Review by Stuart Blythe and Rachel Pope
Nestled in bushland within the beautiful setting of Belford in the Hunter Valley, The Gum Ball festival was held over the weekend of April 27th-29th.
Touted as a laid back family friendly, BYO musical camping experience, Gum Ball certainly delivered. From the moment you arrive there is an immediate positive feeling, a relaxed sense of self and an anticipation of good times ahead. The serenity of the surroundings, the diverse age group and the family friendly feel was both complementing and comforting.
Friday night kicked off in spectacular fashion with The Joe Kings, Front End Loader, Massy Ferguson, Two River Blues and The Tongue taking the stage with The Bakery closing out the night. For those who wanted to kick on there was also the Silent Disco. The entire night set a high standard for the day ahead.
Continue reading Live Review: THE GUM BALL Festival – 27-28th April 2012
Word about the brilliance of 
Thursday night got underway at 8pm when early punters began filling into the doors of the Sydney Metro. The darkened room was a hotbed of activity, buzzing conversation as indie fans alike milled around drinking beer and anticipating the first time visit of English indie rockers The Maccabees to Australia. The quintet who are visiting this autumn for the 
The Darkness are back and dare I say bigger and better than ever. They are pure performers and gave it all at their latest Sydney gig at UNSW Roundhouse.
As Melbourne’s Soundwave week continued into Wednesday night, it was time to head to the beautiful Forum Theatre for a taste of some of the most original music the massive line up had to offer.
It’s fair to say that over the years Californian natives 
There’s a buzz in the air tonight – a full house and the Ball Park Music headlining debut album launch tour tends to give out a special vibe. And it’s been a long, well-worn track to get to this point: singles and free downloads leading to early Triple J recognition, signing to a supportive management company and releasing one of them most anticipated EPs of recent memory, seemingly tour after tour as the perpetual bridesmaids before finally knuckling down to carve out the first full-length offering.
The meteoric rise of Dead Letter Circus in the past 18 months is no secret. Having quickly moved from the small, intimate feel of the Espy to regularly selling out the substantially bigger HiFi Bar and touring the UK and America, its fair to say that DLC are doing all right. Back in Melbourne for yet another jaunt around Australia, this time for their “No Fracking Way” Tour, Brisbane alternative rock darlings Dead Letter Circus were at the top of their game on Wednesday night.
The Evelyn Hotel is one of the best smaller scaled venues in Melbourne, with many a band’s careers having kick started at the pub. Even band’s like Muse have played there before they found stardom. Therefore it was the perfect place for some of the country’s better young rock bands to show their wares to a decent sized crowd.
On Sunday night in Melbourne; Periphery, Tesseract and Twelve Foot Ninja claimed gig of the year. It’s that simple. Upon arriving 20 minutes before the doors opened, in order to get barrier spots, the line to get in was already stretching 75 metres down Swanston St, causing that idea to be promptly dismissed. To put it in perspective, the other shows on this tour were at venues with capacities of 400-500 people and only Sydney managed to sell out. 
It was about time that Ball Park Music headlined their own tour. With presence and personality like theirs it is hard to stay in other bands’ shadows. The sellout crowd at Alhambra Lounge were treated to an exhilarating and upbeat show.