Puff'n'Stuff

Welcome to the 400th edition of Puff'n'Stuff! That's right, Puff is officially 15 years old, but a mature 15...

On the music front, things have never been as vibrant as they are now, both locally and internationally, with so many big-name tours coming our way as of 2007.

Gomez, for one, will be back again to charm the flared pants off their loyal Aussie fans! The band's love-affair with Australia is well documented, Gomez having visited our country five times since the year 2000, and the upcoming tour that will see them kick off their latest tour at HQ on Fri 30 March next year, will most likely be the band's last leg in support of their latest release, 'How We Operate'. Be there people!

If you're into early Black Flag or The Adolescents, then Sweden's Regulations might be the best band you've heard in the last 25 years. Missing Link put out their self-titled CD with the promise of an upcoming tour and they've delivered with a string of east coast dates in December. So if you think you need some remindin' about what punk music is capable of, Fri 15 December is the night to be at the Enigma Bar. Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Space Bong will be supporting.

Goth-rockers Evanescence have also announced a tour which will see them in Adelaide early next year. The fans went nuts over Amy Lee and co. back in January 2004 after the band released their debut album 'Fallen' which struck a worldwide chord when the epic Bring Me Back To Life reached number one on the ARIA charts and top 5 hit My Immortal spurred sales of nearly 14 million around the globe, as well as earned platinum or gold certification in over 35 countries. 'No way in hell their new one can beat that!' Puff hears you say?...Well, you're wrong, damn wrong! The band's newest release has already debuted at number one in the ARIA albums chart, with their first single, Call Me When You're Sober, already reaching the top 5. Make sure you don't miss the two-time Grammy Award winners when they visit the Entertainment Center on Tue 13 February.

Damien Rice returns with a stunner of a record and a string of shows throughout Australia early next year. Described as one of the most profound success stories of the new century, check out the critically-hailed and two-million-selling artist as he plays songs from his new masterpiece simply titled '9' on Sat 17 February at the Thebarton Theatre.

Fans of both Xavier Rudd and The Dave Matthews Band should be getting their knickers in a know right about now also - the two have just announced a tour together which will include both the East and West Coast Blues Festivals, as well as their first ever Adelaide performance. Catch them at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on Mon 2 April.

Never one to miss an opportunity to pull an incredibly frightening facial or two is John Meyer and his guitar-love-making ways. The Grammy-Award-winning singer/songwriter is preparing for a tour in support of his critically-acclaimed third album 'Continum' that will see him here for the fifth time in five years. Mayer returns to electrify audiences with indie wonderkid Ben Kewller who has been described as 'anti-folk'. Catch the two at the Entertainment Centre on Tue 3 April.

On the local front, there's no rest for the wicked and there's certainly no rest for Adelaide's own Fighterpilot! On Friday 15 December strap yourself in for the jet-powered, guitar-launching, balls-out rock of these local boys as they wrap up the year at the Directors Hotel with axe-wielding local wingmen Rejusa. The 'Pilots are finally back under lights with sticks in hands after cranking up the afterburner for the BobFest crowd with rock icons Grinspoon at their last show in October. Puff is told that after taking some time out to give something back to the fans (in the form of volunteer work at various local brothels!) and putting some final spit and polish into their upcoming debut album, Fighterpilot are back on target for a full-frontal stage attack. Rejusa are meanwhile getting prepared to lay their first wave of carnage with their duelling guitars, thumping bass and machine-gun drums too - and to help the night along, there will be free entry drink specials running all night, so there's no excuse to miss it!

Another few local shows definitely worth checking out are The Finishing School who embark on a national tour form Thurs 26 January in promotion of their new EP 'Unit One' and who you can catch on Fri 15 December at the Grace Emily Hotel. Meanwhile, Little Ice Age are also back from their gigging break and playing an Xmas show on Sat 23 December at the Prince Albert Hotel with Hit The Jackpot and Matt Banham. Also catch Angelik on Fri 8 December along with Airbourne at the Loxton Hotel, as well as on Sat 9 December at the Enigma Bar will local boys Booster.

Melbourne/New Zealand rockers, Batrider, are returning to Adelaide for one night only on Fri 15 December, where they'll be seen playing/drinking at Adelaide's favourite watering hole, the Exeter Hotel (Rundle St). They'll also be bringing along their brand new EP 'Take Me Back' to sell to someone just like you. Also joining them will be our own newest tour de force trio, Birth Glow, so come down for a night of great Oz rock supplied by the best kind of Aussies around - ex-New Zealanders!

'Ten Lives' is a departure album for Deloris, Puff has been told - from an acclaimed and considered song craft style, to the muscular, epic and free-wheeling indie-rock album they've long hinted at, 'Ten Lives' has been described by the band as a loud, joyous spectacle of a record. There's no doubting Deloris has always been something of a mutating beast, but with a line-up change in the wake of the 'Fake Our Deaths' album, singer/songwriter Marcus Teague faced studio time alone, unperturbed and determined, and came up with a record that sees him play almost every instrument. What's emerged is 43 minutes of some wicked experimental pop as the album passes through mundane and profound visions of life and death, out-of-body experiences and waking dreams. Puff certainly won't be missing out on checking these guys out as they launch 'Ten Lives' at the Rocket Back on Thurs 14 December, and you better be there too!

Usually known for his awesome vocals for Perth's experimental metallers Karnivool, Ian Kenny's other band, Birds Of Tokyo, are heading our way on Sun 11 December at the Enigma Bar in support of their debut album 'Day One', out in early February 2007. The band's sound has been described as something of a 'Frankenstein.

Fans of improv should come along and check out Perth's Chris Cobillis (of The Tigers fame) at the Exeter Hotel (Rundle St) and Melbourne's Ian Wadley (ex-Bird Blobs) along with Simon Taylor on guitar at the Producers Bar when the solo guitarists promote their new releases on Tue 12 December. Supports will be Holographic Colts and Patrick Saracino, respectively, as well as guest DJs.

Melbourne's notorious three-piece pop-punksters, Kathematics, are playing their first-ever Adelaide shows to promote their third EP 'Add It Up', which is out now through Smashed Records. Kathematics' sound has been likened to Janet from Spiderbait getting drunk with The Spazzys at Adalita's house - and if this sounds like your kind of thing don't miss these gigs. Thurs 14 December will see the band's official CD launch at the Crown And Anchor Hotel with The Molting Vultures and Dexter Jones, while Fri 15 December will see them at the Squatters Arms with Red Rascal and Lovebird Society.

At this very moment, Oregon's Dead Moon are winding up another hugely successful tour of Europe and are getting ready to return to Australia for their fifth visit in ten years, so come along to Jive on Thurs 8 February to help the guys celebrate their 20-year anniversary as well as the release of their new compilation 'Echoes Of The Past' which is out through Stomp. King Daddy and the Backseat Romeos will be there, so why don't you?

Making headlines in the international world of music recently is the great mouth that never shuts up - Oasis have bagged the crap out of the new Beatles album 'Love' as the release went head-to-head with the brothers' best-of album, 'Stop The Clocks'. "It's a pointless exercise," Noel announced to NME last month, while Liam went as far as to call it "Rubbish...I'm all Beatled-up!" At the time the pair were speaking to media about their new movie 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' which was shown on UK's Channel 4 the day before - speaking about Oasis' new fly-on-the-wall documentary, Liam said, "I buzzed off myself...You notice them [cameras] but I kind of enjoyed it."

Also competing for the title of Ponce Of The Year is Axl Rose who recently declared support band, The Eagles Of Death Metal, to be 'The Pigeons Of Shit Metal' then proceeded to 'let them go' after the latter got a hostile response from an audience at a recent Cleveland gig. Vocalist Jesse 'The Devil' Hughes has hit back, however, claiming that the former Guns'n'Roses singer is "Fucking out of his mind" and that "He wasn't even there when we played, he got there 30 minutes later then waltzed onto the stage and went nuts." Rose also allegedly had a couple of fans thrown out of the gig for pissing him off on the night and, after the 'Eagles' bassist Tommy Stinson threw his instrument to the ground in protest, Rose apparently threw it at Stinson.

Nick Cave phone home...That's right, if you've got a burning question you want to ask the dark lord of music, you're just going to have phone him and leave a message on his answering machine. Cave and band The Bad Seeds have decided to post a statement on their MySpace page to let the fans know they only have limited time on their hands and if anyone wants to ask them something they'll just have to post their question and the band will get back to them - promise! If this concerns you, then call Mr Cave on 020 7043 9787 then look for your answer on http://www.myspace.com/nickcaveandthebadseeds

Closer to home, love it or hate it, Australian Idol managed to be the talk of the town recently with the announcement of charismatic Irishman Damien Leith's win at Sydney's Opera House. Leith will be heading into the studio shortly to begin work on his first ever studio album which will be available early in 2007, but if this year's anything like the previous ones, expect to hear a hell of a lot more from runner-up Jessica Mauboy.

Finally, there are a couple of great comps to get you busy over the next few weeks with dB Mag joining forces with Carclew Youth Arts and the Big Day Out! If you think you have what it takes to have a go at writing for the wonderful publication that is dB Magazine then here's your chance to become a live music reviewer thanks to Carclew Youth Arts and dB Mag who are offering you this rare opportunity. Carclew's Off The Couch is about to begin a series of six gigs at Jive and Fowler's Live, featuring showcases by fresh local artists once a month from December to May 2007. For your chance to get your reviews published in dB Magazine all you have to do is be at one or more of the free gigs and check out the talent, then write up your 400-word review to be submitted to dB's Music Editor. There will also be a free workshop at Carclew to pass on tips of the trade for wanna-be music writers so to register your interest in taking part, contact Georgina James at Carclew Youth Arts at gjames@carclew.org.au or on 8267 5111 for more info.

And that's about it for this special 400th edition of Puff'n'Stuff - just check out our glossy front cover with the Resist crew in all their hardcore glory! Speaking of 'hardcore', it's time for Puff to party - and you should do the same, so...

Get Out Of The House!