News:
· Puff 'n' Stuff
Everything that's happenin in Adelaide this fortnight.
· Industry
The latest from the music industry.
· Puffio
Theatre news.
· Dance
Dance and electronica news.
· Metal
Updates from the wide world of metal.
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Puff 'n' Stuff.
Let's start another fun-filled, action packed, chocolate-coated
episode of Puff by drawing your attention to a gig that mixes
up sweet, sweet rock with a noble cause: the all-ages Ripple
Effect show is being held at Christian Brothers College from
3pm on Sun 17 April with all proceeds going to tsunami relief
via the good people of TEAR Australia. The lineup is headed
by STR, with Sounds Like Chicken, WONE, MC Crisis, Krysalis,
Deep Sea Guns and God's Speed also lending their talent and
support.
It transpires that Puff was misinformed about the date of the
launch for Snap To Zero's debut album 'Where Is The Free World?',
but after a heart-to-heart with the band that involved a lot
of laughs - and yes, perhaps even a few tears - Puff can now
say with relative confidence that said launch will take place
at Jive on Sat 30 April. And if you don't believe Puff, you
can check these details for yourself at snaptozero.com.au
Lovers of the hip and the hop should make sure they're at Jive on Sat 23 April when Da Klinik launch their 'Battle Of Supremacy' compilation.
Manic Distortion are also launching like madmen: their self-titled
CD will be set free on Sat 21 May at the Crown & Anchor, with
Melbourne's Firewitch and local punkers Kamikaze.
Snap! Tinkle! Ouch! That, as you no doubt recognise, is Puff's impression of an unnamed member of Lapdancer injuring their wrist. What you can't hear, and therefore need to have explained to you, is that the sound also masks that of Impartial filling their slot at the all-ages Metal Rage show at the Crown & Anchor on Sun 17 April, alongside The Jonestown Syndicate, In Daylight Tragedy, Insect Seeking Technology and Sydney's Jika.
Evermore just can't stop touring, and why on earth would they
want to? Everyone seems to love them at the moment, what with
their album going gold and an entire national tour looking like
being a sell-out and everything - and you can see why everyone
wants a piece of them by popping along to the Adelaide UniBar
on Sat 9 April, where they'll be playing with support from the
ever-charming sounds of The Redsunband.
The Ramonettes enjoyed their last Celebrity Singalong so much that they're all set to do it again; they'll be marking the fourth anniversary of the death of Joey Ramone by playing a whole bunch of his songs at the Crown & Anchor on Sat 16 April with a slew of guest vocalists as diverse as Catherine Lambert, Soursob Bob, Leigh StarDust and John Vincent, as well as representatives of The Gels, NFI, Kamikaze, Problem Pony, Backseat Romeos and more. There'll also be a screening of 'Lifestyles Of The Ramones Fans' and DJ Nazz will be spinning some of Joey's purported favourites.
Toby Burke - him out of US alt-country types Horse Stories -
has just released his debut solo record 'Winsome Lonesome' and
returned to his former home of Melbourne. And since that's just
a hop, skip and an eight-hour white-knuckle drive away, he's
popping over to the Grace Emily on Wed 13 April for a show with
the sonically sympathetic sorts of The Yearlings.
Stuff from Puff: since Puff's such a stickler for convention,
let's start with an assessment of the fortnight's splits and
reformations, which represent the very tides that govern the
dark, stormy ocean that we call music: first up, Pharrell Williams
announced to Radio 1 that he's been unhappy with the NERD's
treatment by their label Virgin and therefore has called time
on the trio, although then the band's management subsequently
refuted the claim, pointing out that the band were playing in
Tokyo a couple of weeks hence... Meanwhile, The La's (you know,
the ones that wrote There She Goes) are reforming for Tokyo's
Summer Sonic festival in August, and frontman/loony Lee Mavers
is allegedly writing again with ex-bassist John Power. During
their lifetime the band only ever released the one, self-titled
album in 1990 but split during sessions for the second album,
with Power going on to form the drab but serviceable Cast...
In other does-public-demand-really-warrant-this reunion news
is word that the original lineup of The dBs are working on a
new album. It'll be their first in two decades (although there
was a dBs album in 1994 which only featured singer/songwriters
Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple). While not sure what prompted
the reunion, Puff points out that you've gotta love the name...
And the seemingly pointless reformations don't stop there! Other
recent reunions include two bands from Athens, Georgia (insert
REM and B-52s reference here): Pylon and Love Tractor. They're
both playing at the ATHfest concert in the town in June, if
you happen to be in the area... If you figured that the Pixies
reunion meant the end of the members' other projects, then you're
going to look like a gosh-darned idiot come July when frontman
Frank Black releases 'Honeycomb' (his first album without backing
band The Catholics in almost ten years). It's getting a release
while the Pixies go off the road in the US summer, in order
for bassist Kim Deal to work on the fourth album for her band
The Breeders... Meanwhile Sinead O'Connor, who only last year
was completely giving up music forever, honest, and just wanted
to live a normal life, is working on her new album in Jamaica.
It's a reggae album and will supposedly feature a whole mess
of covers of protest songs, including Bob Marley's War and Peter
Tosh's Downpressor Man. Of course... Monster Magnet have apparently
bid an amicable farewell to guitarist Phil Caivano, with frontman
Dave Wyndorf filling in on axe duties until they sort out a
replacement... The US's Lollapalooza Festival, which was cancelled
last year in the face of poor ticket sales, is set to return
in 2005; at least, provided that you live in Chicago. The festival
won't be touring, but has been expanded to two days in late
July. No word on the lineup as yet though... Billy Corgan's
solo album 'TheFutureEmbrace' lands in a few scant weeks, but
Puff's not sure what to make of reports that it includes a duet
with The Cure's Robert Smith on, of all things, To Love Somebody
by The Bee Gees... And finally, lovers of The Smiths and academic
symposia should jump on the first plane to Manchester to attend
'Why Pamper Life's Complexities', which is being held at the
Manchester Metropolitan University in early April. The two day
seminar will be looking at the "cultural, social, political
and musical impact" of the band in the UK, as well as examining
the influence of Morrissey's lyrics on "gender, sexuality, race,
nationality and the imagination of class." Why they chose not
to include Puff's kick-ass PhD submission "How Good Is Andy
Rourke?: bass, gender and that bit in Barbarism Begins At
Home that goes 'Baba-BABADADA bu-BA BA!" is a baffling mystery,
but Puff perceives more than a hint of academic jealousy...
End Of Fashion are coming our way as they gear up for what's
likely to be a tremendously busy 2005 - there's a new album
just around the corner, no doubt followed by lots more touring
and heading back out overseas and all that rock star stuff -
but you can catch them at the Enigma Bar on Sat 16 April with
the recently signed Faker (featuring former Superjesus drummer
and local boy Paul Berrymen, Puff notes with no little parochial
pride) and Daughterboy Jao.
The advantage of being an acoustic artist is that you don't have to bring tonnes of gear to a gig - unless you're Nick Charles, of course, and have to bring your collection of axes to each show; like the one he's playing at the Church Of The Trinity in Clarence Park on Sun 17 April. Show off.
You've got to love Brian "Head" Welch. The former Korn guitarist
has apparently decided that now he's got more time on his hands
he can concentrate full-time on bothering 50 Cent in the name
of the Lord. After writing him a song (A Cheap Name)
to explain that Jesus wants him to change his ways, he's now
written an open letter to Mr Cent that seems, at least to Puff's
eyes, to mix up mad props ("Fifty, you're the best out there
... you have the power to not only change history, but the chance
to be God's frontline soldier") and vague threats ("God told
me there will be many attempts made to kill you by the enemy...
If you don't come home to God, you will get killed by one of
the bullets that keep coming your way. You're a huge force for
the devil right now... God told me to tell you he loves you
and playtime's over and it's time to come home. He said he's
been with you, keeping you safe this whole time. He's the reason
you took nine [bullets, in the famous 2000 shooting]." 50 Cent
hasn't responded, but Puff politely suggests that a restraining
order might be the way to go.
Hey! Adelaide audiences have been turning out in droves - droves, mind - so you'd think that no artist in their right mind would be skipping us on their "national" tour. Puff, therefore, assumes that hardcore types Leatherface and new-folkstress Laura Veirs are bonkers, since they're both skipping us on their Perth-plus-east-coast April jaunt and east-coast-only May visit, respectively.
Then again, some people who want to come to Adelaide can't even
get here. Puff was very looking forward to the Belters* and
Metal Chicks show that was meant to be happening at the Crown
& Anchor last week, but then word came through that the band
had "Visa issues" and couldn't leave Japan. Puff has subsequently
been told that the bands had actually arrived in Adelaide and
that Belters* had already cleared Customs, but were nabbed themselves
when they went back to see what was keeping the 'Chicks. Long
story short, it seems that both bands were here on holiday visas
that prevented them earning any money whilst in the country
- which a number of independent touring bands do, somewhat sneakily
- but when an agent found a tour itinerary in the 'Chicks luggage
they got suspicious. Upshot? Both bands were put on the plane
back to Japan and arrived home about $10,000 down on the whole
trip, with all members allegedly banned from re-entering Australia
for three years. Hence, don't hold your breath for their other
bands like 00100 or Buffalo Daughter coming back any time soon
either. Puff tells this story as a cautionary tale for bands
to perhaps sort their paperwork out before they get our hopes
up.
Peter Frampton, on the other hand, would like to come to Adelaide, but reckons we don't like him (at least, not in sufficient numbers): his Adelaide show has been cancelled in the face of poor ticket sales and he's using the date to play in Hobart instead. Stop giggling, you.
As regular readers of Puff would be aware, people in this business
that we call show are delicate flowers that bloom for but a
moment before being stretchered into Casualty. Take Sebastian
Grainger, drummer of Death From Above 1979: there they are in
the US, touring away merrily, when suddenly he's feeling a mite
unwell. Long story short, next thing he knows he's got a throat
full of local anesthetic and a doctor searing his tonsils off
with a laser. However, despite this futuristic brush will ill-health,
the band are already touring again... Then there's Michael Jackson,
who has a whimsical - and, no doubt, entirely coincidental -
habit of getting ill or injuring himself almost every time he
has to face a jury. He's been uncharacteristically robust lately,
after several weeks of suddenly contracting serious flu/falling
in the shower and needing to attend court on crutches/being
knocked down by the powerful wing blasts of a passing butterfly
etc, but his defense counsel seems to be suffering from an almost
Jackson-esque series of suspiciously theatrical maladies, including
(in the case of attorney Brian Oxman) being wheeled out of court
and into a waiting ambulance at the end of a day that saw a
huge collection of Jackson's porn get entered into evidence.
Poor, poor Michael and his feeble legal team; hey, why doesn't
that mean old judge just find him not guilty so they can all
go home and recuperate?... Also in the wars is Whitney Houston,
who's just checked into rehab again. Puff's confused, since
Houston had apparently already kicked her drug habits thanks
to "the power of prayer", which is of course the only sensible
way to deal with a chemical dependency. Oh, Whitney's also going
to take time out from her busy schedule of drug busts, rehab,
tearful public statements and physical altercations with husband
Bobby Brown to try her hand at making a record for the first
time in freakin' years.
Planning to catch hardcore sorts From Autumn To Ashes at the Adelaide UniBar on Sat 23 April? You might want to grab tickets now-ish, while there are tickets to grab. No pressure, just thought it might be worth mentioning...
Similarly, those enthusiastic about Henry Rollins' upcoming
spoken word show at the Norwood Concert Hall on Sat 21 May might
want to pop into a ticketing agency and avail themselves of
tickets at their earliest convenience.
Bit of a reminder for those who pick up their copy of dB Magazine on the day it comes out: you might want to spend tonight (Wed 6 April) at the EntCent catching REM play what you'd have to predict could well be their last ever show in Adelaide (hey, we're none of us getting any younger here), especially since they're being supported by Bright Eyes and Little Birdy. And as it happens, the Birdy are playing their own show across the road at the Gov on the following night (Thurs 7 April). That's got to be rock's most convenient load-in, right there.
Congratulations to the dB crew who,under the nom de plume of
The Spikes, took out the Trinity Gardens Lawn Bowls Club Night
Owls Trophy for the 2004/05 season. Alex Wheaton, Arna Eyers-White,
Sid Eyers-White and Darien O'Reilly - stand up and take a bow(l)!
Look, don't make Puff come downstairs and tell you again, Adelaide: it's time for you to tidy up your room, make sure you have some cash for a taxi and...
Get Out Of The House!
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