These albums tended to have the most impact on me this year. I must admit it was tough because I thought 2010 was a pretty poor year in terms of real good albums that smack you in the face and want to make love to your ears.
Albums
1)Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones- Cancer Bats
2)There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret- Bring me the Horizon
3)Deep Blue- Parkway Drive
4)Dissent of Man- Bad Religion
5)Diamond Eyes- Deftones
6)Option Paralysis- Dillinger Escape Plan
7)Meridional- Norma Jean
8)Midnight Remember- Little Red
9)Trans-continental Hustle- Gogol Bordello
10)Tourist History- Two Door Cinema Club
Honourable Mentions:
Slash- Slash
Youngbloods- Amity Affliction
Blue Sky Noise- Circa Survive
Bag Raiders- Bag Raiders
The Air Between- MM9
Top five impressive local bands I have found out about this year (and it takes a lot to impress):
1.The Last Outlaw
2.The Go Set
3.Moon Jog
4.Jon Experiment
5.Spitfireliar
The shit of 2010( least impressive and let downs)
The Final Frontier- Iron Maiden
Running on Air- Bliss n Esso
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys- My Chemical Romance
Birds of Tokyo- Birds of Tokyo
April Uprising- The John Butler Trio
This is the Warning- Dead Letter Circus
Contra- Vampire Weekend
Overhyped/overrated:
Down the Way- Angus and Julia Stone
This One's For You- Deez Nutz
I Believe you, Liar- Washington
Illumination- Miami Horror
Hold me Down- You me At Six
Music Hero of 2010- Wiley (Zip files= genius)
Best 10 live gigs of 2010 (so far):
1)Them Crooked Vultures
2)U2
3)Smashing Pumpkins
4)Rise Against
5)Alexisonfire (Soundwave)
6) Cancer Bats(support for BMTH and BFMV)
7) Comeback Kid
8) Dillinger Escape Plan/Everytime I Die (Boys of Summer)
9) Stone Temple Pilots
10)Bring me the Horizon ( with/ Cancer Bats and BFMV)
What were your top tens?
Mannequin Republic
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Parkway Drive- Love them or hate them.......

About 50% of my friends love Parkway Drive and the rest hate them. I understand both sides as well.
But love them or hate them, one cannot deny the fact that they're technically Australia's biggest band overseas right now. Bigger than Temper Trap? Perhaps. Certainly bigger than Tame Impala. But maybe not as big as Empire of the Sun or Pendulum. But they're definately on the cusp of something great.
I first saw Parkway Drive many years ago. I think they were supporting I kIlled The Prom Queen. I distinctly remember Prom Queen pretty much getting annihilated. Poor guys. Even with a room half full of shirtless teeanges doing haymakers, I had that feeling that Parkway were going to be pretty big. at the time, they sounded different. They blended punk, metal and hardcore so well. All genres that are major influences for the band.
I also remember the members being extremely lovely. Meeting the fans after their shows and you could see that even though the band were still breaking through, the kids were already looking up to them. They were living the dream so to speak.
Fast forward to 2010 and they've just toured Australia on the back of their latest effort, Deep Blue. All shows sold out bar the Brisbane one and that was because the Riverstage is massive and is the only place they're allowed to play in Brisbane.
The remarkable thing about the guys is that they're still as humble, juvenile, and grounded a they were all those years ago. Now they're touring relentlessly throughout Europe and selling out shows in the USA. Certainly after signing with Epitaph Records the world has been their oyster. Even so, they still tour and tour and tour. It's part of their genetic makeup for sure.
The reasons for not liking them is as I mentioned before, understandable. For starters the straight -edge culture can get on people's nerves. Actually not really the culture itself, more the people within it. It's great to not drink and smoke. In fact I applaud it. The thing that gets on people's nerves and it goes for religion as well, is the preaching. Holy crap you're a bad person if you drink and smoke stop doing it. At the end of the day, it's about choice, and like religion, please don't force something Im not interested in on me. Thanks. But please go ahead and enjoy not drinking. Not having a hang over is pretty cool I must admit.
Parkway Drive are known straight-edgers. Winston Mcall is a vegan as well. And a damn nice guy. But so are alot of other bands as well. Rise Against are famous for their hardline preachy stance on animal cruelty, being vegetarians, and are proud straight-edgers.
As for the music, well Deep Blue for me is their best album yet. It's cleaner, it has more metal in it and I simply love the idea of a concept album. It's an album about a guy who is trying to find himself in a world that is somewhat against him. And the guy overcoming his problems. Roughly that's what it is.
Killing with a Smile made people sit up and listen, Horizon gave people more of the first and left us wanting more, and Deep Blue has more or less cemented their place in Australia, if not the world's alt-rock scene forever.
The DVD gave us all an insight into their being, and what the future holds for them.
In their own right, Parkway Drive are headlining their own shows. I am yet to go to a bad gig in fact. The fact that they get reasonably big American hardcore bands to support them shows how far they have come.
The fact that they won an ARIA, and the fact that last night, their Live at Festival Hall DVD was shown on ABC2, shows that we oughta be proud of our biggest Australian band right now.
They've done the hard yards just like alot of our up and coming bands. Bands look to them as a benchmark. I feel that Australians just don't realise how big they are now. Especially overseas.
But we will soon you can be sure.
They've set the benchmark now for metal-core. Amity Affliction are probably next off the rank. They have good management with Staples MGMT and BoomTown Records. Just like Parkway Drive had with Graham Nixon and his record label, Resist Records. The fact that the band have never signed a contract with Graham to manage them shows the level of trust there, and the commitment for both parties. It's little things like that, that we find missing in our fickle and at times, bare industry.
I don't hate them. And I can certainly pick out bits that they could imrpove on greatly. But overall, I am proud that they're an Australia band, flying the flag for our music scene. Why are we waiting for the next Powderfinger, The Saints, ACDC? We have a band taking on the world in a headlock and Australian music fans barely blink and eye.
Stop talking about supporting Australian music and actually support it!!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Newsletter

Our new website is up and running thanks to the hard work of Erin Higgs and Ian Gnatz. But more so Erin.
But seriously it is fantastic and it's finally great to have something up for all to see. As good as Facebook has been for us, it is awesome to have something different to show our fans as well. There are a few more kinks to be ironed out but overall we're mega pleased.
In other news, we signed up The Last Outlaw. An amibitious and young band from Brisbane. They haven;t been together for very long but they are tight. They have a long way to go as far as development is concerned but that's what we will help them with amongst other things. So if you're in Brisbane, please come along and support some southern hardcore. It's different and not like anything else in the hardcore scene.
We've just had the pleasure of organising a handful of shows for Perth band, A Beggar's Second. We loved having them here and it was an absolute pleasure to get to know them and to work with them. Hopefully we shall work together real soon.
On November 25 we're putting on a huge show. It will be one of the very few complete alt-rock shows. We have punk, metal and hardcore on display and it's sure to be a huge night that we're all looking forward to.
To help us make it an awesome night are Hack, Flangipanis, The Last Outlaw, The Jon Experiment, and Southern Crossfire. Southern Crossfire are making a comeback in the local scene so it's great that they're keen to play for us.
It all kicks off at 8pm and entry is at the door and only $10.
Finally we want to thank a few people that have made our year awesome. 2010 was the year that Mannequin republic was either going to make it or die in the ass. We're still going and we we haven't died. In fact I doubt we will ever die. Things have been going so well. As this is the last newsletter for the year, we'd like to thank a few people that have made it a sweet year and have made our lives so much better.
Firstly Tiff Barlow of Dropdead Gorgeous. She continues to be a huge success in the alt world of accessorising and couture and is a huge inspiration for so many other young designers out there. She has been a great supporter of MR and it makes me proud to know her.
Also like to thank all the promotors and managers in Brisbane even if we don;t know each other or don't even work with each other, you are one of the main reasons why music continues to flourish in Brisbane. And the reason we keep doing what we're doing. You all know who you are.
Jazz Minogue of TooManySteves and Dew Process, thanks for the support as always. Thanks to Roxy Burt of Pistol Whipped and the Rise Agency for being a keen supporter and for helping us promote ourselves. Hopefully we can continue working together next year.
We'd like to thank the the door bitches that take door entry fees at our shows. The fans that actually show up to our shows. And the bands for willing to play at our shows. And to all the booking agents and venue organisers. Trina from X&Y, Stephen and Todd from Hot Gossip (299), Jodi from Ric's and The Jubilee Hotel.
I want to thank the bands and artists on our roster. We love you very much and I feel that you are all heading in the right direction. We don't take on bands and artists at the drop of a hat and you should know that the reason you are here is because we feel that you have something that no other Brisbane bands have.
We will get there eventually guys.
Finally, I want to thank Thomas Hughes, Ian Gnatz and Erin Higgs for helping make Mannequin Republic what it is today. And it's just going to go uphill from here. Cheers for the support and I know we're going to go far with this company.
That's it from me. Have a safe festive season and happy holidays everyone!
Tom Byrnes
(Managing the management)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Interview with George Pettit from Alexisonfire

Who are you?
I’m George Petit of Alexisonfire, the lead vocalist.
How would you describe your sound?
I would describe our sound as screamy rock music, scream-punk, screamo, scream-glam,
An embarrassing album that you cannot throw away?
Justin Timberlake, fucking Justified! We listen to it in the van all of the time. Tears for Fears. A lot of cheesy 80’s stuff like Men Without Hats, Men at Work, more bands with the name Men in the title. Rick James! I listen to a lot of Rick James. I like Rick James. There’s lots of embarrassing stuff that I probably shouldn’t listen to. But like I said before, I’m not embarrassed by any of it.
Have you ever really shocked anyone?
I think everybody in my family was fairly shocked, especially when the videos started getting played because it was very in their face and they could see what I was doing with my life and it made them very uncomfortable I’m sure. They still love me though. I don’t think anyone was expecting it to do this.
I have to compliment you on your dancing.
Aw, thanks, thanks. I can't dance when it's too hot. I thought I was going to turn into liquid at a recent show; it was so hot in there. It was so hot. When you’re right there with all of these people breathing at you. There’s no relief at all.
I know you guys are skateboarders so any recent injuries or stunts gone wrong?
Dallas Green broke his angle in St. Louis. It was the first day of the season. The first four shows were all rainy, and crappy, so when we got to St. Louis it was gorgeous out and there was this nice curve behind the club (the Creepy Crawl). He got out his skateboard and went at and fucking demolished his leg. He like tore all of this cartilage, or tendons. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor so it doesn’t really work that way. When they had you to sign up to be in either a rock band or doctor, I signed up for the rock band. His leg went pretty much black from the middle of his shin to his toes, it was really bad.
Guys are gross. They smell like bologna, never apologize.
You guys do enough shows to know what they smell like.
Exactly.
Did you ever think your band would be played on mainstream radio and on TV?
[Laughs] No! If anyone had told me that when we started the band that Much Music would have shown us any sort of love I would have probably slapped that person right in their stupid face. Just because that was a real big shock; we are really impressed with the industry support. They have shown a little bit of support, they’ve shown a lot of support. We’re not a band with a lot of money backing us, like buying advertising, or anything like that. They’ve just been really supportive and they don’t need to be at all. They just do it because they like us, kind of thing. Which is great and weird.
Always wanted to ask. “Watch Out!” and why is it titled that?
It’s titled that because WATCH OUT! It’s called Watch Out because we wanted something that was in your face. I don’t know, just something quick. We threw around a lot of titles and at the end of the day we were just like “let’s doing something simple and easy. The songs will speak for themselves.” And I think the songs do speak for themselves. I think we did I really great job of…well, I hate to toot my own horn but [toots his horn] we cut a great album. I am really proud and happy about it. It wasn’t all us; we did it with this producer, Julius Buttee, out of Hamilton, Ontario, a good friend of ours, and a relatively unknown producer. We decided to go with him because we really liked a lot of the stuff he’d done.
Any revelations about Canada while on tour?
While on tour I had a revelation about Canada. I decided that it is my favourite place to play on earth. I like the United States but I think we’ve got a really spoiled aspect of Canada when we come here. People know who we are and it’s great. We get recognised and people come to the shows and have a great time. Whereas, in the United States, for the most part, we are just a developing band.
Well I saw you guys actually have a blurb about this in Punk Planet saying that you had won a Canadian Indie Award.
[Shocked] Really!? I’m gonna buy that! I’ve had Punk Planet before. My aunt got me an issue for Christmas one year and it had all these interviews and this enormous article on punk pornography and Suicide Girls, Burning Angel, and punk pussy. I read a bunch of stuff on that… that was weird. Anyways, I don’t know how we got onto that topic.
No, no, no! Books are very important.
They are very important.
Actually, Siouxie and the Banshees, I know you like them, they have an authorized biography… have you read it yet?
No!!! I almost bought it before. I saw it. We were going away on tour and I went to Chapters and was going to go get a book, like to bring, and luckily someone got me book later that day. I always go to Chapters and never know what I am looking for. I was looking through the music section and I saw Siouxie and the Banshees book, and I’m like “Oh my God, do I like Siouxie and the Banshees that much to have a book?”
Joey Shithead, too, has the I, Shithead book out.
Yeah, that’s right!
Have you read it?
He had it at the Indies and I totally should have bought a copy. I don’t know what the Hell I was thinking.
Anyways, since you are said to be jokers, i.e. Wade’s interpretive dancing, I was wondering about any pranks pulled on the road.
Oh man. I don’t know.
Anything you can share at least.
We have this ongoing joke that’s not all that glamorous, but we think it’s fucking hilarious! We have this prank where everybody is in the van, and there’s one person who has gone to use the bathroom by the van or at a truck stop and they come back to the van when they go to open the door we lock the door and everyone in the van goes [yells very loudly] OH---------! And they go nuts and it’s really really funny. We do that and that’s not all that fun but I don’t know
Hey, it brings joy into your life.
Exactly. We have an enjoyable time.
When did you first realize the power of your music?
That’s a weird question.
Do you think it’s powerful?
That’s a hard question. I guess enough people are coming to the shows that make it powerful but I don’t know how to answer that at all. I think it’s safe to say that when you have any sort of small celebrity kind of thing going on people are going to pay attention to you more, and it’s not so much power as you have responsibility to get up there and play for a certain amount of time and make sure the kids are walking away with a positive idea of what you’re about.
Could you describe the feeling while you are onstage performing?
There’s a couple different feelings when you’re onstage. It’s hard to go into this ‘cause I feel like an asshole; it’s so like cliché. Sometimes you’re at a show and you’re playing the show because you’re playing the show, and sometimes you’re playing and you’re really feeling it, like the crowd is looking at you and when you’re doing that and have that sort of energy coming back at you it’s a very indescribable kind of feeling. It’s kind of like being really, really, sick, but on lots and lots of crazy, crazy drugs. I don’t know how I can say crazy drugs because I’ve never really done any crazy drugs.
[Chris Steele, bass, interrupts:] Except for those Quaaludes in New York City.
[Both laugh] No, I don’t do any crazy drugs. It’s just very hazy and weird. You’re so tired that you’re sick but you can’t stop moving. That’s kind of the feeling of being on stage.
[Chris] At least at the Babylon.
At the Babylon you feel like molten liquid in a plastic bag and you can just fly apart at any second and splatter all over the crowd and burn everyone’s faces. That’s exactly what it feels like at the Babylon.
I have to give you props for saying, “Stop pushing.”
Kids get hurt at shows, and I would know because I have gotten hurt at shows before. It sucks. I hate coming to shows and hearing that someone’s gotten hurt.
Positive sides of touring?
I love touring [laughs].
How long have you been on tour now, like since you began this band?
I have no concept of time, anymore. That’s another thing, a side effect of being on tour. You have no concept of time; you know when you have to play and you know when you have to get to the club the next day. Other than that, I don’t know what time it is, what day it is at any given moment. We’ve been on tour for a couple of months now. We went down to Texas with Bane. We did the rest of the States with Avenged Sevenfold. That was probably a few years ago actually [laughs] We’re starting Canada again when we’re done that we’re going to do the States with Silverstein maybe I dunno. Come back up to Canada play a bunch more shows; we’re going to go to Europe again probably, and a bunch of other bullshit. We’re doing Warped Tour next year
Do you like Warped? What's the best thing about it?
Man i like the stalls. There is so much good stuff. Shirts, homemade stuff. Accessories and jewellery for the loved one. I was surprised that Soundwave didn't have many of those.
What accessorising stalls?
Yeah. You told me about Dropdead Gorgeous and that sort of stuff would suit a festival like that. Or like Warped. There is probably a lot of competition in the USA and Canada but Australia should embrace alternative style. I dunno I'm a dude what the hell am I talking about ? [laughs] Maybe I should start a Australian Alt-Style Association [laughs]
Lastly, anything you want to tell the world about Alexisonfire or yourself?
I’m actually a woman living in a man’s body.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Festival Season
Summer is upon us again. So that means the festival line ups have been announced. Let's focus on the 2 main summer festivals. Soundwave and Big Day Out. To compare the two is pretty pointless. Both cater for different audiences and a different type of crowd.
Sure Soundwave has probably 10+ bands that could headline a festival and Big Day Out has 3. But the Big Day Out is probably the better one as far as success and money making is concerned. Both festivals do an amazing job with their promoting and hard work getting big bands to come out to Australia. I can tell you that after doing No Sleep Til, it's hard work and at times not very pleasant. The idea of putting on a festival is very romantic and lovely and silver lined. The fact is, it's not.
I have a feeling the Bam Fest organisers were looking at the world with rose coloured glasses.
What impresses me about Soundwave is that they manage to grab different bands for each year. It shows they are committed to doing that but also shows that the alt-rock industry is massive and has become a money making force. Look at Warped Tour and Bamboozle in the USA. Soundwave is based on the same concept. Entice the kids to turn up cos they're the ones with money or the ones their mums and dads will give money to to burn.
The main gripe i have with BDO is the way they just reclycle acts. I hate it in fact. However, there will always be soemthing for you at BDO. Even if the headliner isnt what you wanted.
This year's announcement didnt impress me. However i'm sold on Rammstein. I would've paid $150+ to see them anyway.
Tool are solid live and the Deftones alwyas put on a great show and Grinderman is awesome live.. But the rest of it was the same Aussie bands you get each year, and the same style. Nothing excites me about BDO anymore.
However, BDO has become such a name and has built such a reputation, that they really dont have to promote the festival anymore. It is always guarenteed to sell out regardless of the line up. Much like Splendour in the Grass.
As predictable as teh aussie bands are on the bill and as thin as the international line up is, they will always make a few million off each show. And will always sell out. Perhaps not in Adelaide.
Soundwave has just sold out in Melbourne and is about to sell out in Brisbane.
On another note, No Sleep Til tickets are on sale. If you buy a ticket to that I will love you forever. That is a festival that will do well I feel. If it works this year then it's likely it will happen again. But whether or not we can not recycle bands remains to be seen. the bands on the bill you may notice are not contracted to Soundwave touring and haven't toured with them as yet. the problem is the rest of the alt-rock bands have. Our cut aim is to get 10-15K people inside the RNA Showgrounds and at this stage it's only the main arena that will be used. either way it will be a huge show and Megadeth is one of the worlds greatest metal bands. We also have more Australian acts playing as well, led by Parkway Drive.
Hope to see you there people.
Peace
Tom
Mannequin Republic
Sure Soundwave has probably 10+ bands that could headline a festival and Big Day Out has 3. But the Big Day Out is probably the better one as far as success and money making is concerned. Both festivals do an amazing job with their promoting and hard work getting big bands to come out to Australia. I can tell you that after doing No Sleep Til, it's hard work and at times not very pleasant. The idea of putting on a festival is very romantic and lovely and silver lined. The fact is, it's not.
I have a feeling the Bam Fest organisers were looking at the world with rose coloured glasses.
What impresses me about Soundwave is that they manage to grab different bands for each year. It shows they are committed to doing that but also shows that the alt-rock industry is massive and has become a money making force. Look at Warped Tour and Bamboozle in the USA. Soundwave is based on the same concept. Entice the kids to turn up cos they're the ones with money or the ones their mums and dads will give money to to burn.
The main gripe i have with BDO is the way they just reclycle acts. I hate it in fact. However, there will always be soemthing for you at BDO. Even if the headliner isnt what you wanted.
This year's announcement didnt impress me. However i'm sold on Rammstein. I would've paid $150+ to see them anyway.
Tool are solid live and the Deftones alwyas put on a great show and Grinderman is awesome live.. But the rest of it was the same Aussie bands you get each year, and the same style. Nothing excites me about BDO anymore.
However, BDO has become such a name and has built such a reputation, that they really dont have to promote the festival anymore. It is always guarenteed to sell out regardless of the line up. Much like Splendour in the Grass.
As predictable as teh aussie bands are on the bill and as thin as the international line up is, they will always make a few million off each show. And will always sell out. Perhaps not in Adelaide.
Soundwave has just sold out in Melbourne and is about to sell out in Brisbane.
On another note, No Sleep Til tickets are on sale. If you buy a ticket to that I will love you forever. That is a festival that will do well I feel. If it works this year then it's likely it will happen again. But whether or not we can not recycle bands remains to be seen. the bands on the bill you may notice are not contracted to Soundwave touring and haven't toured with them as yet. the problem is the rest of the alt-rock bands have. Our cut aim is to get 10-15K people inside the RNA Showgrounds and at this stage it's only the main arena that will be used. either way it will be a huge show and Megadeth is one of the worlds greatest metal bands. We also have more Australian acts playing as well, led by Parkway Drive.
Hope to see you there people.
Peace
Tom
Mannequin Republic
Monday, September 20, 2010
What is wrong with you

What is wrong with you
I discussed this recently with my business partners. The way society strives to be different. We are trying to hard to be different that we all end up the same
In the context of the local music scene in Brisbane, it is rife.
I went to the Troubadour the other night to watch Re-enactment and a bunch of other bands.
It was disappointing to see the lack of variation. All the bands that played that night were tight and were quite enjoyable to listen to. But after a while, it all blended into each other. The only band that really stood out to me was Hunz (?) They lacked a "hit-single" to me but overall they were very different and actually looked like they were a bit serious about their music. Moon Jog and Re-enactment were quite entertaining as well but I felt they lacked a bit of charisma. and they also needed to grow more facial hair. Moon Jog won in that department.
There are a number of reasons why I think Brisbane will always lag behind the rest. Why the music scene will only slowly develop. One such reason would be the constant positive feedback the bands get. I have't read many negative reviews recently. Perhaps because the reviewer is either a devoted long time fan or perhaps they just want free tickets to the next show from the band. Who knows. But I know this, without criticism, a band will find it hard to develop. If anything criticism will help a band. It would push them to strive to work harder to become the best.
Instead we have a bunch of people that think they know what they're talking about and are all quite chummy and cosy like a little family. God help anyone if they say anything shit about their favourite band.
I embrace negative energy. It is probably the main reason why i keep doing what I'm doing. After talking with Brett Gurewitz last week on the phone, I have a better idea of how things work. One of the issues we talked about was selling out. He simply stated, "if you're going to make it, you gotta sell out man. Otherwise you may as well fuck off and stay in your shitty little town and become a king. I would much rather be the prince in a massive multi-national industry, than a king in an industry that is a lot smaller and going no where."
I guess he has a point. But the fact is, people love kissing the ass of the king/queen and he/she enjoys the feeling.
I have seen it in a number of bands kicking about Australia. The bands have found their comfort zone and have found a steady cashflow and are happy just to hang in this country (ie British India etc etc). Thankfully we have a number of bands that are actually trying to make it a big deal overseas. They are spending a large amount of money touring around the world because they want it. Beiing popular and big in Australia isn't enough. and this is great for competition. Look at bands like The Temper Trap, Karnivool, Birds of Tokyo, Midnight Juggernauts. They're all doing quite well overseas because they put in the hard yards and spent the money and in some cases moved overseas.
Perhaps the Saints had the right idea by moving out of Brisbane.
The Brisbane music scene is in a good place right now. But I cannot see actually hitting the heights. Reaching for th stars if you will. It's almost like, oh fuck Powderfinger is dead now so let's just hang for now and wait for another one. Or the reunion tour. Powderfinger set a benchmark in many ways. But they too were a band that really were bound to Australia. They didnt really have to make it overseas i guess but i don't remember seeing them try that much either. Along with Silverchair and a few others, they will remain as one of the former kings of Australian rock music. Rather than a prince of the world.
Brisbane needs to do some catch up and get moving. i feel it is stagnant with not much coming out of it apart from perhaps the Hungry Kids of Hungary. I'm sure Brisbane will be watching them closely in coming years.
What is most disturbing recently is the lack of knowledge or in some cases, common sense of people starting up businesses in this place. I have seen so many cases of amateur hour in the music scene it's pretty worrying. But this is another topic for another rainy day.
By the way you should come to see Spitfireliar, The Jon Experiment and Hack at X&Y tomorrow night.
BANDS TO LISTEN TO RIGHT NOW:
The Jon Experiment
GoGo Haunters
Whiskey & Speed
Pretty Boys
Elle Bliss
Moses Gun Collective
Hunz
Beware the Hippos
Elixian
Hungry Kids or Hungary
Blair Jackson
Friday, September 3, 2010
LA Guns/JIm Rockfords/JJ Speedball
So where to begin. I rocked up early to see how JJ Speedball would sound. Their Myspace didn't sound too bad so I guess I was expecting something pretty decent.
What I got was a guy in pimped up sneakers, a bandana, sunglasses, and singing about cruising in his Holden. I'm not sure how the set ended because after 2 songs I was already outside having a smoke.
The Jim Rockfords have always been pretty entertaining and have quite a large fanbase in Brisbane. The band was tight and definately got a few of the punters dancing. It was good to see after seeing the small part of the shambles that was JJ Speedball.
Jim Rockfords certainly didn't blow me away but I can see where the appeal lies and it's a winning formula.
So now to the headline act, The LA Guns. After a 10-15 min intro of a mixed track of dramatic suspense music, the band arrived on stage. Sad to say, I left after a bout 5 songs. Dreamtime, the love song, killed it for me. It was the last straw.
But seriously, I wasn't sure if they were serious or not to start off with. But then after a couple songs, sadly, they were serious.
Maybe I am becoming more scathing with my gig reviews. I don't proclaim to be a journo but I know a good thing and a bad thing when I see it. This wasn't good. It had a weird feel to it. Like after you accidently cheat with Slash's daughter. Does he even have one?
The guitarist was good i have to give them that and his "sex-face" whilst playing guitar was pretty entertaining. The drummer and his technique was very basic. The drummer couldn't sing to save his life either. Why they had him on backing vocals only God knows. The lead vox were pretty fucking cool actually. I think I was more distubed by the antics, and the try-hard theatrics. But then again who doesn't like a bit of cheese in their life?
It's a shame that I let my ears be molested for so long that night. I honestly was hoping for something to smack me around the face and say fuck yeah rock n roll. But it failed to materialise.It's a bit sad that they have been around for a while but have failed to develop into what could be a great glamrock band. the vocals are there and the riffs are there. It seems like The LA Guns are just coasting along on the back of a fomrer connection to The Guns and Roses.
Oh well. Jim Rockfords, you win!!
Rating- 0.012 / 10
What I got was a guy in pimped up sneakers, a bandana, sunglasses, and singing about cruising in his Holden. I'm not sure how the set ended because after 2 songs I was already outside having a smoke.
The Jim Rockfords have always been pretty entertaining and have quite a large fanbase in Brisbane. The band was tight and definately got a few of the punters dancing. It was good to see after seeing the small part of the shambles that was JJ Speedball.
Jim Rockfords certainly didn't blow me away but I can see where the appeal lies and it's a winning formula.
So now to the headline act, The LA Guns. After a 10-15 min intro of a mixed track of dramatic suspense music, the band arrived on stage. Sad to say, I left after a bout 5 songs. Dreamtime, the love song, killed it for me. It was the last straw.
But seriously, I wasn't sure if they were serious or not to start off with. But then after a couple songs, sadly, they were serious.
Maybe I am becoming more scathing with my gig reviews. I don't proclaim to be a journo but I know a good thing and a bad thing when I see it. This wasn't good. It had a weird feel to it. Like after you accidently cheat with Slash's daughter. Does he even have one?
The guitarist was good i have to give them that and his "sex-face" whilst playing guitar was pretty entertaining. The drummer and his technique was very basic. The drummer couldn't sing to save his life either. Why they had him on backing vocals only God knows. The lead vox were pretty fucking cool actually. I think I was more distubed by the antics, and the try-hard theatrics. But then again who doesn't like a bit of cheese in their life?
It's a shame that I let my ears be molested for so long that night. I honestly was hoping for something to smack me around the face and say fuck yeah rock n roll. But it failed to materialise.It's a bit sad that they have been around for a while but have failed to develop into what could be a great glamrock band. the vocals are there and the riffs are there. It seems like The LA Guns are just coasting along on the back of a fomrer connection to The Guns and Roses.
Oh well. Jim Rockfords, you win!!
Rating- 0.012 / 10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)