The Fearless Vampire Killers at The Toff in Town, Melbourne

Jess O'Callaghan checked out Melbourne's The Fearless Vampire Killers, as they played a gig in their home city. Fiona Wilde supplied the photos, taken at their recent Sydney show:

“We cleared back the tables. When we play this next song, you’ll understand why.” The Fearless Vampire Killers are not a band to see if you don’t want to dance. These Melbourne blues rockers are the epitome of boogie. They were actually making my shoes bounce with the beat, even to the songs I didn’t know.

Melbourne six-piece Major Tom & the Atoms' set was an energetic start to the night. They make the saxophone look as cool as it did when Rob Lowe played one in St Elmo’s Fire (very cool). Rhythm and blues, soul funk and sexy crooning warmed the crowd right up for The Fearless Vampire Killers, and set the tone for the rest of the evening. Wasteland was the aforementioned table-clearing number, and it had most of the packed-out dance floor swivelling their knees like 1960s rock and roll stars. Moving seamlessly between pop-rock, funk and soul, The Fearless Vampire Killers are like something out of another decade. With their bright orange shirts and gel-quiffed hair, the four Melbourne boys looked the part.

With sounds simular to Little Red and The Drums, The Fearless Vampire Killers have songs that will get stuck in your head for days. In a good way. They make me want to barbeque things by the beach and then go swimming in my clothes. They sound like summer, but not in a happy-go-lucky, too cheerful way. In a way that means great, rolling riffs can be mixed with lyrics like, "Most people I know, they think life’s for living/But you know what I say, life is for killing." And still make you want to boogie.

As always, the Toff in Town is a perfect place to see any band that makes a live gig feel a bit like you’ve discovered an ability to time travel. The candle-lit, velvet-curtained band room is perfect for a band like The Fearless Vampire Killers. Try and catch their upcoming gigs in Geelong, Ballarat and at the Apollo Bay Music Festival. They’re definitely best enjoyed dancing.

Review by Jess O'Callaghan. Photos by Fiona Wilde.

Melbourne's Laneway Festival 2012: a photographer's perspective

Bobbysix snapper Vinisha Mulani talks us through her experience in the photography pit at Melbourne's Laneway Festival:

St Jerome's Laneway Festival, Melbourne - also known as The Hipsters' Annual Mass Migration to Footscray. The banks of the Maribyrnong River and the Footscray Community Arts Centre were bouncing with sunshine, tattoos and on-trend attendees. A gem of a venue, the Footscray Community Arts Centre had incredible views of the river, lush grassy knolls and even a few graffitti-clad laneways to boot. I had managed to wangle a photopass - despite my camera being approximately two metres shorter than the other photographers' and naked of accessories. Hanging out at the photo pit felt a little bit like a first day at a new school and your skirt being too long. Or not having a Tamagochi.

After getting over my camera's inferiority complex (the festival had everything short of portable counselling sessions - Melbourne's beloved BeatBox Kitchen & Taco Truck both made an appearance), I became a Photography Warrior. Despite being ill-equipped of extra weapons, before I knew it I was dodging and weaving through various jutting lenses and camera bags in the photo pit, shooting (get it?) subjects I've never seen that close before, and did not even bang into anyone's equipment (cough). 

Together, my camera and I developed girl-crushes on the amazing array of strong female performers inclusive of Anna Calvi and the incredible Maddie Follin of The Cults. My view of the audience also changed. Usually in festivals I'm on a constant tip-toe, drowning in a sea of the lucky tall - but from the photo-pit a new perspective emerged. (See image below of two girls crushing on Jonti with ukelele- giggling, hand over mouth, wide-eyed, head tilt). 

Highlights of the festival: Starting the day with Husky, a blue sky and a view of the river - the musical equivalent of having a massage on the beach. Being close to Active Child's harpistry. No long queues. The aforementioned girl crushes. An ice cream break (it was hot). Surviving the photo pit.

Words and pictures by Vinisha Mulani. Check back later in the week for Heidi Pett's full review of Sydney Laneway 2012.

Sign of the Six: The craze sweeping the nation!

We've just launched our new facebook fan page and we're pretty excited. However, something is missing from it. And that something is your face. That's right, we want the world to know how spectacularly beautiful the people are who read our words are. Then we can, like, form some kind of super hot army and take over the world through the power of liking quite good music. Or something.

Anyway, to the point. In order to get your good looking self all over our facebook page and our website like a flannel, you simply have to take a picture of yourself doing the Sign of the Six. Just six fingers in the air is all you need. When it is taken, either upload it onto our wall or email it to info@bobbysix.com and we'll do the rest.

And why, you ask, would you bother to do this? Well, the best picture will win a one-of-a-kind compilation CD of Bobbysix.com's favourite songs. On it, there will be some brand new stuff, some older stuff and some realllly old stuff spread across two CDs. We'll even make up some awesome album artwork for you. So, if you want to get your hands on this fully sick prize that pretty much breaks every licensing and copyright law going (its illegality only makes it more sexy), then get snapping, and send your entry to info@bobbysix.com or whack it up on our wall.

To inspire you, here are some Sign of the Sixers doing their thang:

 

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