Puff'n'Stuff

It's been a busy busy and thrice busy March in Adelaide and around South Australia, and quite frankly, Puff is in some small way quite happy to see the back of it. There's no more Film Festival, WOMADelaide, Fringe Festival, Fuse Festival or Clipsal 500 car race until next year. On the debit side, there's no more summer, no more daylight savings, and the AFL booze bus has staggered into gear for another year. Ah well, sit back, relax, take the weight off for a brief second or two, and open up your favourite magazine to catch up on what's just around the corner... what's that? You already have it open at the required page? Yes, of course. Now read on...

Hey! dB Magazine photographers Julie Richards and Rodney Magazinovic take under their wing Andrew P Stace and together have come up with something rather special. 'The Masters & The Apprentice' is their photographic exhibition, showing from Tues 10 April at the Grace Emily. When you drop in and have a look and drop a pint of frosty ale, make sure to tell Clanger that Puff sent ya!

After that endorsement of having a bit of a rest, you gotta make sure it isn't too long, for this weekend is Easter long weekend. Now that is good news: the possibility of four days of excellent weather and not much to do except catch the fine autumnal sunshine and... head on up to the Barossa Valley for the annual Barossa Vintage Festival. The opening act for the whole event is the 'Outside The Cellar', held, appropriately enough, just outside the cellar doors at Chateau Tanunda. This concert combines the very best of live performance, food and wine, and features The Black Sorrows (Joe Camilleri), Diesel, The Huckleberry Swedes, John Baker Trio and young Lyndoch lads Avedis. Gates open at 2pm on Sat 7 April and the entertainment kicks off a mere half an hour later.

Emily Davis & The Sunday Brides play at the Church of Trinity at Clarence Park on Sun 22 April from 6pm with special guest Emily Smart in support. Having released the album 'Moving In Slow Motion' earlier this year, Emily Davis is on a roll, picking up some really good audiences and great reviews. Playing a key slot at this year's WOMADelaide was probably as big a buzz as it gets, so don't hang around for this one, capacity for this gig will be somewhat limited.

Puff just heard the word on the streets, and the word[s] is 'The Shins'. Yep, touring a little later this year, probably play at the Thebarton Theatre in August. How cool is that?

Melbourne three piece Love Of Diagrams are currently on a massive tour in the USA, busily promoting their new album 'Mosaic'. The good news is they return to Australia in May and almost immediately embark on a rather fill tour of this country, desperately hoping that no-one's forgotten them whilst they've been gone. Fat chance! The date to pencil into your diary is Thurs 10 May, when Love Of Diagrams will be at Jive Nightclub.

A great return to form at the West End of the city - New Found Glory and The Audition at HQ on Tues 10 April.

It's all based on the implied cool of getting out there on a Friday the 13th of course, that's why a group of determined and demanding independent Adelaide bands have come up with the concept of 'Tonic 07'. It's a remedy to the staleness of corporate rock, they argue, and who can reasonably argue against that? They've picked one of Adelaide's finest live venues to be their spiritual home, and who can reasonably argue at that? (Is there an echo on this page?) What it all adds up to is that on Fri 13 April you'll find a big gig with great bands: J-hoe, Is this Art? Snapperhead and Grubenstyle, along with spinning disks from The Spin Doctor and the night all being hosted by MC Frost. The place to be is Jive.

Another band making more than a few waves on the world scene - Wolf & Cub. After that wonderfully unsuccessful mixing of metaphors, it's worth noting for the record that Wolf & Cub have been very busy lately promoting the release of their album 'Vessels' on the wonderful UK based 4AD label. 'Vessels', so that's where the nautical theme creeps in. Anyway, the band have been in Japan, the UK, Europe and the US for the last eight weeks promoting the heck outta it. A couple of their shows in the US were in Austin Texas at the SXSW music conference, playing at the highly acclaimed 4AD Records show case and the SXSW Australian BBQ. To finish their international tour, Wolf & Cub played two more club shows in LA before returning home. Anyway, with the new single March Of Clouds ready to go, the band hit the road for an Australian tour - a full Australian tour prior to the single's release on 28 April. The single also features a non-album track Chameleon & The Snakes and the Serge Santiago dub remix of This Mess. Now get this: Wolf & Cub play Sat 19 May at Adelaide Uni Bar.

Just a quick note here to confirm that New Zealand country rock outfit The Renderers are due over here for an Australian tour which sees them in Adelaide on Fri 20 and Sat 21 April. More news as it comes to hand, which is most likely to be next issue. NZ country rock, eh? What's that like cuz?

Support bands have been confirmed for the much anticipated Slayer gig, coming through Adelaide on Sat 14 April. It's been a while since seminal 80s and 90s band Slayer were anywhere near these parts, so this one should be huge, especially when they're accompanied by Mastodon, and the newly announced Double Dragon, who get their chance to pump it out big time in front of the crowd at Thebarton Theatre. Onya guys! Here they are, looking ready to impress.

Do you know, it sounded almost gloating, and it probably would from anyone other than that nice chap John Butler, but the presss release said, in part "John Butler Trio's new album 'Grand National' bulleted into this week's national ARIA album chart at No. 1 selling three times the previous and recent weeks sales of number one albums. The retail industry has been suffering soft CD sales for the last few months, but the number one debut of The John Butler Trio's new album 'Grand National' marks the beginning of a retail recovery for local Australian artists." Can't put it more plainly than that, can you? And the press release went on to point out this 'trend (is it indeed a trend?) is likely to continue with the forthcoming new albums in the next few months from Silverchair, Missy Higgins, Powderfinger, Grinspoon and The Waifs. That's a fistful of Aussie goodness, right there!

Word up! Jet to play a big and as yet unnamed Adelaide show on Sat 9 June? Indeed yes is the word.

In this century, when black is seen as nothing more than a stepping stone to bleakness, there is one band from this wondrous town which we dare call a city who stand head and shoulders above all others when it comes to darkness. Their soul is a shivering and guttering candle in the winds of calamity, their talent an ebbing and flowing stream of life in a parched state. They are... oh, fer Christ's sake, they're Bit By Bats, alright? Their new album is 'Go Go Go!' and it's out and in stores now. The 'Bats are off on tour all through April and May, and you can check out their blackness at the CD launch show they play here in Adelaide at Enigma Sat 21 April.

According to her publicist, former Australian Idol finalist Lisa Mitchell overloaded MySpace last month when over 10,000 people tuned in to watch her live performance online. Did it crash it, though? Unlikely, that's the true test of greatness, Puff understands... anyway, Puff wonders if it's possible to overstay your fifteen minutes of fame in the virtual realm, and if anyone really cares anyway. Apparently the newly turned seventeen year-old from Albury has been working hard writing and recording her own original material since coming off 'Idol' last November. 'coming off' means 'voted off', and thousands of people across Australia are writing original songs every day, as it happens. Just sayin'. If you need more info you could check out her MySpace page for yourself, but be aware she's teamed up with Evermore drummer and Channel [V] host Dann Hume to produce a debut EP which she'll release independently in early May.

Punk rock rhythm and blues your bag? The band is Perth's Capital City and they're coming to Adelaide as part of their album release tour, playing at the Crown and Anchor on Sun 8 April - a free show. 'Bad Money' is their newly released debut album, and they want you to know they're the sort of band who support the Blues Explosion. 'Nuff said.

And some advance notice on this one: ARIA award winning band The Audreys announce that their last Australian tour for the year will be the 'Sheets To The Wind' tour which sees them performing at the Gov on Sat 16 June. Yep, they've had fun touring and promoting the debut album 'Between Last Night & Us' but now it's getting toward time they hunkered down and started work on the follow up recording. The word from The Audreys camp is that's exactly what they'll be doing for the better part of the rest of 2007, so this will be the only chance to catch a performance. More news on dates and supports as it comes to hand.

Thirsty Merc hit the road again shortly, on a tour which will see them in Adelaide on Sun 3 June playing at HQ. They sold out their Australian tour in March pretty much everywhere they played, and with a new album ('Slideshows') on the way later this month, and a new single 20 Good Reasons, which is currently in the top 10 on the ARIA charts, now is the time to get out on the road and do it all over again. Supports for the tour will be Old Man River and The Hampdens, which sounds a trifle lightweight for the hairy ones.

Should your heart take you back to the 1990s and a band named The Stepfords, let the strings of that heart 'zing' with delight, for they're back for a brief time only, an touring. In fact, they're supporting Tony Joe White all around the country, and fitting in a few shows of their own along the way. Hence, Wed 4 April is the evening to be at the Grace Emily Hotel to recapture some of that heady alt-country-rock magic. The Stepfords put the alt in country before the rest of the world even knew it was a word.

Have a lubbly jubbly Easter break, and for goodness sake

Get Out Of The House!