The Age Of Entitlement: The Basics

The Basics have released one of my favourite albums of the year, The Age Of Entitlement, which is a mixture of rock political anthems mixed with their tunes of heart pains and pop fun.

I saw the first full live run of it at their first Melbourne Festival show, at the Hub on the banks of the Yarra.

The tented bandroom was set up with the stage in the middle of the room, with the crowd standing all around, wondering how the boys were going to feel with people so close.

This was similar to a show they had had earlier in the year, that I have heard great things about, with the in-the-round set up mixing up the gig going experience.

First up was Benny Walker, who gave us an impressive guitar and voice set, and certainly ensured we remembered him from his strong song delivery.

Opening as the album opened, The Basics started with What Ever Happened To The Working Class, and then Coward's Prayer. Other album tracks such as Every Part Of Me, To Think Of You, Feels Like Love and the amazingly powerful Tunaomba Saidia was also there, and were highlights.

Hey Rain was included, which is also on this album, plus the fun Roundabout broke up the set.

A request from the audience saw Wally do a solo Maybe I'm Amazed cover of Paul McCartney's track, which was incredible.

My Old Mate finished this night off, as the album does.

In the middle of this show, however, they hinted at a final show before a long hiatus, or maybe the end of the road. Of course, we have heard this several times before, but the tone of the discussions

So to the Gasometer we went last week, to again see the boys play on a stage in the middle of the bandroom - this time on the smallest piece of staging possible, making any back step by someone on stage a moment of anxiety for all who could see!

Benny Walker returned as support, and also William Crighton first up, who had the bonus of having the three Basics join him to harmonise for two songs of his set.

The roof of the bandroom was opened once The Basics took the stage, and with the people hanging over the balcony above, this made for a pretty unique gig experience.

A punchy start to the night, with So Hard For You, and then political anthem Lucky Country.

Many of the new songs featured from The Age Of Entitlement, with surprise inclusions from previous releases such as You're Already Gone, and Second Best.

The sprinkling of covers was the real treat - Comfortably Numb, Songbird and Roxanne, impressive standouts.

A two hour set, with all the boys on song, if this was their farewell, what a way to go out! An epic show!

Amy, And The Paparazzi Lessons The World Fails To Learn

Amy is every bit the tragic story of a girl caught up in addiction, and hounded by the media, to her death.

The tragedy of this documentary is that of gaining an insight into the struggles, the pressures, the insecurities, and the pain in someone with such natural talent is painful.

The moments of joy in the film are those capturing Amy Winehouse in her musical glory - such soul, and an incredible voice. The clips of live songs, recordings, and music grabs are beautiful. And a painful reminder of a life and talent cut short.

Plus, through home movies and random self-captures, we see an insight into the girl - friend, and teen figuring out who she is.

I wasn't fully aware of her bulimia, but this film captures the illness, and makes the struggle so real and relateable. Her depression, and then addiction after addition; her relationships and the turbulence that these brought her, in addition to the drugs.

Her deteriorating health, from her thinning frame with every stage, to the effects of her depression and her alcoholism and drug use, is on show as the years pass across the screen.

The scenes that stay with you are those with such heart-heavy consequences - the invasion of press into her tucked away hotel, when she had planned a full detox. Just maybe this could have worked..... The exploitation her father persisted with - that moment with fans at a holiday retreat, and his filming of her, is just unforgivable. The push to put her on stage for that train-wreck non-performance that went viral, but the build-up and understanding of what was going on for her at the time, is piercingly painful.

She was such a vibrant and funny character - her waiting for her Grammy win, on stage, and so real, with her comment about Timberlake's album title. Her sass, and raw commentary on life. But also this captured moment, when she is clean and sober, is painful as she relays that she

But the most tragic of all points to the film for me was the hounding of the press. The cameramen chasing her on the street, stopping her from leaving the house. Grabbing every move she made, right up in her face every time. A frenzy of cameras and swarms of paparazzi - can they even get good shots from such practices? They certainly contributed to Amy's demise, from this depiction.

Who buys these photos? And then who, in turn, buy the magazines filled with these photos?

Has the world not learned anything from the death of Diana?

Image credit for the Dismaland Cinderella, here.

When Oh Mercy Talks About Love

The introduction to the new Oh Mercy album this year was via the intimate Parlour gig, one June Melbourne night.

Parlour has been labelled the "AirBnB for gigs", where you can sign up to have a band come and play in a space you may have for the occasion. This particular evening was in a art warehouse, a kind of communal work space, called Magic Johnston.

It was solo Alex, with an occasional accompanying violinist, in a space like a lounge room, where the gathering of people sat on cushions on the floor, or stood around the walls. Mulled wine kept us all warm!

He tested his new songs, mixed in with a couple of covers, and some older favourites. Songs like Sandy and Let Me Be Him, along with Lady Eucalyptus, My Man and Deep Heat. He was chatty and engaging. He also had copies of the new soon-to-be released album, which meant that I got my copy early!

The proper launch of When We Talk About Love was at Howler. I joined Nicole and Mary in the bandroom in time to catch a song and a half of the second opening act - and recall a bemused look between us we listened.

This fourth album from Alex Gow was written in the US mostly, and as he has told it, was him working through a break-up. Sad, grieving tunes of loss and longing.

This time also saw the introduction of his new band make-up, which actually made the sound of Oh Mercy quite different. To that end, the solo songs of this gig were probably my favourite, being more true to the band we have followed for so long.

Opening with I Don't Really Want To Know, it was a showcase of the new songs, with All Roads Lead To You, and Without You as stand outs. Plus Lay Everything On Me, Drums and Keith Street from previous releases.

Human Rights And Arts Festival 2015: Melbourne

This year's Human Rights Arts And Film Festival back in May served up many thought-provoking moments, and glimpses into the incredibly tough journeys many of our fellow man, and women, experience around the world.

Wolfskinder is about the forgotten children of World War II. The "Wolf Children" are the German children - orphans or displaced - who are walking, fleeing, and trying to find safety, through the country-side, through forests. In hiding, alone, and scared.
Facing things children should not have to face, and working out through each day how to survive.
It's clear, as the story continues, that other children are the only people that will help these children along the way. Adults either come to shot at the children, or are suspicious of them and wary of sharing any food they may have. The cobbled group of children that the film follows, which is ever changing and circumstances and tragedy hits, carry each other, find and share food for each other, keep watch as the others sleep.
Heartbreaking, and real. A tragedy of war not often focused on.

Breakfast Sessions were a new forum aspect of the Festival this year, and I attended the one on Refugees: An International Perspective. A panel of 4 experts in the area, including Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre and Rebecca Eckard from the Refugee Council, spoke about the lack of learning Australia takes from reviews of other countries, and of course talked about Australia's current policies of arbitrary, indefinite detention on and offshore.
This was paired with stories and scenarios from across the globe, and how other nations deal with refugees. The humanitarian efforts, and the sheer numbers some small nations are taking in, and providing safety to.
The Rohingya situation at sea at the time was highlighted in many examples, being the most persecuted minority in the world today, and a stunning fact that Australia had not settled any Rohingyan refugees for many, many years, was the stark reality of our current inhumanity in our dealings wit the refugee world issue. In addition to the future refugee crisis of climate change and it's impact on communities
The situation in Nauru was discussed. with the point about their dismantled law, and Australia's role of staying silence in the governance of this island nation, for their own political gains.


Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock 'n' Roll was an incredible and painful look at the music of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Vibrant, experimental, blues and jazz influenced rock, music scene, with such interesting characters and impressive instrumentation. So many of these stars were killed during the genocide, and with them, the musical scene that filled the bars and lounges of Phnom Penh. Tragic. A must view for anyone interested in the history of Cambodia, and also of music movements.

Transporting a full cinema of school aged kids for the CineSeeds screening of Bekas, which means 'those without family', to Kurdish Iraq at the time of Saddam Hussein rule. Inspired by a stolen glimpse of American cinema through a window, these boys gather the hope of making it over the far away hill, and to safety and a new life in America, with Superman. Kids doing kid things, having kid dreams and fantasy, as the tragic circumstances of their existence force a harsh reality onto their daily lives.

Lastly, I saw Slums: Cities Of Tomorrow, which also included a really interesting Q and A afterward. This is a documentary about the world's slums, and a look at the industry and the misery, the life and living, of these areas. Communities featured included the places that come to mind, like India and Middle East areas such as Morocco and Turkey. But it also featured the fascinating insight into people in New Jersey and Quebec, and the difficulties of the long-term homeless in Western society.

The Q and A highlighted some interesting reflections around sustainability of living, such as recycling, and living very simply, but also spoke about how the world at present has seemed to lost our way, in a community sense, in our constant strive for materialistic things, for that connectedness to the people around us, our neighbours and direct community, within our living spaces. We live in such a rush, we pass by these opportunities, that this film certainly highlighted as a means of survival for so many people.

Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Chilled, easy to get around, great music discoveries across each of the days, good food - Bluesfest in Byron Bay this year was everything you want in a music festival.

We bought tickets on a bit of a whim, really, months ago, and then several of the bands we had been swayed to see pulled out. Yet when the Easter long weekend approached, and Jess and I met at Brisbane airport for a roadtrip down to Byron, we were petty excited about the musical experience ahead.

After settling in to our digs for the weekend, we navigated the bus transport to get us into Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, and made our way straight to see the second half of Wagons' set in the Jambalaya tent. Always fun, the band played many of the punchy live tracks that win over new listeners, and thus, our music feast began.

We switched to the big Mojo tent, and took in the sounds and moves of Jurassic 5's hip hop tunes, along with a decent crowd.

I then ducked back to the Jambalaya tent for one of my much loved Aussie bands, Boy & Bear. Tracks from both their albums, they impressed as always live, with Lordy May, Feeding Line, and rhythmic Milk & Sticks.
Part Time Believer was in there, with Three-Headed Women, plus the emotionally charged Back Down The Black shone. A little return to their EP days with Rabbit Song, before big tracks of Golden Jubilee and Southern Sun rounding out their big and popular set. Always amazing live.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue brought big band blues jazz funk to Mojo, which was seriously fun to a very dancy crowded tent.

Still on Mojo, I finally got to see Counting Crows, who I have never seen live, despite having their album on high play back at college. Opening with Round Here, the crowd took over the signing straight away, which set the scene for the set. Crowd favourites like Omaha and Mr Jones created mass tent sized singalongs, which were incredible. Lead singer Adam was engaging, but didn't really need to exert his voice too much with such eager crowd participation.

Color Blind was a stand out, and the set ended with an encore of Rain King.

Checking out some of the live RocKwiz music and quiz session first on the next day, I then jumped across to the Delta tent for Declan Kelly presents Diesel 'n Dub.

Alex Lloyd featured, with Emma Donovan and Frank Yamma doing a collection of Midnight Oil songs - each a strong political voice, for the rights of our indigenous brothers and sisters across Australia. The set opened with our PM's recent grab of hideousness, talking about his idea that living in remote communities are about 'lifestyle choices', which set the scene for the set, speaking out against the proposed closure of these communities. Thus, Beds Are Burning, especially resonated.

A sudden and heavy rain shower had us seeking shelter up at the Juke Joint tent after this - where in the process, we discovered the country blues storytelling tunes of Matt Anderson - one of our finds of the festival, and the most by chance. Engaging and witty lyrics, he had the whole pretty-full crowd, hanging on every word.

After catching up with a friend over dinner between sets, I then rejoined Jess for a bit of Gray Clark Jr funk, before we called it a night just before music's end.

Day three we arrived for the start of the music of the day, and took in Luluc and their sweet melodies in the Juke Joint. A packed RocKwiz was next on the bill for us, as we watched them get the quiz started, before I then ducked over to Crossroads tent for Nikki Hill. I had read good reviews of her first set for the festival, and enjoyed her energy and girl power of this set.

Mariachi El Bronx delivered some fun Mexicana funk in Mojo next for us, before I returned to Juke Joint to see the full Wagons set. Beer Barrell Bar was a stand out, as was Drive All Night Till Dawn, with crowd favourite Willie Nelson featuring the usual encouraged participation to end the set.

I got back to Mojo and worked my way into the crammed tent for Hozier - who killed it! We had seperated for this because of which act we had each seen before, and when we met back up for Alabama Shakes just after we wowed that we had just seen a packed tent full of people singing song we had never heard before. Turned out they were Someone New and Take Me To Church. We know who he is now!

Alabama Shakes was another amazing musical discovery for me, who rocked that full tent also. Then we changed to Crossroads for a slightly more mellow David Gray, who played loads of favourites like Babylon, Sail Away, and This Year's Love, mingled with new tracks from his new album, and ended with Say Hello Wave Goodbye.

Wanting to cut off both my feet by this bus ride home that night, we rested up ready to do it all again for the next day.

Easter Sunday at Bluesfest was marked with organic chocolate-filled doughnuts and coffee to start our festival going, whilst admiring the mud patches around most of the bigger tents. Our gumboots were a welcome fashion piece, with so many versions seen across the weekend.

The Beautiful Girls is what got us out of bed to get there for their set on this day, and watching them play their chilled tunes was well worth it. Their set also featured Matt's son on stage, who played along on his mini-guitar and showered the front crowd with Easter eggs on cue. Cute!

I watched a little of Ash Grunwald next, and then a little more of Gary Clark Jr, before talking a walk around and catching a couple of Diesel's songs in a packed Delta tent.

But the set of the festival for me was next, and we both made our way into the big tent for Xavier Rudd And The United Nations. Such great multicultural tunes, with a message, and such stage presence. Xavier was powerful in delivery and politics, and they showcased their new album across the set, and really impressed. Again, another act I have not seen live before, and was so blown away by here at Bluesfest.

We sat at sidestage seating for some dinner and Rodrigo y Gabriela instrumental brilliance. Wow!

The eventual headliner of the Festival was next on Mojo, and we got into position expecting a massive crowd and set from Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals. Opening with Glory & Consequence, and adding Amen Omen, the two hour set started very low key and flat, before Burn One Down got some crowd attention again.

Excuse Me Mr brought some energy back, but he had lost a bit of the crowd by then. Several new tracks were sprinkled in, with Steal My Kisses a standout of the set. A shame that the final act for my festival lacked the punch we had anticipated, but it only highlighted how very good local Rudd was just two sets prior.

An incredible long weekend away, with epic music hours, catching up with friends, some great food, and some very sore, tired and muddy feet! Worth every leg ache, for sure!

A Summer Of Music In Melbourne

I am always in awe as to how very lucky we are to live in Melbourne, and have so much music available to us, virutally all the time. Even between my past work schedule, I have managed to fit in a range of amazing gigs for this half of the year already.

St Kilda Festival's last day of music featured The Basics and San Cisco. I got to the beachside stage ready for our favourite local trio, and took a patch of grass in the sun to listen to their new tracks, sprinkled with some old ones.

The set opened so strongly, with new Time Poor and Lucky Country delivered with punch, political comment, and musical gusto.

Older favourites like Just Hold On, Have Love, Will Travel, and Rattle My Chain featured, as well as live regulars like Three Cool Cats and Rain. The set by the water ended with a cover of Neil Young's Old Man.

Nicole joined me on the hill, and we stood in the mass of crowd for San Cisco. Not knowing many of their tracks, Nicole dutifully informed me that many of those they played were new, about to be released on an album. All the kids around did go crazy for Fred Astaire toward the end, though.

The next gig was a warm up show for Something For Kate, before some festival sets. Announced pretty quietly, Carlos managed to grab up tickets for the small Howler bandroom. Missing Stephanie from the stage line up, the "boy band" as Paul referred to them at one point, played many of the Leave Your Soul To Science album. One of the last songs of the night was Paul giving us his own version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean - wowser, that man can make any song sound incredible!

My next gig of a pretty amazing run of live music was First Aid Kit, at the Palais. Introduced to them whilst over in Nauru, I was keen to hear these two Swedish sisters voices sour in this venue. And that they did! They also introduced me to many of their tracks from previous releases, which I am very keen to hear more of.

Songs like Stay Gold, Silver Lining, and Shattered & Hollow were as incredible live as they are on the album. The girls chatted throughout the set, which added character and charm to their already impressive act. Introducing their Triple J Like A Version cover, they mentioned that after this challenge they now play Jack Black's Love Interruption all the time. So they should, it's awesome!

Back to the Palais in St Kilda the following night, Nicole and I saw Chet Faker. These shows were an extra run, after his win with song of the year in Triple Js Hottest 100.

Again, an artist that I was keen on because of his album release last year, this gig opened me up to many of his past releases and sounds. Chet made comment at one point, saying that maybe many people had come along to hear their favourite track that night, but he hoped rather that they would discover their new favourite song. It certainly made me seek out further albums of his.

From out seats on the balcony level, we could see as he set up layer upon layer for many of the tracks - a serious artist at work.

Opening with Melt and then Release Your Problems, he then played the song he said started it all, a cover of Blackstreet's No Diggity, which was very impressive.

At one point he confessed that this venue was not his choice for these shows, which matched my thoughts as the reverb of his bass tracks seemed to hum through the historic theatre - it would have been better played in the old Palace in the city (now closed down to make way for apartments) where the crowd could have stood and danced throughout.

Another cover of the night he dedicated to his father in the audience, which was a near-unrecognisable, but yet amazing Moondance by Van Morrison.

He rounded out with more from his latest release, with Gold and 1998, with the older Cigarettes And Chocolates tossed in.

Chet took the stage solo and at the piano for the finale, the song everyone had been waiting for, Talk Is Cheap. In a pretty stripped back, and understanded version, it seemed like a hat tip to those who had indeed discovered more about him and his music than this one release.

Next, in March, I joined a group to see the Buena Vista Social Club, in their final world tour, at Hamer Hall. A musical teleporting to Cuba was delivered, with brass jazz and funk for several hours. Dancing, and pure musical joy, was dished out!

As a farewell tour, they included many ributes to past and present members of the band, with old footage and photos, which added to the charm of the evening.

84 year old Omara's presence on the stage for her numbers were easily the highlight of the show, and he singing alongside her husband in the band, was just gorgeous. This was such a fun night!

Finally, in this incredible run of music in Melbourne, Nicole and I went along to Hamer Hall again, for Paul Kelly and the Merri Soul Sessions. Apart from Sound Relief, I actually haven't seen Australia's greatest songwriter live before. The Merri Soul Sessions was an album release with a collaboration from a number of Aussie artists, such as Vika and Linda Bull, Dan Sultan, Clairy Brown and Kira Pura.

Kelly curated the set with each and every artist combination for tracks. Many of the songs of the first hour were from this new album, and the second hour featured the classic Paul Kelly songs such as How To Make Gravy, Songs From The Sixteenth Floor, Look So Fine, Feel So Low, and Give In To My Love.

The encore included Dumb Things, and ended with all six artists, with Emma Donovan from the support act behindhand, singing Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air, a capella. So beautiful.

Summer Zoo Twilight Sessions

The Zoo, Melbourne's summer, and good Aussie music as the sun goes down is a perfect evening pass time. A chance to wander through the animal enclosures before taking a spot on the grass in front of the stage, is also quite a treat. I managed to get along to two shows this Summer, and both were really great musical nights, but two of my favourite Aussie singer songwriters.

The first night was the ever amazing Sarah Blasko. Having not been in town for sometime, we were pretty excited to see her live again, and gathered for a picnic on a blanket before the show.

Thinking that maybe she had some new material for us, we found that she played selections mostly from her last release, I Awake. The drum beats of the the tracks of this album, like the title track and Cast The Net fit right in with the sounds around.

Many favourites were scattered through the set, but then the encore gave chills. Sarah gave us her version of the classic Flame Trees, which was beautiful, before finishing with We Won't Run.

The next show I went along to at the Zoo was first rained out, in one of the those crazy, all of a sudden, wild thunderstorms of Melbourne. Lightening, power outages, flash flooding.....only Melbourne weather!

But luckily for me, the rescheduled date was one when I was in town, and I got to see Dan Sultan at the Zoo also.

Also playing from his recent release Blackbird, Dan told the crowd that his 2014 release has just gone Gold, which is very impressive for such a great album.

In addition to these tracks, he played the emotional and favourite Old Fitzroy - in the middle of this track he explained his emotions for the night, which were connected to 2 losses of people close to him in the past few weeks. It was intense and raw, and real.

He ended the evening with the beautiful and moving Kimberly Calling.

Top 5: Favourite Albums for 2014

Apparently the ARIAs happened in Australia this week, although I feel pretty removed from the First World whilst here at work. Still, I usually do a Top 5 Favourite Albums of the year post around this time, so here it is....

1 Chet Faker's Built On Glass - loved it from the first listen, and have listened to it pretty consistently since. Chilled,

2 Stay Gold by First Aid Kit. Love this sound from the Swedish female duo. So beautiful, and some very poignant tracks.

3 Dan Sultan's Blackbird was probably my most played tunes over this year.

4 Black Keys and their Turn Blue, followed me around this year in my iPod, and all around on my travels. Loved it!

5 Tough call, because again I have been pretty removed from new music and new albums this year because of travel and work. I would have to put Slow Dancer's Surrender here. Former guitarist for Oh Mercy, I loved these tracks from the moment we heard them live when he played as support to the band, and the album release this year is very good.

End of November is always good, as it's the end of the hard slog for NaBloPoMo - although this year was another fail, with 2 posts planned but not completed and published. Just way too hard here at work!

Top 5: Play Count

For many years now, during NaBloPoBo, I have been recording my Top 5 artists based on the top tracks played on my iTunes on my laptop. A little obsessive about this Top 25 playlist that iTunes accumulates as you play and synch, I think this list is telling of someone's music taste.

This year's annual post sees that Gotye's Making Mirrors has really made an impact, after it's release over 3 years ago now. Again, this list of my top 10 most frequently played sees 5 artists form this list.

My top song is Easy Way Out, followed by Save Me, my two favourites from that Gotye album. The very famous Somebody That I Used To Know is the fifth track on the list, with Giving Me A Chance - one I have grown into more and more with each listen - and the track I have loved for years, Learnalilgivinanlovin, equal at 6th and 7th.

Seeker Lover Keeper's Even Though I'm A Woman seems to play for me when I am traveling somewhere, lapping up my usual solo mode. It has been a favourite track since it's release, and when it plays on Shuffle of late, it is always at just the right time. It still ranks high, at number 3.

A song that brings me undone with every listen, particularly live, is Old Fitzroy, which sits on this list at number 4. Dan Sultan has been a regular voice in my ears this year.

The National and Sorrow is number 9.

Another artist that has occupied the sound waves for me this year has been Paul Dempsey, with Have You Fallen Out Of Love? coming in at 10, and being my 5th artist this year on this list. Love.

The Look! Jess' Bitching Hen's Party

Celebrating my sister's upcoming nuptials with fluro dance gear, Roxette's The Look and the energy, crazy moves and feminist empowerment of the Real Hot Bitches 80s Dance Troupe could not have been more perfect!

I had actually just arrived back into the country off a flight the morning of, and after a fast power nap, arrived at Jessie's to see what my outfit contained, and join the party. The girls were well into the final stages of getting ready, champagne flowing.

We taxied over to a dance studio in Brunswick, and managed another quick drink across the road at a pub, given we had a click of time before it was our turn with the Bitches! Many of the other girls joined, dressed to the max in their best 80s dance gear, which was hilarious with every arrival.

Once into the studio, the Real Hot Bitches introduced themselves, their moves, and then proceeded to show us the moves they had put together for us our and our session - to an iconically Jessie song, The Look.

The three Bitches then taught us the moves, in totally manageable chunks, and with maximum encouragement for self expression, moves to channel that 80s love of cheesiness, and silliness. They were hilarious, and such fun!

Many of the girls managed this whole session, which was a couple of hours of dance, without a prior drink, which was even more impressive. We danced, learned each new sequence, then put it together again. The moves lined up with the song perfectly. So funny.

The final piece of the session was to perform the whole song for half of the group, allowing us all to see the final product too.

Spilling out into the street on an incredible high, and laughing all the way, we then headed to Brunswick Street for drinks, a Greek feast, and dancing. A seriously fun night!

Happy Team At Hawthorn Go Back To Back - Premiers 2014

Amazingly, we got tickets in the Members' ballot for the fourth time and made our way very early last Saturday to the MCG for the big game.

This was after the week build up, which included the final training session out at Waverley, and then the GF Parade through the city, and many drinks afterwards to prepare for the big day ahead.

In the Standing Room bay as early as the gates opened, to ensure a spot at the front, we were in for a long, nervous wait.

As the times before, these hours did while away pretty fast, and before we knew it Sir Tom Jones was singing, then the teams ran out, and then the Australian anthem was sung. And then game on!

Hawthorn verses Sydney again, but this time with Buddy having switched teams. Bad luck for him, as it would be. Poetic justice, really!

The Hawks shot out of the blocks right from the first quarter, and played the game of their lives! A 63 point win in the end, and so many great individual stories! Hodge, and his second Norm Smith Medal. Clarko's illness during the year, and Bolton's caretaker role with a perfect record for the 5 games coached. The journeys of Langford and Spangher. The joy goes on!

Once the siren sounded we celebrated in our section, singing the song, and then cheered each of the Hawks as they went up to collect their medal from the day. We then joined the boundary line for the lap of honour.

Incredibly, we were at the very spot where Gibbo and Spangher jumped up over the fence with the cup for this exciting moment:

The night at the 'G continued as the entertainment was featured again, before the team was presented to the adoring crowd of Happy Hawthorn supporters. Another amazing premiership. Awesome to achieve the back to back streak.

The National At Sydney Opera House

Seeing one of my favourite bands, off the back of a year with an album release that I loved, at the forecourt of one of Australia's most iconic buildings, on a warm Summer's night - can there be a better gig!? I worked hard on logistics to attend this, and all that wrangling of life was so worth it! What a night!

The National came on stage just as the light in the sky was fading, and Sydney's Opera House and Habour Bridge were lighting up. Jess and I had just caught the very end of the support band, and soon abandoned the long bar line as the starting time drew closer.

Opening with Don't Swallow The Cap and then I Should Live In Salt, the band then played Mistaken For Strangers, previewing the mix of albums this set list would feature.

Bloodbuzz Ohio brought the crowd and collective singing back, before Demons and Sea Of Love from the new album were played. Afraid Of Everyone and Conversation 16 rose the crowd again.

I Need My Girl was dedicated to usual bassist Scott, who was back home, having just welcomed a new baby - and just maybe, watching the live stream! The beautiful This Is The Last Time, was next.

Pink Rabbits, England and Graceless was a powerful trio later in the set, before an amazing About Today.

The encore of the near 2 hour show finally featured a rousting Mr. November, complete with Matt Berninger riding the tops of the crowd to "I used to be, carried in the arms of cheerleaders".

Back to the stage for the final two songs of the night, Terrible Love was an on-mass sing-a-long right there under the stars, before the incredible acoustic Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, where the whole band stepped to the front of the stage, and led the crowd to sing the whole song. The memory of this still gives me goosebumps.

The 2014 Aussie Open

After missing last year's Australian Open due to travel I was pretty excited to return to our family tradition of Days 1 and 2 at Melbourne Park for as much Grand Slam tennis as we could all possibly squeeze in. Mum and I stayed down at The Blackman for a couple of nights, and my sisters came over on the Sunday night to plot out our days ahead - which involves studying the schedule, deciding on which games each of us want to see as priorities, and pick a court to meet at in the morning. This is a serious operation!

So my pick for the first morning was Court 7, and the battle between Finnish Nieminen and Israeli Sela. A great pick and start to almost 48 hours of live tennis! We gritted through the first 3 sets of this match, oscillating between who we thought would take it out - stunned to see the end result after 5 sets later in the day.

Whilst over at Court 7, we had kept our eye on the proceedings of the Women's match on Court 2, and managed to time our court switch over there to settle in for the start of Aussie Ebden take on Frenchman Mahut.

One of the newest features of the Open was the sight of the roof on Margaret Court Arena (MCA), and from here we could see nothing without the Buddhist-temple-like roof filling our view!

The Aussie crowd were very good and vocal, and really powered the local hope along, watching him grab the first 2 sets with all his might!

By this time we were well and truly melting in the heatwave that Melbourne weather put on for that first week, and rejoiced at the fact that we always get Centre Court tickets for these days. We abandoned one Aussie working his way to a Round 1 win to watch another - a long time favourite, Stosur.

This 2 sets match inside gave us a sun break, if not really a heat break, as inside was just as stifling as outside with very little breeze. This year the heat policy, which we have seen enacted before, was not put into play until later in the week.

With Stosur through, I then went to watch an old favourite of mine - all one and a half sets of Germany's Haas before he retired hurt, and said goodbye to Melbourne Park. I met up again with the girls for another old favourite of ours, Cypriot Baghdatis, inside the new look MCA. Always the battler, Marcos just couldn't get much right in this match, and we saw he fall out of the tournament in this match, in straight sets.

Back fresh for Day 2, we went straight to Court 2 for Japanese Nishikori taking on young Aussie hope Matosevic. Another 5-setter, we again plotted our timing for a switch to Centre Court out of the sun and heat, for the Federer and Aussie Duckworth match.

My hope for this Open had been to watch my new fav player on the circuit, Delpo, play, although the gamble of getting Centre Court rather than mixing it up with a Hisense day loomed as an obstacle. When the schedule for Day 2 was released, I was delighted to see the big Argentinian slotted for the MCA. I ducked away to see the start of this match, as Federer was performing his standard magic!

I made it back into Centre Court after the Delpo win, in time to watch Hewitt and Italian Seppi battle out the final throws of their 5 set match....with the Aussie just not clinching it in the end. From what I saw, looked like another epic game.

Spilling out into the air, as the temperature had dropped a little, we all found our way to the Heineken Bar area and settled in for some wine and beer, a short break from the tennis, and some music - we had watched Saskwatch the night before, and World's End Press were on this second night.

When the Night 2 schedule was announced over the weekend prior, we had decided that we would cave in and buy the additional session. The return of Nadal to Melbourne Park, taking on Aussie Tomic, was too good to miss.

Making our way in, we settled in for what promised to be a good match, as the air got cooler, and everything was more comfortable. Nadal looked fit and determined and took the first set without too much bother.

And then, it wasn't really clear from our seats, but Tomic then spoke to the umpire, shook the Spaniard's hand, and waved to the crowd. He got a bit of a muffled boo as the full house realised he was retiring hurt. Not quite what we had imagined as the ending to our massive two days of tennis and heat.

Man, I love the Aussie Open! We are so lucky here in Melbourne to have it, and for it to be so amazing each year! I also love the family tradition we have of going along and soaking it all in. So good!

Project 52: Monday Afternoon

Attending a session as part of Melbourne Music Week, Nicole, Mary and I listened as Gotye discussed the creative process behind making his music videos. We heard about how the idea for the stop motion animation concept for Somebody That I Used To Know come together, from the director and producer herself, in conversation with Wally. Then I was amazed to hear about the work put in over a pretty short space of time to create the Easy Way Out clip, again from the creators and Wally, who spoke of the brief he put to them - so impressive! The animators who are responsive for a couple of others clips, including State Of The Art also spoke about their processes, and how they worked on making those clips match the music. They also redefined Seven Hours With A Backseat Driver for Wally, with their visual concept.

A great panel discussion, and a unique insight, the session was also part of the Spectacle Music Video Exhibition on at ACMI until the 23rd of this month.

This post is part of Project 52 with Jess from FuShMuSh.

Play Me, I'm Yours, Melbourne!

The news that the art exhibit Play Me, I'm Yours was coming to Melbourne this January was something I was pretty excited about - I had after all, spend about a week in Toronto one Summer running around and seeing them there. I set about to do the same, although the majority of the Melbourne ones, here till the 27th of the month, are much closer together than the Canadian hunt!

Centring around the Arts Centre, many of the pianos are in that precinct of the city. Each of the painted upright pianos - painted by a community group or local artists - has a slot filled with pamphlets with the map of the location of them rest of them.

Each of the pianos is positioned with a great view of a piece of Melbourne. The top one here is between the NGV and the Arts Centre, the next is nestled under the Princes Bridge, overlooking the Yarra River. The one above is in the middle of the outer amphitheatre of the Malthouse Theatre.

My favourite, however, would be this brick-covered one, at St Paul's Cathedral. When I found it, and it's string of leaves of country flags, this guy was playing up a storm. So many amazing players were out and about on the day I went on this piano crawl, tickling the ivory. Impressive talents!

An Espy NYE!

Sorting out NYE is always a big deal, but after getting back from Nauru I found that Carlos had sorted tickets for us for the gig at The Espy for the evening. Perfect!

I was housesitting in Brunswick, so once we were ready we popped by North Melbourne to toast my sister and Heath, the coming new year, and the prospect of a family wedding in the coming year, after their engagement before I went away. Eeeeeee! So exciting!

Then we kept on our way on the tram down to St Kilda, and found seats in the Espy front beer garden with some of Carlos' mates, and watched the final sunset of the year. As the light was fading, we decided it was time to explore the music inside, and made our way to the Gershwin Room. Here, we were stopped in our tracks by Lurch & Chief - the indie garage rock band with alternating male and female lead, had me hooked!

Mary then found us at the front of the room, just as the bearded boys from The Basics were getting ready to begin their set.

The No 1 Cause Of Death Among Youth Today was their opener, and a favourite of mine. Just Hold On was in there, as was Three Cool Cats. Hey There and the jazzy Second Best, too.

My memory is a little hazy of the 40 minute set, as I am sure are the boys after they passed around a celebratory bottle of whiskey.

The new Lucky Country was played, and impressed again, before Have Love, Will Travel, and a cover of Jailbreak to round off a NYE send off from our much loved 3 piece Melbourne band.

Before we knew it the headliner for this bandroom was about to come on stage, and start the set to work towards the countdown to the new year. The evening seemed to go at a cracking pace!

Something For Kate took the stage, and launched into the tracks that I have been listening to a lot over the past year, as well as seeing them live a few time too. Some old favourites too.

Survival Expert and Star-Crossed Citizens were huge stand outs in the set. Then the epic Like A Version cover of Sweet Nothing, which was incredible, before the midnight countdown and followed by a cover of REMs The One I Love.

An awesome night to see off what has been a seriously amazing year for me. The Espy, a Melbourne Summer's night, 2 of my favourite bands, and a couple of my really great mates - and a slice of the rest of Melbourne's music fans! Perfect!

Top 5: Favourite Albums For 2013

Wow, this annual post is more than a month late, but things have been a little hectic since the end of November, so hear it is now! I am also very aware that I have not been as across new music in the last 12 months as I have been in the past, due to travelling away, and then maybe because I have been so transient.

But here are the albums that were released in 2013 that I have listened to, and loved, the most.

As soon as the release date for The National's Trouble Will Find Me, I knew that it was going to be a musical moment of 2013 for me. And right from first listen, I loved it!

Harlequin Dreams by Sydney's Boy & Bear comes a very close second, and an album I have listened to very regularly since it's release. Seeing it live at the beginning of November brought it a new life, with the stories and emotional tales behind some of the tracks coming to life. Back Down The Black is a song that I can't get enough of, and yet tears at my heart every time. Certainly one of the stellar Aussie bands at the moment, they can do no wrong!

Another Aussie band who's album release stood out for me last year was the second LP from Cloud Control, being Dream Cave. Seeing this played out live well before it's actual release had the anticipation built, and the full first listen did not disappoint.

A rare and random recommendation had me listening to The Lonely Wild's The Sun As It Comes quite a bit across the year, with some great tracks.

Self-titled release from Jinja Safari rounds out my list, albeit from a small selection. These jungle beats are pretty addictive!

A special extra mention goes to the Shotgun Karaoke release from Something For Kate's Paul Dempsey, and his version of Concrete Blonde's Caroline. Oh my word! It's incredible!

A pretty small sample size, I admit. Any more recommendations for me, from 2013? Must listens? Albums you have been able to be without last year??

Dan Sultan In Castlemaine

The temptation to see Dan Sultan play the collections of songs from his forthcoming album again was too hard to resist once a show was announced at the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. Such a gorgeous, and intimate feel venue, and he also has a special connection to the town, which makes the show even more heartfelt.

Michelle and I had dinner at The Western in Ballarat, before we drove across. The Western has been done up recently, with stripped back walls, stylised fittings, and an extensive menu.

The drive took me back to the old work days of covering this countryside, with rain, a rainbow, and then the sunset colours over the countryside.

Joining the standing crowd, as the seated patrons finished off the final dish of their meals, Kali joined us, and we sampled the wine from the bar.

Once Dan took the stage he was so talkative, and confessed that he was nervy, which made him more chatty. He introduced the room to his grandmother, in the audience, and told story after story about each song for the night.

The two sets, broken with a break for all, opened with Caroline from his first release, before he shared a host of new tracks he has newly recorded.

Just one song from Get Out While You Can, he performed Old Fitzroy at keys, and poured so much emotion into it, it felt like everyone was holding their breath. Amazing.

He returned for a final song for an encore, the newly released Under Your Skin. So edgy and different to his other tracks.

I cannot wait for this new album, but have to until early next year according to the press Dan has done in the past week.

Top 5: Play Count

Listening to music on my iPod mostly on shuffle, and having it with me most of the time, and yet my top tracks in iTunes have a pretty familiar listing over the years since I have been doing this annual post. Again, the 10 tracks give me the most listened to artists. All Aussies this year.

Seeker Lover Keeper's Even Though I'm A Woman is still my most played song in my collection.

My love of Gotye's Making Mirrors album has caught up with my top 10 listened tracks, with Save Me and Easy Way Out in the top 3 listened songs, before the ever amazing Learnalilgivinanlovin. The lesser appreciated gem on the MM album Giving Me A Chance is next, and then the most appreciated is next, Somebody That I Used To Know. In Your Light is in the 10 songs, 5 artists of the top counts too, at number 8.

Clare Bowditch's You Looked So Good is next.

Mercy Valley from the Oh Mercy boys and girl is at 9.

The song that melts my heart with every listen makes up the top 10, and is Old Fitzroy from Dan Sultan. An incredible track.