los chicos

This is going to be a very biased view and I’m not trying to hide it. I’ll make my own rules just so I can bend them to suit my agendas.

Best gig of the year - The Stew Cunningham Benefit night in Sydney at Marrickville Bowlo. All the bands were awesome but what won the night over was the atmosphere and goodwill of all the people that attended. A truly special night.

Best local live act - The Celibate Rifles. The Rifles slayed it in support of The Sunnyboys at The Factory, then followed it up with a couple of scorchers at The Marrickville Bowlo and The Narrabeen RSL. The old fellas have still got it. Honourable mention to Stiff Richards who tore the roof off in support of The Rifles at the Bowlo, great band.

Best local release - The Aints!, "The Church of Simultaneous Existence". Wonderful album from go to whoa. Honourable mention to Warped - "Bolt From The Blue" - brutal honesty at its best.

Best international gig - Señor No at The Botany View Hotel. It was wild, crazy and a helluva lot of fun. honourable mention to Los Chicos at the Rad Bar in Wollongong, they put on a show and a half, they were just pipped at the post.

Radio Birdman is embarking on a short, sharp Australian tour with Citadel label-mates The Stems in tow. The five-date run will include Spanish band Los Chicos as guests on three gigs.

Tickets are on sale via venue websites.

Radio Birdman
+ The Stems
OCT
25 – Factory Theatre, Sydney
+ The LangLangs
26 – The Gov, Adelaide
+ Sunday Reeds
NOV
1 – The Triffid, Brisbane
+ Los Chicos
2 – Coolangatta Hotel
+ Los Chicos
4 – Croxton Ballroom, Melbourne
+ Los Chicos

_{The Breadmakers.}

It took an express airmail consignment of his favourite tipple Calimocho - that'd be cheap red wine and cola, for the uninitiated - before we at The I-94 Bar persuaded RAFA SUNEN to take on this assignment. The mission for the singer from Los Chicos, Spain's premier party punk-country-garage-soul band, was to pin down members of Melbourne's R&B garage veterans The Breadmakers and interrogate them about their new album, "The Breadmakers".

Los Chicos have toured Australia many times and anyone who's seen them will know that keeping Rafa still long enough for him to fire off a few questions was half the challenge. Digging up members of the shady crew called The Breadmakers - in a fit state to undergo questioning - was the other.

_{Los Chicos at The Tote.}

Schadenfreud is a German term that translates loosely to "watching Collingwood lose".

OK, maybe that’s too harsh: anti-Collingwood (that’s the Australian rules football team for those born above the Barassi Line in Australia, and any of the Bar’s overseas readers) sentiment is tied up with class-based bias, and a lingering resentment at the club’s rampant success back in the day. The modern Collingwood team is great to watch, and would have been a worth winner, had the battle-hardened Weagles not worn the Pies down.

The prospect of heading to The Tote, nestled in the edge of the old Collingwood flat, on a night of Magpie disappointment, was potentially worrying. In the end, the Pies fans were thin on the street, no doubt drowning sorrows in some other sporting bar.

Spain's premier garage party band Los Chicos is heading back to Australia for their fourth tour.

Dates are mostly in Victoria with the boutique Boogie festival the centrepiece but Sydney punters are lucky to have scored a show at Marrickville Bowling Club where they'll be supported by a specially-reformed 300 StClaire. 

If you haven't experienced the frenetic mobile party that is Los Chicos then you need to get your sorry arse to a show.

Think of them as something like The Fleshtones on sangria.

Los Chicos Australian Tour
MARCH
Friday 18 - Marrickville Bowls Club, NSW
Saturday 19 - The Tote, Collingwood, vic
Sunday 20 - MEMO. St. Kilda, VIC
Wednesday 23 - Sooki Lounge, Belgrave, VIC
Thursday 24 - Baha, Rye, VIC
Good Friday 25 - Eastern Hotel, Ballarat, VIC
Saturday 26 - Boogie! Festival, VIC
Sunday 27 - HOLA!, Barwon Club, Geelong, VIC

Radio Birdman is playing a limited number of Australian East Coast shows over two weekends this September/October, before heading off for a 22 date tour of Europe.

The Australian run will coincide with the release of "Descent into the Maelstrom”, the Jonathan Sequeira-produced documentary dealing with the band's rise and demise in the late 70's and later re-emergence.

The documentary has received great attention at various film festivals in London, Glasgow, Norway, Amsterdam and Detroit and is now scheduled for local release on DVD with bonus content this September.

It will be available at the band's shows, online and via discerning retail outlets.

Supports on this tour will include Adalita (Melbourne), Brisbane's Hits (Brisbane and Sydney) and all shows will feature special guests from Spain Los Chicos.

RADIO BIRDMAN
AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2018
SEPT
27 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne
+ Adalita + Los Chicos
28 - The Triffid, Brisbane
+ Hits + Los Chicos
30 - The Gov, Adelaide
+ Los Chicos + The Sunday Reeds
OCT
6 - Manning Bar, Sydney
+ Hits + Los Chicos + DJ Frank Cotterell

Tickets for all shows are on sale from Wednesday. June from Oztix.

It’s their fifth tour but who’s counting? Spain’s ultimate party band Los Chicos is returning to Australia in October, playing with Radio Birdman and doing sideshows. They’ll will take their garage-country-punk to stages in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and the the Gold Coast, so if you live in any of those places or within driving distance, you have no excuse. Keep up to date on tour dates and ticketing here.

NOV
1 – The Triffid, Brisbane (w/ Radio Birdman)
2 – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast (w/ Radio Birdman)
3 – The Outpost, Brisbane*
4 - The Croxton, Melbourne (w/ Radio Birdman)
5 - The Tote, Melbourne*
6 – The Metropolitan, Adelaide*
8 – Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney* - New Christs headlining + 300 St Clare
9 – River Rocks, Geelong (sold out)

 _{A tense moment at a Meanies band meeting: Wally Kempton-Meanie (right) comes to the realisation that it's his shout and he left his wallet in Spain.}

Wally Kempton is a busy man. Fresh from a Meaniestour of Spain (more on that later) last month, Kempton hopped off the plane in Melbourne and into the van for various tour managing duties.

In the coming days he’ll be rehearsing with Ash Naylor and Matt Cotter in preparation for next week’s annual Even Christmas shows, then regrouping with The Meanies for a gig at Hotel Westwood with Super American Eagle and Rocket Science. Then there’s the raft of current, imminent and potential signings to his Cheersquad Records label and associated promotional and general label managerial activities. “I just can’t stop!” Wally laughs.