As big, loud and flamboyant as its subject, Rocketman presents Elton John as a not-so-stable genius. If you want loads of Elton’s songs, extravagant costumes and a long spiral into depression, this is the movie for you. If you’re looking for a different take on the rockstar biopic though, you might have to look somewhere…
The Saint of Lost Causes, the eighth album from singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle, is such a solid example from start to finish of traditional country & country/blues songwriting that you could use it as a text book for aspiring songwriters in that mold. Of course, you’d might expect that from someone with that name, the…
After addressing the coming of age issues of Transcendental Youth back in 2012, the violent world of professional wrestling on Beat The Champ in 2015, and the dark music and culture of the 80’s era Goths in ’17, singer/songwriter John Darnielle leads The Mountain Goats into imaginative gaming world of Dungeons & Dragons with their…
An inspired production involving top talent, slick staging and creative costumes, David Bowie’s fantasy Lazarus – his final project before his death in 2016 – is a revelation. Entering the Playhouse at Arts Centre Melbourne, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I admired Bowie’s musical prowess, but I would hardly say I was…
You have to love the Irish! They seem to have an optimism and cheeriness that’s so infectious, you can’t help but smile. Now, combine that with a Catholic nun named Sister Winnie, who likes a sneaky smoke and a Guinness, and the foundations for a heart-warming tale are set. Folk is easy theatre to watch….
A pre-show soundtrack of Oz-rock classics adds an air of excitement to the experience of audience members awaiting the Brisbane season of Belvoir Theatre’s Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine. It’s an effective emphasis of the pub rock atmosphere for anyone who hasn’t gathered the feel of set designer Stephen…
Gang of Four started out in the same art school/university pool from Leeds, UK, in the late 70’s that gave us the Mekons. Bringing together a unique appreciation for funk rhythms and electronic dub sounds into a punk sensibility with politically-charged lyrics, Gang of Four broke real creative ground. In their first album, Entertainment!, Gang…
Thirty years on and boy-band (now very much man-band) Human Nature has still got it! On stage for more than two hours, performing a set of 30 plus numbers, these guys – brothers Andrew and Michael Tierney, together with high school friends Toby Allen and Phil Burton – are energetic and reverential. They love their…
The first thought that comes to mind when I think of Glen Hansard is that opening sequence in the movie Once, where we hear the singer/songwriter alone on acoustic guitar as the camera moves in one seamless longshot along the streets of Dublin, until we finally see him playing his acoustic guitar and singing out,…
Andrew Bird, the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, most often associated with his violin playing, has been plugging away producing smart, classically-influenced indie-rock (with the rare excursion into country) since first appearing on three albums with the Squirrel Nut Zippers in the mid-90’s. His first three albums as a bandleader arrived under the moniker, Andrew Bird’s Bowl…
