Sat 17 Apr – Captain Kickarse and the Awesomes, Pirate, Godswounds

I blogged about their hilarious name and their cool YouTube tracks a while back, but last night I saw Captain Kickarse & the Awesomes play live.

It was at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills, a pub with a tiny room in the back that has live music every night of the week. It reminded me a bit of the Dublin Castle in London, though the pub last night isn’t quite so down-to-earth.

Last night there were five bands on show for just $10. That’s pretty good value, even…

Tue 16 Feb – Gossip, Art Vs Science, New war, Nick Findlay

Last night was my first gig at Newtown’s Enmore Theatre, to see The Gossip. It reminded me of some of the great music halls in London, particularly the Hammersmith Apollo: grubby, ornate, and well-worn with sweat and loud music. It’s much smaller than the Apollo or Brixton Academy, though the upstairs seats seem to stretch back a long way.

The Gossip have made a big splash in the UK and in just-slightly-off-mainstream rock circles elsewhere. The capacity crowd certainly screamed from the moment Beth Ditto shimmied on stage…

Thu 28 Jan – Rogue's Gallery

Last night was our last Sydney Festival 2010 event. It was Rogue’s Gallery, a live performance of many of the songs recorded for a 2006 album of the same name. We heard sea shanties and pirate ballads, sweet and bawdy. It was an unusual event, that’s for sure.

It was held outside, in front of the Opera House. This would normally be a good location, as the performers and audience could all see the harbour and the boats to-ing and fro-ing. Last night, however, it pissed down rain for about an hour just before…

Wed 27 Jan – Them Crooked Vultures, The Art

Last night was a full and proper return to live music; my gig habit back in full swing. Sydney may not be quite the relentless pusher that London was, but it looks like it might be close. This city has now given me a great show that featured a member of Led Zeppelin, and that is a fix worth waiting for.

It was easier than I expected to get to the Hordern Pavillion. It is no more than it says, a big square room, with big square acoustics. There are a…

Wed 20 Jan – The Decemberists, Jack Shit, Bridezilla, Dan Zilber

Another Sydney Festival event last night, this time time at the Beck’s Festival Bar, a big tented area at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. It was a nice open feel (and it helped that it was a fine night), though as a venue it was a bit on the long and narrow side. And you can’t get good rock sound in a semi-open tent, but the Sydney summer vibe counts for a lot.

I only caught the last two songs of local openers Bridezilla. I can’t say that I…

Mon 11 Jan – Neko Case

At the first of several ticketed events I’m attending for the Sydney Festival, last night I caught American songstress Neko Case at Sydney’s City Recital Hall.

It was my second time seeing Neko, and she and her band delivered much the same level of show as last time: a meditation on gentle humour, clear-voiced melodies, country roots musicianship, and poignant songwriting. She seemed plagued by a dodgy amp and an acoustically unresponsive Hall, but it still felt like a friend had come over to your house just to play a few of her (awesome)…

Fri 14 Aug – U2 360° Tour

I was at a massive, crowded Wembley Stadium last night for the first London night of U2's 360° Tour.

We missed first openers The Hours in lieu of getting something to eat and drink. This was my first time on the top tier of Wembley and, exploring a little, we discovered an open-air observation deck. Nice.

Next openers were Elbow. I like them so we caught their whole 45-minute-ish slot. It was a pleasant enough warm-up, even if they got a bit lost performing under the forbidding Claw (as any band would). The…

Wed 15 Jul – Nine Inch Nails

Last night was a big night: the London stop of the NIN¦JA Wave Goodbye tour. This was my ninth time seeing Nine Inch Nails, and my second time seeing Jane’s Addiction. Trent Reznor has implied that there will be some sort of NIN hiatus for a while; this was a good show for me to see them go out on.

I was apprehensive about this gig being in the massive O2 arena. I had bought floor tickets during a presale, but it seemed thousands of others had as well, because the queue to…

Sat 4 Jul – Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Tal Wilkenfeld

Most people like a guitar played in some fashion. Not everyone likes a lot of guitar, though, and even fewer would care for an entire evening of guitar instrumentals. “Fewer” is a relative term, though: there were at least enough of us six-string aficionados to fill the Royal Albert Hall last night and watch the legendary Jeff Beck play.

I arrived late and missed much of support act Imelda May (I needed a drink; it was a hot day). She sounded good, though, a great voice and look for some…

Wed 24 Jun – The Dead Weather, Smoke Fairies

I’m just back from one of the first shows by new alt-supergroup The Dead Weather at the HMV (formerly Kentish Town) Forum.

First up were London’s Smoke Fairies. They were two guitar-playing young women, backed by a drummer and violinist, playing what I can only describe as folk trip-hop. Everything is slow, sultry harmonies. In fact, the girls’ harmonies were a bit too close for my liking; I like a bit of room between vocal parts. But they were okay.

We didn’t have to wait too long for The Dead Weather.…