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
It was surprisingly quiet driving into Falls Festival this afternoon, but understandable given last night’s massive party. New Years’ day brought a more subdued and chilled out crowd but Falls Festival did not disappoint delivering yet another sensational line up to celebrate the first day of 2014. 
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.
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.
Arriving at Barangaroo the place was littered with many hopeful bodies ready to witness the return of the Vans Warped Tour to Australia. Though Barangaroo came off as a little small for such as huge festival, the venue was exceptionally prepared, with easy access to all amenities & better yet a bar area that had a great view of both the main stages.
Tonight’s line up at Sydney’s Metro Theatre was nothing if not unique. 
Contemporary Australian metal was on show in a big way tonight at Sydney’s Bald Faced Stag Hotel in Leichardt. The small room has played host to a surprising number of high-profile acts over the last couple of years, including some of the last shows by Suicide Silence before Mitch Lucker’s untimely passing and a recent show by UK noise merchants Rolo Tomassi. Tonight, Melbourne djent exponents Circles hit the joint, promoting their debut full-length album, ‘Infinitas’.
Earlier this year, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus introduced an interesting concept to their Australian fans: the Choose Your Own Adventure tour. They listed a series of dates, and possible locations where they could play on each of those dates, and let their fans vote for the location – but not just with a click of the mouse, the fans had to buy a ticket in order for their vote to count. So when doors opened to their Brisbane show, you could be sure that the audience packing the lower level of the Hi-Fi were genuine fans. After all, they bought a ticket before they could even guarantee that they would see the band play in their city.
Having witnessed Poland’s blackened death metal legends Behemoth slay everyone in attendance on their Sydney date of their last Australian tour in 2010, you can bet we were more than a little excited when we learned of their upcoming 2013 tour dates. Fast forward to Saturday October 26 and we arrive at Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar to find that several hundred other excited Behemoth fans were already lining out the door and around the corner. 
Ever since they won Triple J’s Unearthed High in 2010 the four gorgeous Findlay sisters known as Stonefield (and previously Iotah) have had to face their fair share of criticism over their image and being discounted as a “teenage gimmick”. The quartet was surrounded by lots of hype as the band is made up of four sisters who range in age from being teenagers to in their early twenties. They also got to play Glastonbury festival quite early but they do have the talent to back it all up. On their eponymous, debut record they continue to thumb their noses at their detractors as they offer one solid and promising effort.
It has been five years since Alex Lloyd released a solo album but in that time he had a break like John Lennon. He was busy caring for his brood of children (he now has four) and was busy writing music for other acts (like Passenger) plus producing and working on soundtracks (including collaborating with the Pigram Brothers for the Mad Bastards OST). This period – like much of his career – has been a rich and varied one and this is also the most striking element on his sixth studio record.