Perth Music

The West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival is going global – well, globally conscious anyhow.

Understanding that music festivals need to take more responsibility for the effects they have on the environment, Sunset Events is now proud to announce Green Roots, supported by the Waste Management Board’s Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme.

Following Sunset Events’pioneering environmentally friendly Southbound Festival in January, Green Roots is about keeping the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival environmentally sustainable as well.

Sunset Events has developed some key initiatives to keep WA’s own Blues ’n’ Roots celebration environmentally friendly and help secure a clean future for Western Australia and the wider world.

In a landmark initiative for events in Western Australia, patrons who get involved with the festival’s recycling programme will be rewarded with Green Money!

Patrons simply have to drop by the Recycling Centre at the festival and grab a biodegradable recycling bag, fill the bag with empty cans and water bottles and return it. And for that they get a clear conscience plus a $5 Green Money Voucher to spend at the festival.

Recycling stations will be located throughout the festival site to help West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots achieve its aim of recycling 75 per cent of all festival waste. Please assist us to achieve this goal by placing your recyclable waste in the correct bins.

Introducing the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots eco-warriors, The Green Team, who will be out in force to educate and assist with all onsite Green Roots programs. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be an environmental saviour whilst enjoying the unforgettable West Coast Blues ’n’Roots experience sign up to the Green Team. Application forms are available from the Sunset Events website (details below).

To complement this on-site recycling programme, all carbon emissions created by the festival will be neutralised by the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots tree planting program.

Sunset Events will be working with the City of Fremantle to plant native trees and plants which will not only neutralise the carbon emissions created at the festival but assist with crucial flora regeneration in the Fremantle parks and sensitive coastal dunes.

Vehicles are the main contributor to the carbon cloud so Sunset Events also encourages all patrons to catch the train to bus or car pool.

Complementing our own commitment, all on site diesel vehicles will run on Bio-D. A genuine alternative to conventional diesel, Bio-D is a blend of low sulphur diesel with 20 per cent biodiesel.

West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots will also have a host of Eco Stalls onsite at the festival with representatives from environmental organisations and plenty of information and environmentally friendly products.

If you are involved in an environmental organisation or have environmentally friendly products you would like to sell at the Festival email your details to stalls@sunsetevents.com.au(.)

All posters and flyers created for the festival have been printed on 55% recycled paper and 45% oxygen bleached paper and are printed by a Green Stamp accredited printer.

Food stalls at the festival will also be encouraged to use environmentally friendly packaging and much of the food scraps will make their way to composting facilities.

Dzolv Products are providing all bar cups and patron recycling bags. These amazing products are made from annually renewable resources, are 100 per cent plastic free, biodegradable and compostable within 60 days.

Solar power is a superb alternative power source and 100 per cent environmentally friendly. The West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival will have a station set up on site where you can recharge your mobile phones with pure solar energy.

Not only is the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival WA’s home to the world of music; it’s a step towards a cleaner future.

And it all takes place at The Esplanade Reserve in Fremantle, on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1.

VIP TICKETS SOLD OUT

All VIP tickets to the festival have now completely SOLD OUT! Saturday, Sunday and Weekend tickets for The West Coast Blues ‘n’ Roots Festival are on sale NOW and are expected to sell out soon so don’t miss out! Single day passes are $105 + booking fee or purchase a weekend pass at the discount price of $170 + booking fee.

Public Voted Awards:
Most Popular Act
Karnivool

Most Popular Album
Snowman - Snowman

Most Popular Single/EP
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine

Most Popular Live Act
Karnivool

Favourite Newcomer
Birds Of Tokyo

Most Popular Music Video
Snowman - You Are A Casino

Most Popular Music Website
Perthbands.com

Most Popular Music Venue
Amplifier Bar

Most Popular Music Event
Big Day Out

Industry Voted Awards:
Most Promising New Act
Mink Mussel Creek

Best Record Producer/Engineer
Dave Parkin

Media Award-Individual
Bob Gordon

Best Male Vocalist
Ian Kenny (Karnivool/Birds Of Tokyo)

Best Bassist
Ben Franz (The Waifs)

Best Electronic Producer
Pendulum

Best Blues/Roots Act
The Kill Devil Hills

Best Country Music Act
The Jayco Brothers

Best Rock Act
Snowman

Best Indi Pop Act
The Bank Holidays

Best Indigenous Act
Pigram Brothers

Management Award
Heath Bradby

Media Award-Organisation
Rtrfm

Best Female Vocalist
Abbe May (The Fuzz)

Best Drummer
Rob Nassif (Gyroscope)

Best DJ
Dan The Man

Best Hardcore/Punk Act
Eleventh He Reaches London

Best Hard Rock Metal Act
Karnivool

Best Commercial Pop Act
Eskimo Joe

Best Jazz Act
VOID

Best WA Record Label
Jarrah Records

Golden WAMi
Peter Barr

Best Sound Engineer (live or studio)
Dave Parkin

Best Guitarist
Drew Goddard (Karnivool)

Best Instrumentalist
Tristan Parr (Schvendes)

Best Urban/ Hip Hop Act
Downsyde

Best Live Electronic Act
Pendulum Live

Best Funk Act
Bobby Blackbird and the Bluejays

Best World Act
Double Entendre

All photos taken by Anthony Tran - http://antz.bur.st/goodvibrations2007-belvoir/

Click on photos view larger view -

There is one thing that is certain when a Good Vibrations festival comes to town; the next day thousands of people are going to have sore calf muscles. Compared to other summer music festivals Good Vibrations is all about having a good time and dancing. I arrived at the beautiful Belvoir Amphitheatre in the early afternoon and already people were dancing everywhere – on the grass in front of the main stage, on the steps in front of the amphitheatre, under tents, in front of bars, waiting in line for the toilets and so on.

I got to the Amphitheatre stage (or Roots stage as it was called on the day) just in time to catch FDEL wrapping up his set. The crowd were loving the local DJ and were even more excited when another local (Optimus from Downsyde) joined FDEL onstage for a few songs.

Getting over to the main stage saw Sydney four piece Van She start their set to a growing crowd. With an 80’s sound that a lot of the crowd looked like they lived in anyway, Van She rocked out and funked out at the same time. Highlights were dedicating a song to a friend that is addicted to Ice, Sex City and Kelly.

Nightmares On Wax were next up on the Roots stage and it was the perfect spot for the crowd to just chill out and enjoy the music. Either dancing on the theatre steps or chatting to friends it seemed everyone was having a great time. The crowd was really building up at this stage of the day but even when someone accidentally bumped into me or stepped on my foot they made sure they apologized and wished me all the best for the day. It was definitely a great atmosphere.

It was the first time UK outfit Cicada had visited Perth and all the dancing that was occurring in front of the stage must have been a great site to see and a perfect introduction to the local dance scene. Although the heat was mentioned and Cicada front woman Heidrun Björnsdottir seemed a little uncomfortable due to the hot sun, some great tunes were played and enjoyed by all.

The ‘Godfather of Noyze’ Rahzel was highly anticipated on the Roots stage and was accompanied by DJ JS-One. I’ve seen many hip-hop artists before but Rahzel and JS-One really defined the genre on this day. Rahzel beat boxed not only with ease but was able to make it sound like there were four or five separate beat boxers on stage at once. One person dropping the beat, the chorus, the verse and the bass all at once is quite the spectacle and something everyone should experience. The definite highlight was ‘If Your Mother Only Knew’.

As it was announced that Jurassic 5 were splitting up after this tour, this performance was definitely one not to miss. And the super MC’s did not disappoint. Playing a full set of old songs, hits and songs off their most recent album, the now packed Roots stage were hanging off every rhyme. Speaking of hanging, half way through the set one Jurassic 5 fan decided it would be a good idea to climb one of the trees in the middle of the stage steps and hang off one of the branches. Well this didn’t last long and as he fell straight down onto the crowd underneath most were holding their breath thinking the worst. But after he signaled all was ok the entire crowd cheered and focused back on the act on stage.

Back on the main stage I only got to see a few songs by Sneaky Sound System but the good thing was that they left their radio songs to the end. ‘I Love It’, ‘Pictures’ and ‘Goodbye’ were all played at the end and with the sun finally set, the crowd were seeing the end of the night on the horizon.

Legends of hip hop Beastie Boys came out on stage dressed in suits and looked like they were ready for business. Besides the fact that they thought they were in Perf, MCA, Mike D, Ad-rock and Mixmaster Mike looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Tonight was their last show in Australia for this tour and after 20 years in music nobody knows how many tours are in the future. Many hits were played including Root Down, Intergalactic, No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Brass Monkey, Triple Trouble, So What‘cha Want, 3 MC’s And 1 DJ, Shake Your Rump, Body Movin and the finale was dedicated to George W. Bush: Sabotage.

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic

Jurassic 5

FDEL feat. Optimus from Downsyde

Yoko Ono has a new album ‘Yes, I’m a Witch’ due for release on March 17th 2007.  It features collaborations with The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Antony & The Johnsons, Spiritualized, Peaches, Hank Shocklee (Public Enemy), Le Tigre, The Sleepy Jackson, Apples in Stereo and many more.

Millions are familiar with the name Yoko Ono.  For some it conjures long held preconceptions, for others, the injustice of misinformation made fact:  “Controversial”.  “Manipulator”.  “A witch”.   But far too few associate Ono with the forward looking music she’s made throughout her career.

Despite this, her music has been heralded, embraced by, and inspirational to an entire new generation of musicians – themselves currently challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries of sounds and ideas. Hence the new release, Yes, I’m A Witch, a totally different kind of collaboration with some of today’s most exciting musicians.

Each artist was given her catalogue to listen to, and upon selecting a cut, was provided with the vocals and whatever other instrumental elements attracted them from that cut.  Almost all the artists chose just the vocals.  They then produced entirely new musical tracks that make it clear just how ahead of her time her compositions and performances were, and how they remain so.

The result is a freewheeling and inspired set of songs – all held together and defined by the voice and sensibilities of a person few have given themselves the opportunity to listen to without bias.

‘Yes, I’m a Witch’ Track listing:
1. Witch Shocktronica Intro / Hank Shocklee 1:47
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss / Peaches 3:18
3. O’Oh / Shitake Monkey 3:39
4. Everyman…Everywoman / Blow Up 4:02
5. Sisters O Sisters / Le Tigre 2:47
6. Death Of Samantha / Porcupine Tree 4:36
7. Rising / DJ Spooky 4:37
8. Nobody Sees Me Like You Do/ Apples In Stereo 3:56
9. Yes I’m A Witch / The Brother Brothers 3:49
10. Revelations / Cat Power 4:22
11. You And I / Polyphonic Spree 3:27
12. Walking On Thin Ice / Jason Pierce (Spiritualized) 5:07
13. Toyboat / Antony (Antony And The Johnsons) and Hahn Rowe 4:25
14. Cambridge 1969/2007 / The Flaming Lips 5:36
15. I’m Moving On / The Sleepy Jackson 5:01
16. Witch Shocktronica Outro / Hank Shocklee :32
17. Shiranakatta (I Didn’t Know) / Craig Armstrong 3:09

I arrived at the Hyde Park Hotel just as Matt Irvin started to play and the crowd in the room was already starting to build up. Matt is from the now defunct roots outfit Dusk and has just released his debut EP “Now A Lover” after doing some East Coast touring with Simon London. Matt played some great acoustic songs that were enjoyed by the crowd and even used a state of the art loop pedal on one song to allow his guitar to loop while he played trumpet at the same time. It was quite an interesting way of playing a solo gig and many people were quite perplexed.

A young lady known as Seven Weapons was on next and right from the first song she seemed sweet, fun and talented. Her voice and song structure reminded me of the LA band Rilo Kiley and she seemed surprised the crowd were really liking her songs, even the one based on a hand written note she found in King’s Park only a couple days before.

Next up was Rick Bryant who as he told me 10 minutes before going on was unusually nervous. He told me how the crowd was much bigger than he expected and if anyone has been to The Hyde Park Hotel for a Solo night the crowd are extremely close to the stage, so the musician can hear just about every conversation in the room. Ignoring his nerves Rick grabbed his scotch and water and headed on stage, playing some great songs that was appreciated by the crowd.

The person everyone was waiting to see was on next: Kav from Eskimo Joe. Up on stage he explained to the crowd that he hadn’t made a set list for tonight and was just going to play songs as they came to him and that he remembered how to play. Considering Kav plays bass guitar in Eskimo Joe, anything he played on acoustic guitar is not an everyday thing. Apart from the odd sound issue on stage Kav’s set of new songs, Eskimo Joe songs and a Beach Boys Cover sounded great and Kav’s voice has grown older into a fascinating, matured voice.

The full setlist was New Song, Suicide Girl, New York, This Is Pressure, Setting Sun, Sarah, Car Crash, Older Than You, New Song #2, Hang Onto Your Ego (Beach Boys Cover).

Hang Onto Your Ego (Beach Boys Cover)

New York

In awesome news, the Rock-It team has captured a world class selection of artists to end the summer….an exciting combination of firm favourites, international superstars and hot new talent ready to rock your socks off on Easter Thursday 5th April.

The usual home of Rock-It, Arena Joondalup, is unable to host the Thursday night blockbuster because construction on the Arena Joondalup events train platform isn’t finished, one of the access roads is closed and the parking facilities are unavailable due to late night shopping.

The good news is that the kind folk at CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS have offered to host the event and allow the fantastic line up to play WA and under the name Blackjack!

So it’s official! Blackjack 2007 at Claremont Showgrounds will put the greatest icing on the cake of another excellent WA summer and Rock-It will be back with a MASSIVE bill later in the year (with a new special event train station at the front door and other improvements to make your enjoyment and comfort a priority).

Blackjack 2007 featuring
The Pixies : The Living End : Eskimo Joe : Gnarls Barkley : The Vines : Birds Of Tokyo : Children Collide
Easter Thursday, 5th April 2007
Claremont Showgrounds
2-11pm
All Ages with 18+ Areas

The Pixies
For the first time ever in Australia and one of the coolest bands in the history of the universe FINALLY confirm an exclusive Perth play!!! A top ten artist on any accurate “best albums of all time” list…the timeless, seminal and sensational

The Living End
With multiple multi-platinum albums behind them, one of the most electrifying and reliable acts in the country roll out for their trademark guaranteed high-energy, kick-arse, air-punching, sing-along rock and roll show.

Eskimo Joe
WA’s hometown heroes…or should we say superstars! Having sold nearly a quarter of a million copies of their latest album “Black Fingernails, Red Wine” 2007 is the year of the Joe and they are flying the WA flag loud and proud

Gnarls Barkley
For the first time in Australia and injecting the beats and party into our Easter Thursday event playing all the monster tracks from their platinum debut “St Elsewhere”
Crazy!

The Vines
After a global smash album and building a reputation for a wild, unpredictable and self abusive live show. The Vines simply put write and play some of the greatest rebel guitar rock music there is. After being turned inside out by global success and only a couple of early visits to WA under their belts they have come out of live hibernation in 2007 with a raw and electric buzz-saw live show which confirms just how good the music of the Vines is……..let’s Get Free!!!!!

Birds Of Tokyo
They shut the door on the Robinson Pavilion at the Big Day Out because 6000 people had crammed in to see ‘The Birds’. The week their debut album ‘Day One’ came out their distributor had hair loss as fans and stores screamed for more stock than was available. These quiet achievers are the DIY rising stars of and WA and indeed Australian music. Birds of Tokyo are selling out shows all over the country and their live show is not to be missed.

Children Collide
First on but by no means least this Melbourne band is a huge tip for 2007/2008. One of the few acts where all the right media from NME to Rolling Stone and back again are in a froth but for ALL the right reasons. Raw, radical and rambunctious; they are everything you want in a band. Don’t miss it.

**INTERNET PRESALE TICKETS **
Available from this FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16th at www.heatseeker.com.au

**GENERAL TICKET SALES**
Available from next FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23rd at Live Clothing Stores, Star Perth, Beat Karrinyup, Planet Mt Lawley, Mills Fremantle, Prince of Wales Bunbury, Star Mandurah, 3 Bears Dunsborough and www.heatseeker.com.au

Perth songstress Claire Clarke has just posted a bunch of new songs up on her Myspace page - www.myspace.com/claireclarke. You will be able to see and hear more of Claire during the 2007 WAMI festival as she is playing the Saturday Spectacular at 1pm on February 24th at the Universal Bar.

You can also get Claire to perform with her band at your school! Just ask your music teacher to ring Hamish at WAM on 9227-7962 and Claire and her new band will perform a whole bunch of her original music from her forthcoming album and her Alter Ego EP. She will also workshop with your music class providing some interesting insight into the local music industry.

Even though it was a hazy summer day in Perth, the weather was almost perfect to witness the fantastic international, national and local acts that made up the 2007 Big Day Out.

The traffic wasn’t as bad as past years but I made it to the Claremont Showgrounds just in time to see the last half of the Sick Puppies set. As was mentioned by lead singer Shimon Moore, playing the main stage at the Big Day Out was a dream for the band since they were 15. The crowd was quite large for one of the first acts of the day and the apparel on the crowd explained why. There were at least 100 people with home made Free Hugs shirts on showing the power that is You Tube.

Walking around, I next stumbled on AFRA & Incredible Beatbox Band playing in the Boiler Room. This crazy threesome from Tokyo was so full of energy that the crowd were jumping and clapping along to every Konichiwa shouted out. With only a short 10 minute set in the Boiler Room they pleasantly surprised and I’m sure stood out to everyone there.

Running over to the Converse Essential Stage I caught Streetlight finishing off their set. The local rockers were playing a loud and confident bunch off songs but I noticed more people interested in getting a free Polaroid photo if they were wearing Converse shoes than actually watching the band. Streetlight are still a young band full of potential so I’m sure they will have many more Big Day Out’s to fine tune the crowd interaction.

Getting back to the 2 main stages The Butterfly Effect were entertaining a growing crowd. And as annoying as the way lead singer Clint Boge holds the microphone, the band played Triple J favourites ‘A Slow Descent’, ‘One Second Of Insanity’, ‘The Cell’, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Gone’ and the crowd loved it.

Thanks to having songs on multiple TV shows, Evermore played to a crowd that sang along to those songs but didn’t seem to know other songs that were played. Bands with guitar, drums and keyboards are the in-thing at the moment and hits including ‘Real Life’, ‘Running’, ‘Light Surrounding You’, ‘It’s Too Late’, ‘For One Day’ and new single ‘Unbreakable’ were all played.

At that stage the Converse Essential Stage had almost tripled in capacity as local boys Birds Of Tokyo played off every cheer. A fan base that has exploded in the last few months and a debut album due out in weeks have made a very happy band and that translates to the music. Ian Kenny and co smiled non-stopped through their set with single off kilter a definite crowd favourite.

Scribe played last year’s Big Day Out only in Sydney and in the Boiler Room. This year they scored the national tour and the main stage and the receptive crowd showed why. Starting their set with hit single ‘Not Many’, the Kiwi MC and his group The Deceptacons entertained everybody in attendance.

I left Scribe early to try and make it to The Sleepy Jackson who were playing at the Green Stage on the West side of the Showgrounds. Unfortunately the setup of this stage was horrible and it took at least 15 minutes just to get to a spot where the stage was visible. Another problem was the fact that The Sleepy Jackson are a much better band on CD than live. The lineup is at least a little more established but Luke Steele still has some work to do to get the live vibe of the band correct.

I don’t think I’ve heard the words My Chemical Romance in a sentence without the word emo added to the end. Even for people that don’t know what emo is, they associate it with this New Jersey band. The fact of the matter is that My Chemical Romance put on a pretty good stadium show and when they were on stage they rocked out. ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ was a crowd favourite and the volume of the crowd singing along signaled the big bands had started.

Next on the main stage was Eskimo Joe who must have been very proud in representing WA and very happy having their most successful year to date. I actually missed most of their set as I’ve seen the Joe probably 30 times in the past 10 years but the singing along to ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ could be heard from a long way away.

Little Birdy were playing at the same time as Eskimo Joe so Katy Steele thought it would funny to introduce her band as Eskimo Joe and talk up a local rivalry. The setup on the Green Stage was terrible again so it was very difficult to get in and out but the crowd was dancing along to every song, new and old.

Next up in the Converse Essential Stage were The Vines and the crowd had swelled immensely. Even after all the difficulties the band has gone through over the past few years their live show has definitely improved. ‘Don’t Listen To the Radio’, ‘Winning Days’, ‘Get Free’ and ‘Outtathaway’ were all highlights and hopefully the band won’t collapse on itself as many critics have thought.

The John Butler Trio came onstage just at the right time as the sunburn and alcohol started to come into effect for many. The chilled out tunes were perfect for those that could find a spot to lie down and just enjoy the guitar skills of the Freo favourite. Latest single ‘Funky Tonight’ got everybody dancing at the end of the set and when John Butler brought his young daughter out on stage there was a mutual respect and appreciation between the man and the crowd.

Moving back to the Boiler Room I had the pleasure of experiencing The Streets’ hip-hop genius. Lyrically stunning, The Streets had the crowd in the palm of their hands and Mike Skinner knew it. Being a true geezer Skinner observed the fenced off drinking area in the Boiler Room and referenced those in it as convicts throughout their set. The highlight for me was ‘When You Wasn’t Famous’ with the crowd singing along throughout the song.

The Killers were next up on the main stage and the Las Vegas group had a huge ovation when they walked on. They opened with ‘Sam’s Town’ and played hits including ‘When You Were Young’, ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ and ‘Somebody Told Me’. The Killers did play a solid set but for me there was something missing.

At this part of the day I needed food, drink, rest and shade so I missed most of Jet’s set but from what I did see they definitely played to please the crowd. Climbing on speakers and running around the stage lead singer Nic Cester was loving every moment being in front of the thousands of fans.

Next up was one of the best live shows I have seen in a long, long time. Muse impressed just about everybody that got to witness their show and they proved that they were definitely a stadium rock band. There were close up cameras on the microphone, drums, piano and around the stage to give great vision of Muse to those that couldn’t get as close as they wanted as well as inject some Space Invaders into their music. Drummer, Dom Howard made the mistake of calling Perth Adelaide but corrected himself after the next song. Highlights included ‘Starlight’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, ‘Time Is Running Out’, ‘Apocalypse Please’, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Plug In Baby’.

Unfortunately, so I didn’t get stuck in traffic for hours I didn’t get to see a great deal of Tool but from what I did see Maynard Keenan and co pleased every single metal fan that was present. Tool have the honour of being the first band at any Big Day Out allowed to have a 90 minute set time and the beauty of their songs show every reason for this. Even though part of the crowd were on their way out Tool proved that they are a world class band worthy of headlining the 2007 Big Day Out.