Get Notorious | 33
MAY 2012
Hooley Dooley it’s May and we’ve already been out hunting ‘shrooms in the countryside. No, not the type that get you ripped and tripping balls, but the tasty type you can fry up in a pan with a bit of butter and serve on toast, or indeed slice up and put in an omelette. Even better stick them on a pizza with mozzarella, pine nuts and some parsley. Just don’t eat the poisonous ones – okay? It’s a pretty painful death. That’s enough of this word food erotica, however. Let’s get stuck in to some art, rock n’ roll and welcome the latest addition to the Get Notorious family – the Regal Ballroom.
For further mushroom recipes and advice on which ones are deadly contact jim@getnotorious.com
THE JEZABELS
When The Jezabels’ first album, Prisoner, landed on the iGadgets of indie kids and hipsters everywhere in September 2011, shattering delicate sensibilities like some ancient gothic cathedral collapsing to rubble, it was obvious that this Sydney quartet was destined for great things. Having progressed from the days of playing to 50 people in small venues around the country, The Jezabels are now selling out concert halls across Australia, North America and Europe. Their performances at the Big Day Out and Falls Festival this year saw record crowds standing shoulder to shoulder, swaying in unison like tangled masses of seaweed as The Jezabels both captivated and dominated.
Aidan Hogg caught up with piano/keyboard player Heather Shannon while the band was bouncing back and forth across the 49th parallel between America and Canada. Whilst word of their explosive and bewitching performances is still working its way into the North American psyche, they’re still packin’ ‘em in. “Out of five shows we’ve had four sold out shows,” says Shannon. “The shows that we’re doing here are about 200 to 600 capacity…so quite small shows but heaps of support, and it seems like it’s slowly growing, which is awesome.” The consistency and frequency with which The Jezabels hit the U.S. and Canadian highways has certainly contributed to their steadily growing fan-base. One look at their current tour schedule will evoke visions of a Hanna Barbera-style repeating backdrop of hotel rooms where “Do Not Disturb” means “Come in and steal my change”, tour vans where the A/C has two settings: Arctic and oven, and green rooms where the rider is a pot of something that claims to be beer and a packet of chips…to share. “This five weeks is very hectic,” says the obviously daunted Heather. “I was a bit worried about it leading up to it, but we have a very relaxed tour manager…he knows the roads, knows where to stop to get some food. It’s good and I think we’re going to take it easy.”
It’s no secret that The Jezabels come from very different musical backgrounds. Heather is a trained classical pianist; guitarist Samuel Lockwood has his routes in the country/folk genre, while drummer Nic Kaloper prefers a more aggressive metal aesthetic in his music. And we can only assume that front-woman Hayley Mary arose from the netherworld on the wings of a she-demon. You might think, considering they are spending extended periods in each other’s back pockets, that this would lead to tension among the ranks. You might imagine Nic and Samuel in the back of the van fighting over getting Slayer or Keith Urban on the CD player. Contrarily, everyone seems to have a healthy respect for the others’ music tastes. “We’ve all approached writing music in very different ways, but we all appreciate good music,” says Heather, very diplomatically. “I think it’s one of our strong points, really, because we have a lot of different influences to draw from rather than one type of band or style.”
26th of May will see the return of The Jezabels to home soil. The Bass in the Grass Music Festival in Darwin will kick off their Australian tour followed by shows in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. Playing much larger venues than on previous tours, fans can expect a much different experience this time around. “The majority of our set will probably be songs off the album,” Heather reveals. “I think it is going to be a lot bigger than last time because we’re in bigger rooms, and so we have to do something bigger because there are more people, more lights…more of a show. But we still want it to have an element of intimacy about it.”
While it could be a far reach to make Festival Hall an intimate show, considering it has the intimacy, shape and acoustics of a bus terminal, The Jezabels will no doubt pull off stellar performances on this tour and streamline a personal connection with every audience member. But, can we ever expect to see The Jezabels back on the more modestly sized stages of Get Notorious venues like the Workers Club where they launched their second EP to around 80 payers just a few short years ago? “Well, it would be an honour’, she chuckles. “Maybe we could do an acoustic set…or we could do a show under a different band name.“ But it’s probably safe to say that these guys are going to spend a bit more time basking in the glow of a thousand-plus faces with a complex arrangement of lights spinning twenty feet above before they return to play up close and personal in the pubs and clubs. “I really enjoy playing the really big ones [venues] at the moment’, she reveals. “But no matter where we are, no matter how well we’re going in one place there will always be somewhere in the world we can go to play smaller venues.”
Friday 1 June Festival Hall (all ages) MELBOURNE VIC
With special guests LIGHTS and Snakadaktal
Ticketmaster - www.ticketmaster.com.au 136100
Saturday 2 June Thebarton Theatre (all ages) ADELAIDE SA
With special guests LIGHTS and Snakadaktal
Venue*Tix - www.venuetix.com.au 08 8225 8888
Tuesday 5 June Metro City (18+) PERTH WA
* With special guests LIGHTS (Snakadaktal will not be performing in Perth)
OzTix - www.oztix.com.au & www.heatseeker.com.au 1300 762 545
Thursday 7 June Convention Centre (all ages) BRISBANE QLD
With special guests LIGHTS and Snakadaktal
Ticketek - www.ticketek.com.au 132 849
Saturday 9 June Hordern Pavilion (all ages) SYDNEY NSW
With special guests LIGHTS and Snakadaktal
Ticketek - www.ticketek.com.au 132 849
THE REGAL BALLROOM
The latest addition to the Get Notorious family is a music venue – who woulda thunk it??? The Regal Ballroom on High Street Northcote is one of the highest profile recent additions to Melbourne’s incredibly vibrant music scene.
Erected as a cinema in 1912, the venue is now host to premier touring events offering an unsurpassed dinner and show experience, as well as standing entry. With the likes of Justin Townes Earle recently pulling up his wagon out the front, and forthcoming shows from ‘Lil Band of Gold, Barry Morgan and Andre Rieu’s soprano Mirusia Louwerse amongst a host of announcements, The Regal Ballroom is fast becoming one of the hottest venues in town. This June and July, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the venerable building, we’re renaming it the Northcote Theatre for a month and it’s set to host film screenings, burlesque shows and gigs of course to celebrate the illustrious history of the venue. Check out http://www.northcotetheatre.com.au/ for full details.
THE DARKNESS
The Darkness had a tumultuous rise and fall. In 2003, just 3 years after the band’s inception, everyone was singing along to their catchy (if not slightly annoying) earworm of a song “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”, and teenage girls everywhere were bashfully adding their debut album “Permission to Land” to their Christmas lists (which had a NAKED GIRL on the cover – how embarrassing!)
The band didn’t stay at the top long though. In 2005 they released their follow up album to a much smaller audience, and in 2006, like many rockstars before him, lead singer Justin Hawkins was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic for his growing alcohol and cocaine problems. You know what they say – the quicker the rise, the quicker the downfall.
After years apart the band reunited last year and have since announced a new album that will be released later on this year, as well as an Australian tour, which is starting tonight. Get Notorious’ Ella Jackson spoke to drummer Ed Graham (apparently the sanest of the bunch) about the band’s reunion and all things related.
“We always talk about 2003 – we called it ‘the glory year’,” muses an ailing Graham in between coughs, “It was a long time ago now though – nearly ten years.”
He speaks of the band’s meteoric rise to fame, and how it did definitely take its toll on all of the members, “It was weird, you know – walking down the street and having people coming up to you… It takes a while to kind of get used to that stuff.”
It seemingly had a worse effect on other members, their singer in particular, than it did Ed, though, who seemed to keep the most levelheaded of the bunch over the years. He attributes this to the fact that he is the drummer, and people didn’t recognise him as much as they did the other members, allowing him to remain fairly inconspicuous.
He doesn’t speak much of the band’s decline, remaining tightlipped about front man Justin’s drug and alcohol abuse. He simply states, “We just lost our way a bit, you know. It was a different experience being on tour then… we were drunk all the time basically.”
In the years following the band’s break up Ed played in Stone Gods along with former guitarist of The Darkness Dan Hawkins and bassist Richie Edwards, until ‘being drunk all the time’ took its toll and he was diagnosed with osteonecrosis and subsequently had to have both of his hips replaced and step back from drumming for a while.
The Darkness’ reunion marks his return to playing in a band full time, and he says he is feeling “better than ever”, having recovered fully from the disease, and that their live shows are just as, if not more crazy than they were back in their heyday, with Justin apparently being healthier than ever.
“After one of the recent shows I actually had someone come up to me and say, “That was the best rock show I have ever seen in my life,” which was quite a compliment.”
Their set for the Australian tour mainly consists of their old hits for all the fans they picked up back in 2003, but they are hoping to garner the attention of a new generation as well with the coming release of Hot Cakes, the band’s third album, which fans will get a happy sample of in these shows.
Apparently this new album isn’t entirely new though. Ed admits, “Some of the songs are actually 10 years old. A couple of them we actually played in clubs and pubs in Camden when we first started … I think that the second album had lost its way a bit, so we have returned to our original sound basically.”
So can we expect the flame that is The Darkness to burn out any time soon? Ed thinks not.
“We’re all a bit older and wiser now, and there are certainly a lot of mistakes we made that we won’t make again. You learn from experience how to deal with people as well. Our relationships are stronger than they were back then.”
Why the sudden reformation? Ed asserts, “I think ultimately we just need each other.”
Tue 8 May 7:30 PM Palace Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Wed 9 May 7:30 PM Palace Theatre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Thu 10 May 8:00 PM ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT
Sat 12 May 7:30 PM Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA, Australia
OWL EYES
Do you remember seeing a shy, seventeen year old girl on the 2008 series of Australian Idol? Amongst the thousands of other contestants who made an appearance it’s unlikely, but she sang a beautiful rendition of ‘The Scientist’ by Coldplay? Nope, still nothing? Alright, well it was the lovely Miss Brooke Addamo and since the competition, she has made a name for herself. Actually, a name you might recognize – Owl Eyes? Yes, THE Owl Eyes and Get Notorious’ Nikki Williams had a chat with her last week about her recent release, ‘Crystalised’.
Four years on, and Miss Addamo has now been given the title of “The Next Big Thing” by The Sydney Morning Herald and “an artist worth watching” by The J’s. So with all this attention, one wonders if she still had time to stay up to date with the latest upcoming music. In asking her, Miss Addamo quickly rattled off a list of prominent acts she loves such as “The Twerps, Flume and Chet Faker.” It is no surprise then that her latest upcoming material has “more of an electronic influence” because she’s so inspired by the “sounds and atmosphere it creates.”
When asking Addamo whether she was therefore cautious of her music sounding overproduced (as much of the new age electro-pop is), she responds confidently, saying “I don’t think about it too much, but I just want to make intelligent pop music; I just want to make music that I am proud of.” It was also interesting to note that her latest song ‘Crystalised’, which has slightly more of an electronic presence than her previous tracks, was never originally going to be released, but rather savoured for live performances. “For me it’s a fun and exciting song to play at shows but after playing it at a few shows it got such a great reaction and I decided to release it before the album comes out,” she explains.
Mentioning that she aspires to play with another prominent electronic group, The XX, you may wonder if the name for her latest track may have been “borrowed” from them. But no, Addamo swears that the name came from “finding inspiration in the fact that crystals don’t shine until a form of light is projected through them” and that this could be paralleled to someone she knows who “didn’t end up being as great as she originally thought”. You can’t help but wonder if ‘that person’ is now quivering in their boots…
Owl Eyes recently played a sold out show at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne, a travelling venue hosting a certain variety of the weird and wacky, with Addamo describing her performance there as “amazing and nerve wracking.” However, an unusual venue such as the Spiegeltent was certainly a challenge for her live. She explains “it was such a different show for me. No darkness to hide behind and no audience members jumping around and going crazy to the music, just an audience of well behaved music lovers. It was strange yet great – the type of crowd who love music but hate going to music venues. I did play some new songs and had a few of my musical friends help me out on the night to create a mix tape like show.”
Catch Owl Eyes on these dates through May.
OWL EYES - The ‘Crystalised’ Tour
Friday 18th May – JIVE BAR - Adelaide
Sunday 20 May – THE TOFF IN TOWN - Melbourne
Tuesday 22 May – THE NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB - Melbourne
Thursday 24 May - OXFORD ART FACTORY - Sydney
Friday 25 May - OH HELLO - Brisbane
Saturday 26 May - SOL BAR - Maroochydore
tickets to all shows available through www.moshtix.com.au
REEF
Formed in 1993 in Glastonbury, England, home of the world famous festival, Reef hit their stride in the early to mid-nineties. The band, fronted by singer Gary Stringer, were a welcome antidote at the time to the ‘life sucks, let’s throw ourselves in the abyss’ ambience of all the post-grunge bands that were floating around the music scenes of the world at the time.
Best known for joyous, Rolling Stones-inspired and utterly rocking tracks such as “Place Your Hands” and “Yer Old”, the band have always had a strong following in Australia. There was a particularly infamous incident some years ago involving Reef and the TV show “Hey Hey It’s Saturday” for which many people felt that much more respect for the band as a result.
After over a decade in hiatus, Reef are back to terrorize the world in the way that they know best. They will be heading to our shores in June to play some shows, refuting the infamous claim from Daryl Somers that ‘they’ll never work in this town again’. Yer wrong, Daryl! More on that later.
Neil Evans recently caught up with Reef lead singer and main man Gary Stringer.
“Our manager, Tank Gilkes, suggested that we get back together to do some shows”, begins Stringer in a highly enthusiastic and infectious manner. “The initial shows were fantastic and really like old times. The initial shows lead to touring Europe, playing at the Glastonbury festival and now touring Australia for the first time in years. I always loved that part of the world, especially both the people and the beaches”.
“I think people and life in general is what has inspired the band lyrically. It’s basically our take and perception of the world around us”, continues Stringer. “As a singer, and I are not pulling your leg, Bon Scott from AC/DC was a huge inspiration to me. I remember hearing the “High Voltage” album, which overseas was a combination of that album and “T.N.T.” with the track listing. That one-two punch of “High Voltage”, followed by “Rock N’ Roll Singer” was incredible”.
Stringer continues a rich vein of British singers inspired by the blues and being the equal, if not in some cases better, than their American counterparts, such as Robert Plant, Joe Cocker and Long John Baldrey.
Tragedy struck the band when, in 2006, the band’s manager, Martin Gilkes (tank’s brother) was killed in a motorcycle accident. “That hit us really hard. Martin had been a member of The Wonder Stuff. He had been out there and done the whole tour/living on the road thing and survived to tell the tale. Both Martin and Tank are two of the most genuine and down to earth people you could ever meet. Martin was always there to give us invaluable advice and guidance”, explains Stringer.
On a lighter note, Reef has become somewhat infamous for a moment in time in Australia many moons ago. When the band appeared on “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”, the made quite an impact. The host of the show, Daryl Somers, particularly pissed off the band via the “Red Faces” segment, where Somers was particularly cruel and cutting towards a ten year old contestant.
In response, the band dropped their second song, “Consideration” and ripped into “Yer Old” instead as a quite potent ‘fuck you’ to Somers and the show, particularly his God/Ed Sullivan complex.
Predictably, Somers had a absolute conniption fit regarding the incident on camera (remember, this show was broadcast live to air) and the fact that someone dared to call him on his obnoxiousness and burst his little bubble, predicting that Reef ‘would never work in this town again’. Insert “Ha Ha”-type laugh like Nelson from “The Simpsons” here!
When mentioning this to Stringer, the immediate response is a gleefully loud and slightly psychotic cackle! “We’ve been on shows like this in the U.K., there was no problem with that. What offended us was the so-called ‘humour’ of the show, a lot of it based on cruelty and humiliation. We thought to ourselves that this wasn’t right. Just before we were to do “Consideration”, we decided to do “Yer Old” instead, smashed up our shit and got the fuck out of there”. In doing so, the band went up considerably in the estimation of many in this country.
“We’re currently putting together the “93-03” box set with some B-sides and rare stuff. After that, we’ll be doing an acoustic album with some new material. It feels fantastic to be doing what we love again”, says Stringer, a man truly besotted with what he does.
Stringer finally settles an argument/discussion that has been running in schoolyards and university lounges for over the past decade: what the hell is he saying in the track “Place Your Hands”?
Some have said it’s “alright, yeah”, others have said it’s “alright, now” and various interpretations in between. “It’s ‘alright, now’”, confesses Stringer, continuing an unusual condition of singers almost inventing their own language-Bob Dylan fans will know exactly how this feels. “I love the idea of misheard lyrics and how people can completely reinterpret through their own minds what a song says. It’s something that’s always fascinated me”, says Stringer.
Having made some incredibly positive and joyous, rocking music throughout their career, the June shows promise to be a lot of fun. . Watch out, Daryl. Reef will be back in town soon!
Friday 1 June Metropolis FREMANTLE WA
Tickets www.oztix.com.au & www.moshtix.com.au & www.heatseeker.com.au
Thursday 7 June The Hi Fi BRISBANE QLD
Tickets from www.thehifi.com.au
Friday 8 June Billboard MELBOURNE VIC
Tickets fromwww.billboardthevenue.com.
Saturday 9 June The Metro SYDNEY NSW
Tickets fromwww.metrotheatre.com.au
WHAT’S ON IN MAY?
The Morning Night
One of Perth’s brightest hopes, The Morning Night are headed eastwards to celebrate the release of their Ricky Maymi (The Brain Jonestown Massacre) produced debut album Otis. Featuring contributions by Graham Lee of The Triffids and Richard lane of The Stems, the band are headlining a huge lineup at The Workers Club which includes Jill & Also of The Triffids, Lowtide, Dirt Farmer and Rain Party.
The Workers Club Friday 18th May Doors 6:30pm $10
Kimba & Ryan
Husband and wife team Kimba & Ryan are favourites on the Melbourne jazz scene and after touring both internationally and across Asia and Europe on the back of their previous two EP releases, they’re set to launch their much anticipated debut album, The Leaves Stay Green. Thumbing their nose at contemporary studio practice, the duo recorded the album with few overdubs or effects, focusing on getting in to the moment and letting the song structures shine through. They’re set to launch it in to the atmosphere with a huge launch at Bennett’s Lane with a stellar cast of guest musicians.
Saturday 19 May, from 8.30pm Tickets: $25/$20 Ph: 03 9663 2856 www.bennettslane.com
You & The Colonies
One of the best new bands in Melbourne? You’d better believe it. Lashings of folk and pop are thrown up by this remarkable four piece, but it’s their spine tingling three part harmonies that have the crowds swooning. Think a little Boy & Bear or The Paper Kites, even This Mortal Coil; but it’s when you hear their show stopping harmony laced Radiohead cover that the band’s promise outshines many of their contemporaries.
Check them out headlining The Workers Club on May 23rd.
The Woohoo Revue
Melbourne’s very own gypsy dance punks The Woohoo Revue are back inviting audiences to tear up the dance floor with their new album Moreland’s Ball. After ripping up and down the country throughout April and May they’ve saved the best for last with a massive homecoming show at The Hi Fi.
The Hi Fi, Swanston St Melbourne May 25th
REVIEWS – WE WUZ THERE
Jean Cocteau: Autoportrait D’un Inconnu
As part of the Robert Breson season at the Melbourne Cinémathèque last month was a screening of Edgardo Cozarinsky’s first-person documentary, Jean Cocteau: Autoportrait D’un Inconnu (1983).
A compilation of material and archival footage throughout the span of his career it included audio and visual interviews with Cocteau recounting his artistic life in post WWI Paris including highlights of his encounters with those amongst his social circle, such as Diaghilev, Nijinsky, Picasso, Jean Renoir and Stravinsky.
Jean Cocteau, a French poet, writer, playwright, set designer, actor, painter and filmmaker disliked by the Surrealists for his capricious, frivolous and seemingly bourgeois nature recounts amusing tales of antagonism with Surrealist leader, Andre Breton (for instance, Breton attending all of Cocteau’s openings for the mere purposes of heckling him). Suffering from bouts of opium addiction with one of his most notable works written within a week amidst a strenuous opium weaning episode - Les Enfants Terribles (1929), -he also wrote Opium: Journal of Drug Rehabilitation, featuring his experience of his recovery from Opium addiction in 1929, with vivid pen and ink illustrations which were also featured in this autoportrait as vignettes of animated nightmarish apparitions.
Poignant nostaligia laced with wit and humour and expressive of the character of Cocteau, the documentary paints an autoportrait of an artist spanning a rich and abundant life. A celebration of his colourful life which in turn was a celebration of his passion and prolific work across all facets of artistic expression with echoes of inspiration amongst his contemporaries and beyond.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is dedicated to screening rare films and documentaries each Wednesday night at the Australian Centre of the Moving Image.
http://www.melbournecinematheque.org/
- Melissa Pineda
Dig It Up! Melbourne 25th April
On the first page of the Dig It Up! booklet, Dave Faulkner mentions that Dig It Up! is not a festival trying to market itself to any particular demographic. This can be seen in the audience right away, which ranges from gangly teens to their parents to their parents’ parents and everything in between. Are they there to see the same bands though, as Faulkner would hope? Well… maybe a few of them.
The first stop for the kids was The Murlocs – and what a bullshit good way to start the day they were. How often do you reckon one of the first bands of a festival ends up being a standout of the day? Flung into the mix of overwhelmingly older acts, this raucous pack of teen-to-early-20-year-olds was, indeed, a standout. Hey, sometimes youth, exuberance, and a healthy dosage of stage presence do override experience.
Front man Ambrose Kenny-Smith screeched like a retarded Janis Joplin, played the harp like a maniac and had a stagger many front men before him have tried to less avail. Their distortion drenched R’n’B jams were reminiscent of Nuggets, Pebbles, Rubble – all the good stuff – but entirely their own at the same time. At the end of a sweaty set, Spencer P. Jones was screaming and shouting out for more and most of the attendees seemed to be yelling with him.
Back over at The Palace a less impressive 5.6.7.8’s was getting in their set. You’d be a musically uneducated twat not to bow down at the throne of these Japanese rock n’ roll behemoths, but you’d also be an uneducated twat if you thought that their set at Dig It Up was the best they had to offer. Perhaps they were tired at the end of a long tour… excuses were being flung high and low by their adoring fans, this scribe included. The sad truth is they’re just getting old though. Yoshiko’s voice wasn’t as powerful as it once was, and even after she recruited the audience to sing along to a watered down version of “Woo Hoo”, it was hard to hear the vocals. They still looked pretty killer though.
Getting old doesn’t affect all performers, and upstairs The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn was proving that point with a vengeance. His jangly tunes had a timeless quality about them, and set the perfect tone for the rest of the night in The Attic, which seemed to be the place to be, with Beaches and Royal Headache coming up.
It’s always really special when Beaches play, because, well, they don’t play that often. They’re one of those bands that you fall in love with immediately and before you ever really get to check them out you’re left scratching your head, saying, “Where the hell did they go?” Well, there are a lot of people in the same boat as you, and they were all there, shoulder to shoulder in the diminutive confines of The Attic. As always, the girls put on a shit hot set, their woozy, surfed up tunes all seeming to be perfected to a tee now. In fact, it’s probably time they released something new… Please release something new, Beaches.
Royal Headache followed Beaches and did not put them to shame. For a band that is usually a sure highlight of any festival you see them at (Gonerfest, Golden Plains, Boogie, to name a few), these guys were pretty disappointing. They haven’t gotten bad or anything – moody front man Shogun just seemed to be particularly grumpy this night. A couple of times he ordered for songs to be stopped a few seconds in because they were too slow, and much to the disappointment of the audience – who had been begging for them to play their cover of ‘Teardrops’ all night – they began to oblige before Shogun decided that he didn’t actually want to play it, and launched into another song. Don’t let their less-than-hot performance at Dig It Up dissuade you though – these guys are usually monsters on stage.
Those with a bit of wit about them left Royal Headache’s set early in order to head downstairs and get a good position in the crowd for The Sonics. The Sonics’ set saw the coming together of the previously divided oldies and youngies. As mentioned in an interview Get Notorious did with saxophonist Rob Lind, the younger generation have indeed discovered them. ‘Strychnine’ and ‘The Witch’ were obvious fan favourites – the crowd letting out a cry of anticipation as the instantly recognisable guitar at the start of ‘The Witch’ rang out through the venue.
Their set wasn’t exactly wild, and after it finished, a fellow (young) onlooker made the comment that they “may as well have seen a Sonics cover band”. This seemed to be a feeling that a portion of the younger generation in the audience shared, perhaps disillusioned by the fact that their heroes were but a shell of the once vivacious rock n’ rollers that they were. Who can blame them though? They’re pushing 70 and still managing to deliver each of their songs without a hitch, which is pretty amazing in itself.
A large portion of the younger attendees cleared out before Hoodoo Gurus took the stage, having no desire to stick around to check out the band that was responsible for the whole event. Those who stayed (along with their mums and dads) were rampant fans though, singing along to every word of Stoneage Romeos and other hits.
For younger people, Hoodoo Gurus are a bit like that embarrassing old woollen sweater you wear around the house in Winter… although you love it to death you wouldn’t dare wear it outside of the house or even admit to owning it amongst your friends. Grandpa sweaters have made a comeback though and it’s about time Hoodoo Gurus do too. Their set rocked despite a bit of confusion with the encore at the end, and man do they know how to put on a good party.
- Ella Jackson
The Rubens @ Northcote Social Club 11th April
For a young band to sell out a venue is a good achievement; their publicist is happy, the publican is happy, the manager is happy. The band are drunk on the idea of packed house, let alone from what’s on the bar. For Menangle four-piece The Rubens, selling out the Northcote Social Club once was not enough. Nor was twice or three times. For four nights consecutively, punters filed into the band room and swayed, rocked and maybe even bought a t-shirt afterwards. That’s pretty damn impressive.
Opening the night were another up-and-coming Melbourne band The Pretty Littles. These guys describe their sound as somewhere between The Vasco Era, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Mess Hall – so far they’ve got the swagger down – and it sounds as though the other elements are on the way too. The band aim to write and record their debut album later this year, and for a young act, the signs are there that they may also one day be selling out multiple nights consecutively.
After the Pretty Littles finished with an epic closer, people were soon jostling toward the stage in anticipation of the headliners. Funnily enough there seemed to be something in the female DNA that was magnetising them closer to the stage, and screaming females come with dangers, just ask One Direction. Luckily though the crowd managed to control themselves most of the time, and The Rubens launched into the set with sultry rock ’n’ roll number My Gun, before following with a gritty but soulful ballad recently penned in New York.
The band was tight from the outset; front man Sam Margin pushed his vocal limits yet didn’t miss a single note all night, while the rest of the band were effortless together (this could possibly be because they mostly share the same genes – with Elliot Margin on keys and Zac Margin on lead guitar both being brothers of Sam).
The Rubens have obviously got the technique of how to write an irresistible pop song mapped out, because even on first listen to new numbers such as the Be Gone and I’d Surely Die, the crowd were rocking, swinging and tapping with inhibition no where in sight. Most songs had a similar soulful rock feel, but there was a good amount of light and shade, with some tunes verging on that rolling 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll sound that’s been creeping back on to the music scene of late.
‘It’s You’ was crooned perfectly by Margin (Sam), before a few of the Pretty Littles joined the fray on stage to finish out with another upbeat freshly recorded number. While many of the riffs for their songs are hardly new or ground-breaking, The Rubens have got that something else that glues all the elements together and makes this band a whole lot more than just the sum of its parts. Expect to hear their debut album thick through the airwaves, it feels as if the Rubens could be on a trajectory to major popularity.
- Dannika Bonser
Introduced Species – The Everleigh, Fitzroy
Visual artist David-Ashley Kerr works in large-format photography, his practice a visual enquiry into the relationship between cultural identity and physical environment by investigating the use of a staged lone figure in contemporary landscape photography.Exhibited at the Everleigh Gallery in Fitzroy last month, Introduced Species is a series of allegorical large-scale photographs featuring a contemplative lone nude figure against a richly contextual landscape.
Reminiscent of the paintings of the Old Masters, Introduced Species reflects these traditions whilst embracing new media to bring a contemporary context to the raw nature of self-reflection stripped of the vapid nature of modernity while still positing the intricacies of the human condition.
As a series, in each landscape, the figure is gradually brought to a focus or to a stillness (or the reverse, depending on the order viewed) and the relationship with nature, or one’s physical environment, is clear. Whilst the figure is noticeable enough to, in one part, be viewed in isolation, for the larger part the figure appears overwhelmed by the vast and visceral landscape, immersed within the physical environment and identified by its surrounds.
The powerful and somewhat omnipotent images appeal to overwhelm with both the grandeur of the size and vibrancy of the landscapes, while the melancholia of the lone nude figure with resonates with self-reflection and interpretation.
David-Ashley Kerr’s upcoming exhibition “RÜCKENFIGUR ” at the Perth Centre of Photography, displays a selection of landscape studies, a photographic exploration into the “RÜCKENFIGUR ” or “back figure”, where he continues to use this visual device of placing a disengaged and contemplative human figure amidst a striking landscape.
http://www.david-ashleykerr.com/
http://pcp.org.au/PCP_Exhibitions/PCP_Future_Exhibitions.aspx
http://www.theeverleigh.com/
- Melissa Pineda
WIN SHIT
Win A Regal Ballroom Double Pass
We’re pretty excited about The Regal Ballroom joining our family so to celebrate, we thought why not have some of our readers down for a night out there on us? We’ve got a double pass to either the ‘Lil Band of Gold shows on June 27th and 28th, or to Australia’s favourite organ player Barry Morgan as he launches his album here on June 30th. Simpy email howdy@getnotorious.com with your choice of show and we’ll pick a lucky winner!
Win Tix To The Jezabels & Reef
As you’ve read further up, both The Jezabels and Reef are touring the country very shortly and we’ve got a double pass to win to their respective Melbourne shows. All you have to do is email howdy@getnotorious.com with your choice of band in the subject line and keep an eye on your inbox!
JOB OF THE MONTH – MERCH SELLER
Want one of the most glamorous jobs in the music biz? We’re looking for a merch seller. You’ll be required to get to the venue and lug in heavy boxes without wheels that weigh more than the band’s gear, while being given a dinky little spot up the back of the venue to ply the band’s wares. You’ll be required to deal with punter after punter who either try on two t-shirts and then don’t buy anything or ask you how much everything costs when there’s a big goddamn sign right next to every item stipulating the price. Other punters will try to get stuff for free saying that they’re ‘close friends of the band’ while others will complain about paying $25 for a t-shirt and then demand you go backstage and get every band member to sign it. Others will try to haggle over $2 while some clever types won’t know their own shirt size. At the end of the night after you’ve been earbashed by a weirdo who reckons he knows how to mix waaaay better than the band’s sound guy, you’ll be one of the last to leave the venue after lugging out more heavy boxes. For your dose of glamour email howdy@getnotorious.com