Liam Finn and Eliza Jane

Last night I headed down to The Corner Hotel for the launch of Liam Finn and Eliza Jane's new EP Champagne In Seashells. The first act for the evening was singer-songwriter Matt Walters who played a nice solo set on acoustic guitar. Up next was Adelaide band Leader Cheetah who sound like a mix of Neil Young and Fleet Foxes. I really enjoyed many of their songs and they are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Liam and EJ came out to loud cheers from the sold out crowd and launched into "Plane Crash." The set was a mix of songs from the new EP and ones from the I'll Be Lightning album. There was the usual banter and Liam is still using loops to layer samples of different instruments and build up the songs. Highlights of the set were "Long Way To Go," "Energy Spent," "Remember When," "I'll Be Lightning" and "Lead Balloon." Liam also played "Red Wine Bottle" off the new 7 Worlds Collide album after someone in the audience requested it. During the encore Elroy Finn came out to play drums on a couple songs, including "This Place Is Killing Me." It was a great and entertaining evening and I'm glad to see Liam continue to gain more success as a solo artist.

Here is a clip of Liam and EJ performing "Long Way To Go" on Sunrise earlier in the week:

The Basics Overseas Fundraiser Show

Tonight I met up with Tash and Mary at The Empress Hotel for a very special evening with The Basics to help fund their upcoming trip to the UK. At a bargain price of $5 and the promise of two sets of old material, there was no way we were going to miss this show.

Sadly Tim was the only one wearing his grey suit. Kris said they had recently done a photo shoot wearing the suits in some water and they shrank on them. He was surprised Tim still managed to fit into his. As advertised we got over an hour and a half of music from the boys. They started off with the traditional opening number "Yeah, Yeah" complete with dance moves. It was great to hear some rare songs live such as "Bitten by the Same Bug," "She's Gonna B. Late," "That Girl," and "Second Best." We even got some new songs off the upcoming album Keep Your Friends Close such as "No. 1 Cause of Death Amongst Youth Today," "With This Ship" and "The Executioner." There were also the usual amounts of covers played, including Neil Young's "Old Man" and Cold Chisel's "Flame Trees." The night finished off with a rocking version of "Call It Rhythm and Blues" and The Police's "Roxanne." It was so nice to see the boys and hear those sweet harmonies again. I look forward to the new album finally being released on September 25th and seeing them on their proper album tour in November.

The Cuckoos EP Launch

Last night Belinda and I headed to The Birmingham Hotel on Smith Street for what could have been deemed an evening with the Little Red side project bands. This was the first time I have been to The Birmy, and the band room looks like a 1970's den with all the wood panelling. First up for the evening was Taka's band The Hondas. I hadn't seen them since they got a new bass player, and Jarrad sort of has a Phil Lesh look and vibe to him. All three members traded off on lead vocal duties and Taka was shaking his hair all set long. Almost all of the songs were ones I haven't heard before.

Next on stage was The Toot Toot Toots, who had go go dancers to complement their set. They were very entertaining and their sound is sort of a psychobilly/70's rock mix. After them was Dom's band The Greasers. Their set was half songs from their album and half new stuff. Highlights were "No Love Left" and "Shelly."

Last but not least was Tom and Quang's band The Cuckoos. This show was to launch their EP "Perfect View", which I purchased at the door. They have only played a handful of shows, but they sounded great and are a throwback to 50's rock (not a surprise when you consider Tom's Little Red songs). They even had some horn players on a couple of the songs. All in all it was a good night, and I really hope that Little Red gets into the studio soon to record their second album.