Review by Merinda O’Brien / Jose Eduardo Cruz
The final day of the first ever Falls Festival Byron Bay came with the sadness that this great event was coming to an end. Today once again had a massive line-up to cherish and delight. Whilst the numbers did significantly reduce throughout the week, today was nevertheless just as busy, but with a bit more room to dance.
Bunkering down at the main stage once again we captured the tail end of Bombino’s set which was pumping and we only wished could have caught the entire performance. Emma Louise was brilliant and the stage backdrop added an amazing feel to her sound. This brought Solange on the stage, who just happens to be Beyonce’s younger sister. She brought a lot of flare and left no doubt as to how talented her entire family is.
Continue reading Live Review: Falls Festival 2013 – Byron Bay – Festival Wrap Up
The inaugural edition of Falls Festival, Byron Bay, launched in the midst of the stunning North Byron Parklands. The parklands, particularly the natural amphitheater in which the main stage is set, are a befitting setting for a festival that has always provided excellent music amongst nature. No doubt Byron Bay has captured the essence and sprit of the festival formerly held in only Lorne and Marion Bay.
There are few bands that could get away with pulling apart their own songs and reinterpreting them live on stage. There are even fewer bands that could make that sound good. The legendary hip hop crew The Roots are one of them. This past Friday, 27th December, at the Hordern Pavillion in Sydney, The Roots took to the stage to show all hip hop heads not only how to successfully do just that but how to go beyond any boundaries put on them by their genre. But did fans really expect anything less from one of hip hop’s most notable groups and the house band of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon? No.
We were shocked to see no line up for tonight’s show, just moments before opening time. There were literally 15 people waiting patiently in front of Sydney’s HiFi, with crowds of soccer fans streaming past at from Allianz Stadium wondering what these scruffy metal heads were doing out in public on a Sunday evening. Thankfully though, all this lack of early enthusiasm proved to be was a more mature, clever kind of music fan that clearly hates waiting in lines.
Sydney rockers Papa Vs Pretty recently released their latest single “Smother”, taken from their anticipated second album, White Deer Park.
With sustained global popularity for over a decade, Metric have a wide fan-base to pull from when it comes to filling a show’s audience. Their loyal Brisbane following heard the call for the Wednesday night leg of Metric’s “Synthetica” tour, and a diverse crowd filled The Tivoli on one of those muggy Brisbane nights where even inside the busy venue it was cooler than sweating in the soupy air outside. The warm weather didn’t seem to affect the Canadian quartet, though, as they hit the stage in their trademark cool style.
A double billing doesn’t happen very often here in Australia, let alone in the often neglected genre of R&B. but this past Wednesday, at Allphones Arena that’s just what Sydney-siders were treated to. They turned up in droves to see R&B darling Alicia Keys perform, along with special guest John Legend on the Set The World On Fire tour. 
Steel Panther have graced Australian shores numerous times over the last handful of years, each time moving to larger and larger stages around the country. However, when we first heard about the mock-hair metal band’s move to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion for their ‘Spread the Disease’ tour, we thought it might have been a little optimistic.