Let me tell you, I'm excited. Expatriate Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter Michael Plater is making a welcome return to Adelaide since leaving to pursue twin careers in the UK in 2019. If I can see this guy live, I don't need to see Dark Mofo.

Now, I rate Michael Plater's songs and music so highly that I've seen him play in three states and if I were able to, I'd go see all his gigs while he's here. For the last three years he's been writing and recording like a demon, his new work eclipsing his brilliant, powerful debut, “Mythologies”..

So, Michael, you returned to the Mother Country. You didn't exactly head for the smoke and smother of London, I gather...

No, my partner, Fawnia, and I ended up living in Cornwall, way down west, right in pirate country. When we visited the Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle and, for someone like me, who’s drawn to folklore, occult history, and anything vaguely supernatural, Cornwall made perfect sense.

It’s a land of moors, standing stones, castles, and smugglers dens, with a healthy dose of mermaids, ghosts, and piskies. All the old girls in the shops call you either ‘my treasure’, ‘my lovely,’ or, even better, ‘my lover.’ The further west you go, the more impenetrable the accent gets. By the time you hit Penzance it’s like talking to some barnacled old sea dog from the 17thcentury.

It’s a place that is torn between tourism and poverty, like a lot of the U.K. Most of the beautiful old fishermen’s cottages are unfortunately second homes for ultra-rich Londoners who descend on the area en-masse in summer, which means that it’s getting harder and harder for locals to afford to live there. Or me, for that matter. But all these influences and atmospheres have definitely seeped into the music I’ve been writing and recording. I’ve also been working on a book and/or series of essays about the history of Cornish witchcraft, which I’m hoping to finish next year.

Michael is no stranger to writing books, either, with the EU Publishing website describing him thus:

The dreaded Covid has got its hooks into The Sunnyboys forcing this weekend’s performances at Sydney’s Factory Theatre to be postponed until July 28 and 30.

The virus has also knocked Melbourne’s Electric Purrs off their New South Wales tour with supports to The Dark Clouds (Dapto tonight) and Psychotic Turnbuckles (Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday) falling by the wayside. 

The Psychotic Turnbuckles Marrickville Bowling Club gig is tracking to sell out with some tickets remaining here and a few will be reserved for on the door.

Sunnyboys tickets for Friday 1st July remain valid for Thursday 28 July. Tickets for Saturday 2 July remain valid for Saturday 30 July. Full refunds are available from the point of purchase. New tickets available via feelpresents.com All other Sunnyboys shows remain unchanged. Full dates as follows.

JULY
9 - Melbourne, Corner Hotel (sold out), with Even & Little Murders
15 - Byron Bay, The Northern,   with Mick Medew & The Mesmerisers
16 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre (limited tickets),  with Mick Medew & The Mesmerisers
28 - Sydney, The Factory (sold out), with Even
30 - Sydney, The Factory, with Even

Trailblazing Australian cowpunks The Johnnys will celebrate their 40^th anniversary with a handful of New Zealand concerts in late July - their first tour there since the pandemic and only their third in 32 years.

The Johnnys' barnstorming shows at legendary NZ venues like The Gluepot and Warners back in the ‘80s made an impenetrable impression.Their 1986 album “Highlights Of A Dangerous Life” was a runaway success in Australia and New Zealand. It was firmly embedded in the NZ Album Top 20 chart, where it remained for 10 weeks, thanks to infectious tracks like “Bleeding Heart”, “Injun Joe”, and “(There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown”.

Detroit guitarist Robert (Bob) Gillespie died on June 17 after a long illness.

He played lead guitar and provided backing vocals in a slew of outstanding bands including The Rob Tyner Band, (1976-78), The Torpedoes (‘78-80), The Motor City Rockers  (with Jimmy Marinos of The Romantics), Powertrane Featuring Scott Morgan and as a longtime sideman to Mitch Ryder. 

He appears on the "Ann Arbor Revival Meeting" album with Powertrane and special guests Deniz Tek and Ron Asheton.

Gillespie wrote songs with Rob Tyner, The Torpedoes’ Johnny Angelos, Mitch Ryder and Jimmy Marinos. He is survived by his wife Susan, daughter Roxie, and brother Don.

Back in the 1980s, Sydney indie label Vi-Nil Records released the likes of singles by Hard-Ons, Lipstick Killers, Psychotic Turnbuckles, Labradogs, Conspirators, The Klerks and more. Forty years on, a new compilation album "Indie Sounds From The Harbour City (1983-1987)" showcases the cross section of bands on the label, and has been pressed on 14-track splatter vinyl and a 20-track, digipak CD.

To celebrate the album and the re-launch of the label, a series of kickarse live shows are locked in for late July. The first album launch is at Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney on Friday, July 22, featuring the seasoned power pop of The Labradogs, the garage/punk/psych sounds of newly signed teensters Shacked, the stripped back intimate airs of Peter Black (aka Blackie from Hard-Ons) the Detroit garage energy of The Conspirators (playing a very rare show). 

Tickets go on sale here on Tuesday. 

Lion Island, Labradogs, Shacked and Blackie will play a second launch at Link and Pin Cafe in Woy Woy onj July 23 and the4 Hamilton Station Hotel will host a Newcstle launch on July 24 with Disgraceland, Shacked and Labradogs. Pre-sales for the album are open here.