full moon flower band

FULL FLOWER MOON BAND 
SUNFRUITS
(and VILLE VALO)  
Metro Social Club, Sydney
Saturday 16 March, 2024
Photos by DIGBY FROG

Brisbane's Full Flower Moon Band is one of the best, and most inventive bands in Australia; simply put they’ll lift the hairs on your arm. Bold statement, but true. The reasons why will be clear if you read on.

It’s a Saturday night. It’s raining, I am standing at the bus top, irritated and looking at the timetable. Damn, the bus is late again and I’m going to miss the connecting ferry.  Fuck privatisation. It has turned the local bus service to shit.

Approaching is a cool rock ‘n’ roll couple who look about my age, one of them wearing a Chimers T-shirt (a rarity in my part of the world.)

We strike up a conversation about the appalling bus service as they have walked from another stop after giving up waiting for a bus that will never arrive. 

Summer in Sydney will take a psychedelic twist when DIY community festival Psyched As Forever takes over the Portugal Community Club in Marrickville on Saturday, January 25.

Leading the charge are The Buoys, fresh off their sold-out Australian tour, riding the wave of their acclaimed debut album, “Lustre”. Joining them are powerhouse rockers (and I-94 Bar's Edwin Garland favourites) Full Flower Moon Band, who have been shaking things up with their recent album “Megaflower”, and raw, gritty live shows.

The Gooch Palms will also be gracing the Psyched As Forever stage for the first time.

A slew of local and international talent fils out the line-up, including GIMMY, Dick Move (NZ), Grinding Eyes, Antenna, The Uplifting Bell Ends,  The Blamers, Swine, O.M.R., and the Psyched As House Band.

Psyched As Forever celebrates the life and legacy of Richard “Millsy” Mills, co-founder of Psyched As, Now in its third year, the 2025 festival with run across two stages, with a portion of ticket sales donated to Bula Bula Arts Centre in Rammingining, where Millsy worked. Tickets are on sale here. 

I have been making lists and, damn, it has been a huge year of music for me; so many records and so many gigs.  I cannot think of a year so jam-packed.  I could have made a Top Ten list by August this year. Best that I don’t count these off or it could be limiting.

1. Loud Hailers at the Hollywood Hotel, Surry Hills, NSW
Ben Fink is one of the most tasteful and sonically powerful guitarists in town, evoking Blind Lemon Jeffersonand Jimmy Page. Then there’s drummer Jordon. And vocalist Christa Hughes,who mixes it up, referencing everyone from Nina Simone to Lydia Lunch to a deranged Lisa Minnelli. Confrontational and soulful. Their gigs at the Hollywood set the place on fire. The Sydney inner city band to catch in 2024.

2. Fabels at the Hollywood
Ben Alyward and Hiske Weijers have been making music together for 13 years and have developed a cult following both in the inner city and Europe.  It’s a creative, surreal form of shoegaze with a huge palette of influences. They sit in their own space and avoid the pub rock tradition, forging their own identity and sound.