On the eve of her sold-out show at the Sydney Opera House, Laura Marling performed at an intimate invite-only show hosted by triple j last night. The Paddington Uniting Church, made famous for setting an ethereal backdrop for artists like Florence + The Machine and WIM recently, provided the perfect candlelit setting for Marling’s acoustic set, where she showcased material from her third long-player ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ alongside favourites from her previous two releases.

At... read more

Three women took the stage known as Mountain Man and sheepishly sang like an angelic choir in an a capella symphony. The sound was impeccable as the ladies warbled in an Irish tone, only to switch into a bluesy composition soon after. The delicate and sparse string set complimented the vocals and made their set a memorable one. They also had incredible banter with the crowd, encouraging them to make jungle noises instead of your usual clapping – a tactic that set Mountain Man apart from your... read more

Sydney College of the Arts is a pretty choice venue for a festival. There’s heaps of grass (the thick green stuff, not the dead patchy stuff you see at Olympic Park), big palm trees flanking the stages, and beautiful old sandstone buildings creating actual laneways where stages and bars are concealed. There’s stacks of shade, places to sit, and hordes of hipsters dressed inappropriately in skinny jeans and buttoned-up formal shirts in near 35 degree heat; Sydney’s woeful weather had cleared... read more

Whether it’s because you saw Ryan Gosling’s badass acting in Drive or whether you were a hardcore fan from the very beginning or because your French penpal from high school insisted you give them a listen, M83’s performance at the Prince Bandroom was definitely a hit.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to see a once-upon-a-time shoegazing band be so visually exciting on stage. An audience densely populated with Triple J listeners would have brought upon a hugely positive response... read more

It’s Friday night in Melbourne and music fans are faced with a difficult decision: EMA, Yuck, The Horrors and M83 are all playing sideshows before their Laneway appearances, making the night an indie music fan’s dream (or nightmare for the indecisive). This fact is not lost on The Drums’ lead singer Johnny Pierce who thanks the crowd at the Palace for choosing to spend their Friday night with his pop quintet; “I know we have a lot of competition tonight, so thanks for coming out to see... read more

Veteran Norwegian electro duo Röyksopp fashioned an unmissable theatrical gig at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne. A five-minute intro of anticipation building electro beats and a show of lights (think Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader in a digital Tron-like dimension) was a delectable entrée for what was to come. A familiar drawl came in the form of ‘Alpha Male’, bringing the crowd to life. The duo was accompanied by scarecrow-like potato-sack-wearing bass and electric guitarists. Renowned... read more

Arriving at 11am, this reviewer saw an early downpour of rain sending most earlybirds scuttling for whatever cover they could find. But as the clock struck 11.15am, seemingly on cue, the rain cleared as Chicks Who Love Guns arrived to open the Essential Stage. A few brave souls braved the smattering rain to watch the Sydney five-piece’s lurching, rollicking brand of rock. Mixing fast, distorted, pounding punk rock with off-kilter post-punk and ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana grunge, CWLG put on a solid... read more

In a production befitting his own recent studio efforts, Kanye West performed to his legion of Sydney fans on Friday night at a packed out Entertainment Centre. The artist-producer-songwriting superstar’s reputation for delivering bombastic, stylised, and heavily theatric shows followed him to Sydney for his Big Day Out sideshow. And deliver he did, generous with both his time, ‘wordly’ advice, and setlist. Given, the show wasn’t too dissimilar to his one at Sydney’s Big Day Out... read more

An appropriately balmy night at The Corner for Californian duo Best Coast, who brought the heat of the West Coast – allegedly USA’s ‘best coast’ – in tow with their lo-fi ballads of love and hate (but mostly love). Since releasing indie hit LP ‘Crazy for You’ in 2010, the band have made an annual appearance in Australia, playing Meredith’s Golden Plains festival in 2011, and rolling in for this year’s Big Day Out with a little Corner on the side. They’ve come back a... read more

The night began with death circles as The Bronx took to the stage to expel aggression from every pore with gruff vocals and strung-out power chords. Lead singer, Matt Caughtran stole the show with his outrageous showmanship. One moment he was dedicating a song to, “all the girls out there with bad posture” and in the next moment he was screaming into the microphone while indulging in a death circle in the standing section. Hardcore punk metal was in its purest form in The Bronx’s set, making... read more