A few words with Ben Salter

Bobbysix.com had a quick chat with Ben Salter as he prepared for his gig tonight at The Gaelic in Sydney:

How has the tour with Busby Marou been? 
It's been great, all the crowds have been receptive and I think overall the Busby fans have picked up what I'm laying down. Except the couple in Fremantle who I chastised mid song for talking loudly through my whole set. Don't reckon they'll be coming back.

You've toured with some big names this year. What have you learnt from these experiences?
That I still have a lot to learn. Oh, and that Raymond Kurzweil thinks humans are gonna merge with computers in around twenty years. Thanks Paul Dempsey.

Was performing with Kimbra on Rockwiz fun and do you have any plans to work together again? 
Yes it was great. She's very talented and insanely composed for someone so young. No plans at this stage, but I suppose it's always a possibility. I'm sure our paths will cross again at some stage.

What does 2012 have in store for you? 
I think maybe I am going to go overseas and have adventures. Probably release another album too. Making albums is the fun part.

Complete the following sentence. You should turn up early to see my set at The Gaelic tonight because... then you can get a good spot to see The Winter People who are playing right after me and are awesome! Oh and cause I'm pretty good too if you like that sort of thing.

Catch Ben Salter, Winter People and Busby Marou at The Gaelic in Sydney tonight. Oh and here's that duet with Kimbra we were talking about. We love a bit of Supergrass.

Interview by Bobby Townsend

Changing Lanes 2011

Last year's inaugural Changing Lanes felt like a proper festival. Which is kinda weird because there were no tents, no fields and not a naked wasted hippy anywhere in sight. Instead, there was a street, a stage and a pub. Doesn't sound much like a festival, you may think. But that's where you'd be wrong, Changing Lanes 2010 was an incredible festival experience. A labour of love for its founders (they had to bend over backwards to convince the local council to give them the green light) the Sydney-based, one-day event was made up of brilliant Aussie bands, DJs, food stalls, artists, and had simply the most organic, home-grown feel to it. In 2011, the festival moved to a new venue. Goodbye grungy Newtown, hello hipster haven Surry Hills. A bigger event, a new location, more punters, would Changing Lanes 2011 retain its charm?

Thankfully, the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it rule was strictly adhered to. Sure, everything was a little magnified this time round, but this was still the same Changing Lanes that we swooned over last year.

As the sun beat down relentlessly, Sydney's best new band, Cameras (above) were a lunchtime treat, even though a 1.30pm slot wasn't really ideal. While their atmospheric sound is best suited to playing in the dark, they still gave one of the performances - if not the performance - of the day. We've gushed plenty about Cameras on these pages over the past couple of years (and, trust us, there is more to follow when their debut album drops next month) so we won't rave for too long this time. Suffice to say, they won't be playing this early at festivals for long.



Elsewhere, DJs on the FBi stage belted out some crowd faves and The Gaelic hosted a bunch more acts, such as the divine Lanie Lane and the brilliant and bizarre 'country surf' of Mikelangelo and the Tin Star. As we have often seen at Brighton's Great Escape, the problem with having a festival that utilises indoor venues is that, once they're full, they're full. So there were eternal lines snaking from the three clubs/bars that hosted stages. Simply, it's the nature of such a beast. If you weren't organised and didn't arrive early to whatever you wanted to see, you probably missed out. No point grumbling about it. Besides, the quality on the main stage was so high that there was always an outstanding option to fall back on. Like Aussie legend Gareth Lilliard (below) of The Drones, who played a devilishly downbeat acoustic set, introducing each song with a funny-as-fuck preamble.

Just like last year though, the music was only half of what was going down at Changing Lanes. For instance, after the street artists had done their thing with spray cans, there were fashion installations to enjoy, most notably from the ever-interesting Jesse Willesee (check out the pics below). There were also market stalls from the likes of Dear Pluto and, of course, no festival would be complete without a spinach and cheese gozleme. And the band(s) played on too. Bleeding Knees Club started a little on the ropey side, but by the end of their set, their perky indie pop had even the most sun-drunk of punters dancing.

As night continued to fall, Devonshire Street grew more atmospheric. While Gay Paris and The Snowdroppers did their thing in The Gaelic, Papa Versus Pretty rocked the life out of the main stage, before headliners PVT (below) ended proceedings. As always seems to be the case with PVT, their instrumental offerings were comfortably their strongest and most visceral. That is what we fell in love with them for in the first place, after all.

And once PVT had ripped the crowd apart with their shuddering math rock, that was it. Another year done, and another big thumbs up from Bobbysix.com. Will the festival move on again next year, or has it found its home? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure, it has laid some pretty amazing foundations over these past two years.

WIN WIN WIN! Tickets to We Had Parties on Easter Sunday!

Easter. It's the celebration of when, all those years ago, Jesus spent a long weekend eating loads of chocolate with the Easter Bunny. That's right isn't it? Wait... what? Oh. Okay, so we're not that hot on religion here at BobbySix Towers. But what we are good at is pointing you in the direction of awesome times. And the times do not come much more awesome than what is in store for the Sydneysiders amongst you at The Gaelic on Easter Sunday (24th April).

With a ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ theme, the fifth annual We Had Parties shindig is set to pit the best Sydney club nights against each other, with DJs from LAST NIGHT (aka Purple Sneakers), MUM, GIRL THING, TEEN SPIRIT, F.R.I.E.N.D/s, GHETTO BLASTER and P*A*S*H battling across two rooms.

It's going to be a mental night, and the best thing is that you have the chance to head along FOR FREE, courtesy of BobbySix.com as we have TWO DOUBLE PASSES TO GIVE AWAY. So, for your chance to gain complimentary entry for yourself and a mate to the sickest party of the year, read on...


UPDATE: Sadly this competition is now closed and the winners have been informed. You can stil buy tickets though for the tiny price of $20+bf here. Meanwhile, keep right up to date with future giveaways by Liking my Facebook page and/or following me on Twitter.

We Had Parties! The Rumble In The Jungle

Easter Sunday. It's a time for chilling out with the family, eating yourself into a chocolate coma and watching whatever crap movie Channel 10 is serving up for the zillionth time (we're guessing Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason or Love Actually), right? Sound good to you? No. Us neither. Hows about, instead, we all go to the SICKEST PARTY OF THE YEAR?

That's right, Sydneysiders had best get ready to rumble, because the 5th annual We Had Parties is on the horizon. With a ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ theme, the shindig at The Gaelic on Sunday 24th April is set to pit the biggest and best Sydney club nights against each other. In the blue and red corners this year will be LAST NIGHT (aka Purple Sneakers), MUM, GIRL THING, TEEN SPIRIT, F.R.I.E.N.D/s, GHETTO BLASTER and P*A*S*H.

The night will be spread across two rooms; so you can get bare-knuckle and sweaty downstairs by The Boxing Ring, where they'll be ringside girls announcing each heavyweight DJ crew, some knockout tunes and spit buckets. Okay, there won't be spit buckets. That would be gross. Meanwhile, upstairs in The Jungle you can tangle yourself up in the vines and party vibes.

What more could you ask for than all your favourite nights under one roof? So, take full advantage of the public holiday on the following Monday and party with the heavyweights at The Gaelic. Tickets are on sale now through www.moshtix.com.au. See you there!

Words by Rob Townsend.

Young Revelry play Last Night tomorrow!

Confused by the headline? Are Perth’s Young Revelry playing last night or tomorrow? we hear you scream. Well, both, actually.

The name of the event is Last Night and it's brought to you by the dudes responsible for those messy Purple Sneakers nights we've all experienced. Last Night is an equally sick party, with the added bonus of live bands, and it's all going down this Friday at The Gaelic Club, just near Central Station, in Sydney.

As well as a bunch of wicked DJs, Perth rockers Young Revelry will be ripping the room apart with their clashy punk sound, playing songs from their debut EP, You & I. Also on stage on Friday are Melbourne's retro indie poppers, Radio Star.

Tickets will set you back ten bones on the door and the madness starts from 8pm. Want more info? The facebook event has all the deets.

Young Revelry have also announced a run of national tour dates through March and April. Check their Myspace for more details.

Words by Rob Townsend.

Jamie T at The Gaelic Club, Sydney

JAMIE T

The Gaelic Club, Sydney

03/01/10

It seems Jamie T is never away from Sydney, yet, far from the city growing tired of him, his performance at The Gaelic Club was greeted with the kind of hysteria that suggests he is always a welcome guest. Just like when he was at The Metro a couple of months back, a packed room sang every word back at the Londoner. Anyone who is familiar with Jamie Treays' high speed, slang-ridden vernacular will know that that is an achievement in itself.

Helped by the crisp and clear Gaelic sound, the set was a familiar and high-energy run-through of material from his two albums, highlights of which were So Lonely Was The Ballad and Pacemaker. Treays was his usual cheeky self, paying out the people who chose to stand at the back of the room rather than getting involved in the melee at the front. Indeed, for set closer Sheila, he dragged one of the "middle-aged men" from the back of the room onto the stage and took part in a dance-off with him. Maybe he did it to entertain himself during a song that he must have sung a zillion times, but in truth, to the rest of us Sheila still sounded as fresh as ever without the need for such - admittedly fun - gimmicks.

By the time he encored with Sticks 'n' Stones, the crowd - from which a lot of English accents could be picked out - were going mental, crowd surfing, climbing onto the stage an then throwing themselves back off it, and hollering every word as if their lives depended on it. Treays took such fervour in his stride. Just another night out for this talented geezer from the other side of the world.

The Jack Awards 2007

The Jack Awards, Australia’s celebration of indie achievement, took place last night at Sydney’s Luna Park.Because the event is still in its infancy, the most noticeable thing about it is its inability to pull the really big names just yet, but it would be unfair to criticise it too harshly for this, as everything needs time to grow. Similarly, the lack of paying punters and the glitches with regard to accommodating those who did turn up can be put down to the fact that this is the first year the event has been open to Joe Public. However, penning people in and not allowing them to go to the toilet is the very opposite of the fan-friendly environment that would encourage anyone to come back next year. It perhaps wasn’t quite like “going to a gig in Nazi Germany,” as one fellow quipped, but it is certainly something that needs looking into next time.

The awards themselves followed the same format as any award ceremony. While the calibre of presenters and performers wasn’t as strong as the MTV Awards, there was a much nicer atmosphere at this event. Because the Sydney scene is so incestuous, everyone in the room was linked by one or two degrees of separation, giving the occasion a pleasing level of familiarity and friendliness. There was none of the falseness and the pouting of the MTV awards; this was just a bunch of skinny-jeaned indie kids enjoying the free booze and watching their mates perform or win awards.

Rockers Airbourne (above) opened the night with a typically histrionic show. I really don’t see the appeal of this band. Are they supposed to be tongue in cheek or serious? If they are being ironic then they’ve missed the boat more than once (Spinal Tap did it in the 80s and The Darkness have already done it this decade). And, if they are serious, well, then they’re just not very good.Mercy Arms and Howling Bells (above) performed, while You Am I invited a big old rock dinosaur to sing for them. I have no idea who he was, but he minced his way around the stage like Dave Gahan’s dad; posing like he was the hottest cat in the room. He wasn’t. He was an old man dressed inappropriately.

With regard to the awards, Angus and Julia Stone and Children Collide were unlucky to miss out to Red Riders in the Best Live Newcomer category, but congratulations must go to The Gaelic Club for winning the Best Live Venue. It is a great place, run by wonderful people, and I was over the moon that they won.

As the ceremony drew to a close, I came to the realisation that I would rather eat my own faeces than watch the “all-star” jam, so I hit the after-party. Booze flowed over two venues until the next morning, and it was delightful to be in the company of so many decent people. Following my recent jaded cynicism, this social gathering reaffirmed my faith in the music industry. There are some great people in the Sydney scene.

And so, at 5am, I shuffled my tired frame to bed in the knowledge that the Jack Awards is an event that is moving in the right direction. And, at just over an hour in length, is joyfully succinct. Other ceremonies could learn from that if nothing else.