For a band that seemingly gets a lot of haters, Nickelback still seem to buck that trend in the land Down Under. If you’d happened to catch that Deadpool bit where he even goes on to defend one of Canada’s best exports you might get why they still succeed here. So 4 years after their last visit they hit up an almost full Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for their Feed The Machine tour.
The weather is a little chilly and blustery, winter is still lingering but Splendour In The Grass season always brings with it a bounty of warm sideshows. Tonight’s British bout would feature young whipper snappers Blossoms opening for the eternally young looking Jake Bugg. The State Theatre was an intriguing but adequate choice of venue for the proceedings, as the sizeable but not entirely sold out crowd attested.
The impending and inclement rain and the mud and the grey skies were no deterrent for the loyal music fans who descended upon the already trampled turf of the Domain. Gentlemen of the Road is part music festival, part band love-in all originated, hosted and curated by the lads from Mumford and Sons. The aim is to bring a lineup of unique local and international music to fans, a diverse mini festival if you will.
It’s always nice to see that, regardless of time, there are some Australian artists who continue to perform and remain mesmerising to watch each time you see them. Whether you saw Darren Middleton onstage with his former band Powderfinger. Or during the short-lived days of his earlier side-project band Drag. Or more recently flying solo under his own name. Each time he has been able to bring a little charm and charisma to the stage. Tonight was no exception.
When it’s Splendour In The Grass time of the year we’re often graced with phenomenal sideshows. Or in this case bonus promotional super secret gigs put on by the awesome Channel [v]. And this one was no exception, the dreamy Florence + The Machine were to perform a short set for us at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, right on the tip of the Botanic Gardens jutting out into the Sydney Harbour. News having reached punters ears earlier in the day that Florence would be returning to our shores in November for an arena tour.
Backstreet’s back and these five men, well grown from boys, are very much here to put on a show for the largely female 25 to 40 year olds dominating the audience tonight. AJ Maclean, Howie Dorough (aka Howie D), Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell’s collective appeal has hardly waned in 20 years it seems. Appearing silhouetted red on the top of the pyramid stairs, with a James Bond 007 entrance track they waste no time launching into their set.
With the release of their second album Smoke + Mirrors, the gents from Imagine Dragons returned to our shores for a very brief visit to give us a taste of their new songs live at an exclusive predominantly fan populated event at The Star Event Centre.
It was an overcast windy afternoon and Sydney Harbour was a little choppy as we made our way out to The Island. Just like the harbour, British garage rock duo Royal Blood are also making waves on the music scene.
The sun is setting over the spectacular Sydney Harbour and we’re aboard The Island, a fully kit out barge awaiting the arrival of Mark Ronson. Even though he’s running a little late, the wait is well worth it and he subsequently made up for his tardiness triple fold.
As part of the Sydney Opera House ‘Music At The House’ summer series, Icelandic artist Ásgeir would regale Sydney audiences with his indie-electro-folk sound and play two shows at the iconic landmark venue on the same night, an early evening and later evening show. We took in his second performance, and boy was it a magical experience.
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