Big Scary- Animal Tour

Melbourne duo Big Scary continue to build on their success, with their latest album Animal debuting at number five on the ARIA charts. Tonight was the second of their three Melbourne shows this week at 170 Russell. The opening act was Dreller (aka Thomas Rawle), who played an emotive set of music accompanied by just a drummer.

It was an expanded live version of Big Scary that took the stage, starting the evening with "Oxygen." Their set prominently featured tracks from Animal, and for such an intricate and complex album they did an amazing job playing the songs live. Highlights included the more energetic tracks "The Endless Story" and "Up & Up & Up" alongside the more introspective "The Opposite of Us" and "Over Matter." They also played a few older tracks with "Luck Now" and "Belgian Blues" off of Not Art. For the encore Tom and Jo came out and did "Falling Away" before the rest of the live band joined them for "Twin Rivers" to close out the night. It's great to see Big Scary's popularity grow as they continue to challenge their fans musically with each new release.

Here's the video for "Over Matter"

Friday Nights at Melbourne Now with Big Scary

The Melbourne Now exhibition has been going on since November 2013 and as it draws to a close in the coming weeks the NGV is celebrating with extended Friday night hours and also featuring local Melbourne bands in the Great Hall.  Tonight Belinda joined me to catch Big Scary, who have had quite the week after being awarded the 2013 Australian Music Prize (AMP) for their fantastic album Not Art.

Tom and Jo were accompanied by two other musicians throughout their set, which really filled out the sound and acoustics of the space.  They mainly played songs from Not Art, including my favorites "Twin Rivers," "Luck Now" (see video below) and "Invest."  We also got "Gladiator" and "Falling Away" from their first album Vacation.  In addition there were some great projections running on the screens in the Hall during their set, with the one of a tree falling in reverse even distracting Tom mid-song.  Overall it was a great set and good to have such a huge turn out to see them play.



Belinda and I also checked out parts of the Melbourne Now exhibition, which "celebrates the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice to reflect the complex creative landscape of Melbourne."  This contemporary art exhibition contains over 175 individual and group presentations in a wide variety of media across multiple sites in the city.  Of the pieces we saw I liked Patrick Pound's Gallery of Air, Peter Kennedy's neon light work, Jon Campbell's Dunno (T.towels), Marco Fusinato's Aetheric Plexus (Broken X), the data visualization of ZOOM by Greg More and Darren Sylvester's ever changing illuminated dance floor which kept us amused for quite a bit as we tried to take photos.  Melbourne Now closes on 23 March so get down to the sites to check it out if you are interested.

The Empress Hotel 25th Musical Anniversary

The Empress Hotel has spent the past four days celebrating 25 years of live music at the venue.  I have seen quite a few shows here, and even got up on stage to sing Crowded House karaoke with The Basics in 2008.  Mary and I had burgers in the dining room and then headed into the band room for the start of the final night of celebrations.

The first act for the evening was Melbourne duo D.D Dumbo, which consisted of a guitarist and drummer/percussionist.  The lead singer did guitar, drum and/or vocal samples at the start of each song and used those loops to build the songs around.  I thought they sounded great and even played an interesting cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying."  For a band that is just starting out they were very impressive.

The main reason for coming to this gig was the chance to see The Basics live again, although it was just Tim and Wally since Kris is in Kenya working with The Red Cross.  Others must have had the same idea because the boys drew the biggest crowd of any act on the bill tonight.  They started their set with "Second Best" and then humorously launched into "Three Cool Cats" of all songs with the audience clapping along to the rhythm.  "Rattle My Chain" reminded Wally that playing the drums takes a lot of energy (he doesn't play as much for Gotye shows), and Sandra from The Empress came up on stage to dance to their cover of The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night."  "Call it Rhythm and Blues" had everyone dancing, and after a quick version of "Happy Birthday" for Tim's mum the whole crowd sang along to "Just Hold On."  The last song of the set was "Money (Gimme, Gimme)" and while there were calls for an encore that was it from the boys for the night.  While we did miss Kris, the "Silver Basics" were still fantastic and Wally and Tim had a good time on stage.

The Basics boys were originally billed as DJs for the night, which they also did between sets.  Mary and I were standing between the turn tables and the stage for the evening so we were able to chat with them and Mary talked me into finally getting a photo with Wally (he was being very generous with the numerous fans who were coming up to him after The Basics set).  I think my favorite memory of the night was when Tim and Wally had their arms around each other and were reaching out to me as they sang "We are your friends."

There was a mystery band added to the bill last minute under the moniker "Presidents and Shitkickers" who I correctly guessed was Melbourne's very own Big Scary. Tom and Jo played some old songs from their EPs and recent album Vacation as well as a few new ones.  Highlights included "Falling Away," "Purple," "Gladiator," "Mix Tape" and the last song of their set and one of my favorites, "Autumn."

The final act of the evening was The Bedroom Philosopher (aka Justin Heazlewood) and his Awkwardstra.  Justin is another comedian who I have been meaning to catch at the comedy festival but haven't, so I was excited to finally see him live.  He started his set by regurgitating a couple of small instruments and then launched into "The Bedroom Philosopher."  His songs had us laughing throughout and my favorites were "Cars 2," "Inanimate Electronic Helper," and a reworked version of his hit song "Northcote (So Hungover)" with YouTube comments on the video replacing the verses.  In the spirit of the night he wrote and performed a "Song for The Empress" and finished with "Corporate Punk" just in time for curfew.

This was a wonderful gig overall and a great celebration of a venue that continues to support and discover new talent.  I hope The Empress Hotel has many more years of live music to come as they are an important part of the Melbourne music scene.

Liam Finn- FOMO Tour

Tonight I headed to the Corner Hotel for Liam Finn's sold out show in support of his new album FOMO.  The opening band was Evil J & Saint Cecilia (aka EJ Barnes and Cecilia Herbert). Throughout their set they swapped playing guitar and bass, and utilized a drum machine and sampled vocal loops to build the rhythm tracks to the songs. Their harmonies were very strong and most of the songs were more mellow and had a bit of atmosphere to them. I really liked "Silver Spoons" and they finished with "Strange Beast."


The next band of the night was Big Scary, who started their set with "Autumn." They played a mix of old and new songs as they have been busy in the studio recording their debut album.  Highlights for me were "Apple Song," "Tuesday is Rent Day," "All That You've Got," "Falling Away" and "Mix Tape."

Liam Finn came out and began with an instrumental jam before launching into "I'll Be Lightning." For this tour Liam has a full band which includes his brother Elroy on drums and also EJ Barnes (who he toured with previously) on backing vocals and percussion.  They played a mix of songs from both his albums. "Second Chance" received a big audience sing along, and new songs such as "Don't Even Know Your Name" (my favorite track off FOMO) and "The Struggle" sounded great.  We even got "Plane Crash" from Liam and EJ's Champagne in Seashells EP.  They finished the main set with an epic version of "Lead Balloon" and broke some of their gear in the process.  For the encore they played "Jump Your Bones," and then Liam and EJ sang "Wide Awake on the Voyage Home."  Unfortunately I had to leave half way through the song in order to catch the last tram to the city, but it was an amazing show and so much fun to watch Liam alternate between guitar and drums on stage.

Here is Liam's video for "Cold Feet"

Hungry Kids of Hungary- Escapades Tour

I flew into Sydney yesterday afternoon and took the train into the city to meet up with Mel.  We walked back to her lovely art deco apartment building in Potts Point/Kings Cross so I could drop off my bag and have a quick change before heading back out.  After meeting up with a friend of hers we headed to The Factory Theatre in Marrickville to see Hungry Kids of Hungary.  The venue was interesting with this outdoor lounging area before you head upstairs into the bandroom.  Since this was an all ages show, the front of stage area was dominated by some very enthusiastic teenagers, while those of us over 18 were in a raised bar area in the other half of the room.

When we arrived we caught the second half of the set for fellow Brisbane band Ball Park Music.  They are a very young six piece with a heap of energy.  I found them quite entertaining and their single "iFly" was a big hit with the crowd.  The lead singer even did some crowd surfing during the song.  Next up was Melbourne two piece Big Scary, who I saw earlier in the year opening for Little Red.  I enjoyed their set, which was primarily their heavier songs on guitar and drums including "The Apple Song" and "Tuesday Is Rent Day."  On the heavier numbers they still remind me of The White Stripes.  They did also play two of their quieter songs on piano and drums in the set- "Autumn" and "Falling Away."

Hungry Kids of Hungary came out to big cheers from the nearly sold out crowd, starting with "The Vacationer" and then launching into "Wristwatch."  On this tour for their debut album Escapades they have added another guitarist to the band to fill out the sound.  I thought the band had great energy on stage and fed off the crowd's enthusiasm.  "Let You Down" and "Scattered Diamonds" got a huge response. I was also really happy to hear "China Will Wait," "Set It Right," and old favorites "Arrest This Heart" and "Old "Money."  They closed the main set with current single "Coming Around" and then for the encore brought out both opening bands to do a cover of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" and finished with "Two Stones."  It was probably one of the best shows I have seen them do.

Here is the video for "Coming Around"

Little Red- "Rock It" Single Tour

Last night I met up with Tash for dinner at SoulMama, a vegetarian cafe at the St Kilda Baths. It has a cafeteria set up where you pay by how many different sides you want and then get into a serving line to make your selections. The food was good, flavorful and filling.

After eating we headed over to the Prince Bandroom for Little Red's sold out show. First band for the night was the eclectic outfit Richie 1250 and the Brides of Christ. Richie may be a good DJ, but I'm not so sure about his band. Next up was Melbourne duo Big Scary. Most of their songs were played on guitar and drums (a bit of a light version of The White Stripes), but I preferred it when the lead singer Tom switched onto the keyboard for the songs "Autumn" and "Falling Away."

The crowd was already cheering even before Little Red hit the stage. It was good to see them sell out their biggest venue to date, especially since they have been out of the spotlight for quite a while. They opened the evening with "Stare In Love" then segued into "She's Not The Only One." The setlist was an even mix of old songs and new ones from their upcoming album. Standouts of the new material were "Slow Motion" and "Forget About Your Man." Their new single "Rock It" got a big reception, as did old favorites "Little Annie" and "Jackie Cooper." The band sounded great with the addition of a horn section for most of the songs, as well as having Tom on keyboards to fill out the sound. They finished off their set with "Coca Cola" and played "It's Alright" for an encore. I can't wait for the second album to finally be released in a couple months.

Here's the video for the new single "Rock It"