Nick Cave’s musical career spans over 35 years. He is well known for his narrative songwriting and magical story telling techniques featuring dark, moody, black lyrics with religious undercurrents.

Central to most of his lyrical stories is the notion of love surrounding some form of drama in terms of loss, murder or death. He has always aimed to carve his own niche in music by reflecting his personality, vision and worldviews.

When triple j announced a series of shows, honouring the legendary genius that is Nick Cave, I was somewhat concerned with some of the line up featuring artists such as hip hop act Urthboy from the Herd, Jake Stone from Bluejuice and electro popster Muscles.

At the Sydney, Enmore Theatre show fans came out in their droves. The range in audience members was vast and fascinating with mature fans from the early Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party days to the youth and newly found fans of the latest band Grinderman.

Performing at these tribute shows was a long tread of Nick Cave admirers including Adalita from Magic Dirt, Alex Burnett  from Sparkadia, Bertie Blackman, Dan Sultan, Jake Stone from Bluejuice, Johnny Mackay  from Children Collide, Kram from Spiderbait, Lisa Mitchell, Muscles, Urthboy  from The Herd, Abbe May, Lanie Lane and a guest appearance from Paul Kelly. Tackling songs from Cave’s entire career, these artists recreated the tunes of Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman.

The array of musical talent performing on stage certainly was surprising. Some of the best and most creative song interpretations were tracks performed by Jake Stone from Bluejuice and Urthboy from The Herd.  ‘The Weeping Song’ were transformed into a pumping reggae tune and the lyrics of ‘O Children’ and ‘Stagger Lee’ were made into a rap.

The first half of the show brought Muscles and Bertie Blackman together to sing an interesting duet of the track ‘Do You Love Me?’. Muscles on keyboard then performed a heart felt solo of ‘I Let Love In’. This performance showed a different perspective of the electro pop artist able to sing a ballad with real light and shade in his voice and vocal range.

Perth rocker Abbe May leapt straight into the track ‘Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)’. To my disappointment she butchered the vocals with her weak, soft voice only slightly redeeming some respect with her frantic, raw and gutsy guitar playing.

Sparkadia frontman Alex Burnett covered the classic Rowland S. Howard song ‘Shivers’ and although not a Cave catalog original, he did cover this song in his first band Boys Next Door. Burnett was later joined by rockabilly Lanie Lane to perform the Cave/Minogue duet ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’. Both songs were well received by the fanatical crowd.

The stand out performance of the night was definitely the sweet, delicate voice of Lisa Mitchell who sang an acoustically stripped back version of ‘The Ship Song’. Her performance was absolutely amazing leaving the crowd in a state of awe. She also sang the Cave favourite ‘Into My Arms’ to perfection while slow dancing with Jake Stone from Bluejuice giving the song a loving and romantic feel.

In the second half of the show Adalita from Magic Dirt made her appearance singing the song and title of the tribute shows ‘Straight To You’. She then joined special guest Paul Kelly to sing backing vocals to ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’.

Kram from Spiderbait was behind the drum kit for most of the night. He came to the front of stage towards the end of the set to play a solo acoustic version of ‘Henry Lee’. He then sang ‘There is a Kingdom’ in a trio with Dan Sultan and Lisa Mitchell.

Bertie Blackman covered the challenging and confronting song ‘The Mercy Seat’ and her powerful, deep, gravelly voice certainly proved to be an appropriate match for this heavy, dark and sad Cave tune.  To end the night all the tribute artists regrouped on stage to close with a fun, collaborative performance of ‘Get Ready for Love’, lead by Dan Sultan.

It was fascinating to see many different inspired performances from admiring musicians, paying tribute to Nick Cave and his prolific music career. The show proved that Nick Cave’s music, creativity, unique style and captivating narrative stories are loved and cherished by a wide audience and that his songs have the power to influence infinite individual approaches.

Yes they’re one of my favourite bands and yes their music is definitely in my top ten list of favourite artists and albums of all time. Does this make my opinion bias? Yes, it probably does but I’m still going to give you my 10 cents worth anyway.

When the Dandy Warhols announced their tour dates across Australia this May – I was excited! I’ve been a fan since 1995 when they release Dandy’s Rule Ok? and over the years they’ve produce six LP’s, all featuring their trademark, super funky, catchy tunes and odd spacey psychedelic freak outs making them so unique.

The best part about this tour meant that with no new album to promote, we’d be in for a rare treat of the entire back catalogue and hopefully a lot more of the long epic tracks that don’t usually get played by the band on tour set lists. With a vast majority of the tracks played from the albums Come Down and Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia the Dandy’s play a long and very loud two and a half hour set to their most adoring fans.

Starting off strong the band opens with ‘Mohammad’ and straight into ‘Solid‘ from the classic 1999 album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia. The band members were all lined up in a straight row along the stage with Zia McCabe on keys and tambourine to the far left, drummer Brent De Boer and Courtney Taylor-Taylor in the middle and Peter Holstrom rocking out on guitar on the right hand side.

The music was loud, the lighting was dark and moody and the Dandy Warhols were pumping out tunes like ‘We Used To Be Friends’ and ‘Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth’ to get the crowd singing and dancing. It’s a sure sign of uber, indie coolness with the Dandy Warhols ability to produce alternative classic indie rock tracks that never seem to go out of date! People were shouting out requests for their favourite tunes and in a brief moment of silence someone calls out Kim Deal – Courtney Taylor Taylor acknowledges and the band slides into the track ‘Cool As Kim Deal’ from their second biggest album Come Down.

With the crowd and the performance gaining momentum The Dandy’s sample a new song called ‘The WOW Signal’. It’s a really good tune and everyone digs it but can’t seem to place it. I like it but I don’t recognise it. Courtney Taylor Taylor clarifys by saying “That’s one of the new songs to be released on our new album later this year so hopefully we’ll be back in Feb”. The news of another album and another tour receives a huge cheer, kicking the remainder of the Dandy Warhols party into high gear. At one point with over an hour left to play and no sign of a break, all but Courtney Taylor Talyor leave the stage for a quick toilet break. While we wait, CTT serenades us with an acoustic solo sing-along of ‘Everyday Should Be A Holiday’.

Now coming into the home stretch The Dandy’s turn up the heat with four of their power tracks from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. One after another the hits popped out – ‘Horse Pills’, indie pop anthem Bohemian Like You, the dreamy tranquil beats of ‘Godless’ and quick paced ‘Get Off’. In true Dandy Warhols style this barrage of musical genius in its sequence makes the crowd go crazy. Just before the end of the set, Courtney Taylor Taylor invites long time Australian friends The Vines on stage for a 10 minute jam session to ‘Fast Driving Rave-Up’  before closing the night with ‘Country Leaver’ and a quick thanks for coming and supporting us for the past 16 years.

I left the gig that night with a big smile of satisfaction and my ears ringing with ‘Bohemian Like You‘ stuck in my brain. Playing most tracks from Come Down and Thirteen Tales it was a really good simple show with the Dandy’s playing all the cool old favourites you always want to hear.

Verdict equals More Dandy Warhols! Can’t wait for that new album!

Set List:

Mohammed

Solid

We Used To Be Friends

Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth

Holding Me Up

Cool As Kim Deal

Good Morning

Rest Your Head

Lou Weed

The Last High

The WOW Signal (new track to be released)

I Love You

The New Country

(You Come In) Burned

Now You Love Me

Wasp In The Lotus

Everyday Should Be a Holiday

Last Of The Outlaw Truckers

All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey

Horse Pills

Bohemian Like You

Godless

Get Off

Pete International Airport

Boys Better

Fast Driving Rave-Up (Jam session with The Vines)

Country Leaver

The last time I remember seeing Jebediah live was back in 1998 at the Annandale Hotel. It was off the back of their debut album Slightly Odway with their most famous and recognised songs, ‘Leaving Home’, ‘Teflon’ and ‘Harpoon’. Seemingly popular with teenagers in the late 90’s, this fun, alternative rock band from Perth had a strong Australian following booking festivals like Homebake and the Big Day Out and playing as support acts on tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and Everclear.

In 2005 the band took a break and frontman Kevin Mitchell set out to do a solo project under his pseudonym Bob Evans – releasing the album Suburban Songbook. After a 5 year hiatus the members of Jebediah reunite to write new music and record their next album Kosciuszko. With the success of the album’s lead single ‘She’s Like A Comet’ on high rotation across the airwaves and their highly anticipated return to stage Jebediah set off their national Australian tour playing in all the capital cities in 2011.

I caught Jeb’s Sydney show at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville back on Friday 27 May. My first time at this music venue, I was pretty impressed with the size and the intimate nature of the performance space which gives all punters great views of the stage from any vantage point. Arriving late meant I missed the support acts but that was fine because I was happy just to hear Jebediah’s new hits with the hope of nostalgic moments that would take me back to my youth with all the old favourites.

The band members, Kevin Mitchell, Chris Daymond, Vanessa Thornton and Brett Mitchell filled the stage quietly and opened the set with ‘Lost My Nerve‘. Mitchell greeted the crowd with a quick slip into the track ‘Control’ which gets the crowd warmed up. Keeping the momentum going with a few more new songs, the band powered through the catchy new tracks ‘Under Your Bed’ and ‘High (Horse)’.

The chatty Kevin Mitchell breaks the set to thank the crowd for the continued support over the past 16 years and for coming out to the gig that night. Mixing old with new the band kicks on with ‘Please Leave’, ‘To Your Door’, ‘Fall Down’, She’s Like A Comet and ‘Benedict’. Drawing the to the end of the set the crowd is ramped up and the band is equally excited, closing with old favourites ‘Harpoon’, ‘Animal’ and the newbie ‘Oxygen’ before leaving the stage for the encore.

The cheering and stomping for Jeb’s encore return was relentless. Mitchell was clearly delighted with the crowd’s response, grinning happily and proclaiming that this was the best crowd on the tour so far. For long time fans, the final two songs of the night were the big hits ‘Leaving Home’ and ‘Jerks Of Attention’. These were the songs that satisfied the nostalgia of the band’s phenomenal emergence into the 1990’s Australian music scene with neither song having lost any impact since that time.

VividLIVE at the Sydney Opera House is part of  the city’s annual Vivid Sydney festival of light, music and ideas. Vivid Sydney celebrates the city as a leader in the field of the creative and cultural industries both nationally and throughout the region.

Each year, VividLIVE seeks out different artists or individuals to curate a program of events in and around the world’s most iconic venue. This year local music industry legend Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic, founder of the hugely successful Sydney-based record label, touring company and international brand Modular, brings fresh Australian eyes to this growing international festival. Pav is widely regarded as one of the gutsiest promoters in the country, a risk-taker whose choices are repeatedly vindicated. His line-up for VividLIVE is an affirmation of his innate musical style, aesthetic and courage.

From May 27 – June 5, VividLIVE features an astounding line up of local and international artists. From an eighty year old master of his art to a band formed just last year to legendary international musicians; gnarly hip-hop collectives; one-of-a-kind concerts by electro duos, indie darlings and instrumental heroes to club nights, a daily radio show, audio-visual performances, art installations and even cult children’s entertainment.

Some of the big acts include The Cure, Sonnie Rollins, Spiritualized and for the kids Yo Gabba Gabba! Bat for Lashes, WU LYF, OFWGKTA and Azari & III are just some of the keenly anticipated Australian premieres in store. Australian acts included Cut Copy, Tame Impala and Architecture in Helsinki. The program will also feature visual artists and film makers such as Tom Kuntz, Chris Cunningham and French collective Superbien, whose work is intrinsically connected and driven by ambitious music output.

Click here for more details on the line up and tickets.

The sold out Sydney show was held at the Enmore Theatre giving fans the opportunity to catch this superstar and his live pop music party up close and personal. With the success of his latest album Record Collection, Ronson delivered one of the best refined pop music experiences of the year.

Elevated and positioned front and centre stage, Ronson surrounded himself with a diverse group of musicians, vocalists, rappers and special guests including Naeem Juwan (MC Spank Rock), Alex Greenwald from band Phantom Planet and Andrew Wyatt from Miike Snow.  

The audience was wowed with a barrage of Ronson’s hits opening with ‘Circuit Breaker’, ‘Lose It (In The End)’ , ‘The Bike Song’ and ‘Ooh Wee’ followed by remixed covers of Radiohead’s ‘Just’, Phantom Planet’s ‘California’, Kaiser Chiefs ‘Oh My God’, Spank Rock’s ‘Sweet Talk’ and Miike Snow’s ‘Animal’ performed by the special guests.

By the half way point the Enmore Theatre was hot, sweaty and pumping. In keeping with the friendly party atmosphere, Ronson changes the format of the show taking to his decks for a 20-minute New York style DJ set. At this point everyone, including the seated patrons were up dancing and cheering for more.

In the closing of the main set Mark Ronson and his entourage perform the crowd pleasing hits ‘Stop Me’  (Mark Ronson’s remix of The Smiths cover – Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before) and ‘Somebody to Love Me’ (Mark Ronson/Boy George remix) before briefly leaving the stage with the crowd going wild, cheering and stomping for Ronson to return for encore. But it was all in the closing encore track ‘Bang Bang Bang’, and probably his biggest hit, that brought the house down for what could only be described as one of the top concerts experiences of 2011 so far.

 Setlist

Circuit Breaker

Lose It (In the end)

The Bike Song

Ooh Wee

Hey Boy

Just (Radiohead cover performed by Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet)

California (Phantom Planet cover performed by Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet)

Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs cover)

The Night Last Night

Mark Ronson DJ set

• Bang Bang Bang
• Pon De Floor (Major Lazer)
• Just Can’t Get Enough (Depeche Mode)
• Empire State of Mind (Jay Z & Alicia Keys)

International Affair

Sweet Talk (Spank Rock cover performed by Naeem Juwan MC Spank Rock)

Fade to Black (MNDR cover performed by MNDR)

Animal (Miike Snow cover performed by Andrew Wyatt from Miike Snow)

You Gave Me Nothing

Stop Me (The Smiths cover of Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before)

Somebody to Love Me (Mark Ronson/Boy George remix)

Encore

Record Collection

Bang Bang Bang

With good times come the bad and a few days prior to the release of her album We Are Born, Sia announced all her forthcoming promotional events and live shows cancelled due to health reasons. She later confirmed she was suffering from an autoimmune disease called Graves Disease. Eight months later, after rest and various treatments, Sia was back and ready to perform.

After signing up to the Australian Big Day Out line up for 2011, Sia played 3 sideshows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. On February 2^nd, one of the hottest summer days in Sydney this year, Sia performed a sold out show at the Enmore Theatre.

Her stage shows are always unique, bizarre and colourful. She arrives on stage dressed in a pink tutu with her head, torso and a large piece of cardboard strapped to her back spray painted black. Looking past the odd choice of costume with no particular meaning she opens with ‘The Fight’ followed by her 2008 single ‘Buttons’.

Throughout the set Sia interacts with the crowd by telling stories and cracking jokes. With a clear desire to connect to her fans she willingly accepts gifts and requests however the downside of these frequent long conversations and breaks in between songs creates an uneven following show with the crowd losing interest.

When the music starts again she seems to pull the crowds attention back to her shining voice and incredible vocal range. Her cheerful and fun performance abilities are amazing and only heightened in the live setting. Sia closes the set with what I would consider to be her best track, ‘Breathe Me’– a vulnerable song about being alone and needed someone for love and support. Leaving the crowd still, quiet and attentive this beautiful track highlights her personal experience, emotion, sensitivity and strong vocals.

Now at the end of the show, Sia and her band leave the stage but quickly return for a one song encore performance of ‘Clap Your Hands’. This bouncy, happy song gets the crowd singing and dancing and although the night is over you really couldn’t leave without a smile on your face.

Set list

The Fight

Buttons

Bring Night

Oh Father (Madonna cover)

Big Girl Little Girl

Cloud

The Girl You Lost to Cocaine

The Co-Dependant

Be Good To Me

You Have Been Loved

You’ve Changed

I’m In Here

Soon We’ll Be Found

Never Gonna Leave Me

Breathe Me

Encore:

Clap Your Hands

Following the release of his new single ‘Eyes Wide Open‘, this show was a compelling first taste of his forthcoming new record due out in March, marking the ARIA Award winner’s first performance in three years.

Showcasing material from the much anticipated new album and incorporating music from his two previous acclaimed records Boardface and Like Drawing Blood, Gotye captivated the audience with a performance fusing contemporary pop with a multi-media theatre experience.

Seated behind a drum kit Gotye takes to the stage, opening with an old favourite from Like Drawing Blood – ‘Coming Back’. He then eases into a couple of his new tracks debuted for the first time to a live audience, ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ and ‘Bronte’. These slow somber songs suited the City Recital Hall’s refined acoustics, setting the mood for the intimate and exciting performance ahead.

Like most musicians, Gotye plays a couple of covers starting with a beautiful piano performance of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Seems So Long Ago, Nancy’. He then welcomes a friend to the stage, local folk artist Tash Parker. They both perform a duet of her sweet ballad ‘Understand’ to which Gotye confesses is one of his favourite songs to sing.

After this softer part of the set Gotye picks up the pace with his new release ‘Eyes Wide Open’ with background visuals and a light show providing a spectacle for the audience. Nearing the end of the set it is the inclusion of crowd favourites ‘Hearts A Mess’ and the finale track ‘Learnalilgivinanlovin’ that steals the show ending the night on a high note and consolidating Goyte’s incredible musical talent and his highly anticipated new album well worth the wait.

Set list

Coming Back

Smoke and Mirrors (new track)

Thanks for Your Time

Bronte (new track)

Seems So Long Ago, Nancy (Leonard Cohen cover)

Understand (Tash Parker cover – duet with Gotye)

The Only Thing I Know

Eyes Wide Open (new track)

Hearts a Mess

In Your Light (new track)

Learnalilgivinanlovin

Commonly referred to as Australia’s version of Flight of the Conchords, The Axis of Awesome formed in 2006 with three band members, Jordan Raskopoulos (lead vocals), Lee Naimo (guitar and vocals) and Benny Davis (vocals and keyboard).

The trio started as a group at Sydney University and were heavily involved in improvisational theatre. Wanting to try something different they played at a few stand up comedy nights in Sydney before snagging a fortnightly gig on fbi radio and later performing at other events like the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008.

The Axis of Awesome cover a wide variety of performance styles, and perform a combination of original material and pop parodies. Their best known skit routine is the “The 4 Chord Song”. It is a medley of popular songs that all follow the most common chord progression played in music. The song is played in the key of E and the chord progression is E B C minor and A.

The humour in their songs is layer with banter and piss taking realities that are perfectly constructed within their vocal harmonies. Some of their original material includes “Do You Like The F***ing Music Coming Out Of My Car?” and “I’m Not Trying to Touch Your Arm, I’m Just Trying To Put My Seat Belt On.”

The Axis of Awesome are performing this week in Sydney from 4-6 February at the Sydney Opera House.

For more information you can check them out here

Arrested Development is an Afrocentric band with a message that delivers a party set to make you think, dance and have fun. Popular in the early 1990s this band rose to the mainstream music scene with their unique fusion of funk and hip hop mixed with street corner political urban poetry about peace, love, harmony, feminism and societal life lessons.

It was their award winning album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the life of…. that put them on the map with several hit tracks including ‘People Everyday’, ‘Tennessee’ and ‘Mr. Wendal’ making top ten charts worldwide.17 years on and this band is still producing progressive hip hop music with upbeat, socially savvy lyrics that demand and captivate the listeners attention.

Arrested Development recently performed in Sydney this year for the opening of the annual Sydney Festival with a side show at the Becks Bar in the grounds of the historical Hyde Park Barracks. Showcasing music from their ninth album STRONG and a selection of their well known singles it wasn’t surprising to see the whole crowd grooving, singing along and rapping with front man Speech to all the tunes.

With a set list covering new tracks  like ‘The World Is Changing’ and ‘Greener’ it was clear the crowd was holding out for a dance off and sing along to old favourites like ‘Dawn of the Dreads’, ‘Ease My Mind’, ‘Tennessee’, ‘Mr. Wendal’ and ‘People Everyday’. The performance was a mixture of recorded hits and some improvised free styling by Speech and One Love that incorporated the harmony backing vocals of Tasha LaRae and Montsho Eshe.

It turned out to be a big night of hip hop and music celebration with Arrested Development giving a satisfying and captivating performance that excited and invigorated each and every person in the house, catering to everyone’s expectations.

The challenge for this year will be to blog and post up items more often starting from now. I am optimistic that this is possible and will try my hardest to make it happen.

This mission is set and now all we have to do is deliver!

Watch this space. Will post up something very soon.

Peace and Love
Henny