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 can read Nick Peters' interview with High Places in this edition, and it's true they'll be playing at Urtext Studios with Melbourne's Mark Barrage on Sun 1 March, but it would be remiss of Puff not to mention that super awesome happy fun times will also be brought to that venue on that date by Baltimore electro-whiz Dan Deacon. Just look at him, isn't he making you smile already?
After much wrangling and negotiation, the line-up of Urtext Studios' next gig is also official. Heading things up on Sat 21 March are locals God God Dammit Dammit, Hit The Jackpot and The Weevils (ex-Skeletons), plus Melbournites 99 and The Hatchets as well as the hilariously-named Japanese metal band Kill My Bleeding Smile. Apparently there's nothing emo about the sludge metal/ shoegazer quartet except the name, but really... Kill My Bleeding Smile - Puff hasn't laughed so hard in a long, long time,
Underground film and music buffs take note: iconic British experimental guitarist Mike Cooper will perform a live score for Armenian director Sergei Paradjanov's film 'The Color Of Pomegranates' at Gallery Delacatessen on Tuesday 3 March, as well as an improv and song-based set at the Exeter on Thursday 5 March.
On a similar note, Adelaide composer Stephen Whittington will perform live scores on piano for 20th Century avant-garde films by Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Fernand Leger, and Marcel Duchamp, as part of Rythmus 09 at the Radford Auditorium, Art Gallery of SA, on Sunday 1 March.
When Ian Mackaye played here with his band The Evens a few years ago, it was a thoroughly enjoyable gig, and there's no reason to expect any less from his ex-Fugazi bandmate Joe Lally. The bass player backed by Sydney sibling two-piece Gallucci for his show at the revitalised Metropolitan Hotel on Thurs 12 March.
Featuring a couple of members from Poly And The Statics, The Honey Pies are a new band making the rounds at the moment, and Sat 7 March will also see them grace the stage at the Ed Castle with Steering By Stars and Oh My Guard! Here in 2007 as part of the Festival Centre's Trans:Mission series, Tunisian Oud player and singer Dhafer Youssef is returning, this time with a trio of bass, percussion and piano, on Wed 25 Mar at the Festival Theatre.
 "Never say never" goes the saying, but Puff's going to go out on a limb here and say it's never a bad thing when news of a Drones tour comes to hand. You can imagine Puff's excitement, then, upon finding out that that very band will be gracing The Gov on Fri 1 May with Witch Hats and Los Angeles experimental noise-punk outfit Qui supporting.
You've heard his song I'm Yours, and now Jason Mraz is proving true to his word by coming back for another Australian tour, his sixth, which will take in an outdoor show at Bonython Park on Fri 17 April. If his latest album title is to be believed, he and his band will sing, dance and steal things, though no word yet on what you can expect from Missy Higgins or Eric Hutchinson, who will also be playing at the show.
After Mick Harvey took a bow and exited stage right comes news that his spot in The Bad Seeds will be filled by another revered musician who's been making beautiful and intriguing noises for many years, the one and only Ed Kuepper. Guess this puts paid to any (slim) chance of an extended Saints reunion, though there are still a few Laughing Clowns shows scheduled for Sydney and Melbourne in May.It may not be as high profile as some of our other festivals, but The East End International Jazz And Blues Festival should be plenty interesting for those with an interest in jazz (not so much blues, though). Taking place from Fri 13 to Sun 15 March in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, artists this year include the Brad Mehldau Trio from The USA, Kirk Lightsey/ Bernie McGann Quartet, Michelle Nicolle/ Stephen Magnusson Band and Marmalade Circus.
Speaking of festivals over at the Garden, the Future Music Festival's not far away, bringing N.E.R.D., Basement Jaxx, Paul Oakenfold, CSS and a bunch of other top-class acts to an extended Garden Of Unearthly Delights over in Rundle Park. In fact, the festivals so big they've expanded across the road (which will be closed for the day) to encompass Rymill Park as well. And just in case that's not enough, they've just announced the local acts as well, which will include Track Team and Loot n Plunder DJs as well as Chris Spiers, Reelax, John Morley, Damage and plenty more that won't fit in Puff, but will be amply accommodated in the extra-large venue.
And, because good things come in threes, Fuse will also be having their Explode! Showcase in Rymill Park, headliners Behind Crimson Eyes joining a strong Adelaide (and ex-Adelaide) cast of The Shiny Brights, Poetikool Justics, Sundance Kids and Former Child Stars as well as Washington and Cloud Control and a Triple J Unearthed Winner. It all happens on Wed 4 March, is open to all ages and costs a paltry $10.
Abundant kudos to all the artists and workers who've been performing and organizing benefit shows and donating tracks to compilations to raise funds for victims of the bushfires, as well as overseas artists like Pink and Leonard Cohen, who have also given generous donations.
Speaking of benefit gigs, Wild Folk For Wildlife is raising funds for the animals injured and displaced by the Victorian bush fires. Taking place at the Folk Centre on Sun 15 Mar from 2:30pm, it'll feature The Cowtippers, Chris Muldoon, Hedgemonkey Morris Dancers, Flange Desire and Spiral Dance.
On a similar note, SA Beerbugs United is a bunch of South Australian musicians and artists banding together for a day at the Brecknock Hotel on Sat 28 to raise some cash for the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Bands and artists so far confirmed are Kamikaze, Blacknail, Meatbeaters. Cock, Lapdancer, Gutter Jazz, Billion Dollar Bums, Fear And Loathing, Roadside Slasher, Trasharama Films, Blood And Broken Bones, Squidjag, Glamville, Happy Sometimes, Gorilla Porn, Miss Paula Jane Go Go dancers, Cowtippers, 2000 Men, GG Allin Bindig, The Kemp Brothers, Guillaume Soloacoustic, Flavella Lamour The Serpent Dancer, Spindickle and Jonothan Crouch. There'll be Poetry by Kami and Recyclopath, JOYa the sexy belly dancer and burlesque dancer Miss Cherry Valens. DJ Vagas will be spinning tunes in between acts and VJ Pogo will be screening weirdassed visuals. Kudos to all.
Also warming the cockles of Puff's heart this edition is news of the Format Festival, a bunch of bands playing an artist-run Fringe event for the enjoyment of you, the people of Adelaide. All taking place at 145 Hindley St, among the performances you can see are The Honey Pies and on Mon 2 March, Bird To Prey and We Grow Up on Wed 4 March, and wrapping it all up on Sun 8 Mar are Lamplight, Cheer Advisory Council and British Robots.
Fans of old-school punk - the ones are often found complaining that this new music called "punk" is all corporate rubbish - should get rather excited by the news that Sham 69 and The Business are touring to show all these kids how it's really done at Enigma Bar on Sun 26 April.
 Locals Rubicon will be pretty busy over the next few weeks - as well as writing and recording some new songs, they're playing Brompton's Gaslight Hotel on Sat 7 Mar before hitting up Scorcherfest at Flinders Uni on Sun 15 Mar...End Of Fashion are back out on the open road, hitting Jive on Sat 7 Mar...Superfly kiwi soul dub outfit Fat Freddy's Drop are back in the country again, and unlike their last few visits, they've made time to come visit Adelaide, hitting up HQ on Fri 20 March.
Rockdog promotions have been a bit quiet of late, but that's because they've been plotting a massive series of four shows going right through to June. Why does that matter to you? It doesn't if you want to spend your days listening to unremarkable elevator music with synthesised panpipes, but if you want to rawk, make a note of the rather massive Fuse Showcase at the Grace Emily on Thurs 5 March. Joining forces are Raw Ether, Squeaker, Tracer, The Irresponsibles, Tomorrow Is, Your Motive For and Stu Daniels (from Rcketbox). Even better, there's a free barbecue before the show.
Pat Loughry (of various well-regarded Adelaide bands) has got himself a residency at Thebarton's The Deli (it's on George St, next to Salvis). Live music and pizzas - not a bad combo, really.
Taking place in Macclesfield this very Saturday, 28 Feb, is the Summer Of Love festival, which will feature performances from Akoustic Odyssey, Josh Bennet & Jay Dagbar, Garida, Nanki, the MERRg, Wangyal Gangri, Westernmost Omestary, Dharma Cafˇ and Nice Verdes. Sneaky Sound System and A Devil Amongst The Tailors will be among them when they are.
There have been a host of regular visitor bluesmen announcing tours lately, and Tony Joe White didn't want to be the one to miss out, so he's thrown his hat in the ring for a show of dirty swamp blues (now with keyboards) at The Gov on Sun 19 April.
Born in Tassie and raised in Sydney before relocating to Spain, Aaron Thomas changed location yet again in November when he came to stay in Adelaide with his partner. Why does this matter to you? Because the pop/ rock troubadour was taught guitar by his stepfather, the legendary Lonnie Lee and he's playing at The Exeter on Thurs 26 Feb.
Fans of nu-metal rejoice, fans of music prepare to be underwhelmed. The original line up of Limp Bizkit has reformed, and will be undertaking a world tour over the next few months, though thankfully there are currently no plans for an Australian tour any time soon. Okay, that was personal.
Heading over from Melbourne for a run of shows, Suzie Stapleton promises to be very busy once she lands, with a spot at the Fuse Ignition Showcase at the Worldsend on Thurs 5 Mar followed by appearances at The Grace Emily with Lyla on Fri 6 Mar and at The Exeter with Kytes Of Omar on Sat 7 Mar. Add to that the fact that she'll soon be releasing her debut EP '45 Revelations Per Minute' which features Charlie Owen (Beasts Of Bourbon), Johnny Nolan (Powder Monkeys/ Bored), Ian Kitney (Temperance Union) and Shane Walsh (Tex, Don & Charlie), and you can see why she's so busy.
To call Japanese synth-pop duo Aural Vampire flamboyant would be to court severe understatement, and so it follows that their tour with Tokyo's colourful dirty trance DJ Sisen and Melbourne's own gender-bending trance master GPKISM, which hits Jive on Sun 19 April, will be rather a show.
Australia's hardest working and longest serving MC/ DJ duo, Muph N Plutonic, would like it known that they don't intend to give up that mantle any time soon. Don't believe them? Well how about having a look at the itinerary for their extensive national tour which takes in just about every part of Australia you could think of, including Adelaide Unibar on Sat 28 Mar, a gig that'll see them bring Horrorshow along for the ride as well.
They sure know how to come up with a catchy title at The Jolly Miller - their latest creation is the Thrilla In The Miller, featuring Bad Blood And Broken Bones, Generation Swine and Burn'Collect on Sat 7 March.
Belles Will Ring may be the headliners at Jive on Sat 28 Feb, but don't tell Philadelphia Grand Jury that. The energetic Sydney indie poppers, also known as the Philly Jays, are only just embarking on their first national tour, but anyone who gets to see it may well find that it's plenty memorable, nonetheless.
 Leader Cheetah have been in hibernation for some time readying their debut album, which is just about ready to hatch, while Townsville's The Middle East have been avoiding Puff's mixed animal metaphors by staying in Townsville. Both of them have released singles through Spunk's excellent Singles Club project, which is releasing music by quality new Australian bands, and will play a show together on Sat 28 Feb.
Melbourne rock and rollers Kimbo hit town for a brace of shows, at The Cranker with Ricochet Pete and Dead Popes Of The Vatican and at Shotz with Cock and Squid Jag, on Fri 27 Feb...
The second V Festival Sideshow has just been announced, Snow Patrol playing at the Entertainment centre on Wed 1 April with Jenny Lewis. Puff can only hope that the support is an early April Fool's joke, as the charming Rilo Kiley frontwoman and sometime solo act is unlikely to be fully appreciated by fans of the soporific Scots, while the news that Mercury Rev's only Australian shows will be in support of Coldplay is similarly disappointing.
And as you've by now most likely noticed, Adelaide is currently getting ready to host all things Fringe. There's a big old guide that lists it all, but n case you don't have the time to read the whole thing yourself, here are a few of the goings on around town. Jeanett Wormald is doing her revamped 'Songs Of The Inland' at Tandanya on Fri 13 and Sat 14 March with performers from Oak Valley community... few people fail to be impressed by Adam Page Solo's improvised performances, and he's evidently got surplus of creativity in March, because he's debuting a range of all new material on Thurs 12, Sun 14, Thurs 19, Sat 20 and Sun 21 March at The Wheatsheaf.
The Spiegeltent plays host to plenty of well-known Australian musicians, including Diesel on Wed 11 and Thurs 12 Mar, Renee Geyer on Fri 6 and Sat 7 Mar and Tim Freedman on Wed 25 Mar, the day this issue hits the streets.
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