Legendary garage rockers, The Stems, have announced supports, an extra show and one venue shift on their tour to celebrate 40 years. .
Power-pop rockers The Prize will kick off the national run as support for both the August 24 show at The Corner Hotel in Melbourne and a newly-added date at the Theatre Royal at Castlemaine in August 24.
Adelaide can expect the dark folk-pop of Romana Ashton & The Reeds as support. Acclaimed indie-pop rock outfit Ups And Downs are set for the Brisbane gig, which is now at the Mansfield Tavern.
In Sydney, The Stems will be joined by The New Christs. The Rinehearts have the main support in WA with Fremantle alt-rock four-piece Vancool opening.
The Stems
40th Anniversary Australian Tour
AUG
+ The Prize
23 - Theatre Royal, Castlemaine. VIC
+ The Prize
24 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
+ Romana Ashton & The Reeds
25 – The Gov, Adelaide
+ Ups & Downs
30 – Mansfield Tavern, Brisbane
+ New Christs
31 – Manning Bar, Sydney
SEP
+ The Rhinehearts
+ Vancool
5 – Freo Social, Fremantle
Tickets here
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2160
It will be a gathering of the faithful when some of Michigan’s most respected and enduring rock and roll acts take to the stage at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor for “A Tribute to The MC5” on June 9.
A fundraiser for the late Wayne Kramer’s Jail Guitar Doors Foundation that uses music to rehabilitate jail inmates, it was instigated by former Scott Morgan’s Powertrane bassist and current Mazinga member, Chris “Box” Taylor after the recent passing of the Five’s last man standing, drummer Dennis Thompson.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2454
Musical anniversaries are coming at us coming quicker than a Dee Dee Ramone "1-2-3-4" count-in, but there’s a special place in Australian rock and roll sensibilities for the 40th birthday of the seminal Hoodoo Gurus album “Stoneage Romeos”.
The band has already unveiled vinyl and CD re-issues of the their debut LP and there’s a run of Australian dates in November and December this year on which the Gurus will reprise the long-player from go to whoa.
Originally released in March 1984, “Stoneage Romeos” featured the hits “Leilani”, “Tojo”, “My Girl” and “I Want You Back”. It reached #29 on the Australian Album Chart and went on to win Best Debut Album at the 1984 Countdown Awards. “Stoneage Romeos” has consistently appeared in the Top 10 on almost every Top 50 and Top 100 Australian album lists.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2038
I Am Time - Jeremy Gluck (Glass Modern)
This is one of the few times I cannot quantify a musical release. I cannot answer the question: “How many bottles?”
Really? For this? No, you may as well say “I Am Time” is as high as that thing over there, or as round as it is long.
“I Am Time” is a rather startling career overview of the tempting output of one Jeremy Gluck - and, yes, we're all aware of the sniggerment possibilities of Jeremy's surname, so if you quit cackling at the back there we might be able to get to the meat of the matter at hand.
- Details
- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1585
Dennis Thompson (rear) with Fred Smith, Wayne Kramer, Rob Tyner and Mike Davis.
We are marking the passing of Dennis Thompson, last man standing from the MC5, with this flashback interview. Ken Shimamoto conducted it in two parts, beginning on March 24 1998 and winding up on March 28, 1998.
Besides being the party who propelled the MC5 (and New Order, and New Race, and The Motor City Bad Boys, and...) into the stratosphere with his percussive power, Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson is also undoubtedly the greatest living high-energy conversationalist on the planet. He talks the same way he plays the drums -- energetically, assertively, aggressively, thoughts spilling over each other two or three at a time, punctuated by explosions of laughter.
K: How'd you get started playing music back in Lincoln Park?
D: Well, what it was, was that I had a friend named Billy Vargo who played guitar, and I'm thinking, how old were we, we were like maybe 15-years-old, and he was the leader of the band. We had three guitars, no bass, and me on drums. And I was doing it, I was playing.
My brother is 10 years older than I am, and he's been a musician all his life. So when he was 16, I was six years old, and they had a rock and roll band, practicing music in my basement, the drummer would leave his drums, so four year old, five-year-old Dennis would run down there and bang on the drums and Mom would yell down there, "Dennis, get off those drums, they're not yours!" But she'd always give me at least 10 minutes, you know?
- Details
- By Ken Shimamoto
- Hits: 3062
Grande Ballroom image by Norm Lye.
Vale Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, who was Last Man Standing from the MC5 until today. “MGT” passed away peacfully in hospital in Detroit where he had been rehabilitating following a heart attack in April. He was aged 75.
The Detroit Free Press reported earlier today that he was still at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital during his initial recovery when he heard that the MC5 was headed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 21.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2106
It's been four decades since they burst onto the Australian rock and roll scene, and Pismo Beach’s own Psychotic Turnbuckles are descending Down Under for a three-state tour.
With three albums and a dozen singles and EPs to their credit, the Turnbuckles are still The World Rock and Roll Tag Team Champions and retained their crown on a Japanese tour that included an appearance at the world-famous Tokyo Halloween Ball.
The 40 Years Undefeated Tour will take on the Tote in Melbourne on Saturday, June 29 for their only Victorian show, presented by The I-94 Bar.
Guests on this leg are Sydney’s glam kings Starcrazy and Melbourne’s retro sound champions The Vibrajets.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 1689
The long-awaited Radio Birdman biography from Australian writer Murray Engleheart is on the launch pad, ready for release.
“Radio Birdman: Retaliate First” is drawn from more than 150 interviews with band members, their closest associates, devotees and observers and will be published on July 2.
You can pre-order here.
A 448-page opus in paperback format being published by Allen & Unwin, it threatens to be the last word in text-rich Birdman books.
(The title of Best Visual History already belongs to the George Munoz-authored "Radio Birdman: When The Birdmen Flew".)
In the words of the publisher’s blurb: “Sydney's legendary Radio Birdman were a stake through the satin and scarfed hearts of the mid seventies' music scene, revolutionising the conservative Australian industry in the process.
“Regarded as one of the earliest punk bands, before the world had heard of the Sex Pistols, Birdman were feared and loathed by many, yet adored by fiercely loyal fans. But their story has never been told in depth—until now.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 3046
Larry McGrath photo.
Another cache of gems has emerged from the mists of time that obscure the 1980s Australian underground music scene: The back catalogue of Sydney’s Grooveyard have been posthumously re-released.
Hindsight shows The Grooveyard was something of a supergroup. At various times, its ranks included future Paul Kelly and Messengers, Chinless Elite and Hell To Pay member Jon Schofield, Lime Spiders drummer Richard Lawson, ex-Razar member and future Screaming Tribesmen Bob Wackley, Geoff Rhoe (ex-Minuteman), Ian Little (Bambalams) and Sean Maguire (ex-Minuteman).
Swimming against the Detroit tide that was gripping most of Sydney, Grooveyard peddled a distinctive and stunning brand of ‘60s-influenced powerpop and issued the Chris Masuak-produced “Avalanche of Love” single (1984) and 12-inch EP (“Grooveyard”, 1989). All tracks are rolling out on digital platforms from today..
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 3045
More Articles …
Page 7 of 275