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.
You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar... oh, sorry.
Puff was just partying like it was 1983 whilst reviewing the
lineup for 80s-A-Rama at Fowlers Live (brought to you by the
evil genius behind the weekly BANG! club, DJ Ian Bell, with
all proceeds going to three-d radio). As the name suggests the
night will be filled with bands doing their favourite 80s covers,
so expect some choice tunes from the intrepid likes of Les Goolies,
Hit The Jackpot, Everest, Brillig, Kamikaze, The Unspoken Things,
Frequent Seahorse, Pharaohs, Baby Doll and The Ramonettes. Puff
expects lots of dyed fringes and Choose Life shirts. You think
you've changed your mind? You'd better change it back, or we
will both be sorry?
Alrighty, enough with the chitchat - and you there at the back,
I hope you brought enough for the whole class. There have been
a few changes in Adelaide bands of late and Puff wants you to
make sure you've got them all noted down in the gold-leaf Adelaide
Band Details Book that you all carry with you everywhere you
go (alternatively, you could go to the dB Magazine office and
buy a copy of the new Music Index of SA and Victoria at the
low, low price of $25, but it's really up to you). First up:
remember Liquid Blue? They were playing around town a couple
of years back, and then vanished. Well, they're back; except
now they're called Rudderford. Why? Ask them yourselves at their
gigs at Jive (Fri 6 May), the Jade Monkey (Fri 13 May) or the
Austral (Sat 28 May). Also, you can stop referring to The Story
Of as "that two-piece band with the drum machine" since they've
now got a drummer, and you can see it for yourself at the Exeter
(Rundle St) on Sat 7 May. Got that? Good.
Another big change is happening in the One Way Out camp: so big, in fact, that they're splitting up. It's not all bad though: most of the band are already hard at work on their new band New Season Black, but first they're going to lay the last six years to rest with one last hurrah at Fowlers Live on Fri 6 May, with STR, Sumi and Short Term Gain.
The Highway Inn on Anzac Highway plays host to not one, not
two but THREE days of hot music, cool autos and kooky art as
part of the Kustom Kulture Weekend. Not only will there be stalls,
fashion, tattoos, hot rods and DJs but non-stop music from all
over the country with Sin Shifters, Zombie Ghost Train, Rockbottom
James & the Detonators, Radium Club Hepsters, Declan 'Blind
Dog' Kenrick and Gatorbait alongside locals The Satellites,
The Saucermen, The Gas Cats, Slingshot Dragster, Lucky Seven,
The Shandy Butchers, Ramonettes, The Hicksatomics, Roj & The
Jam Jets, Billy Bob's BBQ Boys and a whole lot more. It's a
scant $40 for an entire long weekend's worth of action from
Fri 13 May to Sun 15 May: check out www.satellites.on.net for
more details, and grab tickets from Midwest Trader or Venue*Tix.
Onto the CD launches! Swayback are doing the whole CD launch thing on Sat 14 May at the Grace Emily Hotel.
Friday the 13th seems like the perfect time for a death metal
band to launch a CD, which might go some way to explaining Sarsekim's
CD launch at the Enigma Bar on Fri 13 May. And it's a double
CD launch, since Slaughter Thou are launching 'The Anzac Hammer'
at the same time, along with Blood Mason and Imminent Psychosis
(who aren't launching anything. Slack, Puff calls it).
Etypejazz also have a new CD ready to roll, hence their CD launch at the Governor Hindmarsh on Fri 13 May.
Punkers Save & Exit are launching their new effort at the Enigma
Bar on Sat 7 May, with The Borderland, The Grudge and The Open
Season lending their support.
Speaking of The Borderland, they just so happen to be launching their 'Three Months Of Sundays' CD with an all-ages show at the Adelaide UniBar on Sat 21 May, with Impartial and Echo Generation along for the ride.
Sat 21 May is also the launch date for Manic Distortion's self-titled
CD as part of an all-star bill with Melbourne's Fire Witch and
Queensland rock dudes The Tremors.
Wishlist are also set to release their first effort since consolidating
their new lineup: they'll be at Fowlers Live on Sat 21 May with
locals Flag Fall and a couple of interstate visitors: Angela's
Dish from Sydney and Melbourne's Know Exit.
And that's not all for forthcoming CDs: a bunch of bands have
let Puff know that they're beavering away in the studio on their
respective magnum opii, including Little Ice Age (working on
a new CD-EP), The Tender Jealousies (polishing off not one but
two CD-EPs for a combined July release), Mr Wednesday (heading
into the studio as soon as they finish their 12 month Supermild
residency on Thurs 12 May, along with Counterfeit Traitor),
Problem Pony (who are also doing their own show in the Cabaret
Festival, don't you know?) and Mirrorline (who are demoing at
the moment, and just so happen to be playing at the Jade Monkey
on Fri 6 May with Loemax and Before The Aftermath). Who said
Adelaide was a sleepy little town?
Melbourne hardcore types Bullet The Blue Sky are splitting after four years of the rock. However, they're popping over to Adelaide for a final hurrah at the Enigma Bar on Fri 13 May with Mere Theory, STR and Short Term Gain.
If there's one thing that Puff knows about grrls, it's that
they like to rock. As luck would have it, 'Grrls Rock!' is also
a three-day series of music workshops being held by the Adelaide
YWCA over the Adelaide Cup long weekend (Sat 14 May to Mon 16
May) at the St Peters Town Hall, so if you're a grrl with a
yen to rock (and experience isn't necessary - all you need is
the enthusiasm) and fancy learning more about writing, playing,
recording and more, contact the Adelaide YWCA on 8227 0155,
or email tammy.franks@ywca.com.au for all the details.
Entries for SCALA's 12th annual Festival of Original Music Song Competition are now open in six different sections - Live performance, Demo Open, Demo Instrumental, Master Open, Master Instrumental and Lyrics - with a mess of prizes on offer including cash and slots on the next SCALA CD. Sound like something you want to be part of? Of course it is: so get that demo to SCALA, PO Box 228, Kensington Park SA 5068 by July 1, or contact them for more information on scala@scala.org.au, or check their website at www.scala.org.au
Don't forget that this issue's 'We Liked It And You Will Too'
recipients Cog are coming to Adelaide for a couple of shows
in support of their rather rad new album 'The New Normal'; catch
them at the Flinders Uni Tavern on Fri 27 May (along with In
The Grey) and the Governor Hindmarsh on Sat 28 May.
My Disco return to Adelaide with Flesh Vs Venom (featuring former members of Vivian Girls and Farenheit 451) and ex-Adelaide kids True Radical Miracle for an all-ages show at Hindley Street's Avalon Gallery on Sat 14 May. Holding up the local end of things will be My Sister The Cop, Pharaohs and Awesome Welles with DJ Slazenger on the decks.
The Lizard Lounge are holding a monthly rock night that they've
named Dance War, which seems to make sense. You see, on the
"war" side of the fence there'll be volume-heavy rock from The
Paddington Bear Affair, Brutal Snake (featuring former members
of Love Like Electrocution), Random The Words and All Made Of
Rubies, while the Helen Keller Sound System will contribute
the "dance" bit until the wee small hours on Sat 7 May.
If you're getting along to see The Drones at the Crown & Anchor on Sat 7 May, you'd be well advised to get along early: not only are Baby Doll on the bill, but it'll also be the first Adelaide gig for The Bakelite Age, the new band for ex-Meanies/Tomorrow People frontman Link McLennan and Ewan McCartney (ex-Snout). Puff just thought to mention it, that's all.
And while we're on the subject of excellent support acts that
you might accidentally miss unless specifically prompted to
catch, Darren Hanlon has made the exceptionally wise choice
to being Scandinavian indie-crooner Jens Lekman with him on
his Australian jaunt, so make sure you're at the Jade Monkey
nice and early on Thurs 12 May. And grab Lekman's 'When I Said
I Wanted To Be Your Dog' while you're at it.
Remember High Stakes? You know, they used to be from Adelaide before moving to - or, as Puff chooses to interpret it, "abandoning us for" - Sydney. Anyway, every so often they like to pop back to Adelaide to see friends and ride on Popeye, but their upcoming show at Jive might be their last; at least, their last with bassist Ennio Frisina, who is currently waiting on a ruling from the Department of Immigration as to whether he can stay in the country. Pop over to Jive on Sun 15 May and see where things are at.
Since 'The Beekeeper' came out not all that long ago, it seems
fair that Ms Tori Amos should come to Adelaide for the first
time in freakin' ages: catch her at Her Majesty's Theatre on
Mon 16 May.
Are you feeling indie? No? How about now? Now? Well, if you start feeling indier, and it happens to be Fri 13 May, then get yourself to the Duke Of York for another instalment of Transmission. They play that stuff you like. You'll enjoy it.
Sydney acoustic poppers Spargo are coming to Adelaide for the
first time for a gig at the Wheatsheaf Hotel with Canvas on
Sat 14 May.
The response to the introduction of Puff's Complete Lies
in last issue was so overwhelmingly positive (well, in as much
as no-one specifically objected, at least not through official
channels) that to abandon them would be a taint on the paper
and a personal insult to you, the valued reader (or, as you'll
soon be redefined, the literary-entertainment customer). So
familiarise yourself with the emergency exits, fix your tray
into the upright position and turn off all phones and digital
devices as we barrel down the runway en route to some more of
Puff's whimsical flights of fancy. Remember, one statement is
bone fide unvarnished truth, the other two are lovingly gilded
fibbery. Ready? Strap in - this could be a bumpy ride... 1.
Electropunk feminist heroines Le Tigre have been approached
to work with the somewhat less politically-minded Paris Hilton
on her endlessly talked up but still unrecorded album; 2. Scissor
Sisters are all, in fact, sisters: specifically the Pointer
Sisters, which is why you never see both bands in the same room;
Paul Dempsey of Something For Kate draws his super powers from
the core of the now-destroyed planet Dempsonia and cannot be
slain by man of woman born. Correct answer: probably all three,
but mainly 1. Ready for round two? Oh, like Puff cares: 1. Mary
J Blige has an entire room filled with string, which she will
never, ever use. 2. Scissor Sisters are also the Sisters Of
Mercy, and are also the sisters that Annie Lennox and Aretha
Franklin sang about in Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (and
furthermore, the "it" that they were doing for themselves was
being the Scissor Sisters). 3. Mark Lanegan made a surprise
appearance on stage with Queens Of The Stone Age on the last
night of their US tour on Mon 18 April in LA (after leaving
them mid-tour about three weeks earlier citing exhaustion),
as did ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. Yes, it's 3. Don't look at Puff
like that - just one more and we'll call it a day, OK? 1. Rapper
The Game is being sued for $US280 million after his posse roughed
up Washington DC cameraman Kwasi Jones at a radio station (apparently
a public apology was initially sufficient, until he caused $US280
million worth of "emotional distress" by referring to the incident
in a rap on 50 Cent's remix of Hate It Or Love It; 2. Scissor
Sisters are all, in fact, scissors: specifically the ones that
your mother told you not to run with. Now you've put someone's
eye out and it's no longer all fun and games, is it?; 3. Former
Superjesus frontwoman Sarah McLeod has been asking questions
about you and seems like she's up to something. The right answer
is most likely 1 - but you'd be wise to keep on your guard anyway.
Just in case.
Gotten your ticket to Ben Lee's show at the Governor Hindmarsh
on Sat 14 May? Hopefully your response is something like "why
of course, sweet Puff: I went and bought it the second I realised
that the show would almost certainly sell out, since his 'Awake
Is The New Sleep' album went to number one recently and the
bill also includes such fine supports as New Buffalo and local
up-and-comers The Phobias!" If you haven't got your ticket yet,
you may well have missed the rock'n'roll boat: at the time of
printing it was looking like a sell-out, in which case this
pic is about the closest you're going to get...
Speaking of gigs that it might be wise to buy tickets for sooner rather than later, Idlewild are at Fowlers Live on Sun 29 May, which isn't that far away at all, really...
Speaking of Ben Lee, as we were a paragraph ago, eagle-eyed
viewers of the Rove show might notice a familiar face thumping
the drums when Lee performs this week: when his regular drummer
couldn't make the taping, Ben called on talented ex-Adelaide-now-Melbourne
sticksman Simon Parker (ex-Miltons/Parlour/ Canino/Snap Krakk!,
now of The Bites) to sit in, on the recommendation of his sometimes-employer
New Buffalo. Brings a tear to Puff's eye, it do.
Lovers of screamo/metal/hardcore/that sort of thing had better
avail themselves of a ticket to the Atreyu/Unearth/Norma Jean
triple-header that's happening at Heaven on Sun 8 May pretty
damn quick smart.
Look, Puff hasn't got all day to just sit around and natter,
and nor do you: what with everything going on in Adelaide at
the moment, you'd be doing yourself and the entire State a disservice
were you not to...
Get Out Of The House!
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