This album could not be more aptly titled with everything that is happening around Australia right now. One of Brisbane’s biggest alt-rock bands Violent Soho are releasing their fifth studio album, Everything Is A-OK today. However, in light of current circumstances, things are going to be played out a little differently this time. A national album…
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Last weekend on the Gold Coast, Australia voted for its Eurovision 2020 Contender. In its second year running, the Gold Coast hosted Eurovision 2020: Australia Decides live on SBS. The results ended up being neck and neck between Montaigne and Casey Donovan – but in the end, no one could stop Montaigne with her song…
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Last year, Kate Miller-Heidke took out the competition with her gravity defying song titled, well… “Zero Gravity”. Now, it’s that time of the year again – to choose who will represent Australia in this year’s Eurovision 2020. The 65th campiest, wardrobe malfunction prone music competition will take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands this year. That’s right,…
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It’s only been a week since Aussie satire newspaper The Betoota Advocate launched their second book, How Good’s Australia, and the team are already about to restock their copies – which can be bought through the website, as editor Clancy Overell has been quick to remind me. More than just a stocking filler for the Christmas – or, as Overall…
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These hidden musicians started in 2015, and have only gained in popularity since first donning a polo, sweater and a home-grown moustache to become Ned Flanders. Ahead of their Australian and New Zealand tour early next year, we got a chance to speak with the mysterious Head Ned, the unknown assailant and mastermind behind Simpscene Nedal band…
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After the breakout success last year on Ekka Eve, Sesh And The City has graced Brisbane for the second time with a top billing line-up and a Saturday takeover at Brightside. Ambitious to compare Brisbane to New York? Hardly. Is there any correlation with Sex and the City other than the punny name of the…
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Last week AU writer Meredith McLean got the chance to interview the ever-smiling, vivacious and warm Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos. Coming up to a solid 20 year run as a band in 2020, an achievement for any group of musicians, Ferguson was excited to share his vision of the album and the exciting tours…
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Enigmatic, ethereal and endearing AURORA, has at last released the response to her call, A Different Kind Of Human (Step II), following up her 2018 release Infections of a Different Kind (Step I). Like many artists of this moment, more and more performers are turning their lyrical focus towards ecological themes, and cries to save the Earth….
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We’re a matter of days away from the release of Pond’s eighth studio album, Tasmania. Pond declares Tasmania something of a sister missive to their critically acclaimed 2017 album The Weather. The thematics of both albums are kindred in many respects. Tasmania explores place, history, hints of colonialism, and nature’s unfortunate submission towards humans – themes that…
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Triage, the third album from Methyl Ethel isn’t coincidentally named. Celebrating three albums, and lead singer Jake Webb’s 30th birthday, the album is a memorial and the capstone on a phase in the band’s journey. Whether that implies Methyl Ethel will be taking a different direction after this, we’re not sure. But what is constant right…
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Round and round the Brisbane Ferris Wheel goes, why tourists pay $30 to ride it nobody knows. At least, that’s what occurred to me while watching the visual piece in the background set the backdrop for TAM and Metro Arts latest production – Wheel of Fortune. Loosely based on the Austrian play La Ronde, which…
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The quiet suffering of grief can be as soft as gravel crunching underfoot to some and as loud as a car crash to others. No matter how it feels it is always heard. Perhaps that is the intended message of Lot Vekeman’s Poison? Catarina Hebbard, the director of this production, interestingly enough compares the characters…
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Nothing is as reaffirming for a creative team as being brought back by popular demand twice! The ever-evolving, devilish and wicked Bedlam Cabaret is getting it’s spotlight at this year’s Mardis Gras – celebrating all things Sydney, all things LGBTQI and all things vaudeville! The dynamic duo behind this roving rainbow wonder fest Director Goldele…
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Django Django’s third full album since their sophomore Born Under Saturn – released back in 2015 – stirs mixed emotions for many fans and fist time listeners alike. Notably for this one, it feels like the influences behind the music aren’t as clear as songs gone past. The majority of the LP edges somewhere towards a…
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I Just Came To Say Goodbye is more than a farewell to bad relationships, bad childhoods and bad dreams. It’s a stupendous sound off of every emotion you’ve spent, every moment you’d traded off and every secret you’ve denied. Worth the lining up, and the extra red from the La Boite’s house bar, the cacophony…
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Edith Podesta truly writes from all the world’s perspective. The parts of the world that are crying, the parts that are growing, even the parts that are howling. A modest plot that even we feel potentially gives too much away in the blurb seems innocent, heartwarming perhaps. Very David Williamson in design, but not even…
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How can you resist a show named Terror? But don’t be fooled, it’s a quiet terror. It creeps up on you long before you realise its there. But once you see it, what’s most terrifying is asking yourself would you do it? At first, it seemed risky to have a court drama. Many a time…
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If you’re a lover of cinema and history, Deborah Pearson has you covered! In a unique performance that uses audio and memory, History History History transports audiences back to October 23, 1956 and recreates a film that was supposed to screen at the Corvin Cinema the night the Hungarians rose up against the Soviets. Making her…
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Be they flocking or fleeing, birds are always a sign of impending danger. Hell, if you grew up in Brisbane, the clicking sound of a magpie’s beak and the beat of black wings are a certain sign of danger. The Bluebird Mechanicals is no less than this. A neat artist’s palate of danger organised, devised…
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“BITCH!”, one of the most complex insults in the English language, predominately used as a derogatory term towards women. But where did it come from? And why is it used in this way? BITCH: The Origin of The Female Species reflects upon the relationship between humans and animals, exploring the idea that women and dogs…
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Inspired by recent Australian political events, A Prudent Man takes an unapologetic look at memory, ego and power! Written and directed by award-winning playwright Katy Warner and performed by Lyall Brooks, this one-man monologue promises to take a dark comedic tour towards what it means to be right. Playing at the 2017 Brisbane Festival this…
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Last Sunday closed the week out for the Queensland chapter of Australian Poetry Slam, as part of the 21st Queensland Poetry Festival, but for some it was just the beginning. 20 Finalists. 5 judges whimsically selected from a libated crowd. 1 Bucket (it was quite literally a bucket) and 1 Winner to go onto the…
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It’s Bris-been another great year of arts, music and experiences in Brisbane but nothing compares to the Brisbane Festival. Sadly, there won’t be another public holiday for it (thanks anyway, Ekka Show) but it will give you 21 days of interactive features, theatrical performances, high-flying acrobatics and international music acts. But how do you choose…
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If you were going to get frisked at a gig in Brisbane we guess it would have to be at Death Grips, right? Friday night found Max Watts occupied by a weird hybrid of metalheads meets hipsters. A completely sold out show of a lot of these types, all waiting in the dark for Death…
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Have you ever said to yourself, “this weekend I want an uber-cheesy, sparkly glittery, overly accented, pyrotechnic spectacular?” Well then maybe The Bodyguard – which just kicked off its four week run in Brisbane – is for you. Whether or not you’ve seen the movie is not in the criteria to enjoy this show. It’s…
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“Hello everyone, grab a seat!” Jeremy Neale says from the bed of a hotel room. His set list is peeping out from the “What do you call this thing?” The 20 odd guests call out… “Throw!” “Rug!” “Blanket!” “A throw?” he says, “Too fancy for me. One day I’d like to own a throw”. This…
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Easy to grasp, unrelenting in its palatableness – the Brit-rock indie quintet has served up a safe sixth album. Delivering on their typically loud choruses and drum breaks once more – For Crying Out Loud is what we expect from Kasabian. It’s music you could either jump a skipping rope to or down a lager…
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A show five years in the making – Wireless is eerily eruptive, quietly volatile and infinite in a confined space. A slightly different experience every time, the show works on ambient technology bending to the will of the performers in this dance theatre conquest. Director and Choreographer Lisa Wilson explained the show is deeply rooted…
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Michelle Law’s Single Asian Female says all the things we’re not allowed to, the things we should be allowed to. The things we know are right even though more often than not Australian culture and politics gets it so wrong. This show says all of that and lets you laugh while they do it. After…
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I find myself sitting in QPAC, eyes half closed. I’m moving through springtime, by a babbling brook. I’m gazing from a snowy summit, blistering winds gazing my face faster than coarse sands. But all the while, just in my peripheral, I can see these damn yellow sneakers. They follow me through the foothills. They sit…
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