- Details
- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 773
The Tiger Lillies
Adelaide Festival
Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Promoting their current album “Serenade from the Sewer”, British punk trio The Tiger Lillies come to Adelaide courtesy of the Adelaide Festival. It's a delight to see such a high quality act play in such a lovely setting (the revamped Maj is wonderful in the theatre part, but boy, is the downstairs section kinda shit and unwelcome-y or what?).
There is a lot of guff written about The Tiger Lillies, and since this is my first time seeing them, I'm going to add to it.
But first, if you've not seen them before, go. You simply must see them.
If you have seen them before, go again. Also, buy a handful of tickets, give them to friends, relatives, strangers. And go again and again.
Because: they're extremely good at what they do, they're involving, moving, entertaining, and super-real. Context: this talented mad bastard, Martyn Jacques, has been doing The Tiger Lillies with several equally talented mad bastards, So think - are you ready?
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 3366
“Black Milk 35th Anniversary”
The Beasts
with guests Rob Younger, Hellen Rose, Richie Weed & John Schofield
+ The Johnnys
+ Richie Weed and The Strays
+ Unsound
The Factory Theatre, Marrickvile, NSW
Friday, December 12, 2025
Words & Pictures: THE BARMAN
When the definitive mainstream version of the history of Australian rock and roll finally is penned, the Beasts of Bourbon are unlikely to get their dues. History is written by the victors and its telling needs to be simplistic if it’s to have the desired effect of "moving units".
I once shopped a manuscript of a Radio Birdman member (no, not Chris) to a bunch of publishers to be told by one of the biggies that they saw no market for it because the band’s fans couldn’t read.
Despite dancing with a broad audience in the early ‘90s, the Beasts of Bourbon narrative is just too convoluted, edgy and unconventional to suit straight publishers. Not that this need be a deterrent to enlightened ones.
First responders with a serve of old time Oz punk? Fuck The Neighbours finds its feet in The MoshPit
- Details
- By Geoffrey Datson
- Hits: 1959
Fuck The Neighbours leader Simon Chainsaw.
Fuck The Neighbours
+ The Molly Fet Circuit
MoshPit Bar, St Peters, NSW
WORDS: Geoffrey Datson
IMAGES: The Barman
There was some confusion, so I’m arriving at the bright Saturday afternoon gig late.
Into the long dark venue.
It seemed there’d been some mishap?
A first responder with a head torch on is stumbling through debris, where the stage used to be.
- Details
- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 3069
Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes
The Gov, Adelaide
Friday, November 21, 2025
Words: ROBERT BROKENMOUTH
Pictures: MANDY TZARAS
It was one of those “where to begin “kind of gigs. Long story short, I've been in a rather horrible tunnel for the last three or so years. Looks like I'm slowly re-emerging, though; but I'm not the only one - and they've been in the shit far deeper and uglier.
Saw The Animals and Friends at The Gov on Wednesday night. Top show, vivid, crisp and filled with bittersweet pills, grim memories and the kind of songs which cry out for audience engagement. Which we got in spades. Norm Helm's jazz-flecked bass is a joy to watch, as is Barney Williams' piano and synth work. Danny Handley's vocals and sweet blues guitar drag me in every time. And, propping the lot up at the back, 84-year old John Steel, one of the original Animals. Just about everyone in the crowd had a smile on their face.
- Details
- By Ed Garland
- Hits: 9173
Belle Phoenix with Jeffery Wegener and Ken Gormly
+ Fabels
Thursday, 4 September 2025
Lazy Thinking, Dulwich Hill, NSW
WORDS: Ed Garland
PICTURES: Keith Claringbold
With her elfin appearance and cat’s eyes, Belle Phoenix, is part musical performer and part Factory girl, and surely would fitted into Andy Warhol’s Bohemian scene of 1966. Her sweet vocal has held her in good stead as a backing singer on other people’s albums, but she’s steadily built an impressive body of work with her own material.
Belle Phoenix’s music would work as a soundtracks to European movies (indeed, she did live in Europe for a time with Finland a home base.) It has hints of the spoken word spirit that pervaded the San Francisco of 1958 when alcohol-fuelled beat poetry nights were all the rage, long before anyone had an inkling of the Summer of Love that was lay ahead. Yet, Belle can also sing like the angels and produce pure soprano bliss amidst her swamp darkness.
- Details
- By John Ventoura
- Hits: 12663
Happy Hour at The Gin Palace.
The Gin Palace
+ Swaggerland
Factory Floor, Marrickville
Saturday 9 August 2025
On a wet and miserable Sydney winter night, a cosy Factory Floor welcomed around 50 punters to share an intimate musical experience. It was the long awaited gig to launch The Gin Palace’s online single “Petrichor” and album material from Bronwyn Eather’s latest project Swaggerland 24.
First up The Gin Palace: A super group of players, with a pedigree drawn from, among others, Crow, Glide, and Copperline, they are a six-piece band and welcomed us with a short set of songs from upcoming album, “The Year of the Dog”. As it turns out, it was a set that was almost too big for this little stage, as The Gin Palace powered through an effortless and positive set of numbers with their unique, euphoric sound.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 6669
The Hives
+ Clamm
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
In these austere times, a full Enmore Theatre midweek sounds as unlikely as an affordable round of drinks in a Justin Hemmes-owned pub, but there you go: If the joint is full to the gills by 8pm on a Wednesday, it must be a Hives show.
Dunno about you but I’ve been following The Hives since they formed in Sweden in that eruption of Scandi Rock at the start of the ‘90s. The six albums are all top-shelf fun but the live experience had somehow evaded me. So, it’s off to the Enmore on a school night that I must go.
The urgings from people like The Celebrity Roadie not to miss this were still echoing in my tinnitus-scarred ears as I sipped my first beer. The Barmaid had even feigned interest by asking if the band would sing in English (not that she was going) but, really? It’s a self-evident truth that The Hives speak fluent Rock and Roll. Their dialect is universal.
- Details
- By Ed Garland
- Hits: 8319
John Cale
Xani
The Recital Hall, Sydney
July 10 2025
Do you remember that annoying kid in Year Nine at school? The one who used to badger you with his arrogance and who raved about obscure songs and artists to prove he was superior? He would rattle off their names like a machine gun, firing off the titles of B sides of obnoxious Rush singles and dropping the name of some obscure European prog band that had elves on the cover of their debut album.
You, on the other hand, had discovered “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” by Lou Reed and had proudly made the connection that it had Dick Wagner on guitar who was now playing with Alice Cooper. And the ever-annoying wanker classmate would declare that the Reed record that I had just bought at Ashwood's was "shit" because it was “commercial” before name-dropping someone called John Cale.
- Details
- By Bob Short
- Hits: 4975
John Cale
City Recital Hall, Sydney
Thursday 10 July 2025
John Cale is 83 with a career as wide as it is long. Obscure nooks and crannies abound. You don't know what you're likely to get when you put your money down. If you have favourite songs, they're not guaranteed. Look, if "Waiting for my Man" ain't in the set, it will probably be the encore but that's the exception that proves the rule.
However, in a world of product, such uncertain content is rare and welcomed. Advertising for the show has certainly pointed to a career spanning retrospective performance and it kind of delivers but mostly doesn't. Cale's priority here is to promote his latest album, "Poptical Illusion". Given his age, it might very well be his last. (Though evidence suggests he's determined to keep busy.)
- Going over the top with Australia's last Real Rock and Roll band
- The Johnnys and friends make the rock and roll road trip worth it
- After 50 years, it's the way he makes us feel
- The Lemonheads weave a satisfying, sometimes sloppy spell over Sydney
- Generic labels and algorithms are irrelevant on an Adelaide Saturday night
- Lest We Forget: Sydney salutes The Stems
Send us stuff to review
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Get in touch: barman@i94bar.com
The Living Eye
I-94 Bar presents
"Triple Treat"
Jupiter 5
+ Fowl Weather Vein
+ The Men From UNCLE
Moshpit Bar
Sept 11
Tickets
The Darts (US)
Australian Tour
SEP
9 - Vinnies Dive, Southport, Gold Coast QLD
Tickets
10 - Federal Hotel, Bellingen NSW
(free)
11 - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
supporting The Damned
Tickets
12 - Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong VIC
Tickets
13 - Forum Melbourne, Melbourne VIC
supporting The Damned
Tickets
Joeys Coop
SEP
13 - Marrickville Bowlo, NSW
+ Swaggerland
18 - Tap Room, Castlemaine, VIC
19 - Painted Lady, Ballarat, VIC
+ Cold Irons Bound + Neutron Flow
20 - Union Hotel, Brunswick, VIC
NOV
28 - Blah Bar, Lismore, NSW
29 - Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD (arvo)
Swervedriver Australian Tour
SEPT
6 - Fremantle, Freo Social, with Lake Mammoth
10- Brisbane, The Triffid
with Chimers
11 - Sydney, Manning Bar
with Chimers + Brown Spirits
12 - Melbourne, Corner Hotel
with Brown Spirits + Chimers
14 - Melbourne, Northcote Social Club
with Fancy Weapon
15 - Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory
with Chimers
Tickets
New Christs
SEP
11 - Last Chance. North Melbourne, VIC
+ Penny Ikinger’s Marbles
12 -Last Chance, North Melbourne, VIC
+ Moler
19 - Heritage Hotel, Bulli, NSW
NOV
21 - The Brightside, Brisbane, QLD
+ Suicide Country Hour
+ Mick Medew & The Ursula 4
The Damned
Final Damnation 50
SEP
10 - SYDNEY, The Opera House
11 - BRISBANE, The Tivoli
13 - MELBOURNE, The Forum
Tickets
Mudhney
Australia-NZ 2026
OCT
16 - The Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne VIC
17 - Torquay Hotel, Torquay VIC
18 - Theatre Royal, Castlemaine VIC
20 - Volta, Ballarat VIC
21- Felons Barrel Room, Manly NSW
22 - Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW
23 - King Street, Newcastle NSW
24 - ZED 51, Brisbane QLD
25 - The Northern, Byron Bay NSW
28 - Blue Smoke, Christchurch NZ
29 - Meow, Wellington NZ
30 - Totara St, Tauranga NZ -
31 - Harbour Hotel, Raglan NZ
NOV
1 - Double Whammy, Auckland NZ
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper
Ed Kuepper 50 Years Retrospective
RESCHEDULED
OCT
29 - Avoca Theatre, NSW
30 - Canberra, The Street Theatre, ACT
31 - Wombarra Bowlo, NSW
NOV
4 - Adelaide, The Gov, SA
5 - Melbourne, National Theatre, VIC
6 – Geelong, Barwon Heads Hotel, VIC
7 - Sydney, Factory Theatre, NSW
(matinee & evening shows)
13 - Fremantle, Freo Social, WA
15 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre, QLD
Tickets
The Saints 73-78
UK Tour with The Damned
2026
NOV
25 - Brighton, Dome
27 - London, British Airways ARC
28 - Bristol, Beacon
30 - Manchester, Academy
DEC
1 - Newcastle, O2 City Hall
2 - Derby, Vaillant Live Derby
5 - Birmingham, O2 Academy
The Saints 73-78
Australian Tour
2027
JAN
21 - Newcastle, King St
+ Chimers
22 - Sydney, Metro
+ Antenna
23 - Wollongong, Waves
+ The New Christs
29 - Brisbane, Tivoli
+ Tape / Off
30 - Gold Coast, Miami Marketta
+ Mick Medew & The Ursula 4
FEB
2 - Perth, Astor
+ Last Quokka
4 - Barwon Heads, Barwon Heads Hotel
+ dB4
5 - Melbourne, Croxton
+ Public Figures
Public Image Ltd
Australia and NZ
JAN
20 - Auckland, Powerstation
22 - Brisbane, The Tivoli
23 - Sydney, Enmore Theatre
24 - Melbourne, The Forum
26 – Adelaide, The Gov
28 - Perth, The Astor
Respect The Rock Australian Tour
The Hellacopters + Gluecifier
MARCH
17 – Brisbane, The Triffid
18 – Sydney, Manning Bar
19 – Melbourne, The Croxton
20 – Adelaide, Ed Castle
Tickets
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09 August 2026
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This Lipstick Killers rock opera is one Strange Flash
26 July 2026
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Ghosts in the machine
20 July 2026
-
Copulaters will give you a boning
08 July 2026