news

GIG ALERT: Loudfest – A Tribute Festival

Leave a comment

NOSTALGIA is the order of the day as Max Watts turns it up to 11 hosting seven hours of ’70s, ’80s and ’90s rock tributes in Silverback Touring‘s first instalment of Loudfest.

After some inevitable rescheduling issues thanks to border restrictions and COVID, Loudfest Melbourne is ready to rock this weekend.

Originally headlined by Killer Queen Experience (Queen), Def Replica (Def Leppard) will now move up to the top spot. They will be joined by Sisters Doll (KISS), Foovana (Foo Fighters), Fandango (ZZ Top), Riot Act (Skid Row), Vital Idol (Billy Idol) Blizzard of Aus (Ozzy Osbourne).

“Tribute shows are now far from those which you would catch, conveniently, while hitting your local for a ten-buck t-bone,” promoter Danny Bazzi said.
“The point of difference with Loudfest is the variety in the acts. This is a rock show first and foremost but it is not exclusively targeting a single sub genre of rock. It features everything from classic rock to hard rock, modern day rock and blues based rock.
“This is a day out for rock fans to just let loose and enjoy the music they know and love by some bands who put absolutely everything into their tribute shows. There is something here for everybody.”

For more info and tickets go to the official Silverback Touring website.

Watch: Blizzard of Aus perform ‘Crazy Train’ by Ozzy Osbourne –

Feature Pic: Sisters Doll by Brittany Long

news

PREMIERE: The Base Coats

Leave a comment

THE Whitsundays’ best new ‘Wild Card‘ The Base Coats have a hot new single dropping tomorrow, and we’ve been lucky enough to nab the premiere.

The Base Coats are a fresh new four-piece blues-rock quartet from Mackay, North Queensland. ‘Run‘ is the second single from the band, following on from the hugely successful ‘Wild Card‘, which landed them the win in the 2019 Regional Passport to Airlie Beach Festival of Music competition.

Produced by James Russell at Heliport Studios, ‘Run‘ screams out loud to the hearts of anyone and everyone who has ever been lied to, cheated on and screwed over by their “ex” significant other.

The band explains that the new track “is all about revenge and deceit, and empowering the underdog to victory”. It’s a roaring ‘sing out loud’ vent song which builds momentum and showcases four part harmonies in the break down section of the song. The band also explains: “The film clip was an absolute riot and thank god for close theatre friends who helped The Base Coats create the feel and tone of the clip and to Simon Pope for his filming and creative genius.”

The Base Coats began, as many great Aussie bands do, with four friends having a few backyard bevies on a Sunday afternoon; when Josh Notting and Andrew Obst started jamming on acoustic guitars and Cheryl ‘Fez’ Peppin and Angela Smith added their melodies and harmonies.

From there, the quartet took out the battle of the bands, performed at the Airlie Beach Festival of Music, and have since performed at festivals, corporate events, clubs and parties… circumstances permitting.

This year, they’ve performed at Wintermoon Festival, and reconnected with ABFoM alum Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows at Party Bands in Paradise, where they were invited to join the guys on stage and had the crowd dancing in the (tropical) rain.

‘Run‘ is the second single from The Base Coats‘ debut EP, due for release July 23rd.
Stream it exclusively here now:

reviews

LIVE REVIEW: Holy Holy + Queen P @ The Forum, Melbourne

Leave a comment
Words + Pics: Paris Gorozidis

INDIE rock band Holy Holy finally made it to Melbourne to complete their Port Road Tour with Queen P at the weekend.

The original duo, Timothy Carroll and Oscar Dawson were joined on stage with touring musicians Graham Ritchie and Matt Redlich last Friday night at The Forum Melbourne, playing two sets in one night (an early and a late set) to accommodate for COVID capacity restrictions.

The show (originally scheduled for the 12th of February) was opened by special guest Queen P, whose R&B infused soul sound inspires listeners. She was rocking a beautiful head piece, paired with her blonde curls giving off serious Gwen Stefani vibes. 

Holy Holy kicked off with ‘Maybe You Know’ (placed #61 in 2019’s Triple J’s Hottest 100). I was so happy and thrilled to see fans standing up during the set (as compared to the first show of the tour in Melbourne, back in February, which was allocated seats), jumping and dancing to the sweet sound of live music: a flood of fans were singing and shouting along with front man and singer, Tim. Lead guitarist, Oscar, played some soulful and exhilarating riffs paired with his wife Ellie on backing vocals, which really set the bar for relationship goals. 

The set list was accompanied with songs ‘Faces’, ‘You Cannot Call For Love Like A Dog’, ‘Port Road‘ and their latest release – played for the first time in Melbourne – ‘How You Been’. This definitely made the wait for fans well worth it! 

The encore for the night included two extra songs, as the Holy Holy duo walked off the stage, fans shouted “ONE MORE SONG”, when they came back out they replied – “I know you really wanted one more song but we are going to play two,” – Oscar. The first song for the encore was a touching acoustic version of ‘Sentimental and Monday’, really plucking of the heart strings of fans. This was then followed by an absolute banger ‘True Lovers‘ to finish off the show! 

Check out the full gallery of pics here.