San Francisco will be the place to be in February when a stack of friends and former bandmates pay tribute to the late Roy Loney.

The original lead singer for the Flamin’ Groovies passed away in December at the age of 73 after complications from surgery. Loney was with the band for two of its greatest albums, "Flamingo" (1970) and "Teenage Head" (1971) and went on to a long solo career.

One of his bands, The Phantom Movers, will be part of the tribute gig, as well as the current line-up of trhe Flamin ' Groovies, frmted by Cyril Jordan. Jello Biafra, Peter Case and Yo La Tengo members Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley are among other guests.

Mick Medew and The Mesmerisers bring their killer brand of rocking powerpop to New South Wales in March for just two shows. 

Catch them Friday, March 27 at Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney and Sunday, March 29 at Mayfield Bowling Club in the Hunter.

The only Sydney show pairs them with Peter Simpson and his Vanity Project, the  rock machine par excellence led by Peter Simpson of The Dubrovniks and his hand-picked line-up. 

Opening proceedings will be local psychedelic-garage rock super-group Jupiter 5, with members of Psychotic Turnbuckles, Buffalo Revisited and Sheek the Shayk. Tickets are on sale here. 

It’s 4pm doors at Mayfield where the supports are Imaginary Things, The Stoids and The Perils. The Mesmerisers hit the stage at 9.30pm.

“Open Season” is the latest album for Mick Medew and the Mesmerisers (on I-94 Bar Records) and it’s full of clever, hooky song-writing, a soulful engine room and driving guitars.

And of course there’s the unique voice of Mick Medew, front-man for the Screaming Tribesmen, the Brisbane-born and Sydney-bred pop-rock legends who topped independent charts in Australia and the US in the ‘80s.

“Grass Roots - A Helping Hand for the Fire Crisis” is a fundraiser turning on an eclectic line-up in Sydney on January 31. Marrickville Bowling Club is the venue and the Mogo community, the families of bushfire fighters and the WIRES animal rescue operation will beneficiaries.

Dog Trumpet - featuring Reg Mombassa Peter O’Doherty formerly of Mental as Anything - and The Two Johnnys (Hoody and Slim from The Johnnys) will be on an eight-band line-up. Operation Ibis, The Mezcaltones, Los Monaros, Smitty B Goode, The Fever Pitch and The Escapes will join them.  Doors open at 7pm and be early - playing order will be determined by a draw. 

That Sydney gig by explosive trio The Schizophonics in March has moved to Friday night to accomodate a bigger crowd. I-94 Bar will co-present the Sydney gig at Marrickville Bowling Club on March 12. The Facebook event is here and tickets are here.

Supports in Sydney will be Fangin' Felines and Grinding Eyes.

Evil Dick Enterprises is the latest incarnation for Evil Dick, formerly of Strutter, the Aampirellas and currently the frontman for one of Australia’s best-loved bands, HITS. While HITS remain a sporadic going concern (you couldn’t kill that band with an axe), Evil Dick Enterprises launched as Richard’s official side project on New Year's Day 2020.

Evil Dick’s “plan” is to make music outside the framework of HITS and the first project is a digital single, half the proceeds of which are being donated to Rural Fire Services in the wake of Australia’s devastating summer bushfires.

“I Hope That No-One Knows” is a haunting, ethereal debut that you can hear and grab with its B side, “Lovecats”, at Evil Dick Industries’ Bandcamp site. Here’s what various people are saying about it:

The prizes have been drawn in the Purple Urchin-Black Buzzard giveaway. The winners of a double pack of CDs fron the two bands - courtesy of Spiff Hopkins who leads both Black Buzzards (pictured) and Purple Urchin and has played in Hellmen, the SC5 and The M16s among many others - are:

Jamie Don of Wollstonecraft, NSW
Andy Wallace of Ettalong, NSW
Steve Finch from Lake Cathie NSW
Roy Mutton of Helensburgh, NSW
Graham Stapleton from Mermaid Beach, Queensland