Review and Discuss Concerts, Bands, Venues, & More.

Commenter	Comment	Posted On	Date
Hanz Dieter	No 10 from setlist "Edith Groove" was not played	The Last Internationale / TAIPEI HOUSTON	Apr 13, 2023
Dosh	Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse were in the audience!	Babybird	Apr 13, 2023
Kaffein	Duro (Houston, Texas) Alternative Metal band from the early 2000s. Photo shown is not Duro (Houston, Texas)	Duro	Apr 13, 2023
Mike Carden	One of my best concerts	Led Zeppelin	Apr 12, 2023
Ricky Racer	Wow, 41 years ago today on April 12th, 1982 I went to my 12th concert and saw "The Charlie Daniels Band". The ticket cost just $9.50.	The Charlie Daniels Band	Apr 12, 2023
Jeremy Bator	Hard to track this one down, got info from Lethbridge Herald Archives, photo of shirt I bought at the show.	Red Rider / Deserters	Apr 12, 2023
Jeremy Bator	Went with Darcy Boyden!	Live	Apr 12, 2023
Jeremy Bator	Went with my little Bro Chris, this was an amazing show!	Live	Apr 12, 2023
John Keel	Matthew Sweet was opener. Not sure why he's not listed.	Indigo Girls	Apr 11, 2023
Rockriverine	Note on location name. I lived in USC and it was never spelled out as Upper Saint Clair. Also, Pennsylvania tends to be insistent on its municipality identification, so "Township" needs to be included.	The Bob Seger System	Apr 11, 2023
Staggerlee	St Stephen Breakout!!!!!!	Grateful Dead	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	Love of Diagrams, Spectrum 21 November 2008 I arrived to some tracks quite oxymoronic for a band called Songs, who were playing what could best be described as ‘jams’ or possibly even ‘excursions’ at a stretch. They came as an interesting addition to their more melodic moments where they’re content keeping it clean. Love of Diagrams, however, kept everything tight and precise. Barely a wasted note was summoned as the Melbourne three-piece were all fringes down, sticks’n’strings up right from the almost prophetic opening lyric of “This may sound a little strange”. You can’t get by as long as Love of Diagrams have just by peddling the regulation drums/bass/guitar sound. Right from their early, more instrumental incarnation right through til the launch of their latest 7” single ‘Forever’, the band have provided a unique and evolving take on the traditional ‘trio’. Their songs are enlivened with searing blasts of distorted guitar and squalling feedback, the gamey bass throbs along inspiredly, driven by the whip-sharp drumming of Monika Fikerle causing a disturbance up back. There are certainly no weak links in this triumvirate as each instrument variously surges to the forefront, craning for attention before ceding to the background to regroup for the next attack. The twin vocals elevate the songs even further; contrasting the more hypnotically urgent tones of bass player Antonia Sellbach with the more melody tinged-ones of guitarist Luke Horton. Terrific.	Love of Diagrams / Songs	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	The Charlatans – The Forum 14 November, 2008 The Black Ryder cut through the pre-Charlatans chatter with a mightily mesmerising mist of sprawling guitars and sparse, smoky vocals. Ride’s ‘Vapour Trails’ came booming out of the venue’s Pa and pretty much date-stamped the mood of the evening. The Charlatans really shouldn’t be lumped in with the reform-a-rama of the last couple of years as they had never really broken up, but I’ll go out on a limb and speculate that most here tonight wished to be ‘up to their hips in the band’s mid-nineties hits. This was the band’s first ever visit to our shores in their near twenty-year career and the fact that the show was sold-out weeks ago gave a good indication of the level of anticipation. The between band choice of music may be an under appreciated art, but I tip my hat to the Forum’s disc spinner for the zesty choice of ‘tween set tunes that kept the crowd cherry ripe for the main course and the atmosphere buzzing right until the moment The Charlatans took the stage. Our headliners just owned it right from the moment they walked on. Lead singer Tim Burgess bounded out in a bewitching bundle of black-bob cut and effusive energy, casually waving to the packed crowd as he ducked, weaved and gestured his way about the stage. The songs traversed the band’s ten albums, swaying from the relatively recent ‘Mis-Takes’, ‘Bad Days’ and ‘Blackened Blue Eyes’ right back to ‘Opportunity’ from their 1990 debut Some Friendly. The set peaked with a coupling of Charlatans classics when 1997’s Tellin’ Stories single ‘One To Another’ lead into the glorious ‘Only One I Know’ which had all three tiers of the venue dancing and punctuating every note with raised arms and phones alike. They pretty much had the crowd and their mercy after that and they milked it better than a Dairy Farmers employee. All too soon the band were thanking us all and wistfully acknowledging their long coming arrival in Australia and letting us know “This is the End”. It wasn’t though, and the band returned amidst much frenzied chanting for a throttling quinella of ‘North Country Boy’ and ‘How High’ before departing the stage once more only to return for their debut album’s – and tonight’s – closing song ‘Sproston Green’. If it proves just to be a once off tour, then no one could justly ask for much more. It was just an ultra-impressive and completely compelling show well worth the wait.	The Charlatans / The Black Ryder	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	The Autumn Isles – Spectrum, 2 November 2008 Its been a while, but Perth’s Autumn Isles make their first ever east coast tour. A showery Sunday night at Spectrum is not usually where one would first go to seek some musical magic. But when the band playing are brimming with wide-eyed enthusiasm from making their first foray east, well, even the ominous looming working week can’t rain on this parade. The Autumn Isles are your ‘classic’ guitar pop band in that they deftly shape and craft their songs with seemingly timeless hooks and infectious melodies. The band have been receiving all manner of positive press, a third straight WAMI Pop Song of the Year nomination and made the top ten of the Wireless Bollinger ‘Australian Bands to Watch’ on the strength of their two self-released EPs. On CD the songs have an assured and almost meticulous sheen to them. What was most impressive about the Autumn Isles’ live set was their ability to effortlessly play such well-honed songs and also create an engaging performance. The tunes come all bright and sunny with chiming guitars given all the trimmings at times in the form of swirling keyboard lines, hand claps and even a cheeky dose of cowbell. The vocals are delivered as if they are another vital instrument in the mix as well as conveying a bit of thought-provoking material. The sparing but dashingly effective use of harmonies and backing vocals add even more lustre to the mix and when the guy and girl inflections intertwine it’s a pretty darn sweet. The Autumn Isles have a bucket-load of great songs at their disposal, with most played this evening likely to form the bulk of their debut album. You can certainly see what all the Next Big Thing fuss is about as they are delivered with such warmth that they become addictive from the very first listen. The music proves so persuasive there was even utterly un-self-conscious swing dancing breaking out amongst the particularly receptive crowd. I daresay they will be playing Sydney a bit earlier in the week and in a bigger venue next time.	The Autumn Isles	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	Tex Perkins & his Ladyboyz – The Grand Ballroom Star City – 25 October 2008 Tex Perkins and his Ladyboyz unleashed a dazzling load of No 1’s and No 2’s on the glamorous Grand Ballroom of Star City. How does one make a unique and unforgettable night of musical entertainment these days? First take a bunch of road-hardened rock’n’roll reprobates, dress them in splendid white suits, add a couple of chicks with dicks, put them inside a sophisticated venue and let them loose on some of the most cringe-worthy & middle of the road tunes of musical history. Tex Perkins & his Ladyboyz – whose members include former God guitarist Joel Silbersher, Charlie Owen, James Cruickshank, a Vanda and a Dallas Crane – are what could best be described as a contemporary, crooning crap-pop revue. The songs the band provide their ‘unique interpretations’ of, it must be understood, are timelessly terrible - and there is no respect shown for them at all, Billy Idol, Mondo Rock – even Olivia Newton-John - were sleazily dragged into the gutter. Take Dr Hooks ‘Love You a Little Bit More’, is already dubious chorus of “When you think I've loved you all I can/I'm gonna love you a little bit more“ was further defiled with the addition of “I’m going to turn you over and then I’m going to love you a little bit more” because, as Tex explained, that’s the kind of lovers the Ladboyz are – considerate ones! Captain & Tenille’s ‘Do that To Me One More time’ was introduced with “My mum wouldn’t let me listen to this song as she said it’s the dirtiest song ever”. The arrival of Jimmy Barnes on stage to guest-warble ‘You Made Me Feel Brand New’ seemed to be a call to arms for the drunks in the room including one utterly shickered twit commandeering one of the aisles who was about as successful at handstands as Venus de Milo and would later jump on stage and ingloriously and disturbingly disrobe. The spirited cheer for ‘Barnsey’ did however fire the Ladyboyz up, with Tex responding with “Alright, that’s enough - it’s not his show!” before unleashing a corking ‘Benny and the Jets’. A conga line even broke out during the next number, the infamous ‘Escape (the Pina Colada Song) – modified to “If you like making love at midnight with a dude in a cape” - and the crowd soon resembled a wedding reception at that stage where the handbags are circled and its every drunk aunt for themselves on the dance floor. What must have been the funnest album recording sessions ever has translated into one of the most enjoyable occasions the bright lights of Star City have ever shone upon.	Tex Perkins & His Ladyboyz	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	Rowland S. Howard, The Famous Spiegeltent, 6 November, 2008 The Famous Spiegeltent bore witness to an-all too rare Sydney performance by underground hero Rowland S. Howard. Rowland S. Howard almost instantly demystified the impressive starry & smoke-filled salubrious ambience of the Spiegeltent with an opening line of “Gees, I thought I smoked a lot, but I’ve got nothing on you guys” and also offered “If there are any big gaps in the songs – it’s because I’ve forgotten the lyrics…”. A good summation of the evening and Howard in general came with the lyric “Here I stand in a suit as ragged as my nerves”. With just his banged-up Fender Jaguar Rowland S. Howard was able to create torrid and tuneful backing to his gritty tales of a hard-edged life. You could almost say that being a guitar slinger was inevitable for Rowland S. Howard, his fingers are so long, dextrous and nimble they’d be wasted doing anything else. It is just seemingly the rest of his life that may not have exactly gone to plan. The songs and their content really were so utterly bleak and certainly weren’t celebratory in any way, yet Howard always followed them up with a bone-dry quip or otherwise engaging tale. Howard possesses an utterly unique and distinctive guitar style, morphing gritty blues-focussed riffs into biting chords and all with an ominous atmosphere to cloud his troubled tales. Thankfully, the narratives aren’t merely torment and woe, there is a very acutely aware wry and almost romantic black humour to Howard’s lyrics and there are some great lines within the gloom including – “You’re bad for me like cigarettes/But I haven’t sucked enough of you yet” from Teenage Snuff Film’s ‘Dead Radio’ or “I was Crowned by sorrow, but I want to abdicate” from his version of Those Immortal Souls ‘Crowned’. For all his inherent talent it has been a crying shame that various mitigating and medicinal circumstances have seen only the one solo album – Teenage Snuff Film – to Howard’s credit. His announcement of “I’m in the studio recording a new album” was welcome news indeed, even if as Howard claimed “it will probably not be released for another decade”. An audience request of “Can you play something off it?” was met with “Ah, that would have been a good idea and a nice thing wouldn’t it, but its hard enough remembering the lyrics to songs I’ve been playing for years, let alone ones I’ve just written”. In stark contrast to the Spiegeltent venue, the set as a whole was a bit rough around the edges, but what it lacked in lustre, it more than made up for in integrity. The intimately gathered audience were treated to an absorbing and uncompromising display from one of Australian underground music’s foremost formative figures. The crowd showed their appreciation at the set’s end by stamping the floor until Rowland reluctantly returned, remarking before giving us one final send-off song“ I don’t usually do encores, so think yourself lucky. However if I do, I usually play something so lame, you wont ask for another one”.	Rowland S. Howard	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	You Am I @ Metro Theatre 22 November 2008 You Am I return to the stage with new album Dilettantes in hand on their eagerly awaited Let’s Be Dreadful tour. Just over eight years ago You Am I began the first of what would be a record breaking seven night stretch on a midweek Spring night here at the Metro. It fair to say a large number of people here tonight were probably at some of those shows as well. You Am I are a band that inspire that sort of loyalty. Back then they were riding high on the back of their chart topping Hourly Daily album which also landed them six ARIAs. If you need reminding how much the Australian music landscape has changed since then, a seventeen year-old pop singer also took out half-a-dozen of the pointed silver statues this year. Though I reckon if Tim had’ve worn his accessories of choice for this evening – namely fetching black lace gloves, face glitter and a paisley-print silk scarf – out to Homebush he may’ve had a shot for Best Female Personality. There has been a huge amount of renewed interest in You Am I around the release of their latest album Dilettantes. The band are featured in a retrospective showing on Music Max, Tim Rogers was interviewed on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, their website relaunched and a momentous album launch among the motorbikes had anticipation high for the tour. An expectant and plentiful hump-day crowd filled the Metro - and the cash registers of its bars - and responded adoringly when the band took the stage wearing what an invitation may denote as ‘Smart Casual’ and accompanied by a demurely dressed cellist. The band had a quite determined and resolute demeanour about them, and if it wasn’t for the recalcitrant unhinged guitar strap on Tim’s acoustic they would have grimly charged straight into the musical proceedings. As it was the mood was lightened as a dutiful roadie scuttled out to re-attach the strap and was rewarded by a chaste peck on the cheek from Mr Rogers. You Am I have been many thing to many people over the years – Australian carriers of the rock’n’roll flame and a voice to the drunk, dumped and disenfranchised – tonight they were just a band wanting to play their songs. The four men on stage were for the first time in a good while seemingly completely cohesive and united – doing the team things - a footy commentator might say, playing for each other and the pride in their songs, and from the set tonight, You Am I are awfully proud of their latest ones. The first four songs and a great bulk of the set came from Dilettantes and the band seemed content to address each other more so than the crowd -“Did you Tivo that show for me Rusty?”. Despite the particularly solid sound of the new servings of You Am I songs, there was a sort of restlessness running through the crowd for something more familiar. When the band would delve into their back catalogue the songs were almost like a pressure valve being opened for the crowd. We got the bop along to Moonshines High on Trouble, swoon wistfully to Heavy Heart and when they churned out a spirited Trike that allowed the audience a physical response, it came as a great relief for most. As fas as You Am I gigs go this was a comparatively esteemed performance. There was a moment of typically shambolic intrigue however as Tim’s mic stand failed during How Much is Enough – a song that I think sadly most of us now know the answer to these days – and was duly flung to the stage along with a guitar as a hasty exit was made. All was forgiven though when the band returned with a six-song encore featuring a Pink Floyd cover and one last bygone musical bone thrown to the crowd in the form of Cathy’s Clown. Welcome back gents.	You Am I	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	The New Pornographers, Annandale Hotel, October 12, 2008 Its not just that the band’s set span their esteemed back catalogue that is so appealing its more the fact that they are able to vary the tempo of the songs so well. Your more gruffly emotional slow-burners are followed up with a throttling rocker, your chiming guitar dominated power-pop gets followed by a spicy keyboard, or even accordion or mellotron fuelled romp. The show pretty much covers all musical bases with something to tantalise everyone, which only a band with such as astute body of work can really mange. And there’s moments of musical brilliance that emerge from all across the stage. The drummer fired up and rattles off a cracking drum solo, the otherwise aloof guitarist lets fire with a riff that puts the flying into Flying V and then there’s the sweet sweet melodies and vocal harmonies. The New pornographers are a band that are utterly confident in each others musical talents and are ably supported by the sheer weight of quality of the songs at their disposal. Though they possess a rather unassuming and perhaps educator-eqsue demeanour and appearance they sure pull out an utterly compelling and masterful show. Banter Every time we come to Sydney, we get Murray the red Wiggle here, and he’s such a cool guy, he must be the most famous Australian there is – have you got anyone better? Your silence says it all 'Slim Duty' Did someone say Noam Chomsky? He’s American! 'Guy Sebastian' Did somebody say Belle & Sebastian? John just took his shirt off – usually we are all meant to be all surprised, but he usually does it then he takes his pants off and we are meant to go oh no way johns got his pants off, but it’s the same very night It looks like the image of the Virgin Mary is appearing on your shirt!	The New Pornographers	Apr 11, 2023
Andy J Ryan	X Sandringham Hotel, 14 August 2008 Call me old fashioned, but its refreshing to see a proper sex & drugs and lock up your daughter fully fledged rock star once in a while. Upon entering the ground floor of the Sando - which these days is your typical suburban beer & bistro local boozer – Steve Lucas stuck out a mile. Amid the casual chatter and clothing towered the very personification of rock’n’roll. Pants as tight as an Olympic cyclists, a weighty 3/4 length cream coat complete with lustrous embroidered trimming and a presence that was utterly commanding. While he may have looked slightly out-of place amid the after-work drinkers as soon as he stepped on stage up-stairs it looked as if that was exactly where he was meant to be. As a band, X don’t really have a bio as such, more like a running sheet, their career a swathe of sex & drugs, sweat, splits and sadness. 2007 saw the thirtieth anniversary of the band, which along the way has lost founding member, Ian Rilen, guitarist Ian Krahe, drummer Steve Cafiero and Lobby Lloyde who was the producer for the frenetic five hour recording session that formed the band’s debut album. (incomplete review)	X	Apr 11, 2023
Wicked Goddess	https://allthingscomedy.com/podcasts/ctp-live-at-largo-holiday-special-2014/page/2	Tom Papa / Steve Agee / Tim Minchin	Apr 11, 2023