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.

Retreat Hondas

Tonight Belinda and I headed down to The Retreat Hotel in Brunswick to see The Hondas play. The hour long set started off a bit slow, but began to pick up with Taka's song about freedom, Quang's song about a monkey, and old favorites like "I Am A Homosexual," "Ariana," "Julia," "Dream Girl," and "God Save My Soul." The banter was very amusing as always and there was even a group of people up dancing towards the end. Once again it was fun evening with The Hondas.

Little Red-O-Rama

It has been fun with Little Red over the past week with several shows starring the boys.

September 12
This was the second sold out show at the Corner Hotel. The opening bands were the same and last month, and this time I got to see Andy Bull play. He was entertaining and has a bit of a soul/funk sound to him because of the horns section. The Holidays started out good but after a while their songs began to get repetitive.

Little Red were in excellent form on the night as they tore through their set list. I was really happy to hear "Isabella" and "Believe In Your Man" tonight, as well as the unreleased "Forget About Your Man." We got some new songs as well, and it's good to see Tom playing keyboards on those numbers (an added instrument to the Little Red repertoire). Unfortunately due to Andy Bull starting late I had to miss the encore so that I could catch the last tram back to the city.

September 18
The Hondas came and played a show at the Brunswick Hotel so of course I couldn't miss it being so close to home. It has been a while since they played together, so their set was a bit messy at times but still entertaining. They played songs from the first album as well as brand new ones they have just written. I was glad to hear "God Save My Soul," "When I Was Young" and what could be the gay anthem for 2008 "I Am A Homosexual." It was all over in about 50 minutes and I went over to Taka afterwards to thank him for playing. Hopefully he'll get his visa sorted out.

September 20
Yes, I know what your thinking, "But you just saw them a week ago." I probably would have skipped Little Red's last date at The Corner Hotel except for the fact that The Fearless Vampire Killers were opening and I've been wanting to see them for a while now. Thankfully they did not disappoint and put on a fantastic set of 60's inspired psychedelic rock. I was very impressed by them and it's no surprise that they were named one of the "10 Bands To Watch" for 2008 by Wireless Bollinger.

Little Red put in another great performance, and Mel was impressed by them. They played a similar set to the previous shows, and of the new songs "Lazy Boy" is my personal favorite. The show closed with a rousing rendition of Coca Cola and all the bands came on stage to sing along (if anyone knows people who work for Coke, that song is begging to be used in some advertising). It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for Little Red and hopefully they will continue on their upward trajectory.

You can watch Little Red live from The Annandale Hotel in Sydney on 23/8/08 here.

Oh Mercy Equipment Fundraiser

Last night I headed over to The Evelyn Hotel for a benefit show for Oh Mercy. Their musical equipment was stolen a couple months ago in Sydney while on tour, so this was an attempt to raise some money to buy new gear. The evening opened up with Kimbra, a singer-songwriter originally from New Zealand. I thought her set was good- she used looping pedals for vocal and rhythm effects and did covers of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Gotye's "Hearts A Mess."

Next up was my favorite Japanese pop band The Hondas. Taka was once again a comedic shining light as he introduced a song by telling a story about a girl who left her watch in his room. He took it to Cash Convertors and bought a harmonica, which he proceeded to play on the next song. Funny stuff! Their set was a mix of old favorites and new songs they are recording for a new album, which will be out soon. Very exciting.

After The Hondas was Little Red's other side project band The Greasers. How lucky for me to have both groups on the same bill. I still have not managed to get a copy of The Greasers album, but they played a good set, including my favorite of theirs "Metamorphosis." Once they finished it was already late, and since I didn't have much time before I would have to leave for the tram I decided to head for home. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to miss Oh Mercy's set. However I'm hoping to catch them when they play down the road at the Brunswick Hotel in August.

The Hondas

Since Monday is a holiday Belinda and I took advantage of not having to go to work and headed out to the Ding Dong Lounge tonight to see The Hondas play. The opening band The Moderns were nothing to write home about, and their lyrics were laughable (I went to LA/I drank a latte). I was glad when they finished.

The Hondas came out with great energy and played a fantastic and entertaining set. I should mention that this is the other off shoot band of Little Red, containing Taka Honda and Quang Dinh. Taka was really emphasizing the Japanese pop angle of the band (appropriate since he's from Japan), and it was good to see him out from behind the drum kit and up front with a guitar. He was very amusing throughout the night and had a good rapport with the audience. I was laughing a lot at his song intros and even the venue employees picking up empty glasses had smiles on their faces. Their set was short but they played a lot of songs- a mix of stuff from their album and some new numbers. I was very happy to hear "God Save Your Soul," which is my favorite song on the record. All in all I was impressed and look forward to catching them live again soon.