1) Died Pretty at Factory Theatre, Sydney
Astounding, amazing, Ron Peno sounding great and enjoying himself. What am I saying? The whole band sounded great.
2) Died Pretty at Factory Theatre for Spencer Jones Benefit
Not content with being brilliant just once, they came back and proved it wasn’t a fluke, a pretty (!) tough trick, given the more relaxed vibe of the evening and the fact they were playing a short set.
3) Los Chicos - Marrickville Bowling Club
I’d never seen nor heard them but trusted the raves of folks with good taste and went along! What a night! So much fun. Notable Celibate/New Christ/Leadfinger/Birdman guests joining in all star renditions of MC5 and Flamin’ Groovies classics..let alone the quality of the originals.
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- By Keith Claringbold
- Hits: 7141
There is a school of thought that suggests great art is the product of suffering. 2016 has largely put paid to that notion.
I mean, this year should have positively dripped genius. I couldn't come up with a full ten. Here's my Top Six.
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- By Bob Short
- Hits: 6786
1. FRIDAY NIGHT HEROES - LEADFINGER LAUNCH AT THE FACTORY FLOOR, SYDNEY
Wollongong’s finest, led by Stew Cunningham, blitzed the Factory Floor in Sydney launching their album "Friday Night Heroes", my favourite Australian release of the year. Dillon Hicks, Reggie Screen and Mick Boyle certainly brought their A game in front of an augmented line-up that included Carrie Phiilis on BVs, Doug Hazell on sax and Andy Newman on keys. I could have sworn it was the E Street Band at one stage. Extra points for covering Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money”.
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- By Peter Ross
- Hits: 6169
Some damn fool asked me for a list of my top ten favourite CDs this year.
Well, no. I don’t have enough time, frankly, to listen to everything wonderful which deserves to be listened to over and over again, and I think that putting down a list, implying that what isn’t on there is somehow beneath my interest, would be bollocks.
So here’s a list - in a random order - of music which I’ve been listening to a lot this year:
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 5691
Celibate Rifles singer Damien Lovelock once said to me that the Sydney music scene between 1978 and 1985 was as strong as anywhere in world, at any time.
When a city’s musically on fire, it becomes the rock capital of the world…especially for the people that live there. It could been New York City in the mid-’70s, London in 1966 or San Francisco in the late ’60s. Sydney was right up there with them.
I remember I was out seeing bands every night of week. It could be every Wednesday with the Triffids’ residency at the Strawberry Hills Hotel, upstairs at the Trade Union Club for the Laughing Clowns, or some punk band down at French’s Tavern. You could finish with Paris Green at 3am in Kings Cross.
There were so many gigs that stood out: the Birthday Party, Scientists and X at the University of NSW Roundhouse, the amazing New Year’s Eve gig with the Celibate Rifles at the Trade Union…and The Gun Club at the Southern Cross, later re-named the Strawberry Hills Hotel.
The Strawberry Hills Hotel in Surry Hills was OUR pub. We were still aged in our late teens and we virtually lived there. There was cheap (or feree) beer and amazing music every night of week. I actually lived in a cheap shared house, a few blocks down the road.
One night in 1983, the publican told me to turn up on Monday. He said that “a Yankee band, The Gun Club, are playing.”
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- By Edwin Garland
- Hits: 9291
As fans around Australia rejoice at the news of AC/DC's upcoming national stadium tour this November and December it's worth reflecting on how rough, but yet ultimately triumphant, the past 12 months have been for the band.
Almost exactly a year ago whilst working a camera shift for the ABC's 7.30 programme I had the enviable task of working on a story about AC/DC: one of my all-time favourite rock bands. But the feeling was bittersweet: troubling rumours were swirling around about the band's rhythm guitarist and unofficial leader Malcolm Young, elder brother of the more recognisable schoolboy uniform-sporting lead guitarist Angus.
The word was he was suffering from an undisclosed debilitating sickness, rendering him permanently unable to play guitar and therefore leaving the band's plans for a 40th anniversary tour and new album in ruins. The band was to call it a day. Such an integral piece of Australian cultural history: no more?! The 'other greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world' (next to the The Rolling Stones): done and dusted?
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- By Andrew Altree-Williams
- Hits: 5272
By An Anonymous Australian Band Member
Recently I was interested to read an article on a News Corporation website in which Justin Burford, from a lame pop band called End of Fashion, took aim at AustralIa’s national youth broadcaster JJJ.
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- By Anonymous Australian Band Member
- Hits: 11181
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