Puff'n'Stuff

Holy macaroni, things are about to seriously heat up, Adelaide! Yes, Puff agrees it's been eerily quiet on the touring front, but even rock stars deserve an Xmas break...Maybe. Anyway, it all kicks off in just over a week from now when the Big Day Out hurricane comes our way on Fri 2 February, bringing with it some massive international acts you can't afford to miss - if you have a ticket that is: the Adelaide leg of the festival has sold out in record time. And it gets even better because, in the meantime, we've got a great excuse coming up to eat meat, drink beer and do burn-outs in our Holden utes with the Australia Day long weekend. Or you could just celebrate the day by laughing your head off on Fri 26 January when the Rhino Room hosts some of the Aussiest of Aussie comics, featuring Mark Trenwith and old-school 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' regular, Trevor Crook. The night will also include a tune or two by Craig Egan and the entry fee is a mere $10 at the door. The following night the Rhino Room will see Poly And The Statics making an appearance on Sat 27 January alongside Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! and DJ Helenskeletor (a.k.a. Matt from Central Deli Band). Poly And The Statics will be hitting the local stage at this year's Big Day Out too, so make sure you come along to this pre-BDO party and have a sneak peek at some of the band's tunes from 9 pm. Puff hears that, with a bit of luck, Poly And The Statics t-shirts will also be available on the night.

Wow, the Rhino Room is certainly the place to be over the next few weeks as the venue also sees Poetikool Justice make a return after their extremely successful tour of Tasmania on Sat 3 February. Word is that the band played to a packed out Republic Bar and various other venues in Tassie and are ready to explode with energy on what should be a night of funked-up reggae/rock, hip-hop and dub. Support will include Moore Black And The Organic Roots as well as DJ Proverbs on the decks, so bring your dancing shoes peoples!

This Australia Day long weekend make sure to also check into the Grace Emily Hotel on Sat 27 January and witness Rejusa as they let loose live with local 'rockpigs' Booster (their words, not Puff's). Rejusa have been going crazy after taking six weeks off the live circuit for a well-deserved break and are planning to tear it up with a hard rocking show. Local three-piece rock machine Booster will own the late set, stamping their mark on the stage with tracks from their fresh new EP 'One Minute Man'. It's free entry so get down early and make your long weekend a memorable one.

Taking a break from recording their debut five-track EP, which is due for release sometime in April or May, The Dam Burdens will be taking on a Thursday night residency at The Exeter on Rundle Street from late January through to late February, starting from Thurs 25 January, then on Thurs 8 February and Thurs 22 February from 9 pm.

This year will also see the continuation of Ronnie Taheny's two-year 'Decalogue' tour which is said to boast songs revolving around her recent trip through the Middle East and which is veiled in the brand of black humour that earned Taheny a reputation for writing 'smart-arse songs for minds that move'. Taheny will take a short break during which you can catch her for one show only at the Governor Hindmarsh on Sat 3 February where you can still be part of the DVD Taheny is filming on the night specifically for the European market. Feel free to play up to the camera and remind those in the Northern Hemisphere exactly why they probably shouldn't come here!

Majestic alt-country duo, Dirtbird (featuring David M. Lewis of The Bedridden and wonder-cellist Cathy English), will be heading to Adelaide for two big shows, which will also include the launch of their brand new CD 'White Horse Road'. Citing influences that range from Neil Young to Low to Gillian Welch, the band play at the Wheatsheaf Hotel on Fri 16 February with The Joans and then on Sat 17 February at the Grace Emily Hotel with Spindickle.

Some huge news on the Snap To Zero front - the boys have been going harder than ever and February is set to be a particularly busy month for the local outfit. Sat 17 February will see Snap To Zero blistering eardrums across the northern suburbs as part of a huge show at the Bridgeway Hotel also featuring Fear In Dakota, Tracer and Saving Savanah. Then, on Thurs 22 February, you can catch them at the Crown And Anchor Hotel for another free show with the 'fully sick' Mammal from Melbourne (featuring ex-Full Scale vocalist Ezekiel). Finally, Snap To Zero will also feature on the huge line-up that is this year's Wildeloo '07, alongside the likes of Shihad, The Butterfly Effect, The Beautiful Girls, Mia Dyson, Foreshore, Funkoars, Last Minuteville, Murder Hill and Ash Grunwald on Sat 24 February.

Oh, and you can also catch Mr Grunwald during his national tour on the back of his new album 'Give Signs' which is just about to be released to radio. The Governor Hindmarsh is the place to be on Fri 23 January for this one, with a support slot from John Woods.

Rock assassins straight outta Japan, The Havenots, are heading down under soon! Since their formation in 1994 the punk/garage/power-poppers will be bringing their rock'n'roll samurai swords under their belts when they head over to the Crown And Anchor on Sat 17 February with support from Mach Pelican.

After packing out major venues right around the world last year, Wolfmother are returning home for a handful of very special gigs over March and April. With over a million global sales for their acclaimed debut album (and accolades still rolling in) which is still topping the best album lists in Spin, NME and US Rolling Stone, it's been something of a triumphant year for the Sydney trio, to say the least. The guys have also scored a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Release as well as for the International Breakthrough section of The Brits which will be announced on Wed 14 February. Closer to home, Wolfmother also swept the ARIA Awards for Best Group while being handed the gong for the publicly-voted Channel V Oz Artist Of The Year and blitzed the Falls Festival on New Year's Eve which has propelled their album back into the Aussie top ten for an extraordinary 60 weeks after its release! Special guests on the band's upcoming Australian shows will be Adelaide's own post-punk sonic rockers Wolf And Cub so come along and catch them at the Barr Smith Lawns of Adelaide Uni on Mon 9 April (entry via Gate 8, Victoria Drive).

Red Riders have got punters' tongues wagging about their debut album 'Replica Replica', which was also recently Triple J's Feature Album and has generally been garnering critical acclaim across the country. Now the band is about to head off on a national tour throughout February and March in support of the record and Adelaideians can catch them at Jive on Sat 3 March.

The Bell Rays made their Australian debut in August of last year as the east coast support band to Radio Birdman on their Zeno Beach album tour and managed to knock the punters out with their rock'n'roll soul which drew highlights from their latest album 'Have A Little Faith'. This time The Bell Rays will be returning to Australia for a few festivals, one of which will be the Golden Plains fest, as well as a show in Adelaide that will take place at Fowler's Live on Wed 7 March. This is no false hype, no style over substance - Puff suggests you see it for yourself.

Make sure you also catch Kid Confucius during their Stripes national tour that will see the band on Thurs 8 March at Rundle Park for the opening night of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. 'Stripes' is also the title of the hip-hop outfit's latest album which has been described as a 'Detrot-era Motown record' produced and mixed with the aesthetic of a banging hip-hop album. Don't miss these guys.

Parting ways already with their new lead guitarist Mikey Valentine are The Hot Lies who have announced that Valentine has decided he no longer wishes to be in the band due to other commitments. While the band claim the sudden departure was initially a shock, The Hot Lies believe it is a good thing in the long run and will only make the band stronger - this news culminates with the release of their debut album which is currently written and ready to be recorded. Meanwhile, the band are in search of a replacement lead guitarist, so if you reckon you've got what it takes to be part of a touring band, are over 20 years of age, live in Adelaide (or are willing to!) and reckon you're good enough to step into Valentine's shoes, drop the guys a line at band@thehotlies.com for your chance to audition.

On the other hand, if you feel like winning a 4GB iPod Nano worth $299 then all you have to do is check out the questionnaire on the City Of Adelaide website which aims at finding out why young people visit the West End of the city. Runners up of the competition will win a Borders voucher worth $50 but you've only got until Fri 23 February so get clicking: www.cityofadelaide.com.au.

As Puff mentioned above, it's official - the Adelaide leg of the Big Day Out has sold out this year in record time! However, never fear if you missed out because more tickets will become available on Mon 29 January when you tune in to Triple J during breakfast at 11 am for exclusive info on where the tickets will go on sale in the CBD. The Adelaide Big Day Out now joins sold-out shows in Auckland, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne and with tickets to the Perth leg selling faster than ever before, the 2007 BDO is on the verge of being completely sold out across the country and New Zealand.

Oh, and when you catch My Chemical Romance at the Big Day Out in a week or so don't be shocked when you see guitarist Frank Iero back and jamming out on stage with his former bandmates. While Iero quit the band's Japanese tour due to an illness, and was replaced by Todd Price, he is now set to make his comeback at the Big Day Out. Bring it on!

Meanwhile, in other international news, Pink has backed down from her recent comments which called for a boycott of Australian wool and which was organised by PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals). It seems the singer no longer has a beef with sheep farmers after admitting that she didn't do enough research before calling the process of sheep mulesing "Sadistic" in a PETA video. Pink also told the Nine Network that what she was really trying to say was boycott animal cruelty and not an entire Australian industry, "Obviously, because it's my favourite country." Of course.

Morrisey has already been approached to write Britain's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest and now Jarvis Cocker, it seems, is keen to jump on the band wagon too. The former Pulp singer explained to NME.com that in no way does he want to compete with "Mozzer" but that the door is always open if he himself is ever asked. Cocker was recently nominated for a Brit Award in the Male Solo Artist of the year category so stay tuned to find if he takes the cake...Judging from his mosquito-like physique, he certainly needs it.

And just to leave you on a happy note, apparently Bono has decided to follow in the footsteps of 50 Cent by revealing that he is releasing a new book, titled 'On The Move', which will be published in the US in April and which is based on Bono's own 2005 White House speech, according to NME.com. As if you needed to be told, the book calls for all Americans to take action against extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa and features photos taken by Bono on his 1985 trip to Ethiopia. Royalties will be going towards the One Campaign to Make Poverty History. Bless.

Feel all fuzzy inside? Good. Job done then, now

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