australian tour

Beloved fuzzy noise makers The Scientistsare finally heading off around Australia to promote their newest album, “Negativity”.

The record released in 2021 as their first full-length studio effort in 34 years, attracted some rave reviews including this pearlerfrom our own Robert Brokenmouth. The five-state tour spans February and March, 2023.

The Stems, Perth's most popular and iconic 80s garage rock band, celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of their classic debut album "At First Sight Violets are Blue" with a successful all Australian capital cities tour in November 2017. To coincide with the tour, "At First Sight Violets are Blue" was reissued as a limited edition tour CD.

The tour garnered enough interest in Europe for Spain’’s Fuzzville Festival to make an offer for them to appear at the festival. More shows naturally followed and the band are now set to embark for a three week European tour over April/May which will cover Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and the UK. 

The UK leg includes a show at London's historic 100 Club.

 
_{Murray Bennett photo.}

The Stems
+ New Christs
Manning Bar, Sydney
Saturday, August 30, 2024
Photos: Tony McNamara unless otherwisde credited.

Shows by The Stems are reverential experiences, And for good reason. The band’s membership is scattered over two coasts of Australia and gigs don’t occur often. When they do, you know they're going to be something worth bottling.

What’s the special sauce? It’s Dom Mariani’s timeless pop songs being delivered by top-shelf players who have a chemistry that can only come from most of them playing together for years.

The foundation is Mariani on guitar and vocals, drummer Dave Shaw and bassist Julian Matthews, with a guitar foil of Ash Naylor(this tour) or Davey Lane, who are both ubiquitous and gifted in equal measures.

As far as recordings go, The Stems have not been prolific, with just two full-length studio albums since 1987, so it’s all about the quality and not the length. Their first LP, “At First Sight Violets Are Blue”, was a fully formed pop classic, and the 2007 “follow-up”, “Heads Up”, was substantial in its own right, although is not as well-known.

The Stems have kicked off their 40th anniversary year with a new single ahead of their national tour, a live LP and dates in Europe.

“Falling from the Sky “is the band’s first recording since their 2007 album “Heads Up”. Recorded at Revolver Studios and mixed at Pet Rock studios in Perth, it features original members Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, Dave Shaw and current guitarist Ashley Naylor (Even, The Church, Paul Kelly). 

Dom: “I’d written the song about five years ago and had always envisaged the Stems doing it if we ever had the opportunity to record it. Lyrically, it’s a commentary on how attitudes change as one gets older and a little more cynical about things with the hope of love as the redeeming theme in the choruses.

“Dave and I initially tracked the song with Dave suggesting the groove and fuzz tone idea.

:It worked great and we sent it across to Jules to add his distinctive bass and backing vocals.

Iconic British punk and new wave rockers, The Stranglers, have announced they’ll be touring Australia, playing shows across five cities in April 2023.

First forming in 1974, the band's no bullshit attitude saw the band blaze an experimental trail, from Art Rock to Goth to New Wave Pop, inspiring a wave of prog rock guitar players and confrontational vocalists to find their roots in The Stranglers’ unabashed confidence. 

Primal Scream is back in Australia for the first time in six years this month, on the back of recent albums "More Light" (2013) and "Chaosmosis" (2016) but focussing on their 30-year back catalogue.

Co-founding member and guitarist ANDREW INNES spoke to the I-94 Bar's EARL O'NEILL this week and expounded on a handful of topics that are close to his heart...

My First Records

My mum used to come home with a big pile of seven-inch singles that were a bit beaten up. I think they were ex-jukebox; all sorts of things, Beatles and Stones but strange country and western records, comedy records...so I was exposed to wide spectrum of music. Apparently before I could read I could tell which song it was by the colour of the label and the shape of the words.

The Beasts are embarking on their second Australian tour this year, this time in tandem with Magic Dirt’s Adalita.

Still running hard off the back of their studio album “Still Here”, the band formerly known as the Beasts of Bourbon is planning a run up and down Australia’s East Coast before shows in Perth, Fremantle and Adelaide.

The Beasts are Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon, Charlie Owen, Tony Pola and Boris Sudjovic. Their shows earlier this year were sell-outs and showed the ex-Beasts had lost none of their power. even with the fallen Spencer P Jones and Brian Hooper gone. .

Tickets for The Beasts’ national tour go on sale on Friday, August 9 via Oztix.

The Beasts + Adalita
NOV
28 - Barwon Club, Geelong VIC
29 - York On Lilydale, Mt Evelyn VIC
30 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne VIC
DEC
4 - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
6 - The Metro, Sydney NSW
7 - Wollongong Uni, Wollongong NSW
12 - The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
13 - Kingscliff Beach Hotel, Kingscliff NSW
14 - Sol Bar, Maroochydore QLD
20 - The Gov, Adelaide SA
21 - Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
22 - Rock Rover, Fremantle WA

More COVID changes:  Ed Kuepper and Jim White have re-scheduled seven shows.  

Tickets from all previous gigs will be honoured or a refund can be obtained at the point of purchase. Contact your relevant outlet for precise details and conditions affixed to each performance. Keep an eye on NSW gigs especially as there may be more changes. All the latest news and tickets for the new gigs can be found at edkuepper.com

Ed Kuepper with Jim White
(New Hobart dates TBA)
JULY
15 -  Archies Creek, Caravan Music Club, VIC    
16 - Meeniyan, Town Hall, VIC    
17 - Macedon, Railway Hotel – SOLD OUT    
23 - Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom, VIC    
24 - Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom, VIC    
AUG 
13 - Cairns, Tanks Art Centre, QLD    
14 - Gold Coast, The Sound Lounge, QLD   
15 - Bellingen, No.5 Church St, NSW    
16 - Bellingen, No.5 Church St, NSW    
19 - Sydney, The Factory, NSW    
20 - Wollongong, The Music Lounge, NSW    
21 - Milton, Milton Theatre, NSW
SEP   
12 - Adelaide, The Gov, SA    
14 - Fremantle, Freo.Social, WA    
15 - Margaret River, The River Hotel, WA

Australian crowds will have their first opportunity to experience Japan’s best, premium high-energy garage rock band when The Fadeaways make their debut on these shores in July 2024.

The Fadeaways have been wowing punters in their homeland since forming in Tokyo in 2005. Sharing a mutual love of ‘60s garage punk, ‘70s punk and trash, Toyozo (vocals and bass), Assman (guitar) and Ozzy (drummers) quickly established themselves on the tight-knit and fanatical Japanese underground music circuit.

This July 2024, prepare to be swept off your feet as Japan's high-octane garage rock sensation. Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s an eyewitness account:

_{Jye Talbot Area photo}

Following the release of their sold out 7" singles boxset and run of five nights of hometown celebrations at La La La's in Wollongong just before Xmas, Tumbleweed steps into the new year with an announcement that was meant to come last year.

Pismo Beach's Kings of the Ring, the Psychotic Turnbuckles, kick off their anniversary "40 Years Undefeated" tour of  Australia's East Coast at The Tote Hotel in Melobourne this Saturday. Supports are crazy great Sydney glam rockers Starcrazy and hometown retro champions The Vibratones.  

Asked how the Turnbuckles would fare with no competitive matches under their collective belts since last October's triumphant Japan tour, frontman Jesse The Intrudertold us: "Champions never fold. We've been training hard in the Pismo Clam Club gym and amping up on Turnbuckle Tonic. We will wipe the floor with those pathetic support bands". 

Man of few words and drummer Buddy "Bam Bam" Balam The Brooklyn Bruiser added: "They are bums. So are you. Get out of my way."

Tickets for The Tote, Sydney (July 13) and Brisbane (September 7) shows are here, and are presneted by The I-94 Bar (Melbourne and Sydney) and Punkfest (Brisbane).

_{Luther Russell and Jody Stephens in Those Pretty Wrongs duo format.}

As drummer and a founding member of the legendary Big Star, Jody Stephens is an icon to so many of today's musicians. The musical legacy of Big Star is as omnipresent as it's ever been and undoubtedly this enormous global respect is due to the band's recording of three of the greatest albums ever set to vinyl.

A hugely successful reformation by Big Star in the early ‘90s produced a world tour and a fine fourth album. Pleasingly, over this past decade, Jody has gone on to create even more marvellous music wth a duo outfit with Luther Russell, Those Pretty Wrongs. 

As a songwriting pair, their music is refreshingly honest, supremely melodious and inherently tender in its style. And the recordings are super hi fi harking back to the quality of John Fry’s famous work at Ardent Studios with Big Star. 

It is therefore the music of Those Pretty Wrongs I primarily wished to focused on in this Q&A in advance of Those Pretty Wrongs’ exciting upcoming second tour of Australia. I was especially keen to seek a deeper understanding of how Jody’s own musical journey influences the music of Those Pretty Wrongs. 

The much-anticipated return of Endless Boogie and the Australian debut of Howlin’ Rain will happen, and has now been moved from April to late October and early November.

Both bands will be appearing at the rescheduled Boogie festival (October 30-November 1) in rural Victoria and at the same East Coast venues they were originally booked into. All existing tickets will be honoured. 

Endless Boogie & Howlin' Rain
OCT
29 - The Tote, Melbourne, Sydney
NOV
5 - Crowbar, Sydney
+ feedtime
Endless Boogie only
6 - Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
7 - Eltham Hotel, NSW