Last Dinosaurs

The band’s sold out appearance was a great opportunity for the supporting local band “Last Dinosaurs” to showcase a number of tracks from their upcoming debut LP “In A Million Years” (out March 2nd). I was really impressed with their sound which I liken a bit to popular Northern Irish indie band “Two Door Cinema Club”.

Genuinely chuffed to have the opportunity to play to such a large audience in their home town, the lads from Last Dinosaurs were received well as they made their way through tracks like “Hawaii”, “Saturn” and the one I really like, “Zoom” (below).

Foster the People

Audience warmed up? Check. Packed house? Check. One of 2011′s best live bands in the house? CHECK!

With an impressive level of pulsating energy that began with the first note and didn’t let up until the house lights came on, “Foster the People’s” lead, Mark Foster (vocals/synth/guitar), along with regular band members Mark Pontius (drums) and Cubbie Fink (bass/synth), and touring members Sean Cimino (guitar) and Isom Innis (synths/percussion) rocked the Tivoli to its core with a full compliment of hits from their top selling debut album “Torches”.

Highlights for me? Well I certainly wasn’t the only one blown away by the performance of tracks like “Waste”, “I Would Do Anything For You” and the thumping percussion of “Miss You”. The encore, however, was the real kicker starting with a fantastic cover of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So”, followed by an extended version of “Warrant” and, as was expected, rounded off with the hit that made a name for the band in 2011 “Pumped Up Kicks”.

Dripping with sweat I exited the “Tiv” with a wave of happy music fans stoked that I’m “two for two” with concerts so far in 2012. I’m sure you don’t need my referral, but if “Foster the People” are ambling through your city, town or village in 2012, buy tickets! Don’t hesitate, just DO IT!

Had tonight’s energetic, sweaty, loud, pumping performance by British rockers “The Kooks“ been on a mere 2-3 days ago, I’d be altering my selection of 2011′s best concert right about now. Instead, the bar has well and truly been raised on all-comers to Brisbane in 2012 on only day TWO of the year!

Maybe I’m still on a “Kooks” high after only walking in the door from the concert a matter of minutes ago, but the fact that I have run in, tuned iTunes into the band’s latest new release “Junk of the Heart” and sat down excitedly to type this out… has to mean something… right?

I actually feel sorry for all those BrisVegans who were moaning on Twitter this afternoon about the fact that they missed out on tickets to tonight’s The Kooks show cause they really did miss out on something special.

I’ll quit banging on and just let the playlist and a few pics tell the story for me.

1. Is It Me
2. Always Where
3. Sofa Song
4. Down to the Market
5. Rosie
6. She Moves In Her Own Way
7. Sway
8. Runaway
9. Eskimo Kiss
10. If Only
11. Seaside
12. Tick of Time
13. See the Sun
14. How Do You Like That
15. Mr Nice Guy
16. Ooh La
17. Shine On
18. Do You Wanna?
19. Saboteur
20. Junk of the Heart
21. Naive

Highlights for me? The simple acoustic awesomeness of “Tick of Time” and without doubt my number one anthem for the band “Sway”. There’s a reason why it’s one of my absolute favourite songs of all time!

If this quick quasi-review hasn’t done anything to encourage you to get out and see these boys the next time they slide through your town, then either you’re not a fan of outstanding talent, or I simply haven’t done my job here.

Like I mentioned earlier, the bar has been set pretty high for me now. I have a sneaking suspicion that the next band I’m checking out in a couple of weeks “Foster the People” may have a red hot go at the title, but we’ll just have to wait and see!

To leave you this evening, however, in a weird twist of fate, I leave you with “The Kooks” covering the song that really got “Foster the People” noticed – “Pumped Up Kicks”. This awesome performance was recorded a couple of months ago for BBC’s Radio 1 Live Lounge. Enjoy.

Currently on a tour taking them right across Australia playing and promoting their debut album “Moonfire”, the Sydney lads stopped into Brisbane to play two nights (last night and tonight) to sell-out crowds.

With their distinctive indie-rock style punctuated by perfect choral harmonies, I’m sure I’m not the only one that has, and will, suggest that they have a bit of a “Mumford & Sons” (the band they supported on a tour through Australia in 2010) sound about them. This can be heard through one of their breakout hits from 2010, a cover of Crowded House’s “Fall At Your Feet” – a rendition that gained them the number 5 position in Triple J’s coveted Hottest 100, 2010.

Tonight, it was Boy & Bear’s chance to impress me for the first time in a live capacity and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Covering a good selection of tracks from both their first EP “With Emperor Antarctica” and their current debut offering “Moonfire” (please help me out in the comments section below if you have a full set list for the night), for me the band really shone on their performances of “Lordy May”, “Rabbit Song”, “Part Time Believer” and of course “Fall at Your Feet”. There’s little doubt that this group of muso’s are going to feature heavily in the next round of ARIA awards…

Below is a great introductory video shot during this year’s “Splendour” festival that will help you get to know the band a little better, followed by a selection of shots from tonight’s gig.

New Sounds – The Paper Kites

Without question, the most satisfying concerts are the ones where you walk out thoroughly entertained by not only the main headlining act, but also by a band that you’ve never seen nor heard of before. Tonight was another one of those fortunate nights where I was personally exposed for the first time to the awesome talents of a young band from Melbourne called “The Paper Kites”.

Another fantastic graduate of Triple J’s “Unearthed” initiative, “The Paper Kites” have no doubt been around the traps over the past 12 months, but it’s a bit harder to latch onto new talent when you’re living overseas for a good chunk of the year.

Below is a neat clip for their song “Featherstone” followed by a couple of photos from their opening set this evening.

At the time of writing this, short of having seen these guys tonight, I still know very little about them. I do know, however, that I will be at “The Beetle Bar” on February 11 next year when they return to Brisbane on their first headlining tour. Good stuff!

Jetting into Vancouver this afternoon I met up with my good mate Cass and together we took in a performance by the ridiculously hot Colbie Caillat from Malibu, California. Not surprisingly, the last time I saw Colbie perform was in the very same room almost 2 years ago to the very day.

Best known for tracks like “Bubbly”, “Fallin’ For You” and her duet “Lucky” which she performed with fellow soloist Jason Mraz, Colbie covered pretty much all her big hits this evening, as well as a few new numbers from her 2011 album release “All of You” including her concluding number and current single “Brighter than the Sun”. Usually I like to try and post the set lists of the concerts I attend, but for some reason nobody has managed to post anything online this time around. If you do find one, feel free to post a link in the comments section below.

In the meantime, here’s a few pics from the evening, followed by a video of Colbie performing “Bubbly” this evening.

Triple J Unearthed

For those of you not in the know, Triple J is perhaps Australia’s premier Government-funded national radio station that focuses less on the rubbish commercial tunes continually looped on other stations, and more on independent, alternative and especially Australian music. Their “Unearthed” project is aimed at uncovering and airing the best of Australia’s unsigned and perhaps unheard of bands.

As an extension to this project, in 2008 Triple J launched an “Unearthed High” competition which required high school aged bands to submit original work which was subsequently voted on via their online website.

Triple J’s “Unearthed” concept, launched back in 1995, has gained so much popularity over the years that in just a few short weeks time, a dedicated “Unearthed” digital radio station is set to launch across Australia on October 5th, ensuring that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, music lovers will have the chance to sample the work of the country’s best unsigned talent. I’m really stoked about this!

Kingdom of Little Empires

Anyway, back to the point of today. Someone in their infinite musical wisdom has decided over the past couple of years to get a handful of “Unearthed High’s” best finds together and put them on stage at Brisbane Powerhouse for an afternoon of all-ages entertainment.

Snakadaktal

Kicking off this afternoon’s acts was the 2011 “Unearthed High” winners – “Snakadaktal”. Chosen from over 700 other bands in this year’s competition, the 5-piece band from Melbourne’s Rudolph Steiner School played a strong set, interrupted by a few technical glitches, before whipping back off to Melbourne for a gig tonight. Living the life of rock stars already!

Albert Salt

I was perhaps most impressed by the next act to hit the stage – Albert Salt. Hailing from Melbourne’s Scotch College, this classically trained artist manages to fuse together pop synth, strings, and alternative rock into an entertaining and unique sound that I’m sure you’ll all be hearing plenty more of in the coming years.

Albert’s already got a debut album out called “Dearest Stranger” which you can pick up on iTunes now.

If anyone reading this was at the gig yesterday and knows the name of the killer song that Albert performed first, can you let me know in the comments section below? I can’t find it!

Danika Smith

Ahhh bless. Constantly apologetic (for everything from her “green” backing band to lyrics based on her obsession with a boy at school) and cutely awkward on stage at times, Danika Smith was perhaps the strongest vocalist of all the acts today. This talented singer/songwriter from Alstonville High in NSW impressed the crowd with her “from-the-heart” lyrics and a really outstanding cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”.

It’s easy to see why Danika was selected as one of the “Unearthed High” finalists in 2011.

Stonefield

Headlining this afternoon’s concert was the awesome “Stonefield” – four sisters from Melbourne’s Rudolph Steiner School who won the “Unearthed High” competition in 2010 and went on to thrill crowds at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the UK. Talk about a meteoric rise!

Putting on a good sized set to easily the largest crowd of the afternoon, the girls played a selection of their most popular tunes like “Black Water Rising” and “Through the Clover” (see below), as well as a rocking cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”.

Super entertaining – keep an eye out for these ladies for sure!

Triple J Pro Image Gallery

Since that time he has rocketed to the top of the Australian Album charts on three occasions with 3 album releases and he’ll be looking to do the same in 2011 with the drop of his forthcoming album “Blue Sky Blue”. Tonight was our opportunity to get a sneak peek at a handful of tracks that should appear on this new offering, by joining a few hundred other fans in the intimate confines of Brisbane’s beautiful “Old Museum” Concert Hall.

Opening with “Silver Cloud” from his 2008 album “Summer at Eureka”, Pete and his band completed a fantastic set that combined a great list of his most popular tracks and a selection of new tracks leaving me to think “Blue Sky Blue” is going to be nothing short of awesome (no surprises there really). There were some minor tuning issues, members of Pete’s family heckling him from the crowd and plenty of fun banter between the band and the appreciative crowd – all factors that contributed to a really fun “rehearsal amongst family and friends” kind of vibe.

I managed to lay my eyes on the set list at the end of the performance before another fan ran off with it, but it looked something like the following. Pete himself said he didn’t stick to the list during the performance so it’s probably not 100% accurate, but it’ll give you an idea of what was played:

1. Silver Cloud
2. Bail Me Out
3. Sugar
4. Blue Sky Blue
5. Fall Your Way
6. Class A
7. Let You Go
8. Always A Winner
9. LED
10. Opportunity
11. You Pick Me Up
12. Better Days
13. Feeler
14. Saving Grace
15. Miss Cold
16. Please
17. Lines
18. So Beautiful

Pete’s last few songs of the encore he completed solo including the aptly named track “So Beautiful” which he finished on. I managed to whip out the ol’ iPhone and with the help of the “8mm” application, caught the final three minutes of the show.

Blue Sky Blue Release Date

Pete Murray’s 4th studio album “Blue Sky Blue” produced by Tom Rothrock (Foo Fighters, Badly Drawn Boy, James Blunt) is due for release this coming September. The first single from this album, “Always a Winner” has already hit radio and the interwebs, however, and you can check out the action-packed video below featuring none other than the legendary “Gary Sweet” (probably won’t mean anything to non-Aussies) as the storyline villain.

The last time I saw David perform live was some years ago in a much more energetic set in London (UK), when he was touring arguably his best album to date – “White Ladder”. This time around, with an added selection of tunes from his more recent albums “Draw the Line” and “Foundling”, David has brought together a band of multi-talented and disciplined backing musicians who together performed the following 90-minute-or-so stripped down set:

1. Foundling
2. Holding On
3. Lately
4. TOIL
5. Ain’t No Love
6. Kathleen
7. Gossamer Thread
8. Sea/Davey Jones
9. Twilight (with just David and Tim)
10. The Light (David solo on guitar)
11. Forgetting
12. Flame
13. Only the Wine
14. Babylon
15. Fugitive
16. Nemesis
17. T.Y.L. (see video below)
18. Sail Away

Good times!

Michelle and I, along with a good few hundred other fans were enthralled by an energetic and dead-set-sexy musical display put on by the beautiful Grace Potter and her quartet of backing band members, as they made their way through a fantastic playlist that drew on their catalogue of albums (including their current self-titled offering) and included a number of covers of acts such as “Heart” and “Jefferson Airplane”.

Including a good mixture of acoustic and electric numbers and concluding with the crowd favourite “Paris (Ooh La La)”, the night’s setlist looked something like this:

A Vimeo fan (Skot Nelson) edited together this great video from a selection of songs from last night’s performance:

As is usually the case, fan shot videos (usually using iPhones etc) are never great quality, especially in the audio department, so to compensate on this occasion (although the video above is fantastic) I want to share with you a clip of Grace and the band performing the track “Medicine” on Leno about a week ago.

A couple of things I want you to take away from this good quality clip that should give you a better understanding of what we witnessed last night:

• Just how sizzlingly sexy Grace is as she works a good portion of the stage.
• How much of a “cool cat” the drummer, Matt Burr, is and
• How good the sound is that this 5-piece band put out. Awesome.

And if that’s not enough, since I’m on a bit of a roll, here’s a video of the track “Medicine” which Grace Potter & The Nocturnals churned out for Shore104FM last Summer.

I have no idea if we’ll ever see these guys down in Australia in the future, so I’m beyond stoked that I was able to catch their performance, my second time seeing them in concert, last night. To close off, here’s some pics that I captured of the performance.

Ably supported by local talent Sam Bradley, who earlier put on quite the show for the scores of his family, friends and fans in the audience, Brooke drew on her full compliment of albums from her current disc “Flags” to her previous hits “Albertine” and “What To Do With Daylight”. Over the couple of hours she entertained the crowd with both her music and her crazy between-song banter, she managed a setlist which looked something like this:

1. Orphans, Kingdoms
2. Betty
3. Deciphering Me
4. C.S. Lewis Song
5. Ice On Her Lashes
6. Sailboats
7. Better
8. Flags
9. Albertine
10. Crows + Locust
11. Shadowfeet
12. Oh Canada
13. Something In The Water
14. Coachella

Yes, you are reading that correctly, Brooke DID urge the crowd to break into a spontaneously and proudly belted out rendition of “Oh Canada” (Canadian national anthem for those of you playing at home around the globe). It was just one of a number of quirky moments throughout the night – all of which added to yet another entertaining set, equal to the one I witnessed back in 2008, when Brooke was last in town.

If it’s at all possible, front man Dougie and his band consisting of Jonathon, Toby & Lorenzo put on a far more polished performance than what I witnessed back in June. And if you read my glowing post from that concert, you’d be forgiven for wondering how it could get any better??

The defining factor for me last night was the crowd. Heavily littered with adoring Aussie fans, I think the mood of the place was probably best described by my compadre for the night, Katie, who screamed at one point, “Wow, this crowd is AMPED!” She wasn’t kidding, there was an energy in the place that really set the tone for a great performance and the boys seemed to feed off it.

The setlist didn’t seem to vary greatly from the show back in June (I’ll post it once I can find an accurately prepared and verified version), but that didn’t matter one iota. As Katie (@kat_trains) tweeted during the performance:

How amazing does it feel when the crowd knows EVERY word of EVERY song? Happening right now at The Commodore. #Vancouver CC: @TheTemperTrap

To give you a bit of a taste of the amazing night, here’s a video of the band’s extended performance of their hit “Sweet Disposition”, that was posted on YouTube by “The Georgia Straight” a popular Vancouver Street newspaper.

Following are a quick series of shots I snapped last night. Wasn’t the best of nights behind the camera for me (I was having FAR too much fun to be taking pics), but they should give you an idea of how it all played out nonetheless!