FUGAZI-INSTRUMENT (FILM / Q&A) – MAY ’18

GUY PICCIOTTO: FUGAZI – INSTRUMENT (FILM / Q&A)

For his first Australian appearance since playing here in 1997, Guy Picciotto, the influential co-frontman and guitarist for DIY hardcore heroes Fugazi presents a screening of the band’s definitive documentary Instrument followed by an in-depth Q&A.

Officially on hiatus since 2003, the Washington D.C. quartet revolutionised the music industry by shunning it altogether – playing only all ages shows and a low ticket price, no merchandise and no middle men. Forging a furious sound with elements of punk, rock, dub, reggae and experimental music, the band’s six album stretch is lovingly captured on tape. From their unique chemistry in the studio to history making performances and the inspired politics that fired up a nation, see the Fugazi story in full glory and hear it straight from one of the most unique voices in independent music today.

THE AINTS PLAY THE SAINTS (’73 – ’78) – MAR/APR ’18

The Aints, the powerhouse vehicle of singer / guitarist Ed Kuepper, bassist Peter Oxley and drummer Paul Larsen, encore in Sydney & Melbourne (only) this March performing the material of Kuepper’s adolescent band The Saints (’73 – ’78). Keyboardist Alister Spence and a 3-piece brass section complete the 2018 Aints with underground legends feedtime joining the undercard in Sydney and Melbourne pastoral five-piece Sand Pebbles completing the line-up in the southern capital. Tickets for both shows are on-sale 9.00am Thursday 21st December .

“The primal Nights In Venice lifts the intensity factor exponentially, dissolving into squalls of guitar as Kuepper busts out an incredible solo with the band maintaining the tension behind him.”  – Brisbane review / The Music

But wait, there’s more … in addition to the live shows The Aints will record an album – working title ‘The Church Of Simultaneous Existence’ – comprised entirely of songs written by Kuepper in the period 1973 – 1978.

”Things had started to move fairly quickly once The Saints recorded  [I’m] Stranded (Fatal Records) in mid ’76. We recorded three albums over the next two years as well as doing a fair it of touring, and for a while things were looking very promising, however, business problems, compounded by personal and artistic differences meant the band didn’t get around to recording all the material I had lying around….so forty [very] odd years later it occurred to me that these songs might well have made up a hypothetical 4th album….The Church of the Simultaneous Existence…..the songs that refused to die….performed in much the way they would have had the band not split up in 1978’’ – Ed Kuepper (on the until now, lost songs of The Saints.

“We will hear these songs, outside the live context, and perhaps some other newer ones when The Aints go into a studio in 2018. Now, that is an exciting prospect” – i94bar.com

The Aints recording begins this April while The Aints Play The Saints (’73 – ’78) perform live this March.

SUNNYBOYS – JAN/FEB ’18

SUNNYBOYS

In 2012 after a 21 year break, Sunnyboys re-entered the fray at the behest of Dig it Up! the Hoodoo Gurus Invitational. Performing as Kids in Dust the band had agreed to regroup “just for fun and for old times’ sake.” Six years later and Sunnyboys 2.0 have notched up a resume the envy of any band – contemporary or vintage – including a co-headline appearance to 45,000 people for A Day On The Green 2015; a succession of sold-out shows at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and the Sydney Opera House, a venue attendance record at the Coolangatta Hotel (previously held by Noiseworks) plus sold-out shows (multiple times over) in Melbourne, Byron Bay, Perth and more.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that the 2017 edition of Sunnyboys (featuring all original members) have existed longer than the bright-eyed young men who burned so brightly back in the eighties but also burned-out so fast. The time around without the pressure of recording schedules and the demand for chart hits and with a mutual love and respect for the music they made, Sunnyboys can just do what they do best; play live.

“There’s an uplift that occurs when the band is firing on all eight, and the crowd feels it and gives it right back to you. We experienced that back in the eighties, and we’re experiencing it now. There’s nothing like it”. – Richard Burgman

And play live they will as this summer Sunnyboys will performing a series of headline shows across venues big and small, regional and urban and ALL of them expected to sell out. The band will be performing material from across their entire catalogue including their three albums for Mushroom, the infamous debut ep on the Phantom label and even the odd b-side or rarity. For the Sunnyboys, every show is a celebration.

“We really didn’t think we would ever play again as a band. But wow, we have and we sure are having a bloody great time doing it.” – Peter Oxley

“In the 80’s we burned out and the fun became hard work. The shows this time around have all been good fun and the fan reactions incredible, so while ever that lasts the band will.” – Bil Bilson

“I didn’t know if I would even enjoy it but the way we were accepted back made it like a dream come true and impossible to stop at just one show!” – Jeremy Oxley

Joining the fun will be Sydney surf-punks The Celibate Rifles, a hi-energy five piece who have carved out their own indelible history in the Australian music scene over a 35+ year period. The Rifles will join Sunnyboys for their first show on the Sunshine Coast since 1982; the Sunnyboys first Brisbane performance since 2015, and most other dates. While Melbourne fun-punks and former touring buddies Painters & Dockers, will join the rejuvenated Sunnyboys for their Melbourne Zoo performance.

“Some bands re-group so they can play the hit songs and fly home, pockets jangling full of money. Watching the Sunnyboys perform felt like they were making up for lost years that should have been on stage. Graciously happy to be there and genuinely thrilled by the audience participation.” – Weekend Notes.

NEWS FLASH!

Due to overwhelming demand Sunnyboys are pleased to announce three new shows! Canberra will see the fab four make their first appearance in the nation’s capital since 1983. NSW south coast town Thirroul will receive its first ever taste of the Sunnyboys, and the iconic Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns has Sunnyboys making just their third ever North Queensland trip, only their second every visit to Cairns and just their first visit to the region since 1982! The three dates join the recently announced third Sydney date making it the most extensive Sunnyboys tour since their reemergence in 2012. All shows on-sale now via feelpresents.com

THE CAIRO GANG – OCT ’17

THE CAIRO GANG

The Cairo Gang is led by songwriter and singer Emmett Kelly, known mostly for a diverse array of previous collaborative efforts, including work with The Double, Rob Mazurek, Ty Segall, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Baby Dee. The Cairo Gang’s work remains the main focus, however, and it too has been vastly diverse, appearing currently as a  rock and roll pop trio playing out around North America. The most recent album “Untouchable” is new pop driven rock and roll songs recorded together with Ty Segall. The sound vacillates between spiritual reference points of rock and roll history, while increasingly releasing the forms and becoming amorphous and situational.

http://www.dragcity.com/artists/the-cairo-gang

THE DOUBLE – OCT ’17

THE DAWN OF THE DOUBLE!

While making some investigations into rock and roll, THE DOUBLE was found!

You’ve heard of the fox trot, you’ve heard of the twist, theres a new dance in town … The DOUBLE. DANCE THE DOUBLE!

Move over Waltz, move over disco, theres a new beat in town; Today’s Beat Tomorrow

Jim White (Dirty Three / Xylouris White / Venom P. Stinger) and guitarist Emmett Kelly (The Cairo Gang / Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy / Ty Segall) are THE DOUBLE. They’ve distilled THE DOUBLE’s essence into DAWN of the DOUBLE  released on indie-record giant In The Red .

“You can meditate to this record,” says Larry Hardy of In the Red. “The first few seconds, it’s like, ‘OK, this sounds like the Gories. Then it’s, ‘No, this is like the Velvet Underground. Oh … it’s Glenn Branca. It’s just goes and goes.”

“It’s Terry Riley meets Bo Diddley, and it works so hard you won’t even know it. Incredible, heads down focus and dexterity, with each chord hit with the twang of all of the blues, just fuckin’ layin’ it in there like it should.” Still Single

“Could the Double spawn a new dance craze…? The answer is in… and its FUCK YES! – L.A. Time

“Dawn of the Double” was built by Emmett Kelly and Jim White, expert musicians able to craft work that’s rich with both nuance and range. Neither trait is apparent on first listen to “Dawn of the Double.” – LA Times .

“Talking to one of The Double before a Brooklyn gig in the summer of 2014, I was told they were going to play a “dance piece.” I wasn’t sure how to take that, but it slowly began to make sense as I watched their stunning set. The music struck an odd balance between perpetual motion and perpetual stasis: the drummer, Jim White maintained a modified Bo Diddley beat, switching between the snare and the toms after long stretches on each, while the guitarist, Emmett Kelly, stuck steadfastly to an E chord. They took the underpinning of countless rock ’n’ roll songs—the rhythm section—and decisively moved it to the foreground. It soon became clear that this wasn’t going to be the average concert of discrete songs or pieces—so the question then became how long they would sustain the groove for.” – Alan Licht

What’s happening is happening on its own. We are only a conduit for it and it’s super surreal. – Emmett Kelly

For the first time in Australia FEEL the sound that has set LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK alight, THE DOUBLE!

THE AINTS PLAY THE SAINTS ’73-’78

THE AINTS PLAY THE SAINTS (’73 – ’78)

“Rock music in the seventies was changed by three bands—the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and The Saints.” (Bob Geldof)

On the 40th anniversary of the release of The Saints’ classic album ‘(I’m) Stranded’, founding member, guitarist and songwriter Ed Kuepper will revisit the material performed by that seminal band from an era when a suburban Brisbane band took their sound to the world.

Alongside bassist Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys), drummer Paul Larson (The Celibate Rifles), keyboardist Alister Spence and a guest brass section ‘The Aints’ will perform the songs that spanned The Saints first three ground-breaking albums: the  proto-punk classic ‘(I’m) Stranded’ (1977), the hugely influential ‘Eternally Yours’ (1978), and the genre-defying ‘Prehistoric Sounds’ (1978).

“I don’t think that anyone, myself included, would have thought that this material I wrote when I was starting out would still have currency after all this time….but here we are celebrating it’s 40th anniversary. I’m actually pretty chuffed about doing it and have got a top notch band together to play the stuff.” – Ed Kuepper

Tickets for ALL shows on-sale Monday June 19th.