Sarah Blasko- Depth Of Field Tour

Tonight at 170 Russell was the last show of Sarah Blasko's Australian tour in support of her latest album, the fantastic Depth Of Field. I ran into Oh Mercy's Alex Gow as I entered the venue, and he told me he is a distant cousin of the opening act Ryan Downey. The Melbourne singer-songwriter was accompanied by a band and I was impressed with his atmospheric songs and deep baritone voice. He finished the set with a cover of Eurythmics' "Love Is A Stranger."

The staging for the show was quite simple with large white letters spelling out BLASKO hanging in front of a black backdrop. For the first half of the set Sarah and her band (which included Donny Benet) played the entire Depth of Field album from start to finish. Highlights included "Phantom," "A Shot," "Never Let Me Go," "Heaven Sent" and "Read My Mind." If you are interested in learning more about the origins of the album I strongly recommend checking out the documentary Blasko, which covers Sarah's time as artist-in-residence at Sydney's Campbelltown Arts Centre.

Sarah was very playful on stage and danced around throughout the night. For the second half of the set she dipped into her back catalogue. We were treated to "I Am Ready" and "I Wanna Be Your Man" off her last album Eternal Return, "I Awake," "God-Fearing" and "Not Yet" from I Awake, and the As Day Follows Night tracks "All I Want" and "We Won't Run," which closed the main set. For the encore she did the beautiful "Down With Love" and finished the evening with "Without." Sarah continues to grow her sound with each album, and it was a pleasure as always to get to see her perform live again.

Here's the video for "Phantom"

Sarah Blasko- The Soloist Tour

Despite being a solo artist, Sarah Blasko has never done a tour without a backing band before. Tonight her Soloist Tour came to the Melbourne Recital Centre. Opening support was provided by Cameron Avery, who played a set of his solo material alternating between keyboard and electric guitar. He also did a cover of Alexandra Savoir's "Girlie."

Sarah Blasko came out onto the stage and started with an a cappella version of "Down On Love." As she sat down at the piano she joked, "Welcome to my recital." The set list covered songs from throughout her career, but was mainly focused on her last three albums. As she played these stripped back arrangements using piano, samples, guitar and even ukulele, highlights included "I Awake," "Bury This," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Beyond," "Luxurious" and "We Won't Run." Sarah had three microphones set up across the stage and was quite funny and silly as she moved between them for each song. Her voice soared in the acoustics of the venue, and the lighting and staging for this show was simple yet dramatic.

We were fortunate to get a preview of a few new tracks from her upcoming album, which sounded fantastic. As she came out for the encore she joked about encore anxiety and that she would only do three songs and then the show would be finished. We got to hear "All I Want," a cover of Cold Chisel's "Flame Trees," and "Perfect Now" from her first album. Sarah got a standing ovation from the crowd as she left the stage, and it was another amazing show from her.

Here's the video for "Luxurious" off Eternal Return:

Sarah Blasko- Eternal Return Tour

Sarah Blasko's latest album Eternal Return is a bit of a departure from her previous albums with its more electronic feel and songs about love. Onagh and I were looking forward to seeing her bring these tracks to life at tonight's show at The Forum. We arrived as the second act Jack Colwell and his band were on the stage. While obviously talented, his performance was a bit over the top at times, and included a dramatic cover of Divinyls' "I Touch Myself."

Sarah Blasko and her band were all dressed in black as they took to the stage and started the evening with "I Am Ready." The first half of the set was songs from her new album, with highlights being "Better With You," "I'd Be Lost," "Say What You Want" and "Maybe This Time." Sarah was in a good mood and she danced around the stage throughout the night (attributing this to the fact she was wearing tap shoes). It was nice to hear some older songs, including "Always Worth It" from her first album The Overture And The Underscore, "All I Want," "We Won't Run" and "No Turning Back" from As Day Follows Night, and I Awake's "Cast The Net" and "Here," which was played in an acoustic style at the front of the stage and had the venue listening silently.  

For an encore Sarah honored the recent passing of Prince with a cover of Martika's "Love... Thy Will Be Done" (written by Martika and Prince) while bathed in purple light. She then played "I Wanna Be Your Man" and the fabulous "Luxurious" before finishing the night with "I Awake." It was another fantastic show by Sarah, and great to see her so happy in her life.

Here's the video for "I Wanna Be Your Man"

In Dreams- David Lynch Revisited

As a huge fan of director David Lynch and the soundtracks he and Angelo Badalamenti composed for his film and tv work, I was really excited to get the opportunity to hear these songs interpreted live. In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited brought together an array of artists under the musical direction of David Coulter to perform tracks from throughout Lynch's career. Onagh joined me for tonight's second and final show at the Melbourne Recital Centre where we had very close second row seats.

The evening began in a very Lynchian way with David Coulter in a sequenced jacket and long red gloves sawing into a log. Sophia Brous did an amazing a capella version of "Llorando (Crying)" from Mulholland Drive, and was later joined by Kirin J Callinan for a unique interpretation of "Blue Velvet." It was the Twin Peaks tracks though that I was really eager to hear, and thankfully many of them featured throughout the night. Cibo Matto did a raucous version of "A Real Indication," Sarah Blasko sang the two Julee Cruise tracks "The Nightingale" and "Into The Night" before being joined on stage by Sophia and Kirin for "Just You and I" (with Kirin at his creepy/charming best). Violinist Owen Pallett sang the iconic "Falling," Sophia performed Jimmy Scott's "Sycamore Trees," and harpist Marshall McGuire played "Laura Palmer's Theme," which was both haunting and beautiful.

Camille O'Sullivan had fantastic outfits for both her numbers, and I really enjoyed her version of "Song To The Siren" from Lost Highway. Mick Harvey and the band did a thumping version of "Ghost Of Love" from Inland Empire, before Sophia joined him for a duet of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" with Owen, Camille and Kirin on backing vocals. As David thanked everyone who participated in this tribute show, the band finished the night with "Dance Of The Dream Man." Overall it was a pretty impressive evening and such a privilege to see all these fantastic artists perform together on the same stage.

Sarah Blasko- Heavenly Sounds Tour

It's been a few years since I last went to a show on the Heavenly Sounds tour of Australian churches and cathedrals.  Last time it was to see Seeker Lover Keeper in Hobart and tonight was for Sarah Blasko solo at St. Michael's Uniting Church in Melbourne.  The church had large organ pipes at the back of the alter and stained glass windows on both levels of the circular room.  I was very happy tonight's sold out show wasn't occurring last week during the heatwave.

The opening act was singer-songwriter Appleonia (aka Jessica Chapnik Kahn) who was accompanied by a guy on electric guitar.  Her 40 minute set included a backmasking of her song "Precious" called "Heavy, Lord It Gets," which was quite interesting.  She said it was disappointing to find angelic messages instead of satanic ones when she first played it backwards.  She sung an anthemic song in Spanish from her native Argentina and closed with a number from the soundtrack she did for the documentary Despite The Gods about Jennifer Lynch's film work in India.

For Sarah Blasko this was a much more intimate show compared to last year's I Awake tour which featured full orchestras (the Sydney Opera House concert has just been released on CD).  Tonight Sarah's band consisted of long time members Dave and Ben who accompanied her on electric/acoustic guitar and piano/organ.  The set featured stripped back and reworked versions of songs primarily from the albums I Awake and As Day Follows Night, including "All I Want," "Down On Love," "God-Fearing," "Illusory Light," "Cast The Net" and "Not Yet."  Sarah's voice soared in the acoustics of the church and was so powerful at times.  She was also in a silly and fun mood and did her usual poses and moves during the songs.  At one point during the night an audience member proclaimed he loved her more than God!  It was such an amazing gig and fantastic to see her up close.  The closing song of the night was the appropriately titled "Showstopper" from the album What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have.

Here's the video for the latest single "Fool" off I Awake

Fave Albums: Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night

Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko's third album As Day Follows Night was released in 2009 and led to a Best Female Artist award at the ARIAs.  Starting with the beautiful piano driven "Down On Love," the album goes from haunting songs such as "All I Want," "Bird On A Wire," "Is My Baby Yours?" and "Night & Day" to the more upbeat sounding "Hold On My Heart," "We Won't Run" and "Over & Over."  It's a moving album that takes you on an emotional journey from start to finish.  And if you are lucking enough to get one of the deluxe versions of the album, you can enjoy the Cinema Blasko disc of Sarah covering some of her favorite songs from various movies (including an unexpectedly lovely version of "Xanadu").

Favorite Lyric: Hold on my heart, find your stronger parts ("Hold On My Heart")

Favorite Song: "All I Want"

They Will Have Their Way: The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn

Tonight Tash, Mary and I met up in St Kilda for the They Will Have Their Way tribute concert featuring the songs of Tim and Neil Finn.  After a quick dinner at Grill'd we headed over to the Palais Theatre and took our seats in the orchestra section.  The performers on this tour all feature on the newly repackaged They Will Have Their Way album: Sarah Blasko, Holly Throsby, and Sally Seltmann (solo and as Seeker Lover Keeper), Paul Dempsey, Clare Bowditch, Lior, and Alexander Gow (Oh Mercy).  Each artist played several songs either by themselves or with others.  There was also a backing band to round out the sound of the songs, which spanned all eras of Tim and Neil's careers: Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn Brothers, and solo.  

There were so many great versions of the songs, but my favorites were Clare, Sarah, Holly and Sally doing "Fall At Your Feet," Lior's "Into Temptation," Sarah's "My Mistake," Paul's "Message To My Girl," Seeker Lover Keeper's "Sinner," Paul and Clare's "Turn and Run" (the one song I was hoping would get played), and Alex's "Now We're Getting Somewhere."  I felt the crowd was subdued and a bit dull since they wouldn't really sing along or interact.  Clare and Alex were the funny ones on the night and had us laughing a lot.  The encore saw all the artists come onto the stage to finish with "It's Only Natural" and "Weather With You."  All in all it was a great show with some interesting interpretations of the Finns' amazing songs.

Seeker Lover Keeper

Tonight Tash and I ventured to the Thornbury Theatre to see Seeker Lover Keeper, the new band project of Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby.  We had a good view of the stage from the balcony, as the floor area was full of tables and chairs for those who had dinner and show tickets.

Seagull opened up the evening with a half hour set.  He played electric guitar and was accompanied by a female keyboardist.  I wasn't sure how well he'd go down with the crowd, and people started talking after a couple songs.  However it was good to hear older tracks such as "Dust Storm" and "Train Tracks," and he finished with "Company" off his Council Tree album.

Seeker Lover Keeper came out and began with "Bring Me Back" before bringing out their two male touring band members on drums and bass.  This project has Sarah, Sally and Holly singing lead on songs that each other have written.  They played the entire Seeker Lover Keeper album and highlights for me included "Even Though I'm A Woman," "Light All My Lights," "We Will Know What It Is," and the moving "If The Night Is Dark."  Their harmonies were amazing and the musicianship great to watch as they switched off on piano and guitar.  For the encore they came out and did covers of each other's solo material, including Sarah's "We Won't Run," and finished off the night with a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Wild Heart."

Here's the video for "Even Though I'm A Woman"

Musical Interlude: Female Artists

Here are some of my favorite female music artists:

Bic Runga "Say After Me"


Sarah Blasko "All I Want


Amy Winehouse "Tears Dry On Their Own"


M.I.A. "Boyz"


Bjork "Joga"


Adele "Chasing Pavements"

Sarah Blasko

Last night I met up with Tash and her sister at The Forum Theatre to see Sarah Blasko. The opening act was Sweden's El Perro Del Mar (aka Sarah Assbring). She was accompanied for her set by a guitarist and also used some percussion loops for the songs.

Sarah and her band came out and launched into "Down On Love." The entire first set contained songs from her brilliant new album As Day Follows Night. Sarah was wearing the most amazing white dress with these huge structural puffy sleeves. A few songs in she revealed a heart on the front of the dress, and then closer to the end of the set she opened up the top part of the sleeves to reveal this kaleidoscope of geometric shapes in different colors. She finished the set by playing a couple of songs from the bonus Cinema Blasko disk: "Seems Like Old Times" and "Xanadu." After a costume change Sarah came back out and played a second set of songs from her first and second albums. The nearly 2 hour show was excellent and all the songs from the new album were both beautiful and touching. It was definitely one of the best concerts I have seen this year.

Big Day Out

Yesterday was the Melbourne stop for Big Day Out. Big Day Out is an annual concert festival that travels the country, and was originally inspired by Lollapalooza. There is a mix of international and local acts on the bill and it's just one big day of music. I met up with Will and Helen along Sydney Road and we took the tram for a quick ride down to Princes Park South in North Carlton, where the show was happening this year. Thankfully the line moved quickly and we were inside around noon.

So many acts are scheduled on the eight stages throughout the day that you have to plan out who you want to see. Inevitably, there are conflicts and hard choices to make. There is no down time on the main stages because once one band finishes, the next band plays on the adjoining stage. This gives the crews time to set up for the next act. The main area on site was the Orange and Blue Stages. The other big place to see acts was the Green Stage and Converse Essential Stage, which were side by side under a tent.

We wandered around the grounds, caught a bit of Gerling's set on the Orange Stage, and then went to see Sarah Blasko on the Green Stage. Next was Cut Copy, who were very entertaining with their mix of pop and dance music. At 3:00 p.m. is was time for Wolfmother on the Blue Stage. Wolfmother are the Aussie band of the moment with their 70s inspired classic rock and extended jams. One of my favorite lines of the day was when lead singer Andrew Stockdale asked the crowd, "Are you ready to go to a new dimension?" They closed with their big hit "Mind's Eye" and if you are in the States, they are doing some shows in February, so go check them out. The next band we went to see was The Go! Team from the UK. They were another dance/pop band and had the crowd going at the Green Stage.

After taking a little break and eating some food, it was time to settle into place at the Blue and Orange Stages for the rest of the evening. We chose the Orange Stage side because the big screen allowed us to see what was going on much better. First big act of the evening was The Living End, and they rocked as usual. Chris played "Waltzing Matilda" on the guitar and the crowd sang along. Next up was Franz Ferdinand, who were excellent. Helen and I had a good dance to all their hits, and it was great to finally see them live. I love the whole look and attitude of the band, and their videos are never dull and have a great sense of humor to them.

Then is was time for Iggy and the Stooges. The Stooges are the godfathers of punk rock, having put out records in the late 60s and early 70s. Iggy Pop has been releasing solo albums since then, but the Stooges have reformed in the last couple years and have been touring. Their set was relentless and insane. Iggy is amazing to watch. Half way through the set he invited people to come up on stage from the crowd and sing and dance along. Iggy also went down to the barricades and almost surfed the crowd a couple of times. Henry Rollins was watching it all from side of stage and loving every minute.

The final act of the night was The White Stripes, another band I love that I had never seen live before. It was a ripping set of songs taken from the last few albums, as well as their cover of "Jolene." Jack White was amazing to watch as he went from guitar to piano and sung into the multiple microphones placed around the stage. Meg White even sang a couple of songs too, which was great. There's a definite intensity watching the two of them perform together as they communicate with each other through the music. Jack is also such a fantastic musician. I love that their crew is required to dress in suits and hats- it's a well dressed entourage.

After The White Stripes finished Helen and I headed over to meet Will, who was dancing to 2manydjs in the Boiler Room. We stayed outside because it was so hot in the tent. Helen ran into her brother, and around 11 p.m. we headed for home. Despite the sunburn, (and I did have on a lot of sunblock) it was a magical day of music and worth every penny.

Homebake

Today was the Homebake Festival at the Domain in Sydney. After a night of thunderstorms, thankfully the weather held today. It was warm with periodic cloud cover, which provided some time out of the sun. The show was sold out (20,000 tickets) and the lines to get in were huge when the gates opened at 11:00 am. Once I entered I had a wander around the grounds. Along with the stages there were merchandise and food tents scattered about. The food was pretty good considering it was a festival show, and not overpriced.

As you can see from the timetable, there were four stages going at the same time. I spent most of the afternoon at the Dome Stage and caught sets by Expatriate, Architecture in Helsinki, The Go Betweens, and Sarah Blasko. I then headed toward the Main Stage for the end of Wolfmother's set, and stayed there for the rest of the evening. I got a nice spot by the sound board along a front barricade, so I could lean against something as well as watch the big screen. Ben Lee was his usual optimistic self and threw flowers to the crowd when he came out. The Living End rocked and the place went nuts, which wasn't that surprising considering how drunk a lot of people were. I got to hear a couple more new songs from their upcoming album, which was cool. The evening ended with the Finn Brothers, and I made my way up to the front of the stage to get as close as I could. Their set was pretty similar to what they did at The Enmore Theatre on Thursday night. The crowd sang along to the Crowded House and Split Enz numbers, but didn't seem to know the latest material. They played for an hour and a half and then the show ended at 11 p.m. because of curfew. It was an amazing day of music, and I was exhausted by the time I got back to my hotel.