The Rosemount Hotel’s concert room is packed wall to wall for this sold-out show. Most of the other shows on this tour are also selling out, including the night before at Mojo’s in Fremantle. Clews were mesmerising. They have a stage presence that is electric and at first, under-appreciated by the chattering Rosemount crowd. They soon grab the crowd’s attention, though, especially when they play latest release, Crushed, a standout number. After a number of as yet  unreleased numbers that remind me a little of rockers Stonefield, Clews finish with their hit Museum, and leave the stage to huge applause. It is another twenty minutes before Holy Holy take to the stage. The band are fronted by Oscar and Tim on vocals and guitar, along with guitarist and producer, Matt, and drummer Ryan. The crowd is weirdly rowdy tonight, with a couple of almost fights and a few people dragged out by security. But there is an infectious anticipation just before Holy Holy hit the stage. Firs...

It was quite fitting that the day Sydney received a month’s worth of rain Icelandic producer Olafur Arnalds landed in town for his show at the Opera House. The city had come to a grinding halt with flights cancelled and roads closed and Arnalds was fortunate to touchdown two hours before the show started.  Composer Max Richter had to deal with similar conditions two years ago when he played his eight hour opus Sleep at the Opera House for the VIVID Festival. Arnalds is renowned for blending cinematic soundscapes with piano loops and ambient electronics, the multi-instrumentalist is in Australia to tour his new album Re:member. Arnalds walked onto the lowlit concert hall  with his string quartet and a drummer and took a seat at one of his three pianos. He said they had come all the way from Iceland by boat a month or so ago and was relieved they arrived safely, especially in light of the storms. The audience were then asked to sing back one note to Arnalds so he could re...

Joe Satriani fans rejoice! At long last, the documentary “Beyond the Supernova” is available as part of an incredible box set Including the film, 32 songs of previously unreleased music, and more! Visit the site for all the details of this super limited set and get your pre-order now! Ready Set Go! First set at Joe Satriani’s ‘What happen’s Next’ Melbourne show did not disappoint. There was no support act at 8:15pm just straight down to business with Joe and his band. With amazing sound from Ibanez signature designed electric guitars, Marshall Amps, Korg keyboards at the iconic heritage listed Forum , it was certainly a rocking night. What a fabulous choice for a venue!! The current live touring band rocking 6 cities in Australia included the 15 time grammy nominated star himself, Joe Satriani, the amazing Mike Keneally on guitar/keyboards, Bryan Beller, bass guitarist, and Joe Travers on drums, from Pennyslvania, U.S. With the Melbourne show not sold out, the queue of people pr...

Just off the back of winning an ARIA for best music video is Dean Lewis’ Australian tour, stopping in at the Croxton Bandroom in Melbourne on Friday night. Australian artists Jack Gray and Robinson had the crowd huddled in and warmed up in preparation for Lewis’s set in the dimly blue-lit room. “How ya doin? This is my first tour” Lewis announced, waving and beaming as he bounded energetically onto stage, to which the audience screamed deafeningly as the first notes of Lose My Mind we’re struck up by his 4-piece band. Lewis is gifted with a voice that translates beautifully to live performances and has the quality of a studio recording. Paired with his iconic upbeat guitar and commanding voice the audience bopped up and down as Lewis strummed on his acoustic guitar. However, it wasn’t a long-lasting dance party as Lewis quickly transitioned into his more emotional tracks and took to his keyboard. “Hey you guys wanna hear a really sad love song?” he asked his audience as the li...

Who doesn’t love a good old fun, filthy party eh?? Well on Thursday night I jumped on a train and took myself into Sydney to experience one of the best mother-crapping parties in all of the land: Bloc Party!! The London based rock outfit have come Down Under to tour their original debut album, Silent Alarm, and man am I happy about it. They played old tunes, new tunes, slow tunes, insane tunes, basically just a consistent string of ridiculously delightful tunes. Opening the night we had artsy girls Haiku Hands. I’d heard these chicks milling around on Triple J quite a bit over the past year, so I was interested to catch them live. Originally, I wasn’t too sure if they would fit the bill for Bloc Party, but once we were a few songs in I was like ‘ohhhh yeah I get it now’. They were confident, creative, and totally bloody crazy, with their songs preaching femme power and pooploads of fun. The crowd started off small, but gradually grew as people began to get sucked in by the girls’...

Perth based band Great Gable put a subtle twist on the alternative-indie sound. Familiar faces to supporting the likes of The Jungle Giants, The Jezebels and Ocean Alley, they mix lo-fi sounding vocals with unheard of guitar rifts. Their crowds yearn for the quartet’s groovy and mellow vibe, which is almost lazy, in the best way possible. Their tour was for their newly released hit single Goldem Slums, but brought a heap of old energy with them. The newly formed band play as if they’ve been playing for decades. Their stage style is carefree, almost apathetic in a way that mesmerises you. The band started out playing tracks from their earlier EP, Modern Interactions, having an even-tempered and gentle feel in such an intimate venue. They performed Early Morning and Something to Say, starting with a slow, easy going tempo. Things really picked up early when the quartet smack out Punga, which got the crowd dancing together with beers to the roof. A clear highlight would be when ...