40th anniversary

40th Anniversary Agents of Fortune Live 2016 - Blue Oyster Cult (Frontiers Records)

And you’re asking, Why? And possibly with good reason. For starters, it’s 2020 and that makes the anniversary four years late, right? And surely these guys aren’t still going?

They are - albeit with just two original members. Australia was lucky enough to host them a few years ago. The last studio album was “Curse of the Hidden Mirror” 19 years ago (and it was pretty good.) There’s even a new studio record pending. This live celebration is a valid addition to the BOC catalogue, even if most of the appeal will be for rusted-on fans.

The Beasts – the band populated by the surviving members of the Beasts Of Bourbon - will perform two very special shows in Melbourne and Sydney this August to celebrate 40 years since the original band’s foundation.

Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon (guitar), Charlie Owen (guitar), Boris Sujdovic (bass) will be joined by drummer James Baker, fresh from the last-ever Victims show in Perth.

Friday, 11 August – Factory Theatre, Sydney
(Tickets)

Sunday, 13 August – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne (Tickets)

Tex Perkins takes up the story:

Forty years ago, I was a skinny 18-year-old kid living in Darlinghurst in Sydney having the time of his life - playing gigs, taking and drinking everything within arm’s reach!

Constantly meeting and bonding with people in other bands who would turn out to be lifelong friends.

When my band up and left me in the dead of night by the side of the road with a month long residency, it was those friends that were there to help me pick things up and start again.

It's better than I thought it would be. Sort of.

Once upon a time I lived in a share house with a New Order fan.

Don't you dare pity me.

Anyway, this muffin collected live tapes of New Order. Every time he got one, he'd play it. Loud.

Like I said, don't pity me. I can do that for myself.

Australian garage rock legends The Stems are making a return to the stage for a series of dates in August 2024, five years after their last appearances.

Original members Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews and Dave Shaw will be joined by acclaimed guitarist Ashley Naylor (Even/Paul Kelly/The Church)to celebrate four decades since their first gig, at the Old Civic Theatre in Inglewood, Western Australia, supporting The Saints and The Triffids.

The Stems have attained legendary status in the Australian and international music scenes, roaring out of Perth with a sound and style that definitively captured the spirit and enthusiasm of ‘60s garage music. They achieved acclaim with a series of singles and Eps, including the timeless “At First Sight – Violet are Blue” LP (1987.) The group disbanded that year but reformed in 2003, playing to sold-out crowds nationwide.