Archive for the ‘music’ Category
Harvest Festival 2011
Changing Lanes 2011
The MAPS/FBi 94.5FM Changing Lanes Festival landed in Surry Hills this year, expanding out from last year’s more cosy Newtown setting.
Bleeding Knees Club … my new favourite band.
More shenanigans. Installation by Jesse Willesee.
Another Jesse Willesee installation. Performance from Jack Mannix, of Circle Pit.
Fan Fixion
Finally filling the ‘indie-cowboy-covers-supergroup’ hole that’s been glaringly present in the Sydney live music scene for some time, Fan Fixion took to the FBi Social stage for the first time last Thursday night for a short, but blistering set.
With the impressive Singstar-honed vocal chords of FBi 94.5FM presenter Shag, along with Red Riders frontman Al Grigg, Flying Foxes‘ Benjamin Maher, Magnetic Heads‘ Des Miller and Peppercorn‘s Luke de Zilva, the band cranked their way through an all-killer, no-filler set that included ‘Evil’ (Interpol), ‘Float On’ (Modest Mouse), ‘A-Punk’ (Vampire Weekend), ‘Something So Strong’ (Crowded House) featuring FBi presenter Emma Swift on vocals, and one of my favourite songs of all time, ‘Under The Milky Way’ (The Church).
Check out a few videos from the night, courtesy of Pedestrian TV.
Here are a few snaps:
Kings Cross Hotel launch
The Kings Cross Hotel re-launched itself hard last Friday night, with a host of bands & DJs playing for free. I spent most of my time up at the new FBi Social venue on level 2, checking out The Laurels, Belles Will Ring and Dappled Cities.
Shag from FBi 94.5, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
Sleigh Bells
Despite missing out on a photo pass for this show, I still ended up in a great spot down the front where I shot this video during their performance of “Rill Rill” on my iPhone (using the 8mm app).
2010
In keeping with the retrospectively nostalgic vibe of NYE, I thought I would throw together a few images of different spaces that I was incredibly lucky enough to inhabit during 2010. They range from cluttered & intimate to awe-inspiringly huge, and they all represent particularly special moments for me throughout the year.
Beck’s Festival Bar (Sydney, Australia)
One of the highlights of this year’s Sydney Festival, Beck’s Festival Bar hosted the amazing Grizzly Bear. I arrived a little late to the show, but was just in time to hear them kick straight into ‘Two Weeks’, a song that sends shivers down my spine.
Art Gallery NSW (Sydney, Australia)
At the opening of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman exhibitions at the Art Gallery NSW, I was extremely proud to accompany my ridiculously-talented cousin Victoria (that’s her in the middle talking to the lady with the mohawk), who was a Sulman Prize finalist. Check out her work!
826 Valencia (San Francisco, USA)
At the behest of Lee Tran Lam, I found the McSweeney’s Pirate Supply Store during a free moment on a business trip to the US. It’s a brilliant little space, crammed to the gills with pirate paraphernalia and literature.
Pixar Animation Studios (San Francisco, USA)
To say that this was one of the major highlights of the year for me would be a massive understatement – the chance to visit Pixar while in San Francisco was one I couldn’t pass up. This is just the lobby, it gets exponentially more awesome the further in you go.
Sequoia National Forest (Northern California, USA)
One of the most beautiful natural environments I’ve ever seen, the Sequoia National Forest in northern California features some of the largest trees on the planet.
William Street, Paddington (Sydney, Australia)
While wandering down William Street in Paddington on one of my many assignments for Urban Walkabout, I copped an impromptu sunset rainbow. Awesome.
Mount Fuji (Honshu, Japan)
Even though we were rocketing across the landscape on a Shinkansen travelling at monumental speed, the size and beauty of Mount Fuji still induced slack-jawed wonderment.
Happy New Year everyone! Best wishes for 2011.
Alpine
Melbourne band Alpine at the Ivy League Spring Break party at Goodgod Smallclub a couple of weeks ago.
City Of Satellites // BMX
Sydney’s Centennial Park in the middle of the night is a pretty freaky place – unless you happen to be surrounded by the lights & bustle of a film crew. I was on set a few months back for the filming of ‘BMX’, the new music video for electro duo City Of Satellites, featuring BMX rider Michael Steingraeber and City Of Satellites’ own Thomas Diakomichalis as a cross-dimensional travelling Spaceman.
Director: Dael Oates
VFX: Digital Domain
Here’s a few behind-the-scenes pictures.
Changing Lanes 2010
Changing Lanes, an FBi fundraiser and part of the Sydney Fringe Festival, filled up Eliza Street in Newtown last Sunday with street artists, Australian bands, DJ’s and a couple of thousand people who came to watch it all go down.
Al Grigg from Red Riders in DJ mode.
Jinja Safari were unfortunately hampered by technical difficulties, and only managed to do a (short-but-sweet) two-song set.
Stealing the Setlist | thanks!
The opening night of Stealing the Setlist was a success far beyond anything I had expected – the turnout was overwhelming. A big thanks to everyone who came along and bought a print, a book or some postcards – your support for FBi 94.5FM is much appreciated.
[Photo by An especially massive thanks to:
- Mel Nahas at MART Gallery.
- Julia Thomas, Erin Flanagan, Caroline Gates, Anna Burns and all the other stellar people at FBi 94.5FM for the amazing support and promotion.
- The sickeningly-talented Chris Deal for not only providing the slick flyer and book cover designs, helping me to hang the pictures, but also rocking the beer/merch stand all evening – outstanding!
- The lovely Lee Tran Lam for the photo blurbs and press release.
- Lena Balout & Terry Barridge at Creative Soldier for the best-looking photographic prints and beautiful glossy postcards I could ever have hoped for.
- Garry Trinh from Blurb, for getting the book printed in record time, and getting the word out to the local media in the lead-up to the launch.
- Lew Palaitis from Hardware Gallery for the immaculate framing.
- Singha Beer for getting everyone liquored up.
I’m also extremely grateful to the following people, media outlets & websites for their support:
- Alternative Media Group
- Australian INFront
- BabyJaimeFashion
- Boudist
- BRAG
- Popcorn Taxi
- The Blackmail…
- The Indie Girls’ Guide To…
- The Vine
- TimeOutSydney
- Two Thousand
- Urban Walkabout
Lastly, a big thank you to all the bands featured in the photographs – love you all.
Here’s a few photos from the night.
[Photos by Nik Thorup]
[Photos by Ashley Mar]
