Perth Music

The Blues has just gotten bigger! Joining an amazing cast that includes Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother, Bo Diddley, The Waifs and many more, the two-day West Coast Blues ’n’Roots Festival is honoured to welcome WA’s own masters of soul and song, the John Butler Trio, for their first appearance at the Freo festival.

Joining the John Butler Trio for this second round of announcements are: Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Larry Carlton Blues Project featuring Robben Ford, Bob Evans, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience, Kaki King, Piers Faccini, Eugene ‘Hideaway’Bridges, Custom Kings, Kill Devil Hills, The Vasco Era, Diafrix, The Bamboos and Will Conner.

The West Coast Blues ’n’Roots Festival is returning to Fremantle with its finest line-up to date over an expanded two-day format – Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1 – presented by Sunset Events and Bluesfest and supported by Triple J.

This unprecedented line up will see the festival spread over two momentous days of blissful music, spanning sounds from blues to jazz, roots to reggae, rock and rhythm. As well as these world class artists there will be loads of other attractions making this day the ultimate in good vibes, including market stalls and a food market offering a range of culinary flavours from around the globe.

The event will also remain a fully licensed event, allowing patrons to freely stroll between stages unrestricted by drinking fences. Under 18 patrons will be permitted if they are accompanied at all times by their parent and hold a valid ticket.

Single day passes are $105 + booking fee or purchase a weekend pass at the discount price of $170 + booking fee. Tickets for The West Coast Blues and Roots Festival are available from www.sunsetevents.com.au (no booking fees) or through Ticketek on 132 849 and www.ticketek.com.au

Congratulations to Augie March for getting the number 1 spot on 2007’s Hottest 100 with their song One Crowded Hour. Beaten at the line were Eskimo Joe who came in at number 2 with Black Fingernails, Red Wine, Hilltop Hoods with The Hard Road at number 3, The Killers with When You Were Young at number 4 and The Scissor Sisters with I Don’t Feel Like Dancing at number 5.

Perth was represented with 7 entries:

2. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
11. Little Birdy - Come On Come On
12. John Butler Trio - Funky Tonight
36. Bob Evans - Nowhere Without You
37. Bob Evans - Don’t You Think It’s Time
45. Karnivool - Roquefort
95. Eskimo Joe - New York

Some things to note -
Hilltop Hoods had 5 entries just short of Wolfmother’s record 6 entries in 2006’s Hottest 100 (Wolfmother had another 2 entries this year with 2 B-Sides).

The Living End have now had at least 1 song in the Hottest 100 for 11 years in a row. The only band to do so.

2007 was only the second year in Triple J Hottest 100 history to have the top 3 songs all by Australian artists.

Surprisingly, for me anyway, The Sleepy Jackson did not make the list although their album (Personality) was critically praised throughout 2006 but Panic! At The Disco did make the list.

The full Hottest 100 list can be found on the Triple J Website.

According to several sources there are rumours of Boston 4-piece The Pixies headlining Joondalup’s Rock-It festival in April 2007!!

The Pixies split up in 1994 after recording 5 very influential albums (Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde) but then reunited in 2004 touring Europe, Japan and the US. Over the years bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead, U2, Weezer and Blur have all stated that they were influenced by The Pixies.

Well the 2007 WAMI nominations were announced today with Eskimo Joe the leader with 6 nominations. The big surprise for me was that Perthbands.com was nominated for best website even though it hasn’t been operating since April last year! Anyway, here are the nominations:
PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

(These are the awards that will be voted on myspace)
Most Popular Act
Eskimo Joe
Karnivool
Snowman
The Panda Band

Most Popular Album
Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Snowman - Snowman
The Panda Band - This Vital Chapter

Most Popular Single/EP
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Little Birdy - Come On, Come On
Schvendes - Small Mercies, Sweet Graves
Sex Panther - Killer Pink

Most Popular Live Act
Eskimo Joe
Karnivool
Schvendes
Snowman

Favourite Newcomer
Birds Of Tokyo
Mink Mussel Creek
Streetlight
Sugar Army

Most Popular Music Video
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Little Birdy - Come On, Come On
Snowman - You Are A Casino
Antistatic - Stand Up In Disguise

Most Popular Music Website
Perthsounds.com
Rockus.com.au
Perthbands.com
wam.asn.au

Most Popular Music Venue
Amplifier Bar
Hyde Park Hotel
Mojos
Rosemount Hotel

Most Popular Music Event
Big Day Out
In The Pines
WAMi Festival
Southbound

INDUSTRY VOTED AWARDS
(Voted by Industry people only)

Most Promising New Act
Faith In Plastics
Mink Mussel Creek
Streetlight
Sugar Army

Golden WAMi
Heath Bradby
Peter Barr
Paul Sloan
Scott Adam

It’s always tough to find something good to do on the Australia Day weekend that doesn’t involve being in a crowd of rowdy teenagers waiting for fireworks. If Rock is what you want here are a few options to consider:
Hyde Park Hotel (Friday):

Rosemount Hotel (Saturday):

3 Bears Bar Dunsborough (Saturday):

With virtually no fanbase apart from diehard locals & kangaroos, here are some 2006 highlights for Perth’s Head First.

#1 ISOUND radio, Dallas - there’s over 220,000 bands registered on the site. In March, the global audience voted Head First’s song “Money” #1, on the unsigned charts. Better still was #12 on the total downloads chart.

2nd Album finished, the boys have well over 100 original songs.

Lance - lead singer flown to Sydney for the Australian Idol finals and got to the top 24.

Trip to UK, Winner UK Bandwars - Nationwide uni based comp. Final consisted of 9 UK bands & Head First was the only foreign entry.

MTV Television USA sign deal with Head First for the use of their music in a TV series currently in production.

North England Finalist 06 Global Battle Of The Bands. Through Liverpool so you can imagine the competition. (the boys represented W.A in ‘05)

#31 on Ichannel’s Top 100 Songs for 2006, from the World’s Best independent bands. Ichannel music St Louis USA select their playlist from only the best on offer, so to have the boys didgeridoo driven song “UFO‘ reach #31 is a huge accolade for Head First.

February sees the boys return to the legendary Cavern Liverpool (Beatles), part of the 2007 50th year anniversary celebrations.

For more info visit their official website http://www.headfirstdotcom.com/

Bob Evans - Friend

The Making Of ‘Friend’

More bands have just been announced for the Soundwave Festival which will be happening on Sat 24th Feb in Brisbane, Sun 25th Feb in Sydney and Sat 3rd March in Perth. The 2nd Lineup Announcement includes:

Suicidal Tendencies
MXPX
The Bronx
Terror
Behind Crimson Eyes
Forgive Durden
Trial Kennedy
Drive By
to go along with the initial lineup of
Deftones
+44
Thrice
Unwritten Law
Hatebreed
Flyleaf
18 Visions
Juliette And The Licks
Houston Calls
The Format
Something With Numbers
Hit The Lights
and more local bands announced soon…

Event and ticketing information available at www.soundwavefestival.com

SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY BRISBANE – RIVERSTAGE
SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY SYDNEY – SYDNEY PARK, NEWTOWN
SATURDAY 3 MARCH PERTH – ROBINSON PAVILION & SURROUNDS

There will be 3 Stages, proper sets by all bands, a signing tent so bands can meet their fans, carnival rides, market stalls, good food and affordable drinks so make sure you get along and enjoy one of the highlight festivals of the summer.

ARIA Award nominated rockers, Little Birdy, are set to play their first MySpace Secret Show this Friday, January 12 here in Perth.

MySpace Secret Shows are exclusive, free concerts held throughout Australia featuring both local and international music acts and this is the first time Perth has hosted this event.

The only way Myspace users can find out specific details about the concert is by requesting Secret Shows to be their friend via www.myspace.com/secretshowsau, this will guarantee they are among the first to find out details as they are made available.

Little Birdy’s latest offering, Hollywood, cements the promise of their acclaimed debut album, Big Big Love, which garnered them four 2005 ARIA nominations, including
Breakthrough Artist - Album and Best Rock Album.

Perth MySpace users can find out more about the Secret Show by visiting www.myspace.com/secretshowsau.

Supporting bands will be Calerway, The Freudian Slips, Operation Beehive and One Shining Moment. The Simian Line and Calerway will be getting ready for for their debut Big Day Out in Perth on Sunday Feb 4th.