australian tour

Vic Conrad's band The First Third has a drummer who plays hard and owns the kit, a guitarist who knows how to dance in and out of a tune, a bass player who, like Vic, runs a record shop.

Vic himself sings, plays guitar and two keys. They're really damn good. Sixties structures sieved through to now. Apparently they'll have a new CD out soon.

But I'm here to see the Pretty Things.

As I left, the two original members and one of the more recent recruits were answering questions and signing merch, while the bassist and drummer were chatting at the exit with assorted fans. This is a band who are comfortable with their crowd. Because, to them, they're not that far removed.

Let's get rid of the "original members" thing. Like a lot of bands who came up through the R & B scene in the 1960s in England, not only was their lineup not always been stable, some of the band were linked to the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and god knows who else.

Phil May, the vocalist (looks a bit like a movie star) and one of the band's songwriters, is one of the two members who've stayed the distance. The other is the incomparable guitarist Dick Taylor, picured right.

Iconic first wave British R&B and psychedelic cult heroes, The Pretty Things, will perform some of their final live performances in Australia in October.

The band has announced it will cease playing electric shows with a final hurrah in London on December 13, with special guests Special Guests David Gilmour, Van Morrison and Bill Nighy. Securign the Pretties for a run through Australia is a coup for promoter David Roy Williams. 

Local legends – and massive Pretty Things fans - including Tumbleweed, The Sand Pebbles and The Living Eyes are onboard to help send them off.

The Pretty Things are waving goodbye. Be there to wave back....

Tickets are on sale from 10am (AEST) on Friday here.

Wednesday 3rd October - Sydney, FactoryTheatre
+ Tumbleweed + DJ Owen Penglis
Thursday 4th October - Brisbane, The Zoo
+ Golden Age of Ballooning
Saturday 6th October - Melbourne, Thornbury Theatre
+ Sand Pebbles + The Electric Guitars
Sunday 7th October - Melbourne, Caravan Club
+ The Breadmakers
Wednesday 10th October - Geelong, Barwon Club
+ The Living Eyes
Friday 12th October - Melbourne, The Tote
+ The Living Eyes + Banagun
Saturday 13th October - Adelaide, Fowlers Live
+ Somnium
Sunday 14th October - Perth, The Charles Hotel

_{TV Smith. Artist supplied photo.}

TV Smith, founding member, singer and songwriter for punk torchbearers The Adverts, is heading to Australia for dates with his band, TV Smith’s Adverts, over and after the Easter break  in April.

The Adverts, of course, formed in the UK in late 1976 and were one of the leading bands in the first wave of British punk rock. The Adverts performed regularly at the newly-opened Roxy Club in London in 1977, and gained cult success with the Stiff Records single "One Chord Wonders." 

Hugo Race, founding member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Wreckery, is bringing his recent European touring partner Michelangelo Russo home to Australia for select Victorian, New South Wales and Canberra dates.

The duo have a spectacular European run under their belts and will be supporting their well-received album, “100 Years” out now on Gusstaff/MGM.

Blending experimental blues, ambient soundscapes, and electronica, “100 Years” is  a bold, immersive record born from a two-day live session at Soundpark Studios in Melbourne. Layered with echoing guitars, smoky vocals, and primal percussion, it’s been hailed as “a hauntingly raw and transcendent listen”.

Race is known for his signature haunting vocals and evocative guitar work, while Russo, a solo artist who was also a member of  Race's The True Spirit, adds hypnotic layers of electric harp and psychedelic textures.

Their live performances are highly improvisational, emotionally resonant and each show is reputed to be a one-of-a-kind sonic experience that redefines the boundaries of blues. The shows are presented by Luna Live with tickets here.

Hugo Race and Michaelangelo Russo
100 Years Tour
JUL
31  – Camelot Lounge, Sydney
AUG
1  – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra
2 – Qirkz in the Hunter, Abermain, NSW
3 – Franks Wild Years, Thirroul, NSW
8 – Tanswell’s, Beechworth, VIC
23 – Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
SEP
12 – Odessa, Creswick, VIC
Tickets

Radio Birdman is playing a limited number of Australian East Coast shows over two weekends this September/October, before heading off for a 22 date tour of Europe.

The Australian run will coincide with the release of "Descent into the Maelstrom”, the Jonathan Sequeira-produced documentary dealing with the band's rise and demise in the late 70's and later re-emergence.

The documentary has received great attention at various film festivals in London, Glasgow, Norway, Amsterdam and Detroit and is now scheduled for local release on DVD with bonus content this September.

It will be available at the band's shows, online and via discerning retail outlets.

Supports on this tour will include Adalita (Melbourne), Brisbane's Hits (Brisbane and Sydney) and all shows will feature special guests from Spain Los Chicos.

RADIO BIRDMAN
AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2018
SEPT
27 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne
+ Adalita + Los Chicos
28 - The Triffid, Brisbane
+ Hits + Los Chicos
30 - The Gov, Adelaide
+ Los Chicos + The Sunday Reeds
OCT
6 - Manning Bar, Sydney
+ Hits + Los Chicos + DJ Frank Cotterell

Tickets for all shows are on sale from Wednesday. June from Oztix.

Is it really the last yeah hup? Radio Birdman has added a third and final hometown show to the June-July "Birdman 5-O" farewell tour after two dates at Sydney's Manning Bar sold out.

In a statement today, the band said: 

"Due to overwhelming demand, there will be one extra Sydney concert on Sunday 7 July to accommodate those who were unable to get tickets to the previously scheduled Sydney concerts. The RB50 tour has been limited to just eight dates due to personal factors.

Two titans of power-pop and punk rock will reunite this March when LA cult legends Red Kross(pictured), celebrate 45 years of dayglo hooks, sly wit and sky-high choruses, with Aussie icons The Hard-Ons on an Australian tour. The nine-date run will span Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Tickets are on sale now and sell-outs look likely.

The bands might be separated by the Pacific Ocean but have ties that go back to when they were label mates on the US Big Time label in 1987. Beyond that the connections are plentiful; both started playing out on their respective punk scenes when they were teenagers.

Both bands transgressed the accepted boundaries of punk, and pushed audience excitement buttons with high energy, great tunes, an outrageous visual element and a willingness to include '60s pop influences into their punk sounds. Click MORE for dates and ticket lins. 

There’s been a steady stream of Japanese bands visiting Australia in the last decade but it’s rare that one makes it out of China. That’s one thing that will make this month’s tour by Run Run Run something special. The ever-evolving Chinese psych-rock band is playing six shows across Canberra, Sydney and Victoria.

Formed in 2014, Run Run Run has released several albums on seminal independent label Maybe Mars, also home to Carsick Carsand Birdstriking, and has played with Michael Rother (Neu!, Kraftwerk, Harmonia) and Gang of Four.

With The Saints '73-'78 tour less than two weeks away, there's more big news coming out of Saintsville...“Pig City: Live in Brisbane 2007”, the live album that documented the first public show by the three original Saints - Ed Kuepper, Chris Bailey and Ivor Hay - in almost 30 years, is available again. This time with a different mix and released on vinyl and in its entirety for the very first time.

Controversy? Hallowed be thy name in show business. The Saints ’73-‘78 tickets are moving faster than Ed Kuepper’sdownstroke with shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Castlemaine selling out and two extra gigs added.

Brisbane sold out in one day which prompted the addition of another show. Melbourne has an extra date and capacity at Castlemaine was increased to meet demand before the House Full sign went up. 

Supports have been confirmed and include relative new kids on the block Chimers, Parsnip and Alien Nosejob alongside veterans Kim Salmon & The Surrealists.

Meantime pre-orders for the deluxe 4-LP box set version of (I’m) Stranded (due this November) can be made here. 

It’s their fifth tour but who’s counting? Spain’s ultimate party band Los Chicos is returning to Australia in October, playing with Radio Birdman and doing sideshows. They’ll will take their garage-country-punk to stages in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and the the Gold Coast, so if you live in any of those places or within driving distance, you have no excuse. Keep up to date on tour dates and ticketing here.

NOV
1 – The Triffid, Brisbane (w/ Radio Birdman)
2 – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast (w/ Radio Birdman)
3 – The Outpost, Brisbane*
4 - The Croxton, Melbourne (w/ Radio Birdman)
5 - The Tote, Melbourne*
6 – The Metropolitan, Adelaide*
8 – Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney* - New Christs headlining + 300 St Clare
9 – River Rocks, Geelong (sold out)

Tickets for the previously announced Radio Birdman Sydney Manning Bar show on Saturday, October 6 are selling fast, with a sell out expected. The band has announced a second show at the same venue on Friday,  October 5 and tickets are on sale here.

Radio Birdman is doing a limited number of Australian East Coast shows over two weekends this coming September/October before heading off for a 22-date tour of Europe. Supports on the Australian tour will include Adalita (Melbourne), Brisbane's HITS (Brisbane and Sydney) and all shows will feature special guests from Spain, Los Chicos.

Last year's Australian tour with co-headliner Died Pretty was surrounded by the buzz of the limited cinema release of "Descent into the Maelstrom", the Jonathan Sequeira-produced documentary about Radio Bifrdman. The local release on DVD with bonus content will coincide with the tour with a special edition available at the band's shows.  

Hugh Cornwell
The Manning Bar, Sydney
Thuirsday, May 9, 2019

The Stranglers were the first UK Punk/New Wave band I ever saw. It was February 25, 1979, at the State Theatre in Sydney with opening band, The Hitmen.

Of course, The Stranglers were not punk or new wave or pub rock or ANYTHING. They played Strangler Music (god bless their drug taking, karate fighting, foul mouthed socks). A band like that couldn’t last forever. Lead singer/Guitarist Hugh Cornwell went one way, the rest of the band went another way…que sera sera …what ever will be will be.

Tokyo's rockin' all-girl retro riot The 5.6.7.8's have released a new 'Best of' LP on local label Cheersquadfor their Australian tour starting this week, with Sydney and two Melbourne shows already solfd out.

The house fuill sign went uop on Sydney's Thursday show (with Psychotic Turnbuckles and Cheetah Beat) and it's the same story with Melbourne shows at The Tote (March 25) and The Last Chance (March 26).  Gigs in Brisbane, Beechworth and Hobart are selling fast.

If they were here any more often, they'd claim residency. The Stranglers have announced their February 2020 return to Australia. Even they will have lost count how many times this makes...

Hailed for their highly original sound, brilliant melodic touch, dark aggression and effortless cool, The Stranglers are now recognised as one of the most credible and influential bands to have emerged from the punk era. Now comprising Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Baz Warne and Jim Macaulay, The Stranglers remain strong drawcards after 45 years with 24 top 40 singles and 18 top 40 albums under their belts.

 _{Ravin Divito photo}

Portland outfit Jenny Don’t and the Spurs have been recording and playing for the last 10 years and show no signs of slowing down. A supergroup combining members of Don’t, Wipers and Pierced Arrows, the Spurs combine the fast energy of garage and punk, with the attitude of outlaw country. If Patsy Cline started a band with some ratbags hanging around CBGB, it would sound like this.

We spoke with singer/guitarist Jenny Connors and her husband, and also Spurs bass player Kelly Halliburton from their Portland home just before they land in Australia for their second Spurs tour. 

They could have called it the Back By Popular Demand Tour: The Stems made a triumphant return to the live stage in August and September 2024, celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a series of sold-out shows across Australia and Europe and they're back home to do it again in 2025.

The band - featuring original members Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, and Dave Shaw, along with acclaimed guitarist Ashley Naylor (Even/Paul Kelly/The Church) - are set to hit the road once more with a limited series of shows along the east coast of Australia in April. .

Following the release of their Top 20 single "Falling From The Sky" and live album "The Stems - Official Live Recording" (Cheersquad Records & Tapes), fans can expect to hear some new music from the band in the lead up to their 2025 tour. In the meantime, don't miss out on snapping up tickets for the upcoming shows.

THE STEMS - EAST COAST AUSTRALIAN TOUR APRIL 2025
WEDNESDAY APRIL 23
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, Melbourne VIC

THURSDAY APRIL 24
CROWBAR, Sydney NSW

FRIDAY APRIL 25
GUM BALL FESTIVAL, Hunter Valley NSW

SATURDAY APRIL 26
OLD MUSEUM, Brisbane QLD

*Tickets available from the venues or via www.lunalivepresents.com

Legendary garage rockers, The Stems, have announced supports, an extra show and one venue shift on their tour to celebrate 40 years. .

Power-pop rockers The Prize will kick off the national run as support for both the August 24 show at The Corner Hotel in Melbourne and a newly-added date at the Theatre Royal at Castlemaine in August 24.

Adelaide can expect the dark folk-pop of Romana Ashton & The Reeds as support. Acclaimed indie-pop rock outfit Ups And Downs are set for the Brisbane gig, which is now at the Mansfield Tavern.

In Sydney, The Stems will be joined by The New Christs. The Rinehearts have the main support in WA with Fremantle alt-rock four-piece Vancool opening.

The Stems
40^th Anniversary Australian Tour
AUG
+ The Prize
23 - Theatre Royal, Castlemaine. VIC
+ The Prize
24 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
+ Romana Ashton & The Reeds
25 – The Gov, Adelaide
+ Ups & Downs
30 – Mansfield Tavern, Brisbane
+ New Christs
31 – Manning Bar, Sydney
SEP 
+ The Rhinehearts
+ Vancool
5 – Freo Social, Fremantle
Tickets here

Blues-punk rockers Daddy Long Legs are embarking on their first tour of Australia this month.

Starting out on Norton Records, home of legends such as Andre Williams, the Sonics and Link Wray, the New York City-based group recently dropped their new single, "Nightmare", a cracking and frighteniing tune that sums up what we’ve all gone through the past few years. They even got their mate Wreckless Eric to do backing vocals.

Singer/guitarist Brian Hurd spoke to me on the zoom machine while the band was mid tour in Europe.

I-94 Bar: Dave Laing, who teed up this interview up, told me he can’t stop listening to the new Daddy Long Legs single, "Nightmare". Once I heard it I kept pushing repeat as well.

Brian: Right on, thank-you!.

It’s certainly a song of the times, did you write it about all the stuff that happened in the last few years?

Brian: Yeah it’s absolutely of the times, and inspired by everything that’s happened all around us. The story behind it is, in January 2021 I got sick, I had the COVID bug, and I had these crazy dreams that were super vivid, and every night I would dream a different song.

One of the nights that I was under the weather, I had a dream that I was hanging with all these leather clad, denim clad rockers, long hair dudes, and they were telling me how much they dig Daddy Long Legs and they were telling me their favourite song was called "Nightmare".

Well pre-COVID, before all this happened you made a LP called "Lockdown Ways" (2019), so you really have nailed the current times before it happened, AS WELL!

Brian: (Laughs) Yeah.

It’s been 30 years since North Carolina indie-rockers Superchunk released their classic fourth album, "Foolish", and they're bringing it and the rest of their bulging back catalogue Down Under.

Produced by Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, Wilco, Dinosaur Jr) and mixed by the legendary Steve Albini, it was just one of the band’s many releases that resonated with musicians, critics and music lovers alike, and became one of Merge Records’ biggest releases.

Written following the break-up of Mac McCaughan (guitar and vocals) and Laura Ballance (bass and vocals) who both remained in the band and co-founded Merge, its powerful and catchy melodies and raw emotion still make "Foolish" stand out as one of the band’s best albums.