Loon Lake

Another surprise on Saturday night was the support act to Red Riders: Loon Lake. These guys are unreal. They had us from their first song. Three of them are brothers and they obviously really enjoy playing together. They’re fantastic!

I downloaded their new EP Not Just Friends from iTunes Store almost as soon as I got home. It features their single In the Summer that is getting some airplay on Triple J now.

The Middle East & Red Riders

I had a big weekend of music. It started with The Middle East at the Metro on Friday night and finished with Red Riders‘ last ever concert at the Oxford Art Factory (video above of Ordinary from that performance) on Saturday night. Both events were fantastic and well worth the money.

The Middle East were a complete surprise. I know their music from their self-titled EP and the more recent album I Want That You Are Always Happy, but in concert I think their music is much deeper, heavier and it has so much more energy. They really seem to enjoy playing and performing and right from the first note it was clear that they had a really big sound and stage presence. As with their album there was heaps of variety in the playing with most band members playing several instruments as they wandered through their amazing repertoire. To me it seemed that they had a long background in live performance and after having seen them now it seems their studio recordings, whilst beautiful, just don’t capture the energy and richness they display on stage. They’re brilliant.
Red Riders also really enjoyed playing their concert. They seemed to treat it all as a celebration of their musical history and they dropped a couple of hints that it isn’t all completely over. They will probably do some individual work or reform in another combination. Guitarist Brad Heald is back with The Vines. I hope all that talent just isn’t wasted.
I think I mostly enjoyed the music they played in the second half of this gig (from Drown in Colours) when Brad replaced Adrian Deutsch on stage. His guitar work on Tomorrow/Today and Ordinary is very special. Tomorrow/Today was probably my highlight from this performance. I’d rate Drown in Colours as one of the best albums I own. They are (or maybe were now) such an under-rated band.

#blogjune Music Meme

1. The album/EP/single I’m currently addicted to:
Red Riders: Drown in Colour. I’m off to see their last ever concert at the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday night too!
2. The last live music concert I went to (date too please):
The Falling Joys at the OAF last Saturday night (10 June 2011).
3. The last album I bought (or downloaded):
The Naked & Famous: Passive Me, Aggressive You
4. The next album I want to buy:
Death Cab for Cutie: Codes and Keys. See video above.
5. The next live music concert I will be going to:
The Middle East at the Metro in Sydney tonight.
6. Most memorable live performance I’ve attended:
The Cure: Reflections at the Sydney Opera House.
7. I would most like to see live in concert:

The top 15 reasons not to stop at a pedestrian crossing

Red projection, Circular Quay


(Completely unrelated image.)

“I saw a sad faced, slow moving elderly gentleman as he bounced off the bonnet of my car”.

1. You just don’t like to. (Fair enough really.)
2. You are too important to stop. (Of course you are.)
3. You are far to busy to stop. (Snap.)
4. You were smoking or drinking. (Quite right too.)
5. You were using your phone. (And that is O.K.)
6. This is a very busy road and people should cross elsewhere. (Why didn’t I think of that?)
7. You wear a dark suit (see #2 above).
8. You were simply following the car in front. (One must keep that traffic flowing.)
9. YOU HAVE CHILDREN IN THE CAR! (Bingo: you win this beautiful lounge suite.)
10. You have a pet on your lap. (How did that get in there?)
11. You were listening to music or the radio. (Lalalalalah)
12. You needed to adjust your hair. (I flick my hair back and forth.)
13. You really don’t like to use the clutch and the brakes. (We must all be environmentally responsible.)
14. The pedestrian wasn’t directly in front of your car. (Face palm.)
15. You don’t like pedestrians, runners, bike riders, people who don’t drive cars, etc. (Double face palm.)

@flexnib’s five books meme #blogjune

1. The book I’m currently reading:

Isherwood by Peter Parker

2. The last book I finished:
Beneath Hill 60 by Will Davies

3. The next book I want to read:
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years by David Talbot

4. The last book I bought:
Rouleur Photography Annual 2010 (Vol 4) Edited by Guy Andrews (See image above.)

5. The last book I was given:
Donna Hay’s Fast, Fresh Simple. Does a cook book count?

Falling Joys at the Oxford Art Factory

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The Falling Joys played an amazing show at the OAF last night. It followed their first live gig for 15 years earlier this year at the National Museum of Australia. It was almost a full house at the OAF and just about everyone seemed to be a dedicated and loyal fan if you can judge that by how many times they felt the need to sing the lyrics.
The indie band seemed to have lost none of their feel for their music and their talent for playing live. Age certainly hasn’t wearied them. The guitar work was just as unique and recognisable as ever and they played with heaps of energy. Lock It (1990) has always been my favourite of all of their songs (image above during Lock It performance), but Jennifer (also from the 1990 album Wish List) was certainly another highlight of the show. They also played some new songs that also were received very well.
I was so glad I managed to get to this show!