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 Andy J Ryan Charlie's Good Tonight - Bridge Hotel Rozelle, 11 December, 2009 A special gig to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the famed Rolling Stones in Concert album swings into Sydney. The dark and drab Bridge Hotel band room was temporarily transformed back to November, 1969 and Madison Square Garden for the night by Tim Rogers and his hand-picked band The Monkey Men. The Rolling Stones album in question - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! - was a landmark work, widely considered one of the finer live albums ever released. The band were approaching their peak creatively, having just released Let it Bleed - the first in what is considered their triumvirate of classic records - and were chomping at the bit to tour, having been off the road for almost two years. I say all this as way of introduction, as the album was performed so dutifully and faithful to the original - in both set list and sound - tonight felt just like a scaled down version of actually being there. The 'Stones made a great go of selling American blues music back to America, and tonight in the first bracket of songs: 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', Chuck Berry's 'Carol', 'Stray Cat Blues', 'Love in Vain' and 'Under My Thumb' they sold the blues back to the Bridge Hotel. The musicians, including Tim's fellow You Am I guitar-slinger Davey Lane, former Snout frontman Ross McClennan on bass and Ian Kinnear doing his best Charlie Watts impression - obviously have a high regard for the record, and were playing the songs almost note perfect. Almost too much so, in fact - some sections saw them using every ounce of their concentration just to replicate the right notes, which detracted from the performance and visual side of things a shade; at some points you craved a bit of spontaneity or improvisation. Tim Rogers made a believably bawdy Mick Jagger, affecting his hyperactive strut, wiry skinniness and overt sexuality to a tee. Things really got cracking after a rollicking 'Midnight Rambler' segued into 'Sympathy For the Devil' and didn't let up - 'Honky Tonk Woman', met 'Street Fighting Man' before one last hit of 'Satisfaction', preceding a ripping encore of 'Gimme Shelter' and 'Brown Sugar'. While Charlie was good that famed night, but they were all good on this one. Tim Rogers & the Monkey Men Apr 26, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Jarvis Cocker – Metro Theatre, 8 December, 2009 M.Craft, who may be better known to those of a certain vintage as 1/4 of the eternally underrated 90s band Sidewinder, opened proceedings playing his deft acoustically-driven tunes with minimal backing. It is fair to say he didn’t entirely capture the crowd’s attention, getting his biggest cheer when he mentioned that he was also guitarist for Jarvis Cocker. “I get two paychecks this way” he might’ve said if he was a cheap laugh connisour who had wasted too much of the 2000s watching The Simpsons, The curtains were drawn and the anticipation rose immeasurably. A single spotlight cast a circle of light in the centre of the red velvet. Drum beats began, the light strobed and Jarvis Cocker jauntily leapt through the parting curtain to a heroic cheer and began pointing individually at members of the crowd uttering a different name each time. The gesturing and name calling became louder and more frenzied, before a riff rang out from the dark duh, du duhhh and Jarvis leapt up in one sweeping arc landing with his long bony finger set straight into the crowd and screamed out for the one name he had been longing for all along, Angela! The next song was introduced by Jarvis advising that today was actually ‘candy floss day’ in the United States, and coincidentally, was also the anniversary of the Pearl Harbour bombings, and perhaps that was a bit serious so they needed something a bit lighter to commemorate. I don’t mean to be so ‘English’ so soon and mention the weather but it’s really hot. Pulp’s best moments were when Jarvis was at his most sexually exasperated, his solo work is no exception, with a feisty ‘Fucking Song’ introduced with a haughty “With this song I’m going to have sex with everyone in the room, the sound is going to go out and penetrate your earholes”. I went to the Zoo today, and saw some kolas, and apparently the reason they sleep for 20 hours a day is that the one and only thing they eat requires all their energy just to digest it. Why wouldn’t they just eat something else?Like chocolate? At which point Jarvis took a chocolate car out of his coat pocket and took one square out and ate it before giving the rest to someone in the crowd with instructions to share it out to everyone. He then produced another bar and took it to another section of the audience with the same instructions, but adding “your job is a bit harder as that’s a flake”. How do you feel about audience participation? Cause we couldn’t really afford to bring a full male choir with us on tour” “all songs are autobiographical to some extend, and none moreso than this one” – I never said I was deep One part of growing old is that you reach a point where you accept jazz into your life, you get to an age where you suddenly say ‘Kenny G come right in” and you start to embrace saxophones. M. Craft, once one-quarter of seminal '90s band Sidewinder and current Jarvis guitarist, opened proceedings playing his deft acoustically-driven tunes with minimal backing, evoking a polite response from the crowd. The curtains were drawn and the anticipation built. A spotlight cast light in the centre of the red velvet. Drum beats began, the light strobed and Jarvis Cocker jauntily leapt through the parting curtain to a cheer and began pointing individually at members of the crowd uttering a different name each time. The gesturing and name calling became louder and more frenzied - "Sandra", "Renee", "Michelle" - before a riff rang out from the dark ... duh, du duhhh ... and Jarvis leapt up in one sweeping arc, landing with his long bony finger set straight into the crowd and screamed out for the one name he had been longing for all along - 'Angela'! The thing with seeing Jarvis Cocker is, the actual songs are only a tiny percent of the whole Jarvis experience. His pre-song introductions covered everything from the fact today was 'Candy Floss Day' in the US (conjured to lighten the mood of the nations as it was also the anniversary of Pearl Harbour - he theorized), the diet of koala bears, and the weather - for which he apologised for being so 'English' for mentioning it. And then there was the dancing, which I can only describe it as a mixture of dapper disco moves muddled with overly-excitable tai-chi breakdowns and illusionist-standard hand tricks. Pulp's better moments were when Jarvis was at his most sexually exasperated; his solo work is no exception, with a feisty 'F---ing Song' introduced with a haughty "With this song I'm going to have sex with everyone in the room, the sound is going to go out and penetrate your earholes". 'Homewrecker' was hilariously prefaced with "one part of growing old is that you reach a point where you accept jazz into your life, you get to an age where you suddenly say 'Kenny G come right in' and you start to embrace saxophones". There was the rather stomping coupling of 'Fat Children' and 'Black Magic', the twisted-disco of 'You're in My Eyes' and a fitting finale of 'C-s' are Still Running the World' ending an utterly fantastic and uplifting set from one of the icons of our time. The enduring appeal of Jarvis is that while everyone finds complications in their life, and begrudgingly endure the ritual and routine of daily life, very few can express and observe them so saliently, and set them to songs so engagingly. Jarvis Cocker / M Craft Apr 26, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Underground Lovers – Annandale Hotel, December 4, 2009 The original line-up played together for the first (well technically second, as there was also a secret warm-up show in Melbourne a few weeks back) time in 15 years on the eve of their Homebake performance. Shows like this are really just a privilege to attend. While the term “underrated” is often used about the Underground Lovers, they were far too interesting and musically evasive to ever become too popular. A chance to see them live at any stage was a rare treat, let alone almost nine years after they split. It really doesn't matter what is even played; just having the opportunity to hear the songs again live is enough. A heck of a lot of people had the same idea, as the Annandale was jam-packed. The band certainly weren’t treating the show as a mere loosener; they had the full five-piece band supplemented by samplers and keys, while behind them a range of ever-changing patterns and stark visuals were projected, and Vincent Giarrusso up front seemed to be enjoying it more than anyone as they ripped into ‘Eastside Stories’. The Underground Lovers were so brimming with musical innovation and inspiration throughout their career that while the set mainly covered the band¹s first three albums, it was still a diverse array of sounds. The slow atmospheric crackle of ‘Ways T’Burn’ flowed into the wistful Phillipa Nihill-sung ‘I Was Right’ before taking detours into more meandering electro-tinged territory and the droning ‘Takes You Back’ with an almost-“funky” version of ‘Your Eyes’. They showed their delicate side with the sparse and haunting ‘Holiday’ with Nihill again on vocals, and brought forth their more rollicking side with a robust, guitar-firing rendition of ‘Promenade’. The only hint of the length of the hiatus was a slightly groggy ‘Some Sweet Mourning’. ‘Las Vegas’ was lapped up as an encore, so much so that certain sections of the crowd prematurely hooted and hollered through the song’s silent lull, much to Giarrusso’s disappointment, who was hoping “to hear a pin drop”. Then, with the indecision over what song to close the night with prompting a few fake false starts – including ‘Khe Sahn’, ‘My Sharona’, and most teasingly of all ‘Losin’ It’ – their softer finale could almost be considered an anti-climax. Regardless, it was magnificent to have them back and it’s no mere nostalgia act when the songs are this timeless. Underground Lovers Apr 26, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Tumbleweed - Waves Nightclub, Towradgi Beach Hotel, October 31, 2009 A full house came to witness what had been dubbed the 'Back from the Grave' show for the recently reformed local grunge icons Tumbleweed. Right from the moment the doors opened, a long line of punters comprising a diverse range of size, shape, hair length and red eyes snaked back out into the car park. The 1450-capacity Waves was almost completely packed by the time second support act Hytest had completed their set of mostly shouting and swearing. Darkness then descended across the venue and the anticipation rose. The blackness was broken by a bolt of strobe lights with an ominous Vincent Price-esque voice over of terror-tinged horror screaming, "It's Alive!" Three long-haired dudes and one slightly shorter-haired one then took to the stage, strapped on their strings, picked up sticks and started summoning sounds from the deep, dark recesses of time. Singer Richie Lewis was the last to join the fray, adding a voice to the chaos, writhing his way manically through their first track to kick things off. Tumbleweed had returned to earth. After offering genuinely awed thanks for everyone who was in attendance and how great it was to be back, then broke into 'Hang Around' and the place went berserk, '90s-style. A steaming, mangled flurry of moshing humanity broke out up front, spewing forth occasional offerings to the stage, riding atop the crest of the crowd to reach their destination, only to leap back trustingly into the mire. Lewis observing, "Stage diving, cool! I haven't seen that since 1996." Tumbleweed were so potent and forceful you would never have known it was the band's first show after an almost decade-long hiatus, save for the extra allotted slots in the set for band drink breaks. While their sort of music - bloated with masses of swirling guitars and three-bong jams - isn't really being made today, it wasn't really being made by anyone else back then either. It's as luminously captivating as it ever was, whether it be the ecstatically throbbing build up to 'TV Genocide', the tender touches of 'Acid Rain' and 'Sundial', or the bubbling riffs of 'Gyroscope' and 'Nothin' to Do With the Weather' to the whole-crowd sing-along of 'Daddy Longlegs'. This wasn't just a nostalgic trip, taking you back to better, younger times; it was potent, awesome music being played by an inspired band that was making tonight the best time of your life. Completely kick-arse and will scare the absolute shit out of some Jet fans at Homebake. Tumbleweed / Hytest Apr 26, 2023
 spanishjohnny72 Una serata speciale con un Vinicio inedito. Per presentare il suo nuovo disco, Tredici canzoni urgenti, ci immerge in un muro di suoni, generi e suggestioni letterarie, accompagnato da tredici eccellenti musicisti in una cornice d'eccezione. Notte indimenticabile ma dedicata a caposseliani doc. Top three: 1) Con i tasti che c'abbiamo 2) Ariosto governatore 3) Papa nero (che ascolta i me cansion in venexian, perché xe nero african). Grande chiusura con Giovanni Telegrafista, Bardamù e Polka di Warsava Vinicio Capossela Apr 26, 2023
 pedral Blown away by Mamaleek and Duma Imperial Triumphant played Spirit of Ecstasy in full Big Brave played nature morte in full Roadburn 2023, Day 04 Apr 26, 2023
 pedral Blown away by Duma & Deafkids, unfortunately we missed many bands that day Roadburn 2023, Day 03 Apr 26, 2023
 pedral oh yeah and we missed the HANL secret show because it was not announced anywhere online Roadburn 2023, Day 02 Apr 26, 2023
 pedral Blown away by Elizabeth Colour Wheel, the collab Under the Surface+White Boy Scream and Ashenspire Deafheaven played Sunbather in full Bell Witch played The Clandestine Gate in full Roadburn 2023, Day 02 Apr 26, 2023
 Christian D Went with my mom and Mike Oliva. David Sedaris Apr 26, 2023
 Trfcwm That was the best concert and that was the last time I got to spend having a great time with my brother. He got really sick and passed away 4 years later. That concert will always be in my heart, we had the best time. My brother didn’t dance and by the time kool & the gang were performing Get down on it he was. He had a good time and it means so much to me now. I will never forget it. He idolized Eddie Van Halen, I hop they are in heaven rocking it out. Van Halen / Kool & The Gang Apr 26, 2023
 chcmicalworld My biggest flex is that I have the setlist from this show 🙌🏻 Majak Door / Beach Fossils / Cloud Nothings / Tropical Fuck Storm / Modest Mouse Apr 26, 2023
 tootsan AKON Ft Konvict Kartel Promo Tour TRE CARTER / OG BOO DIRTY / TONE TONE Akon Apr 25, 2023
 Sara Burns http://archives.mtexpress.com/archives.mtexpress.com Northern Rockies Folk Festival 2006 Apr 25, 2023
 Brumuso Gig review here: https://altescape.wixsite.com/altescape/post/introducing-take-breath-and-dxwnsides-the-gig-review DXWNSIDES / Take Breath / Mirrortalk / Mercury Apr 25, 2023
 Andy J Ryan David McCormack – Notes Live, October 3, 2009 The former Greek nightclub turned rock venue hosted former Custard front man turned Polaroids protagonist David McCormack for the launch of his latest album Little Murders. The venue is almost uncomfortably formal for the uninitiated, with the audience all being seated at candle-topped tables with the front-row within spitting distance of the stage. The setting suits local singer-songwriter David Lane in support with his many-membered band - including a suitably bespectacled and bearded string section - all decked-out in dapper suits and contributing to the very refined and ‘adult’ vibe of the place. It’s almost a prevailing preconception that wit and humour don’t really mix with high-art. Was the salubrious setting and title suggesting maybe that this album Little Murders – a full five years since the last solo outing The Truth About Love – was showcasing David McCormack’s stern and sinister side? A quip that “a gig is really just a discourse between me and the sound guy interrupted by occasional music” after numerous requests for foldback level adjustments from his band-mates after the first song quickly put pay to that. The album being launched this evening is an expansive 20-track feast of work and we are treated to the audio equivalent of a tasting platter of the songs. The more strongly seasoned, upbeat numbers, propelled along by Cameron Bruce’s careening keyboard really hit the spot and make some wish they weren’t restricted to their seats. Though at least the lack of outlet for physical expression among the crowd puts more focus on the lyrics, and with such strange little gems such as “If I put an A.V.O out on you/Will you put an A.V.O. out on me? And in the court room we’ll be together” no one really bemoaned the lack of bopping space. Add a sprinkling of Custard – ‘The New Matthew’, ‘Girls Like That’… and ‘Caboolture Speed Lab’ – for dessert, and McCormack disappearing out through the crowd to pop up singing at the mixing desk for the show-stopping finale and it was a terrifically engaging evening. McCormack has the rare ability to be funny without being frivolous, which almost makes you overlook the fact he crafts such great songs, and we were all quite happy to be the victims of his Little Murders. Dave Mccormack / David Lane Apr 25, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Shonen Knife, Annandale Hotel, September 25 2009 It was left to I Heart Hiroshima to warm the crowd immediately before the band of the rising sun. The bounding Brisbane trio, showcasing songs from their new album The Rip, were an exceptionally endearing entre, with their banter and songs splendidly chipper. This atypical bass-less three piece craft such great buzzing blasts of songs, and with the variety provided by the twin boy-girl vocal fronts are engaging to the end and even urged the crowd to push forward and fill every last space for Shonen Knife. The Osaka-hailing trio took to the stage proudly displaying their own banners, before taking their positions and launching into a song / welcome mostly comprising “Konnichiwa, we like to rock”. It was probably one of their more complex lyrics. Shonen Knife are more about the infectiously frothy, purely effusive blasts of music – that borrows equally from The Ramones and The Ronnettes - than any great insightful verse. While the words – delivered in English that could best be described as ‘broken’ – concerned such trivial matters as BBQ parties and wanting to go to a sushi bar; the demeanour in which is was delivered was irresistible. For the next hour the gals, sporting identical flouro dresses and tights, send cheesy rock-poses, big-grins, sparkling eyes and fringes-a-flying. We get a diversion into a heavy metal chick song – ala Judas Priest or Motorhead - ‘Bubble Hell’, and a Carpenters cover. The band announces “we are having very fun” and so were we all. And as a final treat, the daftly silly confection of their most adored song ‘Banana Chips’. Irrepressibly awesome. Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ) / I Heart Hiroshima Apr 25, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Flaming Lips Hordern Pavilion - 28 July 2009 Honestly, it is impossible to describe a Flaming Lips concert with just mere words. If I was to say that three-quarters of the band entered the stage by means of being birthed through a magnesium-strength neon-strobing, pulsating big-screen vagina, and that singer Wayne Coyne emerged within a large-plastic space ball and rolled out atop and across the crowd, it probably wouldn’t mean anything to you unless you actually saw it. A Flaming Lips show isn’t really like any other concert though, its more a pre-packaged ninety-minute dose of aural and visual happiness stimulation. On one side of the stage jig a dozen or so exstatically chipper frog-costumed dancers, flanking the other white-cape-clad cat women, all abounds coloured balloons, confetti and streamer guns were launched over an already deliriously raptuous crowd, and all this before we’d even got to a chorus. Midnight Juggernauts / The Flaming Lips Apr 25, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Gutter Twins, York Theatre, July 23, 2009 Former Afghan Whig Greg Dulli combines with former Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan as the Gutter Twins. Three men calmly entered the stage dressed entirely in black, like the grunge version of The Highwaymen. Greg Dulli and his associate, David, bore acoustic guitars, while in between sat Mark Lanegan with just his voice. It was all he needed. Both Dulli and Lanegan’s songs and styles are so different, yet weave together so seamlessly within the Gutter Twins set-up. Dulli takes the darker and more direct route to the heart of his songs, giving them a strained intensity with his sharp strumming and pained vocals. Whereas Lanegan possesses a voice that can sink beneath and permeate through a song, such is its almost morbid depth and richness. Dulli’s songs seem filled with personal anguish while Lanegan’s take more of a world-weary, almost resignedly futile standpoint. When these two forces overlap, like in the coupling of the religious and personal torment-filled ‘God’s Children’ and ‘The Station’ the result is spectacular as both voices seethe and soar as the songs impressively unravel. Rather than hide from their respective musical pasts, the pair revel in them, with the set list skirting through both men’s bands (two Afghan Whigs songs), Lanegan’s solo excursions and also touching on The Twilight Singers, where the pair’s paths had previously crossed. The songs were played almost diplomatically, with lead vocals being alternated and tempered so neither overwhelmed the other. While the title of these two special Splendour sideshows – ‘An Acoustic Evening With…’ may suggest a stripped-down, laid-back tone, it was anything but. This was as intensely memorable and powerful as any full-band show could have been. The songs certainly lacked nothing in potency even with the instrumentation stripped back to just guitars and occasional keyboard and these two disparate, but distinct voices more than left their mark. Pretty special. Mark Lanegan / Greg Dulli / The Gutter Twins Apr 25, 2023
 Andy J Ryan Screamfeeder – Annandale Hotel, 30 May 2009 Brisbane indie-popsters Screamfeeder revisit their classic 1996 album Kitten Licks. On one hand gigs like this are easy to surmise – if you liked the album Kitten Licks then you’ll love getting to hear Screamfeeder play it live and loud in its entirety. After an earnest and heartfelt introduction and thanks from the band, the pop-tastic opener ‘Static’ removed any doubts. Playing a whole album in order almost flies in the face of the way music, and its consumption, is heading these days - where shuffled single tracks cater to waning attention spans. The tunes, and the album, are also tied to times in your life and I’m sure most in the crowd were wistfully casting their minds back to the nineties as the dozen tracks unfolded. This was also helped by the stellar support acts ranging from the dreamy psychedelic, sunny strangeness of Richard in Your Mind to an uncompromising full-throttle set from Further. Throw in a gritty turn from the recently reformed Midget – who have taken up where they left off with a big sludgy mix of distortion and dirge – and the soaring and swirling guitars of the fantastic Sounds Like Sunset and this is a pretty compelling argument for those insisting that everything was much better ‘back in the day’. Screamfeeder / Richard In Your Mind / Further / Midget / Sounds Like Sunset / The Magnetic Heads Apr 25, 2023