Jack’s Mannequin

I’m pretty chockers for the forseeable future, so it might be a little while before I get a chance to get the full writeup for this one done. So, in the meantime, here’s a little sample of what I got up to. The thing I love about Soundwave is that I turn up knowing hardly any bands, but walk away with a whole bunch that I want to listen to further.

Forever The Sickest Kids

Nine Inch Nails

It might’ve been the day after Valentine’s Day, but Challenge Stadium was packed with declarations of love on signs, tshirts and skin as Fall Out Boy came to town for the second time, bringing with them All American Rejects, and Decaydance stablemates Hey Monday. I’m fairly confident that apart from the parents waiting out in the cafeteria, I was one of the oldest people there, at the grand old age of 24.

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The Hives, Southbound

Quick catch up post with snaps from the Southbound Festival at the start of January. Featuring Birds of Tokyo, The Hives, Gomez, Pete Murray, Tegan & Sara, The Kooks, The Cat Empire and Franz Ferdinand.

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The Armada, Fly By Night

Part 1 of the catch-up posts, with more pictures than words, cause after a month my memory’s a little foggy. After promising full band shows for as long as I can remember, Jeff Martin finally unveiled his new project The Armada to an eager crowd at the Fly By Night in Fremantle. Essentially they’re the Tea Party, but without the awesome songs. I’m sure they’ll come in time though.

I missed the musical supports for the evening, but got there in time to catch Beautiful Rose showing off her belly dancing skills. Hypnotic, mesmerising, and certainly something different as an intro to a rock band’s set.

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A few weeks ago I got a call from Sunset Events asking if I could cover an event launch for them, as their usual guy was unavailable. Was no problemo, especially after they explained what the launch was for. So it was off to the swanky surrounds of Perth’s Hilton franchise to learn a little bit more about what was swimming in my head as ‘the new South By Southwest’.

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Gyroscope, Metro City

Gyroscope’s epic ‘Australia’ tour came to a close with a sell out show at Metro City at the start of October. They’re only the second Perth band in my own recent memory to sell out this venue, so it’s a big deal, and a huge achievement by the boys. As seems to be the norm these days, I found myself there with camera in hand (with thanks to Rob who sorted out my pit access).

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The Dirty Secrets, Rosemount

The Rosemount Hotel is an institution in Perth, and for good reason. Not only a premier live music venue (voted Best Venue in this year’s WAMI Awards, if I’m not mistaken), it’s also the perfect pub when you’re after a few quiet drinks with mates. The Rosie had been getting renovated slowly over the last few years, and while many other city pubs had shed their homely roots and were targeting the sorts of people who wore oversized sunnies and popped collars, the Rosemount stayed faithful and probably gained more regular patrons because of it. The gigantic beer garden is the big drawcard in summer. Sunshine, green grass, deckchairs and beer…what more could anyone ask for? The cosy interior is just as inviting when the weather’s not as nice. Warm colours throughout, fake fireplace with a toasty heater installed, and a scattered bunch of mis-matched op-shop couches. Seriously, how can anyone not love this place?

Apparently it’s an impossible notion, considering the amount of people who turned out for the Rosemount’s grand relaunch in September. Even more impressive, considering it was a school night.

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To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t realised how long it had been since I last updated. The break? A bit of a fail. But at least I’m doing things in moderation now, instead of running myself into the ground. I’ll do this update in two parts, the first part with the two big bands I’ve shot over the last month, and the second (to come sometime over the weekend) with a few local bands and a night of great music.

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Gyroscope, Fly By Night

Alright, so apparently I suck at taking breaks. All it took was one sms mentioning the magic ‘G-word’, and I was packing up my gear for what seemed like my millionth Gyroscope shoot in the last year. Support for the evening came from Calerway, a band I’ve been working with for as long as I can remember. Two bands that are definitely never a chore to shoot. This is a pretty picture-intensive post, I wouldn’t suggest tackling it with dial-up.

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British India, Amplifier

British India seem to be more popular on the West Coast than anywhere else, and two nights of a packed house at Amplifier showed that the trend was continuing. I’d bought a ticket to see them last time they toured, but didn’t actually stick around to see them play. With all the media frenzy and hype surrounding the band, I thought it was worth my while to finally see what I’d missed out on.

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