About two months ago, I saw that Groove Armada were coming to perform at The Arena. Having caught the two DJs at Summerfieldayze earlier this year, I was keen to see the entire ensemble perform but baulked at the hefty $75+ ticket. So I’m sure you can understand my unusually spontaneous behaviour when I found out that they announced a second show (the last one before leaving Australia) for a comparatively meagre (*cough*, *cough*) $50! I, of course, just had to go.

Read more “Best Of Groove Armada”

After such a busy week at work (and somehow managing to operate on a minimal amount of sleep) I was fortunate enough to catch The Cat Empirelast night (Friday) at The Arena. A Melbourne based group, they have been critically acclaimed for their unique style that can only be described as a fusion of jazz, hip hop and latin music.

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Tonight the Rev hosted the musical talent of the Theivery Corporation. The night made way to a wonderfully eclectic mix of contemporary electronica in an upbeat, yet chilled environment.

The two DJs, Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, who make up the Thievery Corporation are probably not as well known as they deserve to be. Their tracks featured in numerous mainstream commercials, soundtracks and TV episodes. The music is best described as a fusion between many different genres including trip-hop, acid jazz, latin, reggae and lounge music, an ideal combination for what really should be a quiet week for me. Although not the best performance I’ve been to all year, it was definitely worth the late evening/early morning and the ticket price.

Last night I caught my first performance at The Tivoli Theatre, getting to hear and witness the excellent performance of Eskimo Joe with Ben, Sarah and Troy. Though we were unfortunate to be pushed slightly left of centre (causing slight ringing in my left ear today), the night was still excellent. Everything about the night just went perfectly as Eskimo Joe played all the songs from their latest album, A Song Is A City but also played many from their previously album, Girl, and topped off the night with a B-Side from one of their early EPs. The support act, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, also played a pretty decent set which seemed to get everyone ready for the main act. I even ran into Claire from my University days, who was standing just a few people behind me! To top the night off, Sarah noticed that the whole venue was smoke free making for an excellent time where the air was actually nice to breath (Suz, you might have been able to make it after all!) All in all an excellent event.

The last time Muse visited Australia was earlier this year for the Big Day Out. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to listen to their awesome act as I had spent my time at the Green Stage to watch the packed out crowd marvel over Jet. Thankfully they considered coming back to Australia. Muse were scheduled to play two shows (Saturday and Sunday) at the Arena but merged the two about a month before the gig. The change of venue to the Riverstage was not appreciated by all the people I know because a venue that holds 5 times as many people as the Arena was bound to change the atmosphere. In the end Muse’s excellent set made the night an awesome experience.

They came on pretty early (8:30pm) by other concert standards (perhaps it was the Sunday show as well as the fact that people under the age of 18 could attend) and they played continually for a little over a decent hour and a half. The one support act, who were pretty bad, played for far too long at the start. A definite indicator of this was when they annouced their last song and the crowd cheered for them (to get off).

For most of the night I managed to stay right in the middle of the frenzied crowd down the front (about 10 people deep away from the security barriers). The crowd ebbed and flowed back and forth as everyone was pushed about by everyone else. My feet were stomped on quite heavily, but I’m sure I dished out a bit as well. Everyone had an an awesome time as Muse pumped out songs from all three of their albums (Absolution, Showbiz and Origin Of Symmetry). They had a backdrop that mirrored their latest album cover and looked spectacular under the lights. I didn’t notice when it was drawn up but upon doing so, revealed three screens that projected fantastic visuals reminiscant of video clips from their songs. Their last song (before their encore) was accompanied with ten or fifteen giant white beach balls that bounced around in the crowd. Upon bursting the balls exploded with their payload of white confetti that made the crowd go wild. Definitely one of the best performances I’ve seen this year.

One of my New Year Resolution’s (not that I normally have any) was to see more live acts. So last night I managed to catch Supergrass perform at the Arena. The support acts included Melbourne-based band Rocket Science and the Sydney-based The City Lights.
Read more “Supergrass is 10!”

Each year Brisbane has a Riverfestival and this year’s marks the third that I have been around to actually witness. Some of the more interesting events that they do for this event include:

• Riverfire: The kickoff event that stars the Riverfestival including lots of fireworks and an F111 fly by, followed by a spectacular dump and burn that pretty much ends the night.
• The Riverfeast: The city council close down both the Queen Victoria Bridge and (I think) the Goodwill Bridge to make space for a number of the best restaurants in Brisbane. Each restaurant probably hosting around 30-40 people each then runs a killer banquet based around a theme for the night. Although this year’s one got rained out, this event is usual pretty well sold out.
• The Great Brisbane Duck Race: Imagine over 10, 000 yellow rubber ducks floating down the Brisbane River, each vying to beat each other to the end of a 200m stretch pretty much sums up this event. This charity event is run for the Surf Lifesaving Foundation where the winning duck (costing a measly sum of $5) has the chance to a win a new car.
• Riverconcert: A free concert sponsored by Telstra featuring four excellent Australian artists.

This year’s concert was hosted by DJ Sharif Galal and featured one of my favourite artists, Endorphin. Last year featured a number of bigger names including Groove Terminator and Paul Mac.

I saw Endorphin at The Zoo two years ago and his gigs are very impressive considering it’s electronica in nature. The visuals that are projected during his set are complemented by the dancers and the costumes that he has on stage for each song. It’s a bit difficult to explain the awesome nature of his act, so I’ll let the pictures do it this time (click on them for bigger versions):