Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Flaming Lips Australian Tour

Supported by Midnight Juggernauts

Everyone was dreading the Midnight Juggernauts, but to be honest they weren't that bad. Though you could definitely tell the new songs from the old songs by quality.

As for the Flaming Lips. It was beautiful. Best Flaming Lips show I've seen, waaaay to many moments to specficy. Awesome entrance, awesome vibe, awesome set list, great sing-a-longs, and I really cannot specify more. The visuals were beautiful and the recording came out amazing. Oh, and a marriage proposal happened on stage. For those of you who know my story from when I saw them in Phoeinx, I so could have fit into that Caterpillar suit. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is one of the best live songs I've heard. Could of done with more Soft Bulletin but there's really nothing to complain about.

The Flaming Lips - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 28/07/2009 - 142.2mb - 1 hour 40 minutes

Setlist
Intro
Tah-Dah
Race for the Prize
Silver Trembling Hands
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Fight Test
Enthusiasm for Life Defeats Internal Existential Fear, Progressive
Convinced of the Hex
Moutainside
Vein of Stars
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt 1
Pompeii am Götterdämmerung
The W.A.N.D.
She Don't Use Jelly
Encore
Marriage Proposal
Do You Realise??

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Fabulous Diamonds

Supported by Moonmilk, Holy Balm and Naked on the Vague.

I missed Moonmilk, saw Holy Balm and they were amazing. Don't really know what else to say.

My first time seeing the 4-piece Naked on the Vague, and I really dig it. I think it's fucking great. Unfortunately I screwed the recording (Actually, it's unfair to say I did it when those mother fuckers at Church Audio forgot to put shielding, amongst many other things, on my cables so my mobile caused interference every 20 seconds.) Lucky I will have a million other chances to catch them. This Friday for example.

Fabulous Diamonds weren't the best I've seen them, though still damn good, apart from all the inebetween song bullshit. Sound quality is alright.

Fabulous Diamonds - Sandringham Hotel, Sydney, 25/07/2009 - 62.1mb - 42 minutes

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Laurels 7-inch Launch

Supported by Warhorse, Dead Farmers and Whores.

This was the first time I had recorded a show at the Hopetoun Hotel and I had never been looking forward to it. The speaker stacks are asymmetrical, pointed at different angles and have various obstacles. For a first time there these came out pretty good, they needed a bit of work and the sound is a bit harsh due to a mistake I made but here they are.

Whores were great. Didn't get to tape them though. Was a slightly different set up from when I last saw them (Which was a long time ago.)

Dead Farmers played a pretty decent set. Not the best I've seen from them.

Dead Farmers - Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney, 18/07/2009 - 30.4mb - 22 minutes

Next up were Warhorse, who were as fucking awesome as all ways. Hoping I get many more chances to tape these guys, it was good to have the bands blessing for once. There are 4 skips in this recording due to a corrupt file, it took me quite a while to recover the whole thing but over all it's pretty much unnoticable considering at first it was looking like it was going to only be 10 minutes worth of this recording that would survive. There's nothing I enjoy more than a band with a self-titled song.

Warhorse - Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney, 18/07/2009 - 52.17mb - 36 minutes

I'm under the impression I had the Laurels permission to tape them as well. Sweet as. I thought they were absolutely amazing but a few of my friends thought it was either too long or just a bore. I loved every long, long second of it. It was pretty freaking loud as well.

The Laurels - Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney, 18/07/2009 - 92.37mb - 1 hour 3 minutes

Monday, July 13, 2009

La Dispute/To the North Australia Tour - Dirty Shirlows

Supported by Intentions, Dining in Tuscany and Bare Arms.

This is the first "Non-Commercial" venue show I've recorded purely due to confidence issues. I hope to do a whole lot more because that was actually the original intention of me starting all this. I still felt like a fuckwit though.

I had hoped (or any word other than intended) to record Intentions, but they came on first and also see previous statement. I'll have many more chances though.

Bare Arms played after Dining in Tuscany and played a killer set, the vocals are a bit low but all things considered (acoustics wise) I'm pleased with how this one came out.

Bare Arms - Dirty Shirlows, Sydney, 12/07/2009 - 31.7mb - 22 minutes

To the North are just awesome. You all know this. No technical problems until the last song and you can actually here Max this time. The vocals go from being barely audible, to crystal clear, to peaked and back again all throughout the recording.

To the North - Dirty Shirlows, Sydney, 12/07/2009 - 38.1mb - 27 minutes

And finally, La Dispute, I'm hoping this isn't the last time I see them because they have played some of the best shows I've seen to some of the most passionate crowds I've been in.

La Dispute - Dirty Shirlows, Sydney, 12/07/2009 - 39mb - 27 minutes

Once again, thanks to To the North, thanks to Dirty Shirlows. If anyone has a contact for La Dispute please let me know, I want to get these recordings to them. Also thanks to those of you on the day who were ridiculously nice to me for no reason.

Also I'm trying to get to the Wollongong show. I can get there easy but getting back is a problem. If anyone has any ideas/a ride/a place to crash contact me. (Contact is mozzac at gmail dot com)

Sunday, July 12, 2009

La Dispute/To the North Australian Tour - Spectrum

Supported by Schrodingers Cats and Hira Hira.

I've never really liked Schrodingers Cat and this performance really did nothing to change my mind about them. So I didn't tape them.

Next up was Hira Hira playing their usual set of freaking awesomeness. Nothing out of the usual here except that Spectrum was pretty much full at this point.

Hira Hira - Spectrum, Sydney, 11/07/2009 - 35.9mb - 24 minutes

To the North are probably my favourite Australian band at the moment (Only because Ohana doesn't exist anymore.) and I've seen them every chance I have to. They started out pretty poorly due to a lot of technical difficulties, restarting the same song 4-5 times. But once they got into it they were as awesome as ever. They also had a horn player for one song but you couldn't hear him over the guitars and drums and yelling. It's a shame we only got 5 songs out of them.

To the North - Spectrum, Sydney, 11/07/2009 - 44.1mb - 30 minutes

God damn La Dispute, totally blew me away. Never seen a band so stoked to be in Australia. I never knew they had such a crossover fan-base but it didn't matter because everyone in the room knew every lyric.

La Dispute - Spectrum, Sydney, 11/07/2009 - 47.4mb - 32 minutes

Extra extra thanks to To the North for brining La Dispute to Australia, one of the best shows I've seen in Australia this year. Leaving now to see them at Dirty Shirlows.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Love of Diagrams 7" Launch

Supported by Songs and Pageants.

Same bands, in the same venue, playing the same sets, for 15 dollars. No questions as to why this was half empty.

Pageants came on first and were alright. Each song sounded like they were trying to be a different band but beyond that they were pretty good. I'm no "A Bands First Show in Sydney" analyst.

It's been a while since I have last seen Songs (for obvious reasons) and I forgot just how good live they are, and they've sure switched it up a lot since I last saw them. Also this recording happens to be leagues better than I've ever been able to do on them before. It does them justice to say the least.

Songs - Spectrum, Sydney, 10/11/2009 - 59.7mb - 41 minutes

Love of Diagrams came on next and played a positively boring set, only playing one song different from last time, but still an improvement. I didn't appreciate their last set until I sat down at home and listened to it again, but then it turned out that they're just really boring to watch, because this isn't so bad to listen to (Sound quality is way better than last time and they did play better overall.) My friend said that they're really great on record but live they're just boring. I have to agree. Especially when you have Songs supporting.

Love of Diagrams - Spectrum, Sydney, 10/11/2009 - 63.07mb - 43 minutes

I do have to say these are a testament to how far I've come with my recording, compare these to the exact same bands recorded in the exact same venue 8 months ago and the difference is huge.