In the ancient days of 1992, when dinosaurs still ruled the Earth, young (17) Guy Blackman formed Chapter Music, which would go on to become one of Australia’s longest-running independent music labels.
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Category: Live
How many years of my life have I spent waiting for the band to start?
John Schumann & The Vagabond Crew: “The Redgum Years”
For the past fifteen years former Redgum lead singer John Schumann has been performing with John Schumann & The Vagabond Crew.
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Bleak Squad, Queenscliff Town Hall
A 1980-2000s Australian alternative supergroup, consisting of Adalita (Magic Dirt), Mick Turner (Dirty Three), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Birthday Party), and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting) who was the original driving force at bringing the group together.
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Buddhadatta and Friends: Two Melbourne Shows
Buddhadatta describe themselves as Japanese buddhist-punk, which is an thoroughly enticing combination of adjectives.
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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus and KAGAMI in Melbourne
As part of the Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts), Melbourne experienced “KAGAMI” (Japanese for “mirror”), a “mixed-reality” performance by Sakamoto and Tin Drum.
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New Order, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne 2025
It must be said that I am a bit of a fan of New Order and Peter Hook and, of course, their immediate precursor
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Slipknot, Babymetal et al. Knotfest 2025 Melbourne.
I must start this review with identifying the source of my ticket; the Isla Bell Charitable Fund. Isla Bell was a young artist and
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The Garbage and The Flowers: In Valhalla (2023), live at the Tramway Hotel (2024).
The first thing one must know about “The Garbage and The Flowers” is that we’re talking about a single group here.
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Placebo, Bristol Amphitheatre, 28th June 2024.
The last time I saw Placebo was the Kerrang Big Day Out at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1999, when Metallica headlined. I crewed that one.
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That fucking band.
For all the talentless fucks who are absolute in their certainty that the way out is the way through.
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Ride, The Forum, Melbourne, November 30
In times past your author would have expressed a positive indifference to most of the bands of these broad British genres of the early 90s, and that opinion largely still holds.
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Pop Will Eat Itself, Sept 10 Corner Hotel
It made perfect sense of course, that a thirtieth-anniversary tour would perform.
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Daniel Sloss, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, May 4th, 2021
Daniel Sloss is certainly deserving of the credits that are lauded in his direction.
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2019 in music: your comprehensive and reliable global guide.
The punishment of luxury is in the air for all to see. And it’s ugly now, and it’s getting worse every day. Hey! Hey! Hey!
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We Lost The Sea, Howler Bar, Melbourne, 30 November 2019.
The Howler Bar in Brunswick initially looks like a large open-plan bar but has an enclosed back-room which is just the right size for bands with a moderate following, and a brilliant second bar which provides a windowed view to the stage.
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Gang of Four, Croxton Bandroom, November 2019
After being a music reviewer for over 30 years, and being a Gang of Four fan for a similar period, it is about time I owned an electric guitar.
So I picked up Andy Gill’s from the Gang of Four concert last night.
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The Cure, Disintegration 30 Years Anniversary, Sydney Opera House, May 2019
Disintegration’s popularity is absolutely deserving of a 30th anniversary and real credit is given to the band for having the courage and principle to have the entire show live-streamed and added to YouTube.
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Underworld, June 1st, 2019 Sydney Opera House
Possibly one of the most iconic progressive house bands of the 1990s, Underworld’s appearance at Sydney’s Vivid light and sound festival was exceptionally appropriate.
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Cryptorave: Arpanet, M.E.S.H., Amnesia Scanner — Romantso, Athens, Saturday 16 February 2019
Excessive quantities of pseudish babble wrapped around a surprisingly good live techno gig.
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The The, October 5 2018, Melbourne
A long concert, though more amiable than epic.
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Blue Man Group, 20 July 2018, Berlin.
The BMG themselves in this particular incarnation are Martin Marion, Kuba Piezchalksia, and Stefan Ruh, supported by the band of Jan Burkamp, Tim Neuhaus, and Nils Westermann.
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The Chameleons, Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 2018-01-12
It was a good-sized crowd on the night with a surprising and pleasingly diverse audience, ranging from young post-punk revivalists who were born around the start of this century to those elder folk who had been there from the original days, now more than thirty-five years in the past.
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Snog and Severed Heads — Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 5 November 2017
Severed Heads, Snog, frogs and Ikea rats.
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Peter Hook & The Light — The Corner, Melbourne, Sat 14 Oct 2017.
The last of a series of concerts, this one performing Unknown Pleasures and Closer.
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Dave Graney and Clare Moore, Gabriel Moreno — Betsey Trotwood, Thu 12 Oct 2017.
In the 2010s, post-punks will tour forever.
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The Residents, Croxton Hotel, March 2016
Certain bands make an initial mark on the world with icons.
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Alixandrea Corvyn, Amongst Animals, Near Death Experience, Tangerinecat — Dublin Castle, Camden, Thu 4 May 2017.
I automatically staked out my life-long spot at stage right, leaning on the PA. I grabbed this spot in 1985 and shall not relinquish it.
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Patti Smith’s last Australian gig, Festival Hall, Melbourne, 20 April 2017.
Patti Smith is giving up long haul touring on medical advice. But at Festival Hall last night, which she called a “shitty little club” for all the right reasons, Smith looked anything but frail.
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Links: Selling yourself as a streaming artist, vacuum tubes, indie conspiracy theories.
BOTTOM VIEW: Basing diagram, JEDEC 9A.
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Wire: On The Box: Live on Rockpalast (1979, 2004); KEXP, 2013.
Two Wire live performances, because they’re good for you.
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