Puff 'n Stuff

People can get all hot and bothered over nothing in summer, but when Puff heard this latest piece of news, a cold shower and a lie down were absolutely necessary. All Tomorrow's Parties will be bringing their Don't Look Back series (in which they invite artists to perform a classic album in its entirety) to Australia next year and though Low will be bypassing Adelaide, Died Pretty ('Doughboy Hollow') and Ed Kuepper ('Honey Steel's Gold') will play the Gov on Thurs Feb 14 while Sonic Youth ('Daydream Nation') and The Scientists ('Blood Red River') will play Fowler's Live Courtyard on Fri Feb 22. And what's more, there are still other acts in March and April to be announced.

Puff is used to getting all kinds of strange e-mails about get rich quick schemes and cheap pills, but still can't make out what Marcia Hines was trying to say. Apparently the 'Earth Mother' of Australian Idol will introduce audiences at her support for Lionel Richie (Ent Cent, Nov 12, kids) to 'the Metaphysical Marcia.' Will she explain the nature of reality? Does she know the secrets of creation? Does she even exist?

John Howard's eyebrows vs the Instamatics, Double Or Nothing and Helter Skelter is what's happening at the Jade Monkey on Thursday November 15th. Puff's not quite sure what it is, but it's only $5 entry and promises to be a veritable buffet of danceable rocking and rolling.

It's a while since Puff thought about Corey Hart, but it's good to know that the crew at Rhino Room is keeping his memory alive with their Sunglasses At Night, presented by the 'Ya Mutha' Crew and starting at 9pm... Luke Thomson and his 8-piece band will be performing the songs of James Taylor at The Promethean on Sun Nov 25... He might sing about fighting off killer mushrooms and dolphins with hands, but Adelaide's very own rising star Vorn Doolette isn't all fun and games. To prove it, he will be supporting Lior at the Gov on Fri Nov 16, though Puff doesn't believe any mailboxes will be involved in that performance.

Excitable Melbourne quintet Plug-In City have just launched their self-titled debut EP and their so chuffed that they're lugging their glitzy synths, glammed-out drum machines and regular old guitars around the country in support of The Damn Arms which will see them hitting Enigma Bar on Friday November 23.

Puff loves it when a new venue opens in Adelaide to provide a genuinely different performance space, and the luxurious Promethean has done exactly that. On Sat Nov 17, they'll be playing host to Sydney's Afro Columbian rockers Watussi who will be bringing the noise in English, Spanish and French from 8 till the suitably late hour of 2am.

Their friends call them Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman, but you can call them Dean and Gene Ween. Puff calls them one of the most irreverent and entertaining bands ever to have graced the stage and on Monday March 3, you can call them the band painting the town brown at the Gov.

Puff giveth exciting tour announcements, and Puff taketh them away... just as soon as everyone got excited about Meat Loaf's Three Bats tours next February, Puff has to put on a sad face and tell everyone that it has been postponed to later in the year.

Wondering what on Earth is going on with Nereeda? They're officially Twelve Dollar Monkey now and the monkey business starts on Sat Nov 17 when they'll be opening for Legends Of Motorsport at the Cranker, and because they're so excited about the new name they'll play the Gaslight Tavern in Brompton the very next day.

Quick, call Mr. Ripley and his merry bunch, because believe it or not, King Daddy are finally releasing their debut album. Puff had to check twice to make sure, but the dirty swamp rock that they're calling 'Evil Love' (with guest spots from Spencer P Jones from the Beasts Of Bourbon, Monika Fikerlova of Love Of Diagrams and Baseball and Dan Brodie & The Broken Arrows) will indeed be launched this Sat Nov 24 at The Grace Emily Hotel with the help of The Scarves, who are also launching their own single.

Puff's starting to feel a bit like it's Cape Canaveral with all these many launches around - contemporary singer-songwriter Kathy Gibbing is joining the wave as she celebrates the release of her first CD, 'Black Cat,' on Thurs Nov 29 at the Jade Monkey... Alternative rock act Risemann launch their latest album 'New Revolution' at Fowler's Live on Sat Nov 17.

Puff likes it when people say what they mean, and the Adelaide Rock Collective certainly does that. When they say there's Supercharged Rock at the Holdfast Hotel on Fri Nov 16 it's because Rejusa and Raw Ether will be there on the night to provide exactly that. What the name doesn't tell you is that it's 100% free.

Crackwhore will be coming to town on Saturday Nov 17, so naturally enough the folk from Angelik have taken it upon themselves to show the Melburnites that Adelaide knows how to rock by hosting the inaugural Bitchfest at the Jolly Miller and inviting them along to strut their stuff.

Crazy new-wave art-punks The Damn Arms are so excited about their new album that they're hopping in the van to do a national tour. They'll be playing Enigma Bar on Thurs Nov 22 with plucky upstarts Plug In City.

What have you done with your life? Puff's been telling dB's readership about all the good happenings in Adelaide for nearly two decades, but if you can't hold your head up proudly when looking back at your life's achievements, why not help break a world record? On Fri Nov 23 the Adelaide International Guitar Festival invites you to mosey on down to Elder Park and join them for the biggest mass guitar performance ever attempted (the current record is 1730 people playing at once), and the song they've chosen is Smoke On The Water...If there wasn't enough guitar already, ska legend Ernie Ranglin has just joined the festival line-up, playing with the Pigram Brothers on The Nov 29 at the Wah-Bar.

Now that Guy Sebastian's looking all dapper, Bobby Flynn sports the largest hairstyle to come out of Australian Idol, and he'll be bringing that along with his band The Omega 3 to an intimate all ages show at the Gov supported by John Wood on Tue Nov 27.

Puff thought that everybody was doing a brand new dance on folk/pop chanteuse Kate Miller-Heidke's latest tour until it became apparent that she hasn't named her latest tour after Little Eva but her multi-ARIA Award album 'Little Eve'. Either way, when she plays the Gov on Sunday Nov 25, it will be the last chance to catch her before the summer so it's a show well worth your while.

What does Puff need to do to persuade overseas artists that the Adelaide City Council is right, and Adelaide is "the place to be"? Eclectic popster and master of the whistle, Andrew Bird will be bypassing Adelaide on his upcoming national tour, and so will the inimitable Polly Jean Harvey, who will come all the way to Australia in February to promote her latest album, 'White Chalk', but can't make time for Adelaide... At least Meat Katie's not such a snob- the one-time punk and now breakbeat producer is playing on Sat Dec 1 just down from the dB office at Mojo West.

Some bands show Adelaide much more respect, and Puff is preparing for a rock and roll juggernaut on Fri Nov 30 when MAMMAL come to kick off their national tour insupport their latest single, Slaves. And what's more, they will be selling in a special limited edition at their shows.

And the rock doesn't stop: Behind Crimson Eyes will be giving Puff an early Christmas present when they play a licensed all ages show at Fowler's Live on Christmas Eve Eve (that's Sun Dec 23, natch) with New Season Black and Kiss Montana.

Most bands taking a trip to Adelaide would grace us with just a single show, but doing thing by half is not Plastic Palace Alice's style. Fresh from signing a distribution deal with Inertia Music for their forthcoming debut album, they will be playing at the Jade Monkey on Thurs Nov 22 with Brillig, Love Stereo and Bakewell Street, and the Promethean on Fri Nov 23 with Special Patrol.

Meredith's Supernatural Amphitheatre will be buzzing next year on March 8-10 for Golden Plains. Making hay while the sun shines (and after it sets) will be it up will be Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, Ween, The Vines, Iron & Wine, The Dirtbombs, Beirut, Buffalo Tom, The Bamboos, Jay Reatard and The Sea And Cake, along with a host of others, and that's just the first announcement.

More Festival news; the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival (returning to its original home at Belongil Fields) will bring over another batch of legends from all over the musical spectrum this year. Funk legend Maceo Parker will join Buddy Guy, Vusi Mahlasela, Mavis Staples, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Wilco, Stanley Clarke, Don McLean, The Black Crowes, Sinead O'Connor and others.

If all the festivals on over summer are beginning to blend into one, the ecologically minded folk at Peats Ridge want to make sure you remember them as the first major festival in Australia to run completely on renewable energy. An hour's drive North of Sydney, they'll be eschewing fossil fuels over New Year's with the help of 400 bands on 15 stages including De La Soul, Sara Blasko, Katie Noonan, Ed Kuepper, Buck 65, Darren Hanlon, Jeff Lang, The Fumes and Hermitude and literally hundreds of others.

It's a shame Kelley Stolz won't be there, what with his last release using renewable energy and green tags to offset all electricity used during its recording and all, and speaking of the crazy Californian, there's good news and bad news about his previously announced tour next February. Because Puff likes to get these things out of the way, the bad news comes first: he'll no longer be playing the Grace Emily on Fri February 8 because he has another show on at the same time. The good news is that it's just across town at Jive.

Puff was worried when Brazilian party starters Bonde Do Role announced a swathe of dates in Australia but none of them were in Adelaide. Thankfully, this has been rectified and Puff is pretty willing to bet that when they bring their mix of baile funk, rock and hip-hop to Rocket Bar on Thurs Jan 3, it will be the biggest party of the new year so far.

Bad news for anyone getting into a NY State of mind in preparation for Nas' show - it has been rescheduled to March/ April next year to allow the Nasty one to promote his next album in that states, the controversially titled 'Nigger.'

The Adelaide International Guitar Festival might think you need a day off from the finger-picking goodness of their schedule, but if you disagree, see the Brew Duo playing a selection of works by Piazzola, Lauro and Sojo at a pre-dinner concert at the Promethean on Monday Nov 26.

Melbourne's weird one man band Dane Certificate will be playing at the Cranka Thurs Nov 22 with Its Is, Gary Mangred and Hit The Jackpot and at the Exeter Hotel with Spinster Sinister... Sydney's Nobody Knew They Were Robots will play psychedelic stoner tech metal at the Cavern Club on Fri Nov 16, then at Jive on Sat Nov 17 when they support the irrepressible Tony Font Show... Cantankerous guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke will be lighting up the Norwood Town Hall Fri Feb 22 with his magic that he wil be presenting in 6-string and 12-sting varieties... And a big congratulations to local indie poppers Room One who snagged third spot at the recent National Campus Battle Of The Bands competition.

Puff knows the value of a good pun, and it was impossible to resist calling the 2007 Resist Records Showcase, well, irresistible. But when Carpathian, Irrelevant and 50 Lions are bringing more rock than the Flintstones to Dec 15 Fowler's Live for a licensed all ages show, bad puns are that last thing you should be worrying about.

If you're in the region on Thurs Nov 29 then make sure you get to AUSMUSIC's 'Louder Than Words,' a free all ages concert in the Mount Gambier Cave Gardens with the one and only Dave Graney along with a host of Southeast musicians. Also on the day will be a free Music Business Skills workshop at the Mount Gambier City Hall.

Gosh, Puff remembers when Local Anaesthetic was just a babe, when it took its first steps and said its first word ("puff," of course). But how quickly they grow up, and Local Anaesthetic's 7 already, so it's only natural that psychedelic travelers Space Monks, the hard rocking fellows of Cock, Mayfield and Isle Of Vision should get together and put on a heck of a show. Now

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