New album: Intimacy
After performing at Splendour in the Grass a year ago, Bloc Party returned to Australia in November to play shows in most of the capital cities. Playing the first of two Sydney shows at the Hordern Pavilion, the London indie rock band dazzled the crowd with an hour and a half set of hits from their three albums ‘Intimacy’, ‘Silent Alarm’ and ‘A Weekend in the City’, including two encores.
To kick off the night, Australian support band Van She did well to engage and amuse the vivacious Bloc Party crowd-in-waiting playing their popular tracks including Strangers, Sex City, Cat & the Eye and Kelly for the closing.
After the Van She set, the lights went out, the crowd started screaming and Bloc Party entered. From the first track, Halo, the crowd went crazy. Right from the get go was a perfectly selected sequence of songs that pumped up the crowd at every turn, especially at the halfway point during obvious favourites such as Positive Tension, Banquet and Mercury. In an attempt to slow down the tempo, frontman Kele pulls out their first ever single, a soft and beautiful tune So Here We Are, before finishing up the set with the popular hit song from the first album, The Prayer.
With the crowd still reeling with excitement from a very clever song arrangement the band was quick to return to the stage for the first of two encores playing Sunday, Like Eating Glass, Flux and Helicopter before running off and coming back to end what could easily be dubbed ‘the perfect sonic evening’ with Ares and Modern Love.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Jeff Martin and the Armada @ The Metro Theatre on Sunday 9 November, 2008
Album: The Armada (self titled)
It was no surprise that devoted fanatics of The Tea Party flocked to Sydney’s Metro Theatre on a Sunday evening to hear the long awaited new epic sounds of Jeff Martin and his new band The Armada.
With a long wait between albums and recent performances the crowd at the Metro seemed less than amused with the one man band support act Henry Wagons who played a barrage of songs he deemed as “death, destruction and the avoidance of the likes of that you’ve never seen”. All played on acoustic guitar, it was an odd arrangement of songs with dramatic banter in between which was perhaps Wagon’s way of trying to connect with the crowd through comedy when clearly they were all just wanting to see and hear Jeff.
As the growing murmurs of conversation started during and after the support act the lights dimmed with a purple tinge giving way to the sound of traditional Turkish music and a belly dancer sensually shaking around on the stage. After ten mesmerising minutes Jeff and the Armada finally appear on stage, launching straight into the highly impressive track Morocco from their debut self-titled album. Returning to the dirty, heavy sounds of rock ‘n’ roll, Jeff and the Armada had the crowd in an absolute frenzy. There were also a few Tea Party tracks thrown into the mix including the sheer brilliance of Heaven Coming Down.
Jeff played a number of different guitars including a custom made, double-necked, 18 strings for the acoustic selection. Amongst them, the power ballad Broken and the heartfelt and more personal tune The Rosary written for Jeff’s late grandmother who, as he points out played an important part in raising him.
The highly anticipated wait for the return of the heavy rock ‘n’ roll music of Jeff Martin and crew totally and utterly delivered to avid followers of the sound. In the words of Jeff Martin “Rock ‘n’ Roll is BACK!!” Can’t wait to hear the next installment.
It was no surprise that devoted fanatics of The Tea Party flocked to Sydney’s Metro Theatre on a Sunday evening to hear the long awaited new epic sounds of Jeff Martin and his new band The Armada.
With a long wait between albums and recent performances the crowd at the Metro seemed less than amused with the one man band support act Henry Wagons who played a barrage of songs he deemed as “death, destruction and the avoidance of the likes of that you’ve never seen”. All played on acoustic guitar, it was an odd arrangement of songs with dramatic banter in between which was perhaps Wagon’s way of trying to connect with the crowd through comedy when clearly they were all just wanting to see and hear Jeff.
As the growing murmurs of conversation started during and after the support act the lights dimmed with a purple tinge giving way to the sound of traditional Turkish music and a belly dancer sensually shaking around on the stage. After ten mesmerising minutes Jeff and the Armada finally appear on stage, launching straight into the highly impressive track Morocco from their debut self-titled album. Returning to the dirty, heavy sounds of rock ‘n’ roll, Jeff and the Armada had the crowd in an absolute frenzy. There were also a few Tea Party tracks thrown into the mix including the sheer brilliance of Heaven Coming Down.
Jeff played a number of different guitars including a custom made, double-necked, 18 strings for the acoustic selection. Amongst them, the power ballad Broken and the heartfelt and more personal tune The Rosary written for Jeff’s late grandmother who, as he points out played an important part in raising him.
The highly anticipated wait for the return of the heavy rock ‘n’ roll music of Jeff Martin and crew totally and utterly delivered to avid followers of the sound. In the words of Jeff Martin “Rock ‘n’ Roll is BACK!!” Can’t wait to hear the next installment.
The Dandy Warhols @ The Enmore Theatre, Friday 31 October, 2008
New album: Earth to the Dandy Warhols
Playing only one Sydney show to a sold out crowd at the Enmore Theatre, The Dandy Warhols seemed to live up to their reputation of being a quirky must-see live band of the times. Unleashing their eighth studio album, ‘Earth to the Dandy Warhols’, this space-themed modern day psychedelic pop rock musical journey clearly did not disappoint.
As the crowd waited in anticipation after the half hour support act Downhill’s Home, the Dandy Warhols slowly entered the room, callously headed straight for their instruments and designated areas on stage. For the first few songs the band played with an almost ‘too cool for school attitude’ until the old favourite Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth, an obvious crowd pleaser, energised keen punters to start grooving to the playful quasi-psychedelic tunes ahead.
With both the band and the crowd now starting to relax and cut loose, frontman Courtney Taylor Taylor eased into some of the new tracks like Welcome to the Third World and Mis Amigos, showcasing his sharp-witted lyrical genius. At the halfway mark the Dandy’s hit hard with the popular track Bohemian Like You, taking the whole performance and the concert vibe to another level.
Towards the end of the two hour set The Dandys hit the home stretch with Courtney Taylor Taylor on percussion for (You Come In) Burned. By the end of the show both the band and the crowd were electrified with excitement, bopping and dancing around as if there were no gravity force to keep them from moving.
Unlike most musical acts The Dandy Warhols did not play an encore, however this live music habitual routine could easily be forgiven by the fact that every song played was so skillfully chosen just to keep the audience on a pleasurable, psychedelic high throughout the whole set. Musically, the band were sound playing right on the mark throughout the whole night, producing a crisp and effortless, fun-fused sound in perfect harmony leaving all who attended wholly satisfied.
Playing only one Sydney show to a sold out crowd at the Enmore Theatre, The Dandy Warhols seemed to live up to their reputation of being a quirky must-see live band of the times. Unleashing their eighth studio album, ‘Earth to the Dandy Warhols’, this space-themed modern day psychedelic pop rock musical journey clearly did not disappoint.
As the crowd waited in anticipation after the half hour support act Downhill’s Home, the Dandy Warhols slowly entered the room, callously headed straight for their instruments and designated areas on stage. For the first few songs the band played with an almost ‘too cool for school attitude’ until the old favourite Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth, an obvious crowd pleaser, energised keen punters to start grooving to the playful quasi-psychedelic tunes ahead.
With both the band and the crowd now starting to relax and cut loose, frontman Courtney Taylor Taylor eased into some of the new tracks like Welcome to the Third World and Mis Amigos, showcasing his sharp-witted lyrical genius. At the halfway mark the Dandy’s hit hard with the popular track Bohemian Like You, taking the whole performance and the concert vibe to another level.
Towards the end of the two hour set The Dandys hit the home stretch with Courtney Taylor Taylor on percussion for (You Come In) Burned. By the end of the show both the band and the crowd were electrified with excitement, bopping and dancing around as if there were no gravity force to keep them from moving.
Unlike most musical acts The Dandy Warhols did not play an encore, however this live music habitual routine could easily be forgiven by the fact that every song played was so skillfully chosen just to keep the audience on a pleasurable, psychedelic high throughout the whole set. Musically, the band were sound playing right on the mark throughout the whole night, producing a crisp and effortless, fun-fused sound in perfect harmony leaving all who attended wholly satisfied.
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