If you've been been following my blog you already know I am a pretty big Tori Amos fan, here are a few photos I took at her show at the City Recital Hall, in Sydney. The show was part of her Unrepentant Geraldines Tour.


Even before the show begun had very high hopes for this convert. It was in a much more intimate venue than Tori usually plays and the entire set list was chosen via fan requests.


In a word the show was breathtaking. Tori's voice was perfection and she had the audience waiting on her every word. It was amazing to see her perform in is such an intimate setting again and the Recital Hall really captured her sound. It felt like Tori was singing directly to every member of her audience of devotees. The fan requested set was always going to be great but this was a once in a lifetime concert that went places even the most hopeful Tori fan would have never dreamt it would go. It hard to pick highlights but hearing Cooling, one of my all time favorite song's live was great. A stripped back version of Fire on the Side from Tori's little know 1988 synthpop band and album of the same name Y Kant Tori Read was something no one in the audience saw coming and a solo performance of Raspberry Swirl got everyone up off their seats to dance up and down the isles.

As soon as a heard that Tori Amos was returning to tour Australia on the back of her new album Unrepentant Geraldines I thought about illustrating something to mark the occasion. I have been a fan of Tori and her music for most of my life and I was really excited for the shows with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.


As always Tori's live performance was energetic and electrically enchanting. She performed songs from across her vast back catalogue that had been specifically arranged for the Symphony. Winter, Purple People (performed solo), Hey Jupiter, Programmable Soda and 1000 Oceans (also performed solo) were definite standouts from the performance for me.


The following day I joined fellow Tori devotees in the line for the meet and greet before her rehearsal for the second show at the Sydney Opera House. Meet and greets are something that Tori has done from the very beginning of her career. I have attended them before and they are always a very special event as a fan. It is a great way to spend a day meeting other fans and talking about your favorite songs before Tori herself comes out. They seriously broke the mould when they created Tori Amos she has limitless time, patients and appreciation for her fans. Meeting her is such a great experience. To say I was nervous would be a massive understatement but I did manage to get a few words out and to give her a print out of the illustration I drew which she thought was super cute! What a day!

I will refrain from calling it DJ-ing but I'll be spinning some of my favourite rare Rock 'n' Roll, Rockabilly, Northern Soul and Surf Rock records for Misspent Youth #2 at The Greenroom Lounge in Enmore this Friday night! 

The first Misspent Youth night last month was a hoot so why not come along for some great music, fun dancing and tasty cocktails!

As mentioned in the previous post Our good friends from The Drey Rollan Band have started up a new musical project called Red River Shore. Along with their logo I also had the privilege of designing and illustrating a poster for a gig launching their brand new single, Wild, Wild, Wind next month.


I liked the idea of making the poster look like an advert for a B-Grade 70's road movie and I decided to draw the band riding cross country in a beat up 1960 Buick Invicta, avoiding some pesky hitch hikers while being chased by the cops and a school bus!

Well they say a picture tells 1000 words and the photos below begin to show the colourful, energetic carnavale that was Arcade Fire's concert at the Sydney Entertainment. I was very excited for this concert, I love Arcade Fire their new album Reflektor is fantastic and has been on high rotation since I got it. This gig was truly an amazing experience, living up to my expectations and will definitely be a tough one to top. The curtain rose to an empty stage with the band playing a stripped down version of Neon Bible's My Body Is a Cage from all corners of the arena, making their way through the crowd to the stage.  With 10 musicians on stage the sound was fantastic and full but every instrument was audible, I really don't think I've been to an arena show that has sounded this good. The band had two Haitian percussionists with them who's mirror ball congas really fit in great with the carnavale feel, this concert had.


Arcade Fire utilised the power of a good set list to create the energetic tone for the evening kicking things off with Reflektor and Flashbulb Eyes from their new album followed by the crowd favourite that never seems to grow old Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out) before moving back to the new album to play the punchy Joan of Arc. From this point Arcade Fire had 100% of the audiences attention giving them space to play the more pensive and brooding numbers such as Ocean of Noise, Afterlife and Normal Person. Everything about this show was large; the sound, the great light display as well as three giant 3-dimensional mirrors that would change position through the songs to reflect light and colour back at the audience.


The remainder of the set included among others No Cars Go, Keep the Car Running, Devil Inside (an INXS Cover) and an encore that included Ready to Start and Wake Up, which though they are off older albums were really played with the same energy and carnavale-spirit as the newer songs, leaving the audience on a spectacle-fuelled high, of course being showered in ticker-tape confetti also really helped!

Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing Bombino play in the Spiegeltent as part of the 2014 Sydney Festival Lineup. Omara "Bombino" Moctar is an Tuareg guitarist and singer-songwriter from Agadez, Niger. I first became aware of Bombino with the release of his 2013 album Nomad. The Album was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and was one of my favorite albums of the year. While Bombino sings in the Tuareg language of Tamashek his music definitely paints a picture in a universal language with its hypnotic vocals, spiraling blues-inspired electric guitar riffs and thumping rhythms.

My good friends The Drey Rollan Band are hitting the road for an east coast tour this May and I had the privilege of designing their tour poster! If they are playing in your neighborhood and you need a good old fashioned Rock 'n' Roll fix you should definitely check them out! The lovely photograph is by the super talented Nicola Daley.

I recently designed the above Business Cards from my good friends The Drey Rollan Band. I wanted the card to look like the album cover that I designed for them last year but added the graphic image of vinyl record on the back so that even if you haven't heard them play live you get a sense of their great Rock 'n' Roll / Rockabilly sound.

Speaking of seeing them play live if you haven't seen these guys play live yet go to their facebook page for a link of their upcoming shows and check them out you won't be disappointed.

A Beatle! Performing live and I get to watch! No I'm not dreaming but this is the stuff dreams are made of. Tonight we got to see Ringo Starr perform with his All Starr Band at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. The All Starr Band for this tour is made up of Ringo Starr - drums, keyboards, percussion, vocals, Steve Lukather from Toto - guitar, vocals, Gregg Rolie from Santana and Journey - organ, keyboards, vocals, Todd Rundgren from Nazz, Utopia and The New Cars - guitar, harmonica, bass, percussion, keyboards, vocals, Richard Page from Mr. Mister - bass, acoustic guitar, vocals, Mark Rivera - saxophone, percussion, keyboards, guitar, vocals and Gregg Bissonette - drums, percussion vocals, who are all very talented musician in their own right so I knew we were in for a treat.

In preparation for this concert we spent the week rediscovering some of Ringo's hits with the Fab Four, some of his older solo records and his latest album entitled 2012. I have to say his first three solo records from the early 1970's are fantastic and It was great to have a reason to rediscover these as I probably haven't given them a good listen since my Beatle crazed teenage years. Sentimental Journey released in early 1970 was a record of Standards from the 1940's and 1950's covered by Ringo and arranged by a range of musicians including Maurice Gibb, Quincy Jones and George Martin, It is a fantastic album and was in a lot of cases the first place I had heard a lot of these fantastic songs. Ringo went on to release another album in 1970, Beaucoups of Blues a purely country album which has a guest appearance from the Jordanaires, Elvis'  vocal backing group and holds up as one of the finest solo Beatle offerings. Following a brief break from music he went on to release Ringo in 1973, this album would have to be my favourite solo Beatle record, because with guest appearances by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison it kinda isn't a solo Beatle record at all!


Back to the concert, excitement among the crowd was high and Ringo didn't disappoint. He bounded onto the stage reflecting the energy of the crowd and he didn't stop, whether he was singing, drumming, singing while drumming or delivering excellent crowd interaction and banter. The setlist was amazing, Ringo belted out many of his Beatle era songs, including: Matchbox, Don't Pass Me By, Honey Don't, Boys, Yellow Submarine, I Wanna Be Your Man, Act Naturally and of course With a Little Help From My Friends. Ringo hilariously spoke of penning the lyrics for Act Naturally (the first song he ever wrote) and told how after coming up with the line, "I'm sorry that I doubted you, I was so unfair, You were in a car crash, And you lost your hair" he thought wow Lennon and McCartney had better watch out. He also prefaced Yellow Submarine by saying "If you don't like the next song I think you're at the wrong concert"  He also performed some of his solo era songs, including: Wings, Anthem and Photograph.

Of course the night was billed as an All Starr event and not to disappoint Ringo's set was interlaced with a few songs performed by the other talented musicians on stage. This ever changing stage really added to the big party atmosphere of the evening as it was almost like Ringo was programming a Classic Hits Radio station Live on Stage. Steve Lukather got to perform a few Toto Classics Including Rosana, Africa and Hold the Line, Gregg Rolie sung a great organ based version of Santana's Black Magic Woman while, Todd Rundgren sung I Saw The Light and Bang the Drum All Day, while the stand out for me was Richard Page who sung the Mr. Mister hits Kyrie and Broken Wings so beautifully and as if they were written yesterday.

Sadly the night did have to come to close with Ringo singing a lovely version of Give Peace a Chance a song by an old friend of his, John Lennon. I think this was the perfect way to end proceedings which could be summed up in six little words: Peace and Love, Peace and Love!

Now Weezer are one of those bands I've listened to and loved for more than half of my lifetime but I have sadly never had the chance to see them live as they rarely leave the US. After countless rumors of them touring Australia not coming to fruition, you can see why I would be skeptical when I heard they were touring, I even kept my anticipation for the concert quite low just in case they backed out at the last minute, but a week out from the gig my excitement grew and after watching the film clip to Buddy Holly I was ready to feel like a teenager again.

Entering to the A-Team theme music Weezer hit the stage under a giant lit up "W" poor Rivers was hobbling around a bit after injuring his knee in Melbourne. The first half of the concert Weezer played the best of their back catalogue, slowly building up the crowd for the second half of the set. I've gotta say Weezer are a real fan band, they knew exactly what their fan's had come out to see and they delivered it... and some. They managed to include some gems but I've gotta say El Scorcho from their 1996 album Pinkerton was a real highlight and judging by the crowd's response I wasn't alone.

The band then left the stage and handed the mic over to Karl, who has worked for the band for 21 years. Karl took the crowd back to the early beginnings of Weezer, recounting many stories and playing a slide show of early photos of the band, images of their early gig flyers, concept sketches of the first album cover as well a a detailed look at their first share house and rehearsal space, inspiration to the song In the Garage and backdrop to the film clip for Say It Ain't So. He also told the story of the bands first tour van and how they originally called it The Enforcer, but after a series of breakdowns changed its name to Betsy. Tonight's slideshow took us right up to the last time Weezer toured Australia in 1996. It was great to hear these stories and see all the stuff Karl had the foresight to hang on to, watching this made me feel really nostalgic and I swear you could have heard a pin drop as every one in the crowd was happy to be taken on this walk through Weezer time.


Luckily our walk through Weezer time was only just getting started and the band rejoined the stage under a giant blue banner resembling their first self titled album also fondly known as the Blue Album, Rivers also even took the time to change into an outfit suspiciously resembling what he wore on the cover. The band then ripped through the Blue Album in its entirety, they played it with the same fun time energy it has on the album and it was a hoot. The entire crowd jumped, sang and screamed their way through the 10 songs and it was clear that they meant as much to everyone else in the crowd as they meant to me. Buddy Holly, Undone - The Sweater Song, Say It Ain't So and In The Garage were definite stand outs but I guess that is a given. The band capped the night off with Island In The Sun which left me with the nostalgic warm and fuzzies as well as contemplating why Chuck Taylors have no arch support.

 
Tonight's concert was at the State Theatre, a beautiful venue I really love. The concert is a collaboration between David Byrne and St. Vincent and is part if the 2013 Sydney Festival.

If you've been reading my blog you'd already know I have a bit of a soft spot for St. Vincent's music but the collaboration with David Byrne seemed to make this concert a different beast entirely.  The pair recorded a album in 2012 called Love This Giant, it's an album with a big brassy sound that manages to feel very tightly arranged while remaining experimentally loose at the same time and I was very curious to see how this would translate to a live performance.

The night started with a plea from David Byrne across the loud speaker for the audience to record, film and photograph the performance as it was something they were proud of and had both worked really hard to put together, he also issued a warning to maybe refrain from recording the concert on an iPad though because it may block the persons view in front of you which I thought was hilarious and it really set the tone for the night.

The musicians for the evening filed out onto the stage and there was enough brass to start a Salivation Army band! Looking at the photos you'd be forgiven for thinking they are from a musical not a rock concert but just like the record the sound was big and full managing to sound very tightly arranged and loose and experimental at the same time! The one thing that the live performance definitely had over the album was the choreography. Every song seemed to have the musicians in a different formation working in a different organic set of movements this was a visual treat and really made the night feel special!


They moved through a number of songs from the album including my favorites: I Am An Ape, Lazarus and I Should Watch TV. They also managed to totally reinvent a few of St. Vincent's solo songs including Cheerleader and Cruel as well as a few crowd pleasers from David Byrne's extensive solo and Talking Heads back catalog. The encore included The Talking Heads track, Burning Down The House which St. Vincent introduced as the song that first introduced her David Byrne as it had featured in the classic 80s film Revenge of the Nerds, needless to say this got people dancing up the isles. This was followed by a beautifully stripped back version of St. Vincent's song The Party and the song that got the whole State Theatre on their feet, the Reality Bites favorite Taking Head's Road the Nowhere.

I recently designed the above poster for a gig my good friends The Drey Rollan Band are doing tonight at The Basement. The Basement is a pretty iconic live music club in Sydney and the guys are playing a more blues inspired set, hence my colour choice above! If your in the area you should get along it should be a fantastic evening!

Last night I had the absolute please of seeing Beck perform a truly amazing set covering most of his career at the State Theatre in Sydney. He was supported by a UK band called Dark Horses, they had a great sound kind of a perfect fusion of heavy garage psychedelic rock and art house noise. Lead singer, Lisa Elle had an amazing stage presence and a very powerful voice. The bands matching Dark Horses logo emblazoned leather jackets and capes were fun, nothing like a band that knows what continuity is.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of designing a poster for the great guys from my favorite Rockabilly/Rock & Roll/Blues band, The Drey Rollan Band. Its for their up-and-coming album launch gig at the Vanguard in Newtown, a gig which I am personally very excited about for a few reasons!
Reason Number One: As always, it's sure to be a rockin' Drey Rollan Band gig
Reason Number Two: I can't wait to hear their new CD and have it rockin out my stereo
Reason Number Three: I can't wait to see their new CD because the album artwork was designed by yours truly.... (more on that later)

Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing My Brightest Diamond perform at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid Festival 2012. After quite a dash through Circular Quay and the hordes of people out to see the Opening of the Vivid Lights, we ducked into the dimly lit hall and were treated to a spectacular show by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. Shara walked onto stage carrying a large bunch of colourful balloons. She was backed by a fantastic band and performed songs from her beautiful new album All Things Will Unwind. Some personal highlights were my favorite song of the moment- Be Brave, the super fun song- High Low Middle (which includes the hilarious line Are you fat or are you eating up your hat? Are you fat? Are you?), the heart-wrenching- I Have Never Loved Someone and the ramshackle cover of Tainted Love.


This lovingly beautiful show put us in the perfect mood to have a wine at Opera Bar, before further leisurely exploring the Vivid Lights.

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the multi-instrumental, uber talented and all round musical powerhouse that is St Vincent at The Factory Theatre in Marrickville, Sydney! Over the years I've seen Annie Clark perform under may guises; as a member the Polyphonic Spree, as part of Sufjan Steven's band, with My Brightest Diamond and on her own as a solo artist darting all over the stage playing ever instrument in sight, but last night with a full band behind her she left me speechless. The sheer punk-power that songs like Black Rainbow, Year of the Tiger and the brand new song Krokodil commanded was amazing, while the encore, a stripped back version of The Party was one of the most beautiful live music songs I have ever heard.