Band Of Horses - The Enmore 29/07/10

It was a sold out show and it's not hard to see why. Over the last few years Band of Horses have been gaining more and more fans with their beautiful Hillbilly-chic music and as they are on the Splendour in the Grass line up this year, which is on this weekend, thankfully they decided to do a few sideshows.

Band of Horses opened with The Great Salt Lake and I was surprised to see a huge image of a lake with interesting rock formations projected onto the back wall behind the band. They sounded amazing and as the show progressed the images changed to reflect the general theme of the songs being played. The images also began to change throughout the songs and by 4th song the images were flicking by so fast I started to feel motion sick! I decided to stop watching the footage and start watching the band which helped.

They played some great old classics from Everything All the Time and Cease to Begin with some standouts for me being Is There A Ghost, Ode to LRC, and Islands on the Coast which had impressive photos of gigs and festivals that the band had taken. There was also a lot played off their new album Infinite Arms including the charming tune Blue Beard. I was surprised to see the keyboardist take lead vocals for the song Older. I knew it sounded slightly different from a lot of their other stuff but I hadn't picked it being a different singer. Great Song!

During the chorus of the soulful Detlef Schrempf one audience member nostalgically raised his or her lit cigarette lighter to the sky in appreciation. What followed was an angry security guard with a torch flashing at them to put it out. Soon after the entire crowd was lit up with little glowing flames waving in time from side to side! Sticken to the Man!!! It look awesome from my vantage point on the stairs near the back of the intimate venue!

When they played Cigarettes, Wedding Bands they had a fascinating backdrop of an old desert shack with the sky filled with fluffy clouds. That distracted me for a while but the band soon regained my attention when I was slapped in the face by a freaking amazing guitar solo. My notes here say 'Amazing guitar...HOLY CRAP!' :) They busted out Laredo which the fans loved and it was played with a backdrop of really interesting black and white pictures of the American mid west reinforcing their country influence and sound.

They played No One's Gonna Love You as part of their Encore and I was thoroughly satisfied as that's my favourite song by them, they also made heart felt thanks to many people that got them there and helped them along the way and Ben Bridwell (lead) went on about how appreciative he was of our rowdy audience. It was quite sweet.

It was a feast for the eyes, the ears, and the heart! The crowd was buzzing as it left and spilled out into the street. Band of Horses never disappoint and you'd have to have a heart of stone to not feel the emotion they pour into each and every song. Great gig!

Blue Beard.mp3 Be patient it's a big file.

Song of the Week

I DID IT!! Finally managed to link an .mp3... I think! Please let me know if it doesn't work. If it does, whilst you're there you might as well listen to this awesome track! It's my favourite song right now, With You in My Head by UNKLE.

I haven't listened to much from UNKLE in the past but I'm thinking I might start because I love the complexities in the beat and sexiness of this track. It's currently on a certain Vampire Movie soundtrack but don't let that deter you, give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Also do me a favour and become a 'Follower' of this blog if you aren't already! :)

ENJOY!
With You in My Head.mp3

Boy & Bear - With Emperor Antarctica

The whole blog idea started a while ago, after I'd seen Boy and Bear supporting Lisa Mitchell at Penrith RSL and then head lining their own show at The Annandale soon after. I had the urge the blab about how good they were but I had no one who particularly wanted to hear me gush! This is where you come in!

I think there's big things in store for this Sydney 5 piece. The release of their EP has shown some serious talent. The fact that all 5 members are singer/songwriters is evident in all of their songs as they perform hauntingly beautiful, complicated harmonies involving all band members. The vocal gymnastic with their fancy oooohs and arrrrhs are amazing on their EP and spot on in their live shows. Their EP With Emperor Antarctica contains 5 songs and although each track has a different sound, each song manages to flow seamlessly into the next. The highlight is definitely track 2, Rabbit Song. It makes me want to jump in my car and go on a summer road trip. The bridge towards the end of it is what makes the song so amazing. Love it.

If Fleet Foxes and Mumford and Sons had a love child, that would be Boy and Bear, and whilst these sorts of comparisons are inevitable, Boy and Bear also have an indescribable something new and stand alone in their own right. They also have great lyrics, uplifting harmonies and their live sets show a musical maturity beyond their years. I had hoped to attach an .mp3 to this post but whilst I'm still trying to figure this thing out, check out Rabbit Song here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYCDNRpyzrMyoutube.com/watch?v=TYCDNRpyzrM

It's About Time!

Well, I've been talking about creating a music blog for a while now and I figure it's time to get this show on the road. For anyone who knows anything about me, you'll know I'm slightly music obsessed, and after having a conversation with a mate about what to do with this obsession which oozes out of me, he suggested I make a blog instead of changing careers! :)

So here we are! As the name of my music blog suggests, stick with me and you'll 'Hear No Evil' music-wise. A bit about me, I'm a Furniture Designer & chronic gig goer from Sydney and have been since my first concert at the age of 13, The Offspring at The Horden! I'm Female, and I think the majority of my wages goes towards concerts and festivals. My taste in music is pretty eclectic. However I generally stick to Triple J Radio as most pop music makes me want to stab myself in the eye with a ball point pen!

Apart from Album and gig reviews, I also plan to post photos and songs, links, upcoming gig and festival dates, music gossip, favourite songs, diary entries and possibly an Aussie music section. Feel free to let me know if there is any content you think should be included.

I thought I'd start off with a bit about who I am and why I'm here and get stuck into the musical goodness in the next few days. Stay tuned!!!

Penny Lane