Review by Natasha Wyborn
A Day on the Green at the picturesque Rochford Wines at Yarra Valley in Victoria promised so much and delivered even more. Joining forces for the first time in Australia were Debbie Harry AKA Blondie and Cyndi Lauper. The tour aptly touted “The bitches are coming back” pitted two veterans of modern music on some of the country’s biggest stages.
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Category Archives: Review
Album Review : ERIC GALES – MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
Review by Peter Coates
ERIC GALES – MIDDLE OF THE ROAD (Mascot Label Group / Provogue)
“Now that’s how you start a riff” is spoken with feeling after the opening bar of Good Time which is a sparkling piece of gospel boogie that would not be out of place in a white clapboard church scene out in the US Midwest, featuring Eric Gales as the guitar-wielding preacher, and a the wailing back-up singing of his wife LaDonna Gales giving her all. There are some almost ridiculous testimonials being made about this guy, from the likes of Joe Bonamassa – “One of the best, if not the best guitar player in the world”; Carlos Santana – “He is absolutely incredible” and Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge – “This guy could be the best player on Earth”. He was hailed as being the next Hendrix when he burst onto the scene in 1991 playing an upside down guitar left-handed.
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Live Review : Don Henley at A Day On The Green | Mt Duneed Estate Victoria – 18 March 2017
Review by Natasha Wyborn
The A Day On The Green showcase moved to Mt Duneed, Victoria, located in close proximity to the city of Geelong, less than an hours drive from Melbourne on Saturday. The location was one of the easiest to get to I have visited. Sunlight filled the skies and the weather was near perfect. Headlining the night was one of the founding members of The Eagles, and solo artist, Don Henley.
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Album Review : Quinn Sullivan – “Midnight Highway”
Review by Peter Coates
Quinn Sullivan is another young blues guitarist, already classed as a “prodigy” at 17 years old by some fairly credible media (Rolling Stone and The Washington Post), and when Billy Gibbons reckons you have mastered the blues, and Buddy Guy says “Players like Quinn come along once in a lifetime” you get the idea that there could be something special about this guy.
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Album Review : THUNDER – ‘Rip It Up’
Review by Peter Coates
It is sometimes hard to try and set aside the fact that I have been a fan of this band for nearly 35 years and listen to a new record with an objective viewpoint – from club shows as Terraplane, and then the arena support slots when they were the next great hope of British Rock, through to the farewell show in 1999, and the next goodbye in 2009, and the triumphant UK tour in 2015. I haven’t loved everything they’ve released, but I do like most of it! The last album, Wonder Days, was a mighty return to their absolute best, so following that up was always going to be a challenge.
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Live Review : george at Melbourne Zoo Twilights – 18 February 2017
Review by Ben Connolly
In the late nineties, early noughties, the Australian music scene was in a bit of flux. Still reverberating with post-grunge angst, the scene was awash with angular guitar pop. A bevvy of Brisbands dominated the pop-rock scene, while the hip hop world was just starting its local resurgence fronted by the shock of Australian accents.
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Live Review : Paul Dempsey at Melbourne Zoo Twilights with Melody Pool – 17 February 2017
Review by Ben Connolly
With two solid solo albums, and a couple of glorious collections of covers, Something For Kate frontman Paul Dempsey has become a mainstay of the Australian music scene. Backed by a cracking live band, his gigs have become a known quantity.
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Live Review: Ball Park Music at Melbourne Zoo Twilights with The Jungle Giants – 10 February 2017
Review by Ben Connolly
When times are tough, music is rightly a place to turn to seek solace. It mends a broken heart, it eases the pain of loss and it provides guidance through uncertainly. It’s fitting then that the salve for a broken and hurt world might also lay in the skilful hands of a musician. Rockers provide impetus and courage, while rap and hip hop drops truth after truth, and folk singers give poetic sense.
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Live Review : Refused + Sick Of It All + High Tension at Enmore Theatre, Sydney – 21 January 2017
Review and Photos by Meghan Player
With a line up this solid, there’s no hesitation in turning up early and supporting Melbourne locals, High Tension. I’ve witnessed these legends tear up the stage a few times now, and I never fail to be impressed by the intensity of their performance.
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Live Review : Alexisonfire + Behind Crimson Eyes + The Dirty Nil + The Getaway Plan at HBF Stadium, Perth – 11 January 2017
Photos by Peter Coates – Inside Edge Photography – for LifeMusicMedia.com
After a few years on hiatus, the Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, led by Dallas Green (City & Colour) announced they would be headlining the Unify Gathering in Victoria, and then added a few dates around the country either side of the festival. LifeMusicMedia caught the first night of the tour in Perth, and the band appeared re-energised and most welcomed by the locals.
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Live Review : Falls Festival, Byron Bay 2017 – Day 3 (2 January 2017)
By Wanda Hill
Photo (Bernard Fanning playing at Falls Festival 2016 – Lorne) by Ruby Boland
Falls Festival Byron Bay – Day 3
Searing heat and a dry dusty walk into the festival site felt like a pilgrimage to a holy land where hardship must first be endured to prepare the mind for revelation. Seeing people with various states of epic sunburn prepared me for what would be my skins fate at the end of this 3rd and final day of Falls festival.
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Album Review : AARON KEYLOCK – Cut Against The Grain
Review by Peter Coates
From the opening riff of All The Right Moves it appears that the UK has produced another stunning young talent in Aaron Keylock, able to combine the truly British classic 60’s and 70’s blues rock sound of Free and the Clapton, Beck, Page-era guitarists, with a modern American southern rock twist! Hints of early Black Keys or White Stripes in the stripped-down riff and drum lines combine with a greater variety of guitar sounds and raw vocals.
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Live Review : A Day To Remember + Tonight Alive + Issues at Adelaide Entertainment Centre – 13 December 2016
Review and photos by Peter Coates – Inside Edge Photography – for LifeMusicMedia.com
ISSUES kicked off the night with an enthusiastic performance for the growing crowd. Excellent tight drumming from Josh Manuel and a mammoth performance on bass from Skyler Acord built the platform for the twin vocals of Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn, who often displayed some high-quality R & B singing, with really clean, strong harmonies. There is a variety in the set list that covers extreme metalcore through to some progressive melodic metal, and the pop angle the band coined as ‘New Nu Metal’, which probably stems from the fact these guys have been doing their stuff for over 5 years, and we got a selection of material displaying their development, as well as from the new record, Headspace.
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Live Review : Unwritten Law + Mixtape For The Drive at Manning Bar, Sydney – 10 December 2016
By Meghan Player
Noting a strange sense of deja vu, Mixtape For The Drive are back for another supporting slot, albeit on a slightly confined stage. What they lack in stage size, they make up for with catchy pop-punk tunes that have, in the past, been likened to genre heroes, Blink-182.
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Live Review : Culture Club at Hope Estate, Hunter Valley – 10 December 2016
Photos and review by Wendy Robinson
A couple of hours north of Sydney, nestled in the lush green expanse of the Hunter Valley, sits Hope Estate Winery, the serene and picturesque location for the NSW leg of Culture Club‘s Encore Tour. Featuring a lineup that seems to have come straight from the posters on my teenage bedroom wall, the concert featured support from five of Australia’s most iconic bands from the 80’s.
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