News:
· Puff 'n' Stuff
Everything that's happenin in Adelaide this fortnight.
· Industry
The latest from the music industry.
· Puffio
Theatre news.
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Dance and electronica news.
· Metal
Updates from the wide world of metal.
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Puff 'n' Stuff.
So, that was 2004: a colourful and exciting year, as unpredictable as our weather has mysteriously become. But now that everything's been sorted out in Iraq, our environment is back in tip-top shape, we have a far-sighted and compassionate leader in Canberra and Madonna's in the studio again (working with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, Puff's told) it looks like 2005's going to be nothing but gold-plated platinum good times, sprinkled with fairy dust and served with chocolate-flavoured magic. And, as ever, dB Magazine will be there, holding your hand every step of the way, letting you know what's happening in Adelaide and beyond. Well, except for the next couple of weeks, when we're closed - which is why this Puff is dedicated to letting you know what you should be doing over the break. Puff, naturally, will be hard at work in Puff Manor's secret underground bunker, racing against time to get the Omega Ray online before the long-feared coming of... Puff's said too much.
Let's distract you from talk of rays and
bunkers and fourth dimensional octopus men than can suck out
your very soul by turning to the entirely non-military subject
of CD launches! First cab off the rock'n'roll rank is Superlux,
whose bafflingly-titled 'Amphoteric' CD (atmospheric and esoteric?
Amplified but not generic? Amphibian and rhinoceteric? Puff
has some theories...) will be comprehensively launched at Jive
on Sat 8 Jan, with support from Little Ice Age (aka The Artists
Formerly Known As The Sunroom).
The chance of sudden disintegration by a demon fleet of living machines bursting through an interdimensional warp gate with be merely "fair" at the Rhino Room on Fri 7 Jan and shouldn't interfere with the Solid MC launching his 'Solid State Of Mind' CD. Hopefully.
Similarly, one can be fairly sure that insectoid
nethercreatures, drunk on hate and with no concept of what humans
call pity, won't be invading the Rhino Room on Sat 15 Jan when
both Spatial Monkey and MKB launch their respective CDs.
And if anyone tells you that you should wear a lead-lined helmet inscribed with the signs of the six great power words intertwined with the zodiac symbol for Scorpio if you were planning to attend the The Dairy Brothers' CD launch at Jive on Fri 21 Jan, it might be safe and fun to comply. No reason, you understand. Just might be an idea is all.
The good folks at the Big Day Out - you know,
that large touring event that lands at Wayville Showgrounds
on Fri 4 Feb and has the likes of the Beastie Boys, Powderfinger
and the Chemical Brothers playing at it - are looking for Crowd
Care volunteers to help out on the day. You'll be asked to keep
an eye on the punters and make sure everyone's doing OK, and
report any safety issues to supervisors. Best of all, you get
to go to the BDO for free - and even get a gift for your trouble).
Reckon you're responsible enough? Contact Hayley Smart-Welgus
for more info on 8231 0824 or chickentown@internode.on.net.
There's three - count 'em! - good reasons to get to the Jade Monkey on Thurs 23 Dec. First up, it's Rash's 10th Anniversary so they're reforming to relive the old magic as a one-off. Two, it's the final hurrah for Career Girls, who've been lured out of retirement for one last show to celebrate; and three, it looks increasingly likely that the bill will also feature the legendary Keith Martyn's Alminyak, that unholy Diplomat/Career Girls/Kenny's Window hybrid that many thought long dead. You'd be a mad, dirty fool to miss it.
Speaking of blasts from Adelaide's rock past,
early 90s Adelaide funk favourites Kinetic Playground are reforming
for a show at the Crown & Anchor on Sat 8 Jan, along with Melbourne's
Sounds Like Chicken.
Stuff from Puff: The Love Shack that the B-52s sang about -
a cabin near Athens in Georgia which Kate Pierson lived in for
a while - has mysteriously burned down. The house was being
renovated at the time, but the building supplies were stolen,
leading police to suspect foul play. However, the iconic "tin
roof, rusted" apparently survived the blaze...Andy Bell, lead
singer of Erasure, has taken the imminent release of 'Nightbird'
as an opportunity to reveal his HIV+ status and call for better
education about HIV and AIDS for young people. The band are
planning an extensive tour northern hemisphere tour for the
new year and Bell insists that he's feeling better than ever...
Star Wars nerds Ash are delighted that their song Clones
has been picked as the theme for the upcoming 'Republic Commando'
game. Three more Ash/Star Wars fun facts: 1: Their album '1977'
is so called because it was the year the first film was released,
2: they played at the wrap party for 'The Phantom Menace,' and
3: rumour has it Tim Wheeler had sex on the set for Anakin's
hovel. Euggghhh. Now, if it had been on the Millennium Falcon...Reformation
madness continues apace with the news that Queen are reforming
for a tour in 2005 - and the man substituting for the late Freddie
Mercury will be Paul Rodgers, late of Free and Bad Company.
Of course. After all, one can just imagine Freddie belting his
way through All Right Now, right?... And the reunions
continue: those who've been breathlessly awaiting a reunion
for The House Of Love can now inhale: Guy Chadwick, Terry Bickers
and Pete Evans are doing a run of UK dates in February in support
of their forthcoming album 'Days Run Away'. Are there any bands
left that can actually stay split up?... Perhaps Mr Bungle will
be able to: after years of inactivity the band are officially
no more, according to Mike Patton. It shouldn't be any great
surprise: readers with long memories might recall saxophonist
Bar McKinnon's Patton-bashing in this very magazine some years
back... More split rumours: after blowing audiences away on
their maiden Australian tour, Les Savy Fav are now said to be
on an "extended hiatus", although rumour has it that it might
be even more extended than that. Please, say it ain't so.
It's all-in solo acoustic fight action at
the Grace Emily on Sun 26 Dec: see four men go head-to-head
on Boxing Day (although it's actually Proclamation Day in SA,
but Puff will allow the metaphor to stand). In the red corner
is Bluebottle Kiss/Devoted Few axeman Ben "Crazy Fists" Fletcher!
In the blue corner is The Vandas frontman Chris "Wrong Side
Of Town" Altman! In the green corner is The Mess Hall's mean,
lean rocking machine Jed "A Smile, A Song, A Going Over With
A Two-By-Four" Kurzel! And in the mauve corner, hoping the others
don't thump him, is Andrew "P" Street. Four men go in, one man
leaves...
There'll be all-ages metal happening at the Crown & Anchor on Sun 9 Jan when they hold Metal Kaos! with The Rip, The New Mutiny, 1000 Nightmares, The Rivalry, The Hated and more. Be early kids, it starts at 4.30pm.
Perth musical sorts The Dave Mann Collective
are making their first Adelaide jaunt in Sat 15 Jan for a show
at the Grace Emily in support of their 'Wake Up' CD.
More Stuff from Puff: Speaking of Queen, as we were not long ago, you might remember that there was a very successful musical based on their songs: 'We Will Rock You', written by the once funny, now unbearably sad Ben Elton. Seemed like a dumb idea, Puff thought, even more dumb than the Abba musical a few years earlier. Well, hold on to your hats, haterz: both The Smiths and the Pixies are getting musicals written around their music. The Pixies musical is set to open off-Broadway in 2005, while Morrissey and Johnny Marr (the songwriters and, legally, the only members of The Smiths - ask ex-drummer Mike Joyce to tell you about his ten year court battle on that very subject next time you see him) have given the thumbs up for a musical tentatively entitled 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' (but who will play the coveted role of Mr Shankley?). Puff predicts a desecration of much-cherished icons on par with the Star Wars prequels... Ted Nugent and ZZ Top will be playing at the Texas State's Society's Black Tie & Boot Ball in January to celebrate the inauguration of George W Bush. Puff's impressed at the choices: after all, could the Bush administration be summed up better than by a barking mad gun nut and a group of sexist, irrelevant old men?... Speaking of Texas, are you thinking of going to next year's South By Southwest (and lets face it, you'd be mad not to)? The first few acts have been confirmed: among the 8 billion or so artists descending on Austin in March 2005 will be Fatboy Slim, Beth Orton, Aimee Mann and, er, Billy Idol, along with speakers Mavis Staples, Erykah Badu and keynote speaker Robert Plant...Apparently Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova married secretly in Mexico in November... Shocking news about the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard: the coroner has concluded that the cause of death was - and you'd never have predicted this - a drug overdose. It seems that he suffered a reaction to the mixture of Tramadol, a prescription painkiller, with the cocaine that somehow got into his system. The death has been ruled accidental... and finally Alex Lloyd has parted company with EMI to become the first artist to sign direct to Australia's newest record company behemoth SonyBMG. Maybe that'll perk him up.
So we're almost shot of 2004 - but how sweet
is 2005 looking already? Big Day Out and potentially devastating
extra-galactic invasion notwithstanding, Adelaide is set to
be visited by a huge range of artists ranging from the alt.country
of The Handsome Family (Grace Emily, Tues 18 Jan) to the metal
fury of Terror (Enigma, Wed 19 Jan), not to mention the Day
On The Green spectacular at Annie's Lane Winery at Clare on
Sat 22 Jan (which has almost sold out, so if you fancy seeing
Pete Murray, Missy Higgins, You Am I, Clare Bowditch et al,
you'd best hurry up). Rufus Wainwright is coming to the Festival
Theatre on Fri 4 Feb, along with his sister and mum (perhaps
better known as Kate and Anna McGarrigle), Suzi Quatro's set
to rock Thebbie on Wed 9 Feb, The Shins are at Fowlers Live
on Fri 11 Feb (the same night The Waifs play at Thebbie, incindentally)
- and that's just for starters! Then there's WOMADelaide, as
well as tours from the likes of David Byrne, Good Charlotte,
Shihad, Anti-Flag, Blondie, Keith Urban, The Butterfly Effect,
Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Mudhoney! Not bad for the opening
two months or so, don't you reckon?
Well, that's it for Puff for 2004 - and, unless there's some sort of flaw in the flux matrix that perforates the Zylon II energy barrier, or some sly alien agent somehow penetrates the Puff Manor defences and sabotages the Omega Ray's firing control for that one brief but crucial second that allows the cross-reality time gate to be breached, Puff will be back in 2005: on Wed 12 Jan, to be precise. Now, if you'll excuse us, a mysterious and alluringly beautiful stranger has unexpectedly turned up and wishes to see the inner workings of the Defencearium, so while Puff gives a private tour of Earth's sole line of defence, you all should really...
Get Out Of The House!
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