Reminisce

I've got a daily style post coming up soon, but in the meantime, have a listen to the above by Shlohmo.

xZ

Festival time again

Southbound came and went on the weekend, with a massive two days of AMAZING acts - I couldn't believe how sweet the line-up was.

Highlights were Bombay Bicycle Club, Flume, SBTRKT, DJ Alison Wonderland and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, mainly because I loved dancing like a hoon to them all.
I would have liked to have included San Cisco, but I watched them (apparently) without being able to remember much :\. As you do at festivals.

It's crazy that it's been a whole year since the last Southbound (read last year's post here and my tale of working at the festival gates here).
I went with a totally different group of people this time - my best friends from SA who traveled over to visit me, and my boy-'friend', Nick. :)

With the first festival for the summer ticked off, it's time to look forward to Big Day Out, Laneway and Soundwave - got all my tickets already and I'm keeeeen.

Which is your favourite festival that you've been to, or what are you looking forward to?
Recommended acts?

xZ

Things don't always go the way you plan them - The Beautiful Girls

On Thursday I saw The Beautiful Girls live for the first and last time.

Not because they were bad; they were brilliant! But because they're breaking up to head in new directions.

Just as I jumped on the bandwagon.... sighhh... haha.

Here's a short article I put in last week's paper:

It was a great show, but they only played for two hours and then Mat put his head down and walked out the door straight away!

As a last performance ever, that's kind of slack, but I suppose with so many shows he just wanted to mellow out wherever he could.

We chatted to Bruce who was awesome, though he was losing his voice, poor guy, and had a pic taken with Paul.

A pic which is totally blurred out thanks to the drunk girl taking it for us haha! (Won't bother putting it up).

Friends Rich, Mo and Karen (who I play underwater hockey with). :)

And me!

xZ

Periscopes, by The Beautiful Girls -

Chase the sun

So last night, I really wanted to see Stonefield and Owl Eyes live at the Tav, but my only friend was too hungover to come out with me (weeeeaak!).

I sat on the couch all dolled up, thinking "Eeeee....ok, I'm going alone. I can do this."

How often is it that people go to gigs by themselves? Or to night clubs? Or music festivals?

I think there is a different amount of courage required for each of those, with gigs being in the middle. Night clubs require the most (or the biggest amount of sleaziness/creepiness) haha. Music festivals are easy as because people are drunk all day and there's no awkward standing around waiting for the bands to start!

Anyway, being a young girl I haven't gone off to events on my own too much. 

But I am SO glad I did last night!

Last time I saw Stonefield - Amy, Holly, Sarah and Hannah Findlay - was at Fowlers, Adelaide, August 2011. They rocked. They were freaking amazing, and so much cooler than anybody will ever be. 

This time was even better - their new tracks and cover of Magic Carpet Ride had the whole place kicking, and all the guys were into it too, which was great.

I didn't know Owl Eyes that well - had only heard the cover of Pumped Up Kicks, which is a beaut. But as I told Brooke - lead singer - after the show, I was super impressed! Their music is the kind that you can listen to and instantly connect with. I think she's extremely talented, because at just 22, she's staring out at the crowd and dancing with her hands held out in time to the music, with a great voice. I think the confidence surprised me because when you talk to her, Brooke is softly spoken and really sweet. 

I think the best thing is that these girls are real, genuine people, untainted by fame. They care about what their audience is feeling and thinking, and they don't mind hanging out after the show to sign a few posters or pose a gazillion times with drunken, doe-eyed fans haha.

Speaking of which....

I took this setlist as a souvenir, and was stoked with the incredibly nice message from Brooke.

I also bought a Stonefield t-shirt (above) FROM THE GIRLS' MUM! Haha, Janette. She was lovely and helped me choose which shirt to buy. I'm not kidding when I say I'm severely handicapped by my lack of decision-making skills. Just picture me standing there, arms at my sides, staring at the merch stall... "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh" .... scratching my head. :P 

I didn't suspect it was their mum until she started saying, "November?" in response to me telling her I saw them in Adelaide, "I don't think they had a tour then". She was right, it was actually August. 

"You're a cool mum!", I said, undrunkenly. 

I suppose she would have thought I had consumed a few more than one drink but oh well :).

Okay, end of rant.

Summary of points: Go and see Owl Eyes and Stonefield. And if you're on your own, don't be afraid. Usually the music is so good you would only be annoyed by someone trying to talk to you while you're trying to freaking dance.

xZ

Ps. For those who haven't heard the bands before, you'll want to check these out...

A spot of dancing

Just doing a little dance!

I love my new skirt! 

From River Island, ordered from ASOS, it's a full circle skirt covered in wicked sick polka dots.

I wore this to Friday night's gig at the local tav, featuring surfie band: Band of Frequencies.

They started out sooooo mellow - with a screen showing footage of the ocean and dolphins, whilst they played slow, relaxing and slightly eerie ocean noises/music. Then they kicked it up a bit with vocals, melodies and beats.

I (almost) peed myself laughing at the hilarious dancers. Honestly, I could never fully describe them through text - you'd have to see it to believe it. 

There was an older man - bald head, tall and skinny frame - who was jigging about with straight arms and legs, looking "like a corpse" in Karen's opinion. He had such a serious face on which made it funnier! His friend, another older man, was proud that he'd mastered some sort of bum wiggle which he did constantly (haha!). A younger guy jutted about like a chicken. And then this woman.... short and full of attitude, was owning the dancefloor and dancing with absolutely everybody as she thrust about. She took her dancing very seriously, looking very focused and not caring about who was watching.

When Kazza and I hit the df (after spectating for most of the show) we simply imitated all those we had seen until we were laughing too much.

:D

xZ

Wearing: Jacket: Factorie; Top: Target; Skirt: Asos; Leggings: Myer; Boots: Rivers.

Nothing but good music

Hey guys.
Haven't posted in a while - gotta admit I've been going through some rough stuff.
Life has its letdowns, but music gets us through, and I'm happy to say I think I'm coping alright.

(Lovely friends and family help also!).

Anyway, listen to this song - Alter Ego by Tame Impala.
I had it on my iPod for so long without giving it any playtime, but the other night I was 'exploring' my song stash and thought, 'HEY. Why didn't I like this before?'
I think different kinds of music suit different stages of our lives, and I probably wasn't needing something so chilled, simple and uplifting when I got the CD last year, but now it's totally appropriate.

:) x

Grand Angus

I hate to relate the wonderful Angus Stone to a greasy Maccas burger, but I'm gonna stick with the above title because the only other thing I could think of was 'Stoned in Love' and hmm yeah, he's lightyears away from J.T as well.

"He said I am the devil boy, come with me and we'll make many storms"

Anyway, I'd like to introduce a small, appreciative photo collection of the man that is definitely going to be your future indie crush - or current one, if you've heard his voice before! - the talented and very bearded Angus from Angus and Julia Stone.

I happen to love his look as well as his voice - the seemingly effortless, character-filled shirts, the wildly scruffy locks. He's got that ruggedly handsome, free spirit thing going on. Do you agree?

Before you begin scrolling through, why don't you press play on the little music video below and you can look and listen at the same time :-) -

A friend of mine, Kellie, adores Angus & Julia Stone and she recently encouraged me to delve further into their music, beyond 'Just a Boy' and 'Big Jet Plane'.
Following this I haven't stopped listening to both the above 'Devil's Tears', and another kinda beautifully sad song, 'Draw Your Swords'. That one gives me shivers sometimes. Recommend you check it out if you don't know it, as well as a few of their albums! Angus also does his own stuff; he's got a solo album - Smoking Gun - released under the name "Lady of the Sunshine".

Hope you enjoy him/them as much as Kellie and I do!
If you're a fan already, I'd love to hear what your favourite song is, or what you love about the music...
Comment below!

xZ


Images sourced from Glamour Gypsy, Angus & Julia Stone Tumblr, and F-yeah Aus Boys.

"Are Radiohead fans the most obsessive in the world?"

Note: We're talking about Radiohead, not Beatles, but this is cute. 

Credited to Broken Spines.

To answer a girl who posted this on the Chugg Entertainment Facebook Page, YES. Hell yes. I have never seen anything as crazy as what I witnessed online today.

This morning I woke up at 5:00am, set up my laptop with Mastercard at the ready, and counted down the minutes until 6. The Melbourne and Sydney Radiohead concerts were due to go on sale, and from my attempt at buying a presale ticket on Monday, I knew this would be a matter of win or fail as determined by mere SECONDS. I even had a nightmare about missing out! (Note: Also present in this nightmare were savage mini sharks who could flop around houses and bite ankles). So I could relate well to posts such as: "TERRIFIED. :\" which came up on the page prior to the sales commencing.

Following other people's tips, I had my Ticketek page set up and signed in, and I watched the clock, clicking over to a particular concert date JUST after 6am. I filled in a form with shaky hands, and clicked Next. To my dismay, it said the tickets I wanted had sold out already! Insane. I immediately let go of my desperate desire to be in the moshpit and clicked "best available tickets" for a second try. This worked, offering me two seats in the very back, but seats nonetheless. Phew. I hadn't made it this far on Monday. I filled out the bank details form, still shaking, and it was good to go! I thought....

Unfortunately, "Ticketek prefers Visa". And I never interpreted that to mean "Don't try and use Mastercard, you'll epically fail and end up losing your tickets", but it sure happened. I was sent back to the starting page (aaghh!), and went through the process again only to find it wouldn't work. "Mummmm!" I called out, as we all do in a tricky situation. A good sport, she arose out of bed and brought me her Visa card to borrow, just in case I should manage to get another chance at tickets by refreshing the page over and over again. Thankfully this chance occurred and I WAS IN. At this point I didn't care in the slightest where I might be seated, I just took those ticks and paid and almost had tears of joy when it was confirmed. I forget what time it had reached by then, maybe 6:09am... I know the concerts, both Sydney x2 and Melbourne x2, all together sold out in sixteen minutes flat. 50, 000 tickets.

An absolute bloodbath.

The Brisbane sale an hour later was no different. I was attempting to get tickets for two friends {big fans of Radiohead} I knew who had missed out, but there was no luck. Well... actually, I have to admit I did something silly here. I pondered the seat choice too long and wanted something better. You might call me an "asshole princess" like one woman titled herself this morning when expressing her own regret at trying to find better seats and then missing out. Haha. Oh well.

Have a guess how long the Brisbane sale lasted for. Sixteen minutes? Ten?
I learnt it from people posting on Chugg:

Kahlie Jackson

Did Brisbane actually just sell out in 4 minutes?

Stephan Portoff 

i think in 2! aaaaargh        

           




Belinda Robert No it sold out in 2.


Two minutes. How upset would you be?

To be honest, we can all say that buying Radiohead tickets isn't like buying your last breath of oxygen, but really... there's no way of making your mind acknowledge that when you have been waiting eight years and there is this much hype going on all over the place. 'Scalpers' suddenly become adjacent to the likes of murderers, lowlife scum who steal relentlessly from true lovers of the band. "How could anyone buy a ticket and NOT want to go themselves?" Nobody understands their selfishness. And every little thing that goes wrong is another crack to your skull - Ticketek ending your session just as you're almost done, a computer glitch that doesn't let you tick the Terms and Conditions box, endless amounts of CAPTCHA codes that you just can't read. Oh yes it is a stressful task.

It's painful to now read posts from people who haven't made the boat, along with the sad and negative analyses of it all...

Peter Steven

Anyone with half a brain should have prepared themselves for disappointment when they saw that the shows were (well at least in Sydney) at what could be considered a smaller venue for an act as popular as Radiohead. Blaming scalpers entirely on the fact that you missed out on tickets is ridiculously simple minded, even if they did not exist there would still be a hell of a lot of ticketless fans regardless. Do the goddamn math.

Derani Zealand

At the last moment I decided not to join in on the frenzied, anguished scramble for tickets. Where's the joyous, easy vibe that the opportunity to hear music you love, live, brings? Hopefully somehow, someway I get to find honest tickets.

...but I'm really glad to have found Chugg's page to use as a massive support group in this concert crisis. There are obviously more Radiohead fans out there than I ever imagined, and it's been exciting and amusing to share all of their experiences, frustration and wit. We could probably band together and run an awesome government where scalpers - who have literally been seen on eBay already selling multitudes of tickets for three times the price! - will be given harsh consequences, and good music will be in abundance everywhere! These fans laugh at artists such as Taylor Swift and I like that.

The name that organised and promoted its little heart out to get Radiohead cranking

So that's my excitement for the day, done and dusted.
I'm now settled, my heart rate normal, I have two tickets to Melbourne... seated way up the back, to the right of the stage, on a Saturday. It could be a lot worse.

Radiohead

Oh, and did I mention that the concert isn't until November?
Craaaazy event.

xZ

I'm so happy I could cry!

After EIGHT years of waiting, and making sure that I've had enough in my bank to cover ticket/flight costs in the case that such a magnificent event might happen,
RADIOHEAD ARE FINALLY COMING TO AUSTRALIA in November this year!!

I've been a fan of the band ever since my best friend introduced me to them in Year 10. I've always suspected they might come and skip Adelaide (as many big names do), opting instead for the larger Sydney or Melbourne venues. Hence, my idea of keeping enough to travel to wherever they might play, which came with the fear of missing out.

So I'm going to Melbourne!! ^_^ On my own at this point, but I'm sure there will be someone to team up with, if not, mehhhh!

It's funny when you don't have anyone to share your excitement with... When my boyfriend asked me why I was excited, I said, "Only because MY FAVOURITE BAND is playing!", and he never even asked me who I meant. Then he yawned.

Anyway! Here is some magic for you:




xZ

Southbound summed up

Last time you read, I was checking bags for naughty drugs and alcohol, getting a good feel of people's spare underwear and raising my eyebrows at the alarming amount of condoms in everyone's luggage.
Well the next day, I actually WENT to Southbound and enjoyed the music with the visuals! Here's a little review...

Tim Finn's still got it going on, I didn't even realise how many songs I knew until he was rocking up there & I wanted to dance.
Missy Higgins, although I've never 'loved' her music, she was adorable & a wonderful performer.
John Butler Trio are always good - the most energetic dancing happened here! I even witnessed my boyfriend dancing for the first time.
And PNAU... well, moshing was extreme fun, but it kind of sounded like they were played over the radio... not a live show, so I don't really rate that.
I loved The Jezebels, some wicked attitude there.
And Fleet Foxes were lovely and mellow.
Metronomy were great, and funny people!
And CSS were definitely worth checking out for their quirky beats and contagious dance rhythm.

I had a great time with my mates + boyfriend,
and I picked up an awesome $5 ring, heck yeah!

By the way, friends and I also volunteered for cleaning up on the Monday after the festival. Peak hour sun, four hours of picking up rubbish and working in a team of 8 to pack up 40 tents... It was gruelling! But that would've been okay if the supervisors had been nicer to us and bothered to ask us our names.
I've learnt that no job, or pay, is really worth doing if you don't feel appreciated for it.
Oh well, still cool to be part of something big. I even got my 12 y.o. brother out there to help. (:

xZ