughty but Nice" bag of tricks attached to the ring allowing wrestlers eye gouge each other with foot long dildos, bum gouge with a strap-on, or leather whip their opponent into submission. And don't forget the late-night-kebab to the face fatality manouevre!


The choregraphy and quality of the show was really well done with some of the wrestlers displaying a level of acrobatics and fitness worthy of an olympic gymnast. The presence of some very realistic looking blood also added to the charged atmosphere and the oohs and owws coming from the crowd, so much so that a nursing friend of mine was visibly distressed and asking me if this was for real and whether they'd have paramedics ringside. I assured her everything was fine :)
*UPDATE* Soo apparently the blood looked so authentic because it was, check the comment section below and this.

Flying (flaming?) piledriver!

The wrestling between bands worked nicely in keeping the crowd hyped and entertained. Not having seen Spitfireliar before, I enjoyed their set of heavy punk rock. They were followed by JJ Speedball complete with a topless dancer for their "song about boobs", before the headliner Regurgitator took to the stage.

It somehow seemed appropriate for the 'Gurge to close the night with their hard hitting yet often tongue-in-cheek styled tunes drawing parallels with the wrestling show we'd all just experienced. Coming on stage wearing mexican style wrestling masks the band played a high energy set giving the crowd what they wanted. The opening riff of "Track 1" saw the front of stage mosh kick to another level, and seguing into the dark and dirty bass line of "Pop Porn" for a verse was an act of genius. Other classics got an airing such as "I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am" and "Kong Foo Sing", and after returning to the stage for a deserved encore they finished the night with "Blubber Boy"... oh and did I mention the stage diving midget and crowd surfing sex doll? No? Well they were there too.

Sadly I forgot to take my camera so resorted to my crappy mobile phone for some video. So apologies for the poor sound but I figured it's worthy of posting just to get across how entertaining the night was. Here's the highlights of the wrestling along with a snippet of Regurgitator at the end, taken before I joined the masses in the mosh. Yes it was that kind of night.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t57YTwX5kP8

I look forward to Rumble Rock Wrestling 5 next year, be sure to get along!

Florence and the machine at Brisbane Riverstage May 26th 2012

I still recall sitting in the Down Under Bar one night after work in 2009 and hearing Dog Days Are Over for the first time. I asked my mate if he knew who it was and that's when I discovered Florence and the Machine. I made sure I got to see her at Shepherd's Bush when I travelled to London later that year and was impressed, despite the unenergetic sold out English crowd (not that that stopped my Aussie mate and me from cutting a rug).

I then saw her again at the Metro Theatre in Sydney which was quite a different experience with the crowd singing along to every song and the jumping energy during Dog Days almost shaking the venue to it's foundations.

The new album 'Ceremonials' was a bit of a mixed bag for me, with some songs generating anticipation of hearing them live on stage, whilst I felt others were a bit.. well boring. However I did find that her first album 'Lungs' was a long term grower so the same might be true for Ceremonials; time will tell. So without too much in the way of expectations I went along to the Riverstage to catch Flo' and the band for the third time.

We were still walking up the path through the botanical gardens when we heard the crowd cheering as Florence took the stage. So when we entered we found that front half of the Riverstage had been fenced off and security had stopped any more people from entering, thus relegating us to standing at the top of the hill behind 9000 other people. After a tip from a mate we managed to get a better position on the far left side along the half-way fence.

Flo looked as glamourous and hip as ever in her usual dynamic array of outfits. But there was something lacking for me, her performance didn't have the same sincerity I'd experienced the previous two times I'd seen her. I got the impression she was running on autopilot during some of the songs. Granted that it wasn't all like that but that was the overwhelming feeling I was left with by the end. The raucous screaming from the front few (seemingly younger) hundred people would suggest they were loving it, but that teeny bopper over-the-top idolising just grated with me making things worse.

The last two times I'd seen Florence and the Machine were in relatively more intimate theatres. I think something special in that environment is lost when the band move to such a large open air, overcrowded space. It definitely was for me.

On the plus side the sound was generally great and Flo's voice was on song (I've never heard it not, actually).

I was glad I got to hear Spectrum, and Seven Devils, two of my favorite songs off the new album. Before playing Spectrum, Florence told the crowd that the best dancer in the next song would get a kiss from their keyboardist. A humouorus moment was had when one girl down the front was obviously very keen causing Florence to exclaim "We got a topless chick, this is brilliant!".

My videos can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF570F85CC81609DF

The Trouble With Templeton at Black Bear Lodge, Thursday 24/05/2012

I can't recall exactly how I stumbled across The Trouble With Templeton but I think it may have been in a blog I read sometime in March about the top 20 local bands in Brisbane or something. Searching hasn't helped me track down that blog post so if anyone happens to know it then please leave a link in the comments. TTWT is singer/songwriter Thomas Calder. I think it was the comparison to Melbourne's Whitley that piqued my interest initially and after having a listen to his album "Bleeders" I was a fan.

Tonight Tom informs us they're very excited to be playing this, their first headline gig. "Tasty" Tom and his acoustic guitar is joined on stage by "Beautiful" Betty and "Handsome" Hugh; Betty on keys and haunting backup vox, and Hugh on electric guitar. By the time the band starts the venue is full and sitting punters fill the floor in front of the stage.

Right from the outset you can tell this is going to be a special performance. The delicate guitar tones coupled with the dynamic vocals and harmonies builds an atmosphere that matches the intimacy and comfort of the venue that is The Black Bear Lodge. Tom proceeds to sing, play and charm his way through the set and has the crowd in the palm of his hand. It appears the set is filled with plenty of songs from a yet-to-be-released album; however some tunes from the aformentioned "Bleeders" do get a look in such as the lyrically playful "I wrote a novel" and the beautifully powerful title track "Bleeders". I get the feeling I'll be looking back on this gig in years to come when Tom is popular and saying "I was there". Check him out if you get the chance.

Some of my videos here www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL935996F5DCC7798C

Prince Welcome 2 Australia tour (and after party) comes 2 Brisbane

I'm adding my videos of Prince's BEC show and after party show in Brisbane to this playlist as I upload them so should hopefully have them all up over the next couple of days. Youtube hit me with not one, but two copyright infringement strikes on the videos I'd uploaded. All they had to do was ask me to take them down if they didn't want them there :(


I've never been a manic Prince fan; familiar with his hits but appreciated the funkier/sexier side of things (see Musicology, Gett Off) more than the poppy stuff. But I'd heard he puts on a good show and figured he's one of those 'must-see' artists so got a ticket ($180 a piece) to his Brisbane show.

The show started nicely with his band the New Power Generation (NPG), consisting of drums, bass and keys (each player a solo professional in their own right), sounding great. Sadly it wasn't the same for Prince's guitar which was muddy and distorted as if it was turned up too loud, but as the show progressed the sound issues were resolved. As for Prince's voice, all I can say is that the brother's got soul. Ripping out the high notes whenever he wanted was not a problem and he wasn't afraid to throw down shapes on the dance floor even in his golden heeled shoes.

The man is a multi-instrumentalist; whether he's using his voice, shredding guitar solos, ripping on the bass (seen later at the after party - see more below), bringing the funk on the synth, or serenading us on the piano you knew you were watching a true artist, or The Artist even!

The setlist contained some of the expected hits such as Lets Go Crazy, Raspberry Beret and Cream with the ocassional cover (Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Everyday People), but it was the deconstructed solo piano tunes such as Diamonds and Pearls and How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore, along with the epic Purple Rain, where Prince really shone for me.

The crowd took a little while to get warmed up and although they never went gangbusters there was still plenty of dancing going on around the venue right up into the cheap seats. The show ended kind of abruptly after the crowd tried to get a second encore but Prince obviously wasn't feeling it. After staying around for about 10 minutes the roadies started taking down the stage setup signalling that was all the Prince this crowd was getting for the evening... that is unless you were going to try for the official after party that had be announced as being hosted at the Hi Fi Bar in West End, basically the other side of town.

I'm not into waiting in long queues. By the time I got to the Hi Fi there was what turned out to be about 400 people in front of me. I joined the line, maybe around midnight, and figured I'd wait it out in the cold until I got jack of it. If you'd asked me then if I would be happy to wait there for two hours before getting in the venue I would've laughed and walked off. But that's how long it did end up taking and I'm glad I stuck it out. Nipping across the road for a kebab and chatting with other fans in line helped kill the time. The line stretched down the block behind me.

Interesting side note about the pricing of the after party:
The Hi Fi sent out an email to the mailing list stating tickets would be available on the door for $100 cash. Whoever sets this price (Prince tour management?) decided to increase it without telling the fans - the first 300 into the venue would pay $100 then the following 300 would pay $150 and the rest would be turned away. Security announce to people in the line that tickets are $150. Everyone thinks WTF and begins to whinge and some people leave. So as I'm getting closer to the entrance there then seems to be a delay with nobody entering for about 5-10 minutes. After a while one of the security guard explains that a group of people are refusing to pay the $150 and are refusing to move unless they can enter for the $100 advertised. Apparently the stand-off worked in their favor and the price got dropped back to $100 (after I believe some others had already paid the $150) for the 600 lucky punters to make the cut, so thanks to whoever was involved in achieving that and a big FU to whoever decided to ream us by increasing the price after advertising it!

Prince and the NPG came on stage about 2:20am and played for a little over an hour. This show was a completely different experience to the stadium show earlier. The funk/soul heavy set with the more intimate atmosphere, coupled with being amongst a throng of fellow groovers amplified the vibe ten-fold. We were treated to soul singing (Brown Skin [India.Arie cover]), slow burning blues (The One), and funk jams (Love Rollercoaster [The Ohio Players cover], Play That Funky Music [Wild Cherry cover]) with every moment and note orchestrated precisly by the master puppeteer himself, Prince. It's these improv shows where you really get to see what Prince is referring to when he talks about being able to change up any song with a simple cue, based on crowd response. Watching back over my videos I began to notice all the little gestures and phrases that he throws in directing the band with such preciseness that it just seems like that was how it was rehearsed. The only flaw in this was the lighting operator either not being part of Prince's crew, or not being familiar with the Hi Fi console because Prince's lighting requests ("turn the lights down, let's make it sexy in here", "turn the house lights on") weren't obeyed with the same grace as the bands actions. For a lot of the show Prince had the lights lowered to the point you could hardly see him if you were at the back of the room.

One of the fans (who had seen him in Melbourne and Sydney as well) I chatted to in the line outside had told me that Prince really feeds off the audience. This was much more apparent at this gig where he was charged with the crowds energy who would happily sing along at the top of their lungs, spontaneously burst into soul claps in the slower tunes and make their geniuine appreciation of an awesome guitar solo obvious in the funkier ones. Prince told us we could go all night if we keep it up but he fell a little short on that promise as the band left the stage around 3:30am. Grinning punters filed out into the night knowing they had just borne witness to one of those legendary gigs that got the man where he is today. I have a new found appreciation for Prince and he introduced me to a few of my new favourite songs of his.

I ended the night walking the streets of West End with some new, old friends and ended up seeing a view of the city I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing before.

And upon returning home at 5am I was greeted with the site of a crescent moon rising over the neon red gateway bridge. Excuse the blur in this shot, I was drunk and cold and tired and it was all Prince's fault, and I don't regret a second of it.

Lights out for Story Bridge

I came home this evening and glanced out through the balcony doors at the traffic crossing the Story Bridge as I do most evenings , but something seemed different. It took me a second to realise but there were no lights on the bridge. I'm yet to find out the reason for this so if anyone knows please let me know in the comments.

Finally some good summer storms

After the great display of lightning storms Brisbane experienced over the past couple of summers I was looking forward to hopefully capturing some more good footage this season.

I've been away for a holiday in Tasmania for the past couple of weeks so I'm not sure if I missed much in that time but there hadn't been a heap of action previous to that. However upon my return I was welcomed home yesterday and today with a couple of typical humid-build-up summer storms.

A timelapse of storm from this arvo overlooking Brisbane's Story Bridge (12/02/2012):

A couple of lightning snaps from Saturday night (11/02/2012):

Note that the photos were taken on an old Canon A710 digital camera using free CHDK software that enables motion detection good enough to capture lightning strikes. If you have a Canon camera then chances are you too can make use of this free software to give your camera extra functionality that is possible but just not enabled by Canon. You can read more about it here or otherwise get in contact if you want to know how it did it. I was surprised with how easy and useful it is; once installed you just set your camera, walk away, come back after the storm and check what shots it took!

Big Day Out Gold Coast 2012

The only reason I'll go to Big Day Out nowadays is if there is a must-see band playing. I didn't want to risk Soundgarden not doing any sideshows and the BDO selling out so got a ticket early on before Soundgarden did announce sideshows.

There were a couple of other bands that I was happy to see as a bonus including Battles, Kimbra and Royksopp. The first two didn't disappoint but sadly I missed Royksopp as I found myself needing to sort out accommodation issues (Note to self: avoid hotels that don't have 24 hour check-in). I also saw a bit of Girl Talk and he put on a fun show involving many dancers on stage and toilet paper roll streamer guns.

I'd seen Soundgarden on their last tour before breaking up at the Big Day Out in '97. I recall being disappointed by Cornell's unreliable voice. That impression stayed with me over the years seeing various live videos, some where he was rocking and others where he was.. well shocking. However my faith was somewhat restored after his solo Songbook tour (my recordings here) last year so I was interested to see how the reformed band would fare.

Cornell's voice was shaky in the opening tunes, and this wasn't helped by a muddy sound mix. But as the set progressed so did his voice and the sound improved too, and by the end they had the crowd in the palms of their sweaty hands.

The setlist was a great mix featuring mostly Superunknown and Badmotorfinger tunes but also some other newies and oldies, including Loud Love and Beyond The Wheel which both sounded awesome.

A little rain did nothing to perturb the crowd, however I don't think I kept my camera as dry as I should have and water may have been covering my built-in mics. Whatever the reason, most of my Soundgarden videos have a 'dampened' sound which is disappointing, but C'est la vie.

I have finished uploading videos of Boy and Bear, Kimbra, Battles, Girl Talk, Soundgarden and a compilation of the half pipe skating (including Tony Hawks last skate of the night where he somersaulted out of the half pipe with a 180 twist to boot).