Words and photos by Ant Ritz
On a darkened stage and with little fanfare, a pretty and bespectacled Ingrid Michaelson walked to the mic and proceeded to set the Metro Theatre in Sydney alight with a brilliantly entertaining performance. She did much more than just sing well crafted pop songs, – she entertained and she had the crowd enthralled not just with her wonderful music and sweet voice, but also with her wit, humour and quirky storytelling.
Sometimes singers struggle with attempts to engage the audience with dialogue and hence so many just avoid banter like the plague. Many concert goers would actually prefer to just hear the music. However, at Ingrid’s concert she really captured and held the audiences attention with her story telling – they appeared to follow her every word and were moved by the ebb and flow of her stories. There was a lot of laughter from the audience as a whole throughout the show and yet on other occasions they were quiet when she was more serious, albeit rare. She’s a great communicator and that communication comes across in her songs too.
Continue reading Live Review: Ingrid Michaelson at Metro Theatre, Sydney – 14th September 2012
Thursday night saw the return of SLASH to our shores as he kicked off his Apocalyptic Love Australian tour.
With the annual Splendour in the Grass festival letting loose in Bryon Bay, the sideshow circus around the country was in full swing. Co-headlining Splendour was the infamous 
After the successful release of their single, ‘Empty Hands’, Brisbane 5-piece 
With the local, and indeed international, alt rock/indie/folk sciences currently thriving thanks to the likes of Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Mumford & Sons and City & Colour – it was only a matter of time before the young Australian acts started enjoying some well-deserved attention.
Sydney four piece Breaking Orbit’s debut album The Time Traveller has been a long time coming, with a name change and some member shuffles preceding its release. The wait was certainly worth it, though. The Time Traveller has blown anything done by any other Australian progressively minded band out of the water, save for maybe Karnivool’s Sound Awake and Cog’s The New Normal. However, Breaking Orbit do things slightly differently, placing a heavy emphasis on the tribal and percussive elements in their sound. The result is a debut album of monolithic proportions.
Born Villain is the eighth full length album from 
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have returned with their brand new second full-length album ‘Here’. The album is melodious, magical and yet sleep inducing. Having big shoes to fill after the popularity of their first album “Up from Below” (2009) and their hit single, “Home” they have made some distinct changes, some for the better and alas, some for the worst.
The Ocean are one of the more interesting bands of the past few decades. The brainchild of guitarist Robin Staps, The Ocean has, over the years, morphed into one of the most forward thinking and innovative metal bands in the world. Their show at Melbourne’s Hi-Fi bar on Saturday night was the second last leg of their maiden tour of Australia, and what a night it was.
Trekking all the way out to Ferntree Gully for a gig is always an interesting experience and Thursday night was no different, with a line up boasting some of Australia’s and America’s best alternative rock bands. With Brisbane natives Dead Letter Circus having been on tour with Texan five piece Fair to Midland in the States for the past few months, it was time to bring the party (and Fair to Midland) back home for their own national tour.
Looking over the crowd at the Metro Theatre in Sydney I was surprised to see that I looked like everyone else – Yes, White Middle Class Suburbia had come out in force to see Public Enemy, DJ Lord and the current S1W crew. Although it shouldn’t really surprise anyone, Public Enemy have been, despite their militant bravado, quite accessible to the average non rap/hip hop public.
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.
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