Live Reviews

The over-the-top beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake that dominated pop culture last year is still paying dividends for at least one of its participants. Following his viral Super Bowl performance, which centred around Kendrick’s now-signature Drake diss “Not Like Us”, the Compton emcee’s star has puffed right into the stratosphere. He now commands some…

Lewis Capaldi played to a sold-out Melbourne crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, 10 December, as his world tour finally saw him gracing Australian shores for the first time in five years. With the release of his album Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent in 2023, Capaldi had plans to play in Australia…

When asked how to describe the Meredith Music Festival, my camping neighbour, Phoebe, told me it could be summed up in one word: “collaboration.” Examples abound: Campers negotiating space and interacting with their neighbours. Jostling for prime couch position on the banks of the Amphitheatre Supernaturale. Improved wi-fi access at the Meredith township (making for…

Whilst Lady Gaga – in her first Australian bout of concerts in over a decade – claimed that the evening’s rules were to either “Dance or Die,” Brisbane really had only one choice when being enveloped by The Mayhem Ball; “Put your hands up” and dance! Gaga perhaps overdid it on how many times she…

Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their landmark album How To Save a Life, The Fray returned to Melbourne on Sunday night for a sold-out show at The Forum. The venue was packed to the rafters, buzzing with those looming end of year vibes, and the crowd itself was surprisingly mixed. Clusters of twenty-somethings made up…

Melbourne weather really turned it on for Good Things Festival, my favourite Friday of the year. Under the beaming sun at the iconic Flemington Racecourse, this year’s instalment was something special. With headliners Tool, Weezer and Garbage locked in from the start, the lineup was one of the strongest since the festival launched in 2018,…

It feels that November, despite being Aus Music Month, has been dominated by the Poms. Fresh on the heels of Oasis selling out stadiums and making every second middle-aged man cry about a band they never thought they’d be able to see live again, Sam Fender has returned to our shores and delivered a set…

How can you possibly quantify the seismic impact of songs like “Seek & Destroy” and “Enter Sandman” when they’re played live and loud, igniting the air with soundwaves so combustible that you could swear Accor Stadium could burst into flames? You can’t. Sydney waited patiently while Metallica shredded through the rest of their Australian tour…

They’ve done it again. But you expected as much, right? RUFUS DU SOL is ending a breathless world tour in Australia, and right now they’ve landed at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for the first of three sold-out shows. After that, it’s on to their hometown of Sydney for another string of instant sell-outs. For those…

We are often told to keep it simple, stupid. Well, Paul Dempsey decided to do just that and take it on the road. For his latest solo show he treated audiences to his fine croon and an acoustic guitar. Just that. And it was simply captivating to behold. The Something for Kate frontman has recently…

I’ve been fortunate in my time to see some of the biggest acts of not only my life, but objectively all time. From Paul McCartney to Taylor Swift, Arctic Monkeys and Florence + The Machine, The Strokes and The Cure, I look forward to telling my future children that I got to witness some of…

    It’s Wednesday night at Brisbane Riverstage, and Vancouver rapper bbno$ is about to play the biggest show of his career. Originally slated to play the 3000 capacity Fortitude Music Hall, the Brisbane show sold out so fast that the night was quickly upgraded to Riverstage, a venue with triple the capacity – and…

It’s been a decade since Ricky Martin – undisputedly, the “King of Latin Pop” – graced Australian shores with his graceful energy, and last night on the Brisbane stop of his Ricky Martin Live tour he proved more than worth the wait. At 53-years-old, the Puerto Rican performer appeared more youthful than ever, arising on…

It’s been twelve years since Metallica last played Australia, but boy did they make up for lost time. Stopping at Adelaide on Wednesday as part of their M72 World Tour, the heavy metal juggernauts put on what could probably be called the show of the year. Some 50,000 fans of all ages packed out Adelaide…

An essential part of a memorable festival is rain and mud. Throw in a violent electrical storm, and you have Bingo. Thus, Adelaide’s 2025 Harvest Rock Festival is memorable for this and many more reasons. A severe thunderstorm on midday Saturday meant that a shelter in place warning was issued. Rundle Street pubs were filled…

I close my eyes halfway through one of Neil Finn’s good-humoured stretches of crowd banter and can almost swear Rhys Darby was the new lead for Crowded House. The fearless frontman has always charmed with his relatable sense of humour, often quipping with his brother Liam between the band’s many classics. But something about these pop-up…

On Saturday night, Brisbanites poured into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as the season’s first summer storm rolled overhead. The forecourt descended into semi-chaos as hundreds of fans battled the pelting rain at the open-air entrances. However, not even the rain could dampen the excitement for American phenom Teddy Swims. The musician’s meteoric rise has been…

Shoeys, crowd surfers, and circle pit after circle pit after circle pit. Only Zebrahead could bring this much chaos to a Sunday night in Brisbane. Support came from the Thomas Nicholas Band – yes, that Thomas Nicholas – delivering a slice of late 90s/early 2000s skate pop punk that wouldn’t be out of place on…

On Saturday, Torquay Commons was turned into a festival ground for the 2025 edition of Summersalt. Though the name suggested balmy afternoons and golden rays, reality had other plans: grey skies, patches of rain, and a top of 13 degrees made it feel more like “Wintersalt.” Still, the less-than-ideal conditions didn’t dampen spirits too much….

It’s not often I say things as outlandish as the title above suggests, but I’m here to reassure you it is 100% correct: Playlunch just played the best and most fun live set of the year. Hot on the heels of the release of the second album, Sex Ed, Playlunch returned to Sydney’s Manning Bar…

Emo icons The Used head into the final week of the Aussie leg of their massive 25th anniversary tour. It’s been a true throwback run, with the band performing their first three albums in full – one each night, in each city. Dates sold out fast, venues were upgraded, and new shows were added, and…

It felt like magic was in the air on the final day of the 2025 Mundi Mundi Bash. The weather had been perfect all week, the music was universally loved. The attendance and money raised for Beyond Blue and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) was outstanding. A large part of the success of this…

Friday morning opens to a bright sunny day on the Mundi Mundi Plains. Perfect weather for the traditional Mundi Undie Run. One notable feature of the Mundi Mundi festival is the inclusiveness. People with disabilities, families, pets, Indigenous workshops are all celebrated and embraced. Bring out your strange. This year an incredible number of people…

This week, a record crowd of some 15,000 music lovers descended onto Belmont Station near Broken Hill in western NSW for the now iconic Mundi Mundi Bash. While the event officially started on Thursday, many took advantage of early-bird entry and were treated to acts such as Chocolate Starfish, The Headliners and the local “Mundi’s…

It’s a Friday night, it’s raining, I’m caught up at work, and I have somewhere I need to be. Brisbane Riverstage, to be exact, to see British indie band Bloc Party, as they tour in celebration of 20 years of debut album Silent Alarm. The late finish at work meant we didn’t arrive in time…

It’s hard to believe next year will mark the 20th anniversary of brother-sister duo Angus & Julia Stone’s initial assault on Aussie hearts and global charts. Angus was just 20 at the time, but he’d already found his groove. His hips haven’t stopped swaying ever since. A prolific songwriter, there’s been no let-up in hits…

The musical offerings at this year’s Illuminate Festival have been nothing short of inspired. From the two night Unsound festival, to the melodic sounds of Faroese-Icelandic duo, Kiasmos, the music has been captivating. The crowd at Friday night’s Hindley St Music Hall are sure to agree. Opening act Juno Mamba is a Filipino born musician…

On the back of one of the better albums released this year, Ruby Gill played their third show in Sydney in the past six months and managed to deliver an incredibly authentic and flawless set to a packed out Trocadero Room. Not even 4 months after releasing her second album Some Kind Of Control, Ruby’s…

Lovers of alternative music look forward to Illuminate Adelaide‘s Unsound weekend as it always brings a wide selection of local and international musical artists. Held over two nights, it started at Lion Arts Centre on Friday and finished at Hindley Street Music Hall before the closing acts performed in the suitably grimy basement of Ancient…

UK group Coldplay are currently undertaking their Moon Music world tour, and last night they touched down in Toronto, Canada for the first of four shows. Tickets to the shows – their first in the city in eight years – have been a hot commodity, fetching massive prices on resale sites after more than 200,000…