True Live

I saw these guys at the Commonwealth Games, so when I heard they were doing an album launch at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, I dragged W, Fi & James along.

They're described as a combination of hip hop, jazz & orchestra - but they're much more hip hop than anything else. What I loved when I first saw them was the energy of the lead singer, Ryan Ritchie, and the skill of every member of the band - not surprising that most of them came from the VCA.

It was a slightly different feel being indoors at night, but I still loved it. Hope the others did too...

Check out more about them & their album 'The Shape of It' at www.truelive.com.au

Greatest Song Ever?

Those who know me know I don't watch much TV. But I managed to make time for some quality viewing last night - 20 to 1 Greatest Songs Ever.

I know this must be one of the most subjective lists to compile, and they did cover most of the 'great' artists, including Dylan, the Beatles, Elvis and the Rolling Stones (complete with corny comments and Bert Newton in costume).

I think it was compiled by someone from a previous generation: Like a Virgin, Smells Like Teen Spirit and Sunday Bloody Sunday just made it, but that was about it from recent times. Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, etc. made it much higher.

Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven was beaten by Lennon's Imagine for the top spot - great song, inspiring lyrics, but greatest song ever? I guess it's simple and is relevant to everyone, but to me there's nothing that stands out about it. So, what would I have picked? Maybe Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody...?

Gomez at the Prince

Firstly, this night was to launch the Fitzgerald Foundation (for anyone interested, brain cancer is the biggest solid cancer killer of ppl our age - congrats to the organisers for a wonderful night!)

Emily Ulman and Dallas Crane were on first - they were good, although I was really there to see Gomez. In between acts, we were depressed with an informative slideshow about brain cancer, roused with an auction / raffle, then finally they brought out Ben, Ian & Tom.

It's understandable being a little hesitant of a band with guitars / sound effects playing acoustically, but I loved it. The only other time I've seen them was at a festival in Germany, but the more intimate venue really suited them. I'd somehow managed to curl up and have a nap (tired and sick after a record number of hours sleep on the weekend!) but when Get Myself Arrested came on, I was wide awake and bopping away.

They did an awesome version of Sweet Virginia, In Our Gun (with an amazingly energetic ending) and played one of my favourites, Love is Better Than a Warm Trombone. There was a great mix of new / classics and the guys took turns singing / drinking together and alone.

Hmm, now I wish I had tickets to see them at the Hi-Fi Ballroom!

Coke Live 'n Local 05

Despite not winning an acoustic guitar or an xBox, this was an event I'm glad I went to...

The fun started when we were queuing up. There were announcements over the loudspeakers informing us that bottled drinks had to be poured into cups - fair enough... explaining how to scan our tickets - ok... outlining what a barcode looked like - what?!?! They obviously don't think much of the youth of today!

Anyway, you know you're old when you get a perfunctory nod by security. That is, everyone apart from W, whose bag of Safeway groceries clearly made him look dangerous... the thing was, our Amish boy had even (partially) shaved recently!!!

Anyway, I better get onto the music. There were 5 bands, which I thought got progressively better, separated by interludes from DJ 'Make Some Noise!!!'.

The very young-looking The Gear were on first, and unfortunately the loudest cheers came when they announced they were playing their last song. They were followed by The Spazzys who I enjoyed more, but their voices were disappointingly drowned out by their guitars.

The most curious act of the night was definitely P Money. He did a surprisingly small amount of singing / rapping. Not only was his main hit pre-recorded, but the moment the kids went crazy was when he played original versions of Blur's Song 2 and Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. Ah, I guess classics will always be classics...

This was proven again with Spiderbait, whose songs are actually very short. I loved Calypso and of course Buy Me a Pony, but the most popular was definitely Black Betty.

Finally the band the mosh pit were waiting for, The Living End. I loved the songs from 'our generation', as W puts it... I think Prisoner of Society and Second Solution are brilliant songs. Although I only realised tonight that Second Solution is actually about a guy on death row... I guess 'And what I wanna know is will I get death row' makes more sense than 'And what I wanna know is where I get to go'...

I think the scariest part of the night was realising that I was not that young anymore. When I was a teenager, I didn't necessarily immerse myself in the typical 'teenager' mentality. But rather than feeling relief and validation that most people my age now see the boys as abusive, the girls as badly-dressed, it just makes me feel old...

I guess that's what you get for going to a Coke-sponsored 'alcohol-free, drug-free' event.

Thanks for the ticket Fi!

La Bohème, Sydney

I've never been a huge fan of opera. I was almost scarred for life by a school excursion to Hansel & Gretel. However, Simon Phillips' version of Puccini's La Bohème has changed my view on that...

Firstly, despite being a true Melbourne girl, it is hard not to get excited by being in the Opera House, looking over the water at night to the Harbour Bridge.

Secondly, the opera itself was amazing. The sets were simple, but very effective; the costumes were... modern; the orchestra was good and the singers, not that I know anything about singing, sounded great to me!

Finally, I love the fact that opera can get away with ridiculous story lines. For example, in the first act, Mimi visits her neighbour Rodolfo to get help relighting her candle. His goes out too, she loses her house key and then suddenly, they're declaring their love for each other! Maybe I'm not enough of a romantic to believe in love-at-first-sight-in-the-dark. And I guess 2 hours of singing isn't enough to develop a romance. But still, opera gets away with it.

Thanks for the ticket Mel!