Concert review: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, 18 February 2010, Melbourne

After performing a sell-out show at the East Brunswick Club on the 17th of February, The Pains played a second gig at the same venue on the 18th. In addition, they made an in-store appearance at Polyester Records the afternoon before the second show; although I did not go, there is a bootleg of the five song set you can download from here.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found a bootleg of the 18/02 gig itself (why haven’t I bought recording gear yet?), so you’re going to have to take my word for how good this show was.

Concert review: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, 17 February 2010, Melbourne

Last month, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (should that be The Pains Of Having A Shit Band Name, or perhaps just The Pains?) made their first visit to Australian shores. Opening their jaunt around the country were two concerts at the East Brunswick Club, funnily enough located in Melbourne’s inner northern suburb of East Brunswick. The first show, the subject of this review, took place on the 17th of February, with the second – to be a review subject in the near future – on the next night.

The Pains’ eponymous debut album had grown on me during 2009 and I have become pretty fond of it. Stay Alive is one of my favourite tracks from the year, and the Higher Than The Stars EP capped off a good year for the Pains. How would they go on stage?

Concert review: The Shadows and some other guy, 13 February 2010, Melbourne

Last time I posted, I reviewed a gig by noise rockers A Place To Bury Strangers at Melbourne club The Corner. So, what do you think I saw the very next night?

Well?

Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. I saw Cliff Richard and The Shadows at Rod Laver Arena. That’s right, Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Why on earth would I subject myself to Cliff?

Two words: The Shadows. Two more specific words: Hank Marvin.

Concert Review: A Place To Bury Strangers live in Melbourne, 12 February 2010

Since I won’t have much time to write in the coming week, today I have been trying to get through my backlog of concerts to review. After my Porcupine Tree jaunt, the next band on my calendar was quite a change of pace: American noise rockers A Place To Bury Strangers on their first visit to Australia. Their Aussie visit was even shorter than Porcupine Tree’s, featuring gigs solely in Sydney and Melbourne. I was in attendance at the Melbourne concert, held at the Corner Hotel in the inner suburb of Richmond.

Concert Review: Porcupine Tree live in Melbourne, 7 February 2010

After performing high quality sets in Brisbane and Sydney, I was finally able to welcome Porcupine Tree to my home city, and the first city they ever played in Australia back in 2008, marvellous Melbourne. It had been something of a stressful day for us and some of the other familiar faces that had come to make up the majority of the front row each night. Flights from Sydney to Melbourne had been cancelled, including mine; in a panicked flurry of activity far before any time I’d like to be awake, my girlfriend and I were lucky enough to make an earlier departure. In the queue outside the venue, The Palace (formerly The Metro) on Bourke Street in the CBD, we found out others had been affected, some arriving later than planned.

In the end, it seemed nobody had been too disadvantaged, and as the usual group formed at the head of the queue, I don’t think any of us quite realised what sort of a performance the band were about to give us …

Concert Review: Porcupine Tree live in Sydney, 6 February 2010

Porcupine Tree’s second of three Australian concerts for 2010 took place in Sydney on the 6th of February at the Enmore Theatre. After the Brisbane concert that I reviewed yesterday, my girlfriend and I, as well as a number of other avid Porcupine Tree fans, shot down to Sydney to see the band again.

As we sat on the pavement in Newtown waiting for doors to open, we pondered the possibilities for the gig, anticipating at least some change to the setlist. In Brisbane, we thought we heard Fadeaway soundchecked – alas, it was not to be; my favourite Porcupine Tree song (with Piano Lessons) from 1993’s Up The Downstair was simply being played from CD for purposes we don’t fully know. However, some other changes were in store …

Concert Review: Porcupine Tree live in Brisbane, 5 February 2010

February, fairly unsurprisingly, is concert season down here in Australia as overseas bands flee the Northern Hemisphere for our summery shores. Since my last concert review, I’ve been to seven more gigs and some more are coming up, so I better get my arse into gear and review them, huh?

First up, my favourite band: the one and only Porcupine Tree visited Australia for the second time in their history. Back in 2008, they hit Melbourne, then Sydney and finally Brisbane. This time around, they played exactly the same venues, but in reverse, and like last time, I was at all three. The 2008 visit was a bit of a foray to gauge demand, and given the strong response the band received, I was a bit disappointed they did not expand into other markets such as Adelaide, Perth, and New Zealand, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The pick of the 2008 concerts was probably the Brisbane show at the Tivoli Theatre. Melbourne was the most consistent, but Brisbane reached the highest peaks, especially during the face-melting second part of Anesthetize and the sole Australian performance to date of Even Less. Could 2010 compare?

Opeth live in Melbourne, 25 November 2009

It’s almost summer in Melbourne town. The city’s just getting over a premature heatwave. After a mercifully cool weekend, it’s now Wednesday. What to do?

Go see a death metal band live. Of course? Of course!

Over 1,000 punters packed into The Palace on Bourke St to see the third and final gig of Opeth’s quick-fire 2009 Australian tour that had previously hit Brisbane on Sunday and Sydney on Monday. One of Sweden’s finest musical exports, Opeth have a fondness for Australia and make a point of touring here often; other bands, take notes. Their current tour, promoting 2008’s stylistically diverse and rather satisfying Watershed album, already hit these Antipodean shores for a somewhat more extensive tour in September 2008, and the Melbourne audience was glad to have them back.