Paramore Entertainment Center 15/10/10

Last time Paramore came to the country for Soundwave I thought long and hard and decided not to go. I couldn't justify going to a festival mainly to see 1 band, especially a band I was slightly embarrassed to admit I liked. So when I found out they were touring again by themselves I was in!

They were supported by US band Relient K and not surprisingly the tween filled crowd knew every word to most of their songs (I've never heard of them). They had a pop punk sound, a very young sound, not unlike Blink 182. Much to my delight they played a cover of Toto's Africa. I think everyone else was too young to know it but considering we were the oldest people there we appreciated it (I went with my Mum...shut up she's cool!)

After we'd had a few champagnes out of little plastic cups, and to a roaring screaming crowd Paramore emerged from behind the big black curtain. They started with a few tracks off Brand New Eyes, Ignorance, Playing God and Careful. The crowd, from our higher vantage point were amazing and huge! That's the good thing about a young crowd, everyone was so energetic and just out to have a good time! They played several tracks of their old albums which the crowd also enjoyed.


The youthful Tennessee band were so amazing, much more than I thought possible and I enjoyed myself so much I thought I was going to bust at one point! I may have developed a girl crush on amazing Hayley Williams. With her fiery red hair like Florence, she has such a powerful voice and at 21 seems really grounded and professional and like the rest of the band, passionate about her music. 

They energetically punched out a huge gig and I struggled to see anyone not having a great time. Maybe it was because I went in with low expectations of the band and with the notion that I was going to be annoyed constantly by 12 year olds dressed inappropriately, but I was left shocked and amazed! The audience weren't too bad and the band was phenomenal I'm not ashamed to say. It's a big call but I'm putting Paramore up along side Vampire Weekend for Gig of 2010!! Next time they come back, I'm there!


Here is a KOL cover I heard a while ago, and while Kings of Leon aren't what they used to be, Paramore do a fantastic job of covering their track Use Somebody.

Love this track - Gotye - Eyes Wide Open

I missed the boat in 2006 when Gotye had his rapid rise to fame in Australia, due to fact that I spent 18 months out of the country, but I remember coming home and hearing my brother raving about this talented guy. He has a new track out Eyes Wide Open which to me sounds much more mature and possibly a little more commercial than the experimental stuff off his previose album, but thats not necessarily a bad thimg. On the contrary this new track is fantastic and full of sound and layers. Some things never change and typically Goyte, it is a very emotive track which makes my heart swell.  I love it, and I hope you will too. Cant wait to see him play at Laneway early next year.

Little Red - Penrith RSL 10/10/10

I really don't mind a Sunday night gig especially when the venue is just down the road, and there is a big bunch of mates to go with and catch up before hand. It was the news that Little Red was being supported by Sparkadia which tipped me over the edge to go see this gig. These are two Aussie bands climbing the ranks of Aussie music royalty lately and they've both had their last two albums do really well, with great catchy new singles being flogged by Triple J and a few commercial stations lately.

Sparkadia were fantastic and they opened with Too Much To Do to a really small crowd. It was so small I almost felt awkward being there, like I was intruding on a private jam session, this seemed more obvious when Lead singer Alex Burnett several times stated how amazingly quiet we were. There was like 70 people, of course it was quiet! They played old hits like Animals and Jealousy and their latest single Talking Like I'm Falling Downstairs had everyone in the small crowd moving. I love this song and they played it perfectly. These guys were so impressive, less of a support act and more like a double billed show. For $25 I definitely felt like we got our moneys worth.

After a short sound check, Little Red were on and away with a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm. I guess thinking back, I knew that several songs on their old album sounded like they had different singers on lead vocals but I still got a shock when the first 4 songs featured 4 different band members taking the lead mic.

Familiar looking Dominic Byrne who sings the majority of the bands tracks was so endearing as he unselfconsciously and with a lack of coordination danced, lurched and twitched around on stage the whole gig with such fervor and intensity it was impossible not to dance and bop away to these catchy tracks. Tom Hartney with his gorgeous deep voice seems to be channeling a young Rod Stewart these days and his rendition of Coco Cola was a sure crowd favourite. They finished up then came back with Don't Fight It for an encore. Both bands put on a great show and its a sure sign of a great gig when all of sudden it seems to be over.

Atomic Tom - Take Me Out

This is amazing. I just got sent this link by a friend and it's phenomenal! The things technology can do these days blows my mind!! As one commenter said, this should be iPhones new add.

Check it out, I know you'll love it!

Gig Etiquette - Don't be a Douche Bag!

Ok so we've all been to that awesome gig that was totally ruined by that friggen douche bag or bags, and I often think some of them are actually unaware of their Douchiness. Hence my gig etiquette guide, if you read this and some of these points sound like a standard good night out for you, well it's safe to say, you, my friend are a Douche Bag!

• Don't come and stand right next to me and then proceed to talk really loudly to your mate next to you. If you want to catch up, go to dinner, a pub, whatever I don't care. I, like you, have paid good money for this gig and had every intention of listening to the band. Don't look pissed when I tap you on the shoulder and shout HEY DUDE, SHUT UP!!
• Don't turn up tanked and proceed to drink 8 more Bourbons in the 30 mins prior to the headlining act coming on. I'm standing at the back so I can actually see something and avoid being trampled as I'm small. If you stumble into me again I will push back! Don't use me to lean on, I neither know you, nor like you so try to remain upright and lucid at all times because if you fall down I may accidentally kick you several times in the face.
• Don't endanger my eye sight by flailing around wildly poking and pushing those around you. If your dancing is bigger than the space you've allocated for yourself, then take it down a notch. Considering that you dance like Elaine from Seinfeld, maybe you should stop the dancing altogether and go for a more co-ordinated head nod, OR move to the front to be with other big dancing, like-minded, knobheads.
• If you're a chick with long hair and like being up the front, for the love of God, tie your nasty hair up! Don't leave it out to get all sweaty and stuck to my face! If I have to deal with another hairy mouthful, next time I'm bringing scissors!
• Don't take so many drugs that you have no idea where, who or what you are! At the Coaster Festival a group of us were sitting watching a band when some freak, very off his face, holding 2 beers spotted a mate (I assume) about 15 meters away. All of a sudden he looked so excited, actually he looked insane, ceremoniously handed his beers to someone next to him, made a big show, took his pants off, then ran and tackled this guy to the ground in a very inappropriate display of man love. He had no idea of his surroundings, he could hardly stand and we all cleared out of the way in case he removed his few remaining items of clothing. 
• There is no such thing as a sneaky fart. Don't do it! Yes, the sound will be drowned out by the band, but the stench wont be! It's not my fault you incorrectly chose to eat at that cool and cheap Indian place down the road, so don't punish me! Hold onto it because it will stink! Knight of Columbus it will stink! And don't then look around you with fake outrage at the stench you've inflicted on us... I KNOW IT WAS YOU, YOU GRUB!

I need a whole section on bad gig and festival fashion, I need a whole post, I need to start a whole new blog dedicated to offensive and downright ridiculous and inappropriate gig fashion! But I wont, somehow I've managed to narrow it down to the latest and most current offender that has me standing on a huge soap box with a megaphone screaming:
HEY FATTY, PUT SOME PANTS ON! I CAN SEE WHAT YOU ATE FOR BREAKFAST!
Ladies, short shorts are gross. Unless you had a horrific accident in which Emergency Staff had to cut your pants off and you are such a trooper and a huge fan you didn't want to miss anything by going home and changing your pants, then I don't want to see 2 inches of frumpy bum hanging out the bottom of your pants! It seems these days there is 3 inches being added to the top to make them high waisted, and 3 inches being removed from the bottom of them!!

Look sweetheart, I know you want to (or think you already do) look like this:

But in actual fact, trust me, from this angle you look way more like this!

Most importantly, have a good time! We're all there for the love of music, (well most of us) and if you enjoy what you hear or see then sing, and dance and move and get into it, just always be a little mindful of those around you! Also it's important to remember to try to remain clean! If you're at a festival stay out of the mud! Sure, often it's hard to avoid at a wet festival but muddy feet are different to bathing in it! You're not 5 anymore.

Let me know what you all think. These pointers are from my experiences at gigs and festivals but I know you all have your own horror stories, leave a comment and let us know what they are! Maybe there are some standard DON'TS that I missed.

What Music Says About You!

I stumbled across this link to an old artical whilst doing some blog research and found it interesting. I'm not too sure accurate it is, especially for someone like me who's musical tastes are eclectic, but still it's a short read so give it a look-see.
Daily Telegraph - what-music-says-about-you.

The Coaster Festival - Gosford Showground 25/09/10

I've gotten a little behind on the blog lately, its been a while since my last post. I blame the epic 3 week cold I've finally recovered from! What probably made it worse was the weekend I should have been in bed but instead chose to go to the Coaster Festival up the coast. However, it was totally worth it! It was a great little festival filled with tons of amazing local acts and a few international big wigs including the mind blowing Cypress Hill.

I started off the day sitting with mates watching Maniac. I wasn't a huge fan. All band members looked like they'd tried to hard too dress like freaks, and one of the lead singers looked like Captain Jack Sparrow, but not hot. Their music was a little better, kinda cruisey and a little quirky, with some cool 80's drum beats. They sounded better than they looked I guess.

Up next on the same stage was one of my favourites, Boy and Bear. The little crowd quickly got bigger which made it apparent that these guys have a definite following amongst Aussie fans. They started off playing Blood to Gold and then played a few new tracks which sounded very promising, I guess they might have a full length album coming out next year some time. I'm not 100% but it looked like they had a different guy on bass, not sure if he was a ring in or they have a new member, either way they still sounded seamless. They finished with Rabbit Song and Mexican Mavis which the crowd approved of.

We basically stayed at the main stage all day, except for a solo trip I made later in the night to see a few other bands whilst Birds of Tokyo were playing. After Boy and Bear, Silversun Pickups took to the stage. I had great anticipation for these guys as I've been a fan for a while but hadn't, until now seen them live. Brian Aubert on lead vocals has one of the most intriguing voices I've heard in a long time and I couldn't get enough of them. The small crowd went off and it was at this point I was really thankful for the fact that the organisers had sectioned off the grounds, so if you wanted to drink alcohol you had to remain in a few designated areas. So for those of us who steered clear of drinking that day (I was hopped up on Codral and attempting to  soldier on through the dreaded lurgy) we got an extreme close up look at most bands that day! As a short person I was very appreciative! Unfortunately it was during their set that I had a very awkward mistaken identity moment as Sonja, a close friend of mine, pinched my bum then hid. I turned around to see who it was and saw a guy WHO LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE I KNOW! I hit him with my hat and said Hey! It wasn't a "how dare you sexually harass me!' hey, it was a "That was a bit unlike you but it's great to see you!" hey! He looked at me and said 'You wanted me to pinch your bum?' and he seemed a little disturbed. At that point 3 things happened! 1) I realised I had no idea who this guy was, he didn't pinch me and I just looked like a total slapper who likes strange men touching her inappropriately, 2) Sonja tapped me on the arm and said 'Um, sorry, that was me!', 3) A wave of humiliation and mortification washed over me. I apologised, turned around and pretended to be engrossed in the music Silversun Pickups were playing before making a quick getaway to the toilet line!

As I walked back from the portaloos I could hear Kevin Mitchell from Jebadiah/Bob Evans singing away for Basement Birds. Other members of this little Aussie super group experiment include, close to my heart, Josh Pyke, as well as Eskimo Joe's Kav Temperley, and Steve Parkin which wikipedia tells me has been an Aussie music collaborator for many bands and on albums over the years. I love their music style, a little bit rock a little indie and big chunk of folk. They got 2 female audience members up to sing Julia Stone's section in the song Bus Stop, and the 2 girls did quite well. The soul and love of music and sheer talent just oozes out of these guys, you can tell they all live, breathe, eat and sleep music. Surprisingly enough and much to the pleasure of the astounded crowd, the guys finished with a gorgeous folk version of The Presets', My People.

Bluejuice...WTF? What are these bizarre dudes on?? They rocked up dressed apparently like Yettie's but they looked like big white and fluro fluffy ravers to me and it didn't take long for frontmen Stav and Jake to strip off and down to not a whole lot, I noticed quite a few audience member stripping off too, which was in some cases an unattractive sight! Many of them should have remained clothed, or maybe put more clothes on! The band had so much energy and the crowd were in a frenzy in no time. It was at that stage I realised how many people were off their faces and it was a little disturbing. Kids....Don't take drugs! Sure, I did turn 27 during the week and now may sound old, but I sure don't feel it, and if remaining coherent, fully dressed and upright during a festival makes me old, well then hey, I'm old and proud of it! I forgot how disco Bluejuice are and I really enjoyed having a boogeeambo golf buggie. Again, Kids....Drugs are bad mkay!

Art Vs Science took over next as the sky started to turn dark and they opened up with prodigious amounts of energy playing Friend in the Field. I know only the few tracks I'd heard on Triple J over the few years since they were unearthed in 2008 to play at Splendour in the Grass and during their set I noticed that they had a much heavier sound than I'd anticipated. Annoyingly, they spent a lot of time stuffing around and stopping during songs to make electro feedback noise and at the point I got a headache towards the end, I left to get some dinner and head over to see Hungry Kids of Hungary at a different stage. Don't get me wrong, Art Vs Science were entertaining, I just found them a little frustrating and I think maybe I was too lucid to dance to non existent music during the long painful breaks between songs.

Hungry Kids of Hungary played on a smaller stage to a smaller crowd but had a big sound. They opened with Set It Right and left the crowd dancing with this gentle rock lullaby. Their rendition of Let you Down was magical and had me feeling uplifted and forgetting my burden that was my huge cold. It was sad that they only had a 30 minute set as they still had a heap of hits that were left unplayed as they left the stage. I know I missed Birds of Tokyo to see these guys and Cloud Control who were on next but to me it was like a warming cup of hot chocolate on a cold night, these two bands are therapeutic to me! It recharge my batteries and helped me to keep going and fully enjoy the rest of my night.

Cloud Control crammed onto the small stage and I was impressed to see a decent little crowd considering Birds of Tokyo were blaring away in the background on another stage. They began with Meditation Song and although I saw them when they supported Vampire Weekend at the beginning of the year I didn't realise how young the lead singer looks. Gold Canary sounded as terrific live as it does on their album and despite the fact that their set was too short for my liking, each and every song they played showed massive amounts of musical talent. It's sad to hear Cloud Control are moving to the UK at the end of the year to further their careers but I'm glad I got to see them before they left as it's unknown when or if they'll return back to Oz.

Last but by no means least of the night was Cypress Hill, in all their doobee smokin glory they rocked out! Everyone I've spoken to about the day all say the same thing, Cypress Hill was a definite highlight and they enjoyed them so much more than they thought they would. The entire crowd was head nodding and hand rapping along whether they knew the lyrics or not. There was old classics like Insane in the Brain and Dr Greenthumb, and newer tracks like Rock Superstar as well as a few of their new album released this year. Whilst the audience was filled with the smell of Silly Cigarettes the guys onstage puffed away on suspiciously smoky cigarettes of their own. They were so entertaining and a fantastic surprise for the night, I would never have gone to see Cypress on their own tour before but I'll give it another thought next time they come back.

Overall it was a great little festival filled with awful fashion and amazing music, people off their chops, and those just out to have a good day. Highlights for me were absolutely Silversun Pickups and Cypress Hill. I'll be sure to check out the line up next year because if it's remotely good, I'll be there.