Band - Sin City...last gig of 2011...already!

Melbourne is rocking along beautifully at the moment. The street-press pages are thick and live music venues are overflowing with emerging and established acts performing a diverse range of music..something for everyone...whatever your aural drug.

One particular gig that has hit my headlines is the "last gig for 2011" from Sin City...

...huh...last gig of the year...in April?!? Whaaaa?

Here's the PR explanation, via their Facebook page:

"It's been 9 & 1/2 years since Sin City exploded onto the Australian music scene. Armed with nothing more than 3 chords and a maniacal stage presence the band went on to become one of Australia's premier independent rock acts clocking up over 900 shows, touring Australia countless times, moving from Perth to Melbourne, playing everything from the Big Day Out to Sounds Loud and with everyone from The Misfits to Metallica. Not bad for a pack of punks.

But now it seems the road is finally starting to catch up with the rock'n'roll juggernaut that is Sin City and the band are going on hiatus while members travel overseas and try to catch up on some sleep. They do promise to be back but not until at least 2012!

So let's get pissed and celebrate all things Sin City with a fuck off huge party at Pony on Saturday 16th April.

Starting from 9pm Sin City have invited some of their favourite Melbourne acts to warm up The Pony stage with Stranglehold, Bombing Angels, The Mercy Kills, Ramshackle Army and Australian Kingswood Factory joining forces to create one of the best line-ups you can see. Then from 2am Sin City play their favourite time slot in their favourite venue for the last time in who knows how long.

Expect 2 sets, songs spanning their (almost) 10 year career, tears, beers, cheers and a blood-boiling, fist-pumping, body-slamming, heart-breaking, dance floor shaking, good time like only Melbourne's kings & queen of rock Sin City can deliver. Rock'n'Roll satisfaction is guaranteed and Do Not Miss This Show! HELL YEAH!!"

I have blogged here previously my love for Sin City and Pony bar's 2am late shows on weekends. This band knows how to kick on and on and on, whilst imparting their messy energy onto a forever keen crowd of randoms. If you love some raucous pub rock, it will be a night worth experiencing, supported by a local band line-up that is worthy of a big dirty rock party in a tiny space.

Sadly, this gig is on a night on which I'm committed to going to bed early, in preparation for the Herald Sun/City Link Run for the Kids event the next morning. In my world, running 14.38km at 9am makes gigging the night before mostly impossible. However, I encourage anyone who enjoys a late night out with a bit of dirty rock and a fun crowd to get along to this gig!

Sin City's Tash at The Green Room, 2006

My gigging has been somewhat limited of late. Nevertheless, I have locked in to revisit some of my favourite local artists over the next month and am looking forward to hearing what their support acts have to offer.

First up...tonight we are headed for the Big Scary gig at the East Brunswick Club. Supports include Kins (Thom Savage, formally of Oh Mercy) and Step-Panther from NSW. For only $12, I consider this something of a bargain gig these days - brilliant band, awesome venue - it is too rare to find such a gig under $15 these days.

Big Scary at Northcote Social Club, May 2010.

Next week we'll catch The Jezabels play The Corner (wow...it has been too long since we've had a night at The Corner!) and then return to EBC on Friday night again for Gareth Liddiard and Dan Kelly.

Further, with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival commencing tonight, I am taking a punt on seeing LA comedy-music act The Dan Band at The Hi-Fi Bar. My only exposure to The Dan Band so far has been through their Christmas song "I Wanna Rock You Hard This Christmas" and their cameo in The Hangover, which has been enough hilarity to suck me into seeing them live. I do love quality comedians who are musically talented as well, because they inspire me whilst making me laugh...the type of high I embrace in life.

Band - The Jezabels

Gig: The Jezabels, Dark Storm EP Tour
Supports: Fuzz Phantoms, Two Hours Traffic
Venue: East Brunswick Club, East Brunswick. Tickets $15 (+$3 booking fee)
Date: Monday 29 November 2011

The Jezabels have come a long way since I first saw them play live 18 months ago, yet they are still very much the same...which is excellent.

My first Jezabels experience was back in May 2009, when they supported Josh Pyke at San Remo's Westernport Hotel during the regional leg of Pyke's Chimney's Afire Album Tour. I knew nothing of The Jezabels at that time, but was immediately taken by their unique and vibrant sound, leading me to buy their debut EP after the gig.

I caught them again, this time as the headline act, at The Workers Club in December of last year, where they modestly lifted the roof off the tiny room. At that time they still possessed a bit of shyness on stage but displayed their improved cohesion as a band and with their sound.

This week's gig was the third Jezabel's show in a row at the East Brunswick Club, after quickly selling out both the original Friday and Sunday shows. This is surely a testament to how this young Sydney band's aura and performances are drawing huge interest and a worthy following.

The night kicked off at 8pm with first support, Fuzz Phantoms, providing a solid and energetic opening, despite barely 20 people gracing the room. I enjoyed Fuzz Phantoms, a Melbourne 2-piece (drummer and singer-guitarist, with a guest bassist/backing-vocalist), but I doubt they will set the world on fire in anyway. They have quite a generic post-90s-alt-rock sound and style, which will probably make you feel like you've seen plenty of this type of band before (especially over the last 10 years). Close comparisons to the voice and style of Kisschasy rang through my head.

Fuzz Phantoms ripped through their 30min set with songs from their debut self-titled album (due to be released next year), including "The Valley", "Disconnect" and "Ecstatic". I felt drummer, Tahlia Shaw, was a little heavy-handed and needs to finesse her action a little. Nonetheless, their set was tight, enjoyable, good local rock and an excellent set-up for the night.

Yeah, I did enjoy the Fuzz Phantoms set and will be happy to see them play again...for sure. But it is a good example of how a more unique band, such as The Jezabels, will go further by capturing the attention and interest of the wider audience by their distinctive sound and intriguing songwriting.

Second support, Two Hours Traffic, an indie band from Canada, were not really my cup of tea, primarily due to an overly harsh, sharp loud sound. I am not sure how much came from effects pedals (not much, I think) as it mostly seemed to be painful speaker distortion of the raw sound. I love raw and loud dirty rock (e.g The Drones!) but this was just uncomfortably loud and rough with such high pitch tunes (...and not "dirty"). I just think they tried to push a clean pop-rock sound over the top.

When Two Hours Traffic first hit the stage, looking like alt-College boys in sneakers, they were rather expressionless and almost looked bored...or is that just the style? Musically they were a mish-mash of various North American genres. Their first few songs shouted "Weezer" to me. Later in their set they did liven up somewhat, as their sound went down a bit of the alt-country-rock path. During one song I wondered if they were covering Bryan Adams...? Hmmm. Ok, Two Hours Traffic were not terrible, I just thought they were trying to do too much.

Just before 10pm, The Jezabels hit the stage to a very enthusiastic reception from the now packed bandroom.

Opening with "A Little Piece", each song from their latest 5 track EP - Dark Storm - was played during the set.

After the bouncy disco of their first EP, The Man Is Dead, and the mellow rock of She's So Hard, these new songs, especially the beautiful "Sahara Mahala", really showcased a more atmospheric style for the Jezabels, which they have eluded to with some of their previous tracks, but never really nailed until now. "Disco Biscuit Love", the song from their first EP that really got them noticed by the TripleJ crowd, was bumped up the setlist to provide a bit of bounce and crowd reaction after a slower start

The Jezabels are are talented bunch and they are now jelling together fantastically as a band, obviously as a result of their relentless touring and performing over the last 2 years.

Lead singer, Hayley Mary, has really come out of her shell and become much more animated. Despite her small build and slight frame, it is her impressive massive voice that captivates all listeners.

The fast and technically proficient hands of drummer, Nik Kaloper, are a joy to watch as he drives the band!

Heather Shannon's keyboards are nicely understated yet have definitely been exploited well for the moody and atmospheric newer songs. Her vocals and harmonies work very well behind Hayley's.

And I'm a big fan of Sam Lockwood's rythmn and riffing guitar playing on his Telecaster. Sam's playing never takes over the music or puts him in the spotlight but he is the glue to the Jezabel's sound.

The biggest reaction from the audience clearly came for the band's most well known tracks of "Mace Spray" and "Hurt Me", thanks to their high rotation on radio stations like TripleJ.

Whilst the crowd may have been fairly subdued towards the end (it was a Monday afterall and their were plenty of sleepy faces around, including me), their was plenty of genuine desire and enthusiasm for more! However, there was a week-day curfew and the band must have been exhausted after 3 gig nights.

They wound down the night nicely, under dim lights, with "Violet Dream" and "Dark Storm".

Ultimately, it was a very satisfying gig...another quality live set by The Jezabels and a great night in general.

 Fuzz Phantoms with guest bassist Mark Stewart of Jonesez

 Fuzz Phantom's Darren Cordeux

The Jezabels

Jezabel's vocalist, Hayley Mary

Sam Lockwood

Heather Shannon on keyboards.

(As always, thank you to my wife, Jenn, for the awesome photos!)

Bands - Melbourne still rocks...so LOOK OUT, Summer!

With Summer approaching, the pages of the local music street-press magazines are growing thicker...as peak live music season returns...and it is shaping up to be another fine Summer of rock in Melbourne!

Live music venues and bars are certainly buoyed by the prospect of a bumper Summer music season after the mess of last year's Liquor Licencing fiasco, which saw many small venues under threat from conditions that restricted their activity. This was due to an unjustified link between live music and violence, which was suddenly being enforced like never before. However, in the last month - through the great work of Music Victoria, SLAM and Fair Go 4 Live Music - the Victorian State Government has now removed the link between live music performance at licensed premises and crowd controller licence conditions, with the Live Music Agreement!

You can read more about that on the Music Victoria website.

For me, it will all kick off again next weekend with the Melbourne International Arts Festival, celebrating music passion and diversity with cult bands, through two nights of big gigs held at the beautiful Forum Theatre, which will be transformed into the "Beck's Festival Bar" (ug, Becks...I do hope I have time to enjoy some quality craft beer at Beer DeLuxe before and after the gigs...!)

• First up will be next Friday night (22 October) with The Drones, supported by China's P.K.14 and The Twerps.
• On Saturday night (23 October) we will be back for The Bronx in their mexican-alter-ego-mode, Mariachi El Bronx, supported by Eagle and the Worm and The Ukeladies.

Looking ahead, other gigs that are locked in include The Drone's frontman, Gareth Liddiard, showcasing his debut solo/acoustic album at The Thornbury Theatre on Friday 5th November (which will actually be my first ever gig at The Thornbury Theatre)...and some little band that I liked when I was a kid, called U2, who are playing Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 1st December.

A couple of my favourite little Aussie bands will be kicking around too. I recommend checking out The Jezabels at The East Brunswick Club on Friday 26th November. The Basics at Northcote Social Club and Papa vs Pretty at East Brunswick Club during October are gigs that I have on my radar as well. Also, if the Collingwood fans have stopped celebrating at the Grace Darling Hotel, it may just be safe to return to catch Blackchords play a Thursday residency.

December will also be a good month for the "old guys" who are still doing good things...especially at The Corner Hotel where you'll be able to catch gigs with Colin Hay, Hoodoo Gurus and Peter Combe! Now that is serious fun!

And for the ultimate experience is Melbourne dirty rock...catch Sin City play the Pony late show (2am) on Saturday 30th October!