Aussie freelance journalist, sports, music, entertainment, top 10 lists. Take beach pics too.
Geordie-accented, WA-raised, Sydney-based comedian Rory Lowe is all action. Time flies when watching Rory, a non-stop comedian, with ready-made jokes and quick wit to keep the crowd on its toes. Scruffy-haired Rory is currently performing his Highs & Lowes show at The Rechabite‘s downstairs Goodwill Club as part of Perth’s Fringe World. George Zacharopoulos, who is…
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The Perth Fringe World started last weekend and often as a casual punter it can be hard to know what to go and see, but The Purple Rabbit (showing January 25 to February 5) stands out early as a must for keen audiences. The AU Review was lucky enough to be invited along for…
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With half the band residing overseas nowadays, it’s been a long wait between shows in Australia for synth-pop veterans Cut Copy, who are among the headline acts at Wine Machine festival which starts on Saturday in Perth. Cut Copy will be playing alongside headline act Flight Facilities, as well as Lime Cordiale, San Cisco, Client…
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Ziggy Alberts played his first show in Western Australia in three-and-a-half years as he headlined Saturday’s Here Comes The Sun festival in Margaret River, also featuring The Dreggs, DZ Deathrays and Winston Surfshirt. Despite the festival’s name, the sun was only peeping through the clouds with an ominous persistent threat of rain (which occurred during…
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Ziggy Alberts will hit the road to tour this week, following the release of his sixth studio album titled Dancing In The Dark earlier this month, which he says is all about everyone’s journey over the past few years. The Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter will start this Saturday with a headline slot at Here Comes The…
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Angus & Julia Stone and Ben Harper will co-headline an all-star line-up at the SummerSalt festival that will hit iconic locations across five states in late January and February 2023. Supporting the co-headline acts are Canadian act City And Colour along with The Rubens, Middle Kids and Alex The Astronaut across eight dates from January…
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The Dreggs are story-tellers in every sense, and there’s no better platform to share your intimate, personal tales than a sold-out gig with an adoring crowd. That was the case on Friday night at Freo.Social. The Sunshine Coast duo rounded out their ‘Hold Me Closer’ tour with two dates in the WA harbour town, the…
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When this scribe mentioned in passing to his sister that he was going to see Ocean Alley, she replied “all their songs sound the same”. To those familiar with the Northern Beaches six-piece that’s not quite true, but it is one challenge with their live shows. Yes, they have some absolute hits which are guaranteed…
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Cronulla/Byron Bay four-piece Caravãna Sun have grown in popularity on the back of heartfelt single “Whale Song” appearing on 2021 Netflix doco Seaspiracy but don’t be fooled, their live shows are far from solemn. The pop-infused indie rock foursome have evolved a lot over the past decade since their 2013 debut LP Aya, with ska,…
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“Now kids, this is what 1993 sounded like,” lead singer Tim Rogers announced before You Am I launched into mid-90s hit “Cathy’s Clown”. The irony was lost on few at Friday night’s show at Perth’s Rosemount Hotel, populated by an older crowd wanting to re-live those 90’s pop-rock memories from when they were the kids…
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WA-based psychedelic rockers Pond opened the Perth Festival at the wondrous Fremantle Arts Centre on Friday night in front of a gig-starved audience on a glorious late summer’s evening. Pond are much more than a Kmart version of Tame Impala and they showcased that to their tune-thirsty audience, with a fun and groovy display that…
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A drag-filled cabaret circus themed around the theological Roman Catholic seven deadly sins? Sounds like a recipe for something raucous but distinctly left of centre, filled with innuendo and debauchery! ‘Sinsuality: Make It Reign’ brings all that and more, led by larger-than-life drag MC BarbieQ, driving the show forward all while offering insights into her…
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Fringe World Festival is back in Perth despite the hardest of hard borders in WA but the local talent is shining, with Lisa Woodbrook‘s It’s Not Me, It’s Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse & Lily Allen a fine example. As a supremely talented vocalist, Woodbrook’s show – as the title suggests – contains plenty of…
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As Western Australia prepares to open up to the rest of the country, Macro Music has announced the Out Of The Woods festival in Busselton in the state’s south-west region for April featuring Angus & Julia Stone, Ball Park Music, The Jungle Giants and Hot Dub Time Machine. The two-day festival, scheduled to run on…
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Melbourne psychedelic jazz rockers Mildlife should have been embarking on an Australian tour right now, including playing at Vivid Sydney and the revered Sydney Opera House. But COVID-19 had other ideas. Instead the five-piece, who had been working on a new album prior to the proposed tour, have been stuck in lockdown in Melbourne like…
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“This venue is daunting to play,” admitted Spacey Jane lead singer Caleb Harper early in their maiden set at Perth’s revered Red Hill Auditorium on Saturday night. Given Western Australia’s hard border, Perth-based Spacey Jane have gigged in their hometown countless times before, but playing at Red Hill is something else altogether, as a wonderful,…
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After almost five years Melbourne indie pop duo Client Liaison returned last week with their second album Divine Intervention along with a swathe of singles. The quirky Melbourne-based pair had to delay the original release date amid another lockdown but eventually felt they had to get their music out there for their devoted fanbase. We caught…
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When you’re stuck playing to the same audience over and over, it’s easy to slip into a mode of monotony, which has been a challenge thrust upon lots of WA musicians including artist Michael Dunstan with Premier Mark McGowan’s hard border. Of course, the rebuttal is at least they get to play but that doesn’t…
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Perth surfie punk-rock trio Pretty Uglys have been generating lots of hype lately, fueled by popular new single “Your Shade” prompting a strong turnout to their Saturday night show in their hometown. Pretty Uglys’ tunes are gritty punk but it’s grunge-y yet summery, loose with a surfer twang, heavy on driving bass, unrelenting drums and…
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The emerging Factory Summer Festival has announced it will be held over four days rather than three weeks in 2021 with shows in Perth and Brisbane, including New Year’s Eve celebrations with Hermitude, Lime Cordiale and Broods among the headline acts. The Factory Summer Festival, previously known as Ice Cream Factory, had grown into a…
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The Jungle Giants‘ gradual shift from indie rock to electronic dance has officially landed with their new album Love Signs, a 10-track collection of groovy beats and sunny hooks which will win you over. Long-released lead singles “Heavy Hearted”, from July 2019, and “Sending Me Ur Loving”, from January 2020, offered a strong message of…
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Nick Murphy has had a peculiar existence since bursting on to the scene as Chet Faker working alongside Flume with his moody indie pop winning over a huge alt audience, before a back-and-forth of moniker shifts lost a few along the way. Returning to his Chet Faker project in October 2020, Murphy has released his…
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Grammy Award-nominated Hiatus Kaiyote have long defied categorization with their jazz-funk-neo-soul-wondercore and their latest LP continues that, albeit as their most cohesive album yet. The Melbourne four-piece are back with their first album in six years, titled Mood Valiant, after lead Naomi ‘Nai Palm’ Saalfield‘s mother who owned two valiant wagons, one white and one…
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Critically acclaimed indie-pop wonder St. Vincent returned last week with her latest incarnation, or studio album, titled Daddy’s Home – a superb, melodic, soulful and sonic offering referencing 70’s rock ‘n’ roll. Daddy’s Home is album number six for St Vincent, real name Annie Clark, who previously was part of The Polyphonic Spree and toured with…
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Aussie alt-rockers The Rubens are yet another band who’ve been denied the opportunity to tour their latest album due to COVID restrictions, but they are making up for it right now. In fact, The Rubens have been making hay while the sun shines, travelling the length of the country in support of their latest studio…
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Julia Stone‘s keenly anticipated latest studio album Sixty Summers is out on Friday, teaming up with producer Thomas Bartlett and St Vincent aka Annie Clark, along with cameos from The National‘s Matt Berninger plus Hollywood stars Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover. Stone’s latest LP, which comes nine years after her previous solo album – 2012’s…
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Someone really didn’t want Northeast Party House‘s (NEPH) Perth Factory Festival show to happen. The gig was rescheduled four times due to COVID-19 restrictions, eventually going ahead in the shadow of Perth going into lockdown at midnight that evening. But the party went ahead, with NEPH hitting the stage at 9:30pm, two-and-a-half hours before Perth’s…
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Kevin Mitchell, aka Bob Evans, has marked his genuine graduation from Suburban Kid to ‘middle age’ with his sixth studio album Tomorrowland, evolving musically with a level of grit combined with his treasured pop hooks. When I spoke to Mitchell ahead of the album launch, he said: “I’m in a period of my life/career where…
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Bob Evans, aka Kevin Mitchell, releases his sixth studio album, Tomorrowland, today but it’s also his first since parting with EMI Music. Mitchell calls it his “entry into middle age”, with shades of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and The Cure. Tomorrowland is a vision long held by Mitchell and with the “silver lining” that COVID-19…
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The Monday night concluding a four-day weekend is a ghastly time to play and Illy knew it at this week’s Factory Summer Festival show at Perth’s Metro City. The gig had been rescheduled numerous times due to the changing goalposts around COVID-19 restrictions meaning Illy and his faithful fans settled for what they could get….
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