50 and out: Radio Birdman announces farewell tour
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Radio Birdman will mark their 50th year with a farewell Australian tour in June and July.
The seven-date , four-city run – labelled “Birdman 5-0” - starts with two nights in Melbourne and ends with a brace of gigs in hometown Sydney.

Penny's travels take her north to Sydney and Canberra with her full band
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Pioneering female guitarist Penny Ikinger began her musical journey in Sydney’s Wet Taxis in the 1980s, alongside the late Louis Tillett.
Since then, she’s collaborated with an eclectic range of musicians in Australia including Deniz Tek (Radio Birdman), Kim Salmon, Sacred Cowboys, Charlie Owen, Dave Graney, Clare Moore, and overseas with Dimi Dero (France), Vinz Guilluy (France), Masami Kawaguchi (Japan) and Donovan’s Brain (USA).
Melbourne-based, she's taking her full band, Penny Ikinger's Marbles, north for select dates at in Sydney and Canberra.

Doctors orders: James Baker has been prescribed more rock and roll
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The Beasts are back. The band whose core membership is drawn from surviving members of The Beasts of Bourbon is undertaking an Australian tour...and have revealed that it’s under doctor’s orders.

Richie's solo album takes seed as weed
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Richie Lewis is branching out from his best-known day job - that'd be frontman for Tumbleweed - to record his first album, under the name Richie Weed. He's delivered the first taste of the recordings with a digital single, "Pure Evil", that you can stream right here.
While Tumbleweed continued to write, record and perform, Richie spent a large chunk of last year concentrating on solo endeavours, curating a captivating show titled "Spirit Songs and Stories", and recording.

Ahoy! Ahoy! The Skids are coming
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More than 45 years since they first formed during the froth and frenzy of punk in Scotland, the Skids are coming to Australia for the first time for a “greatest hits” tour.
I lived overseas and saw them quite a few times in the 2010s, and each gig was a triumph. The last time I saw The Skids, in December 2019 in Glasgow, was the best of the lot.
Seeing in a Sydney summer through beer-coloured glasses
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Ross Knight.
COSMIC PSYCHOS
+ ZEKE
Metro Theatre, Sydney
Saturday, January 13 2024
Nice Day To Go To The Pub? Aren’t they all during an Australian summer? Tonight in Sydney it’s muggier than a brickie’s armpit and there’s no reason to break convention, but, fuck me, The Sir John Young Hotel on Sydney’s George Street sure has changed.
It’s been re-named “The Resch” (gee, wonder where they dug up that one), the front bar has been opened up and there’s not a TV set in sight. All that polished concrete makes for a brutalist existence. Of course, it lacks live music, with a DJ setting up while we sip our beers, and the usual crowd of pre-Metro gig people absent. The schooners have not unexpectedly crept up close to the $10 mark. That’s life in Sydney!
Patrick Emery memorial details and fundraiser announced
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He was a music writer, lawyer and most of all he was a family man, and a celebration of the life and times of Patrick Emerywill be held at Fitzroy Town Hall in Melbourne on Wednesday at 3pm.
Patrick was the biographer of Spencer P Jones and a reviewer for many media outlets, including the I-94 Bar. He collapsed on December 24 and doctors diagnosed an inoperable brain cancer.
After four days on life support, Patrick passed away in hospital, surrounded by his family, aged 52.
Wednesday's memorial service is open to all and a livestream will be active
There’s also an online fundraiser to help his family cover the costs of his funeral, and you can make a donation here.
Black Bombers' rock and roll guillotine
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Viva La Revolution – Black Bombers (Easy Action)
Yeah, alright, it took a little while to get to me.
And yeah, by now you've heard they've broken up.
Which, if there were any justice in the world, would've been more worthy of a spot on the ABC than that meeting between two psychopath grifters in New York a couple of weeks back.
(Sorry? well, one of them was on trial and spouting lies and misinformation every time he turned up, and the other is yet to be on trial but absolutely should be but hey. She'll be right, mate.)
Listen up! These stories are worth getting hung up on
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Stories To Tell – The Hangmen (Acetate Records)
There’s a timeless quality about the music of The Hangmen that can’t be touched by many. Swagger meets roots rock on a seedy Los Angeles backstreet, they’re now up to Album Number Seven with no signs of the fire diminishing.
Formed in 1984 around singer-guitarist Bryan Small, signed by major labels (twice), they’re (yet another) American band chewed up and spat out by an industry that panders to the lowest common denominator. Always has, always will. Drugs got in the way, too. Raise a glass to little labels like L.A. imprint Acetate for giving them a home.
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