musopantz

Gig date: Wednesday 2nd July, 2009

I don’t have much to say about Karnivool, except that their music is TRANSCENDENT. These local Perth boys fronted by Ian “The Voice” Kenny totally rip it up at the Metropolis Concert Club in Fremantle (I’ve just noticed… does anyone call it a concert club? Anyway…)

I’d like to think that Karnivool is the better of the two Ian Kenny bands. I mean, it came first before Birds Of Tokyo. And besides, the sounds are so much more ethereal and pounding than the “hard” pop-rock of the latter band. I could probably go on about how samey all of Birds’ songs are, but I’ll forgive them whenever I hear “Shutterspeed”, “Roquefort”, or “Themata”.

Speaking of “Themata”, don’t ask me why I’m bringing this up… I remember this one Australian Idol series (uh oh) when it was the very first of the “Final 12″ shows on the grand stage. The first Idol was from Perth and there was no theme, just a personal choice for the song. She chose Karnivool’s Themata and ultimately got panned for it because no one knew what the song was. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia… why would you put her down for such a lame excuse? It was a solid performance but in the end, she was the first to be booted off the stage.

I must also say… their latest single “Set Fire To The Hive” from new album Sound Awake rocks my socks off.

There are a couple more photos on my Flickr photostream, so check them out.

Pick up Drum Media Perth next Thursday for a full review too!

Vanilla Ice loves to lounge about.

This post is a part of a series: V Festival 2009 Australian Tour. Plenty of photos of all the bands from all the shows!

If you asked anyone in Sydney or Melbourne what their highlight was at the V Festival, you might be blown away by the numerous “OMG! Vanilla Ice!!!” responses. Sure The Killers has a great stage setup and presence. Sure Kaiser Chiefs went absolutely mental climbing and jumping all over things. But Vanilla Ice was where it was at, yo! I remember reading the morning after (more like 4am at the airport lounge, waiting for the flight home to Perth!), reading The Age Newspaper on how Vanilla Ice stole the show.

His show at the Melbourne Showgrounds was totally packed.

Vanilla Ice was originally scheduled to perform only at the Sydney V Festival. He flew down to the Gold Coast V Festival to chill and mingle with lucky punters in the Virgin Mobile Louder Lounge. The Virgin Mobile Angels told me that he was going to visit the Sydney and Melbourne offices during the week too.  And then he loved Australia so much that last minute changes had to be made for another show in Melbourne!

Vanilla Ice and the Virgin Mobile Angels at the Gold Coast

Virgin Mobile had brought Vanilla Ice down on a campaign to Right Music Wrongs, where you decided if he was innocent or guilty for all the bad things about music. You decided that he was Innocent, and so he performed “Ice Ice Baby” and “Ninja Rap (Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!)” for all you adoring fans. If he was proven Guilty, then he’d have to publicly apologise… and then possibly sing his songs anyway!

Ice Ice Baby… too cold to hold!

I must also admit that Vanilla Ice was definitely one of my highlights of the entire V Festival circuit. I did spend a lot of time for him - the performances, the media calls, backstage… and, of course, the fan photo! He really really loves his fans. At the Sydney V Festival, his manager kept asking him to move along out of the Louder Lounge, but being the nice guy he is, Vanilla Ice made sure all of his fans  got a photo with him. I guess there’s one reason why he loves Australia!

Yeah man. Ice is the master of MySpace photos. Let’s kick it.

Let’s get this party started… kickin’ it old school.

There are a bazillion more photos in my Flickr photoset of Vanilla Ice from around Australia. Check them out!

Gig date: Friday 29th May, 2009

Tonight was a night for firsts - it was a special, invite-only listening party to celebrate the release of Eskimo Joe’s newest album Inshalla. But more importantly (hah!), it was the first official concert of the reopening of The Astor Theatre right in the heart of trendy Mt. Lawley!

What was once a full-time movie theatre for… hmm, God knows how long, The Astor had closed its doors last year as it was hardly profitable in this day and age. Built in 1911, renovated to its iconic art-deco interior styling in 1939, the place was listed on the State Register of Heritage Places almost exactly 10 years ago. I’m glad I found this out recently as I was afraid that the place would disappear. Read More »