“The Woodshed Sessions” – Matt Joe Gow

While his next official studio album is some time away, Matt Joe Gow has dropped a special treat for his fans online. Exclusively available online, The Woodshed Sessions is a beautiful collection of Matt’s best loved songs stripped back to their very essence.

This is a live album with a difference. Instead of recording it in front of an audience, Matt recorded the stripped back, acoustic versions of these songs in the studio in just one take. It’s a brilliant idea. While I love the energy of live recordings, the crowd noise can get distracting and the sound quality is often poor. There’s an energy to these songs too, but that comes from the dynamic between Matt and the members of his long-time band The Dead Leaves. You can feel the chemistry as their voices combine in beautiful three-part harmonies. Hearing the way the vocals sat alongside the piano and strumming of an acoustic guitar, I thought this is what music should be. It’s organic and pure, coming from the soul so naturally, free from studio “enhancements” like autotune and drum machines.

If you’ve listened to Matt’s music before, you know these songs are ripe for this kind of treatment. In acoustic mode, their introspective lyrics and perfect melodies come to the fore. If you’re new to Matt’s music, this compilation of career highlights makes the perfect introduction. It’s really like a greatest hits with a beautiful acoustic twist. I can’t wait to hear new music from Matt, but this release will keep me satisfied until that time comes. I’m going to leave you with this video of “Grand Ambition” from The Woodshed Sessions; check it out and I’m sure you’ll want to discover the rest of the tunes. You’ll find The Woodshed Sessions on all your favourite streaming services. If you’d like to purchase a physical CD copy, head to Matt’s Bandcamp page.

Main photo credit: Lucas Packett

“Live” – Ian Moss

Like many music lovers, I miss attending concerts most of all in these pandemic times. Live streams fill the void somewhat, but who knows how long it’ll be until I’m sitting in a room with other music lovers watching one of my favourite artists perform once again. The cravings are real, but Ian Moss has gone some way towards satisfying them with the recent release of his live album, simply called Live.

Recorded over two shows at Canberra’s Playhouse and Sydney’s Enmore Theatre in July 2018, the album captures all the electricity of one of Mossy’s live sets. The tracklist balances popular Cold Chisel and solo singles with some unexpected gems. Well-known tracks like “Choir Girl” and “Tucker’s Daughter” are perfect for singalongs while the less familiar numbers give Mossy space to spread out and experiment. I found myself marvelling as he jammed out with his six-piece band on tracks like “Janelle” and “One Long Day.” This album captures so beautifully those moments that would floor you in the room, where the musicians are so totally caught up in the groove.

“It was great to be back out and touring Australia with a big band full of extraordinary talent and exceptional musicians and playing to some of the best audiences I’ve ever played to,” Ian reminisced. “The crew we had on the road with us were some of the best in the business and of course, having the new studio album, Ian Moss, full of songs, with me at the helm of the songwriting to play was fantastic”.

Ian Moss’s Live is exclusively available from digital services including Spotify and Apple Music. If you love what you hear, remember Ian Moss will be back on the road next year. Here are all the shows we can look forward to in early 2021.

24 & 26 February 2021 – Jetty Theatre, Coffs Harbour
27 February 2021 – Manning Entertainment Centre, Taree
5 March 2021 – The Art House, Wyong
6 March 2021 – The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie
26 March 2021 – Latrobe Performing Arts Centre @ Town Hall, Traralgon
27 March 2021 – The Wedge @ Performing Arts Centre, Sale
7 April 2021 – Swan Hill Town Hall, Swan Hill
9 April 2021 – Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura
10 April 2021 – Broken Hill Civic Centre, Broken Hill
16 & 17 April 2021 – Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns
23 April 2021 – Dubbo Regional Theatre & Convention Centre, Dubbo
24 April 2021 – Tamworth Town Hall, Tamworth
1 May 2021 – Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, Wagga Wagga

Images used with permission from Ferris Davies PRM; header image credit: Daniel Boud

Midnight Oil Releases Live Sydney Domain CD & DVD

In February 2017, Midnight Oil announced what would be their first tour in more than 15 years. The Great Circle World Tour would start in Sydney’s pubs, just as the band did in the early days, before circumnavigating the globe. Over the next six months The Oils played shows in 16 countries across five continents, spreading their message of the importance of a healthy planet and fair treatment for all its citizens. Then eventually they came home to Sydney.

They played the Domain, a place steeped in history: a ceremonial site for the Gadigal people, a site for political rallies against the Great Depression and Vietnam War. If you were there, you’re probably still talking about it. And if you weren’t, you’ll finally get the chance to experience it with the release of Armistice Day: Live at the Domain, Sydney on November 9.

The concert will be released on DVD and CD, and available to download or stream digitally. It’s got all the hits on it and some special moments too, like this fantastic version of Yothu Yindi’s classic, “Treaty.” It features Yirrmal Marika, the grandson of Yothu Yindi’s original lead singer. You’ll also hear a few bonus tracks captured at the Melbourne show at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl a few days earlier. If you’re a real fan, you’ll want the special deluxe CD/DVD bundle. It features a bonus 75-minute film, Oils at the Reef. Featuring interviews with the band and footage from a stripped back benefit gig at Cairns’ Tanks Arts Centre, which raised money for Great Barrier Reef Legacy and the Australian Marine Conservation Society, it’s destined to be a real collector’s item. It’s available for pre-order now ahead of its November 9 release.

Image used with permission from Sony Music Australia

Live & The Tea Party @ ICC Theatre, Sydney – 1 March 2018

Ordinarily when a band I’ve seen announces follow-up shows shortly after their last lap of the country, I give them a miss. I reason that not much will have changed and that there are always more artists tempting me to spend my money. Yet not even four months after catching them in the Hunter, I saw Live again last week. And I was every bit as psyched.

This was a very different gig from the 2017 Live show though. Rather than a soggy day out in the picturesque Hunter Valley, we filed into the modern ICC Theatre in Sydney. In the Hunter, Thirsty Merc, The Calling, and Lifehouse delivered crowd-pleasing pop-rock, but it seemed slightly out of step with Live’s angsty ‘90s rock. At this year’s tour The Tea Party provided an interesting foil, rocking every bit as hard as the headliners.

The Tea Party are such a revered act, but my exposure to them had been limited to their set at M-One (anyone else remember M-One?), when I think I might have been chatting to friends, and whatever filtered through the walls from my young sister’s bedroom. When they first hit the stage I worried they might have been a little too dark for my tastes. But as the set wore on, I started to appreciate them a little more. These guys are such exemplary musicians and Jeff Martin is one of the most charismatic frontmen you’ll ever see. He has such a cool, brooding quality that’s utterly mesmerising. I was surprised that I recognised “Sister Awake” and “Temptation.” I guess more filtered through those bedroom walls than I realised. Snippets of classic rock songs like “Paint it Black” and “With Or Without You” gave those of us less familiar with their work than those enthusiastically jumping around on the floor something to latch on to. The Tea Party might have passed me by in the ‘90s, but I feel like I got an education on what they’re all about.

While The Tea Party invigorated me with their set so out of my comfort zone, when Live took the stage I felt right at home. The set started explosively with “All Over You,” with the band’s energy matched by all of us excitedly singing along as we punched our fists in the air. And from that moment, Live had us. Just like Jeff Martin did earlier in the night, Ed Kowalczyk captivated me. He is such a powerful performer, whether he’s leading us all in a big rock number or bearing his soul in an intimate ballad.

The set had the perfect balance of hits and album tracks us fans hold close to our heart. And well it should, because it was almost the same set we heard in the Hunter. There were some notable exceptions though. We didn’t hear “Rattlesnake,” part of the encore at Roche Estate. But the set was a little longer, with the addition of “The Distance,” “Iris,” and the fantastic “Shit Towne.”

The songs that remained were so stellar and even though I’d seen them live mere months before, they lost none of the power. I was still so moved when the band played tribute to Chris Cornell with Audioslave’s “I Am The Highway.” My very favourite Live song, “Turn My Head” still gave me chills. I was on my feet with “Lakini’s Juice.” And if you’re not overcome by songs like “I Alone,” “Selling The Drama,” and “Lightning Crashes,” you probably weren’t a teen in the ‘90s.

They might have just visited us, but Live gave us the kind of dynamic performance you might expect if they hadn’t played here in years. They seemed on such a high, so appreciative of the crowd and feeding off its energy. We all felt it, and it was glorious.

Image source: own photos

Live @ Roche Estate, Pokolbin – 18 November 2017

I’m not sure what it is about Hunter Valley winery gigs, but so often they go hand-in-hand with rain. Somewhere along the way my excitement about the show turns in to trepidation and relentless weather checks.

Roche Estate was already a muddy swamp by the time I arrived on Saturday. It didn’t take long for the ground, and us, to get a whole lot wetter. It poured virtually nonstop for the first two acts. My raincoat quickly became as soaked as the rest of me. My feet were squelching in my shoes. I’ve had rain at concerts before, but never so much that I was still soaked to my skin by the time I got home.

It’s a cliché to suggest rain didn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm, because it was certainly unpleasant. But the music was so outstanding that it actually seemed worth the downpour. I last saw Thirsty Merc playing acoustically. Before that, Rai Thistlethwayte was playing solo. I hadn’t seen the Merc is all their plugged-in splendour for ten long years. So I was thrilled to see these guys playing a set for the real fans. They’ve had so many hits over the years, certainly enough to fill their six-song set. While songs like “Someday, Someday” and “In the Summertime” featured, they were interspersed with killer album tracks like “Claude Monet” and “I Wish Somebody Would Build a Bridge (So I Could Get Over Myself).” Their set was full of energy and appreciation. While the crowd was relatively small by that point, they lapped up what Thirsty Merc gave us.

I worried I might spend The Calling’s set simply waiting for “Wherever You Will Go,” but the California act were a real surprise package for me. It turns out thanks to Spotify’s suggestions, I knew more songs than I thought. However, even the ones I weren’t familiar with didn’t feel like fillers. Alex Band is one dynamic front man. I barely took my eyes off him. His presence made their set so enjoyable.

Lifehouse continued the nostalgia with a tight set peppered with more of those Spotify favourites. I couldn’t fault any of the musicians, but after being so impressed by The Calling, this set felt a little lacking to me. Maybe some jetlag or a busy tour schedule has caught up with them, because it felt a little “by the numbers.” Bass guitarist Bryce Soderberg’s cover of “You’re The Voice” was great fun though, and the band’s biggest hits “You and Me” and “Hanging By a Moment” also had everyone singing along.

You want the headliners to take things up a notch and boy did Live deliver, bursting onto the stage with “All Over You.” The set drew mainly from early albums, especially the breakthrough Throwing Copper, and like so many fans I lapped it up. “I Alone” was an absolute standout; I wish I could have bottled the electricity when we all let loose. “White, Discussion” might have been penned decades ago, but it resonated strongly as I thought of the current political climate. “Selling the Drama” went off just as much as it should. Even debut album Mental Jewelry got a look-in with “Pain Lies on the Riverside.” “Lakini’s Juice” from Secret Samadhi was positively electric.

Live is a band that rocks hard, but they’re every bit as powerful in the quieter moments. An acoustic cover of Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line” was breathtaking. “Turn My Head,” the tender ballad from Secret Samadhi and one of my favourite Live tracks, was so moving. I saw more than a few misty eyes when the band played Audioslave track “I Am The Highway” in dedication to Chris Cornell.

The seven-year break hasn’t made Live rusty. They sound so tight and Ed Kowalczyk is every bit as magnetic as he ever was. He is such a charismatic performer, a kind of Messiah figure who is utterly mesmerising to watch. I’ve always admired him, but after experiencing the show he puts on I’d put him within the top five front men I’ve ever seen. He was that good.

Despite Ed’s importance, Live is a brothership and that seems stronger than ever after the band’s taken an extended break from one another. There’s a renewed sense of energy about Live these days. I saw them a couple of times in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, but I can’t remember feeling so blown away by their performance. Ed let slip that they’re planning another Aussie tour for March. It can’t come soon enough. Because quite simply, this was for me the best gig of the year.

Image source: own photos

The Kill Devil Hills Celebrate Live Album with Capital City Shows

After a decade sweating it out in the country’s pubs and clubs, Perth act The Kill Devil Hills are set to release their first live album Past and Future Ghosts. The disc was recorded on a steamy March night at a Fremantle arts centre that once served as an asylum.

Past and Future Ghosts features tracks from The Kill Devil Hills’ three studio albums and two previously unreleased songs. This live version of “Words from Robin to Batman,” an emotional number originally featured on Man, You Should Explode, gives you a taste of what to expect from the album.

Those hard-working lads from the Kill Devil Hills are about the hit the studio again to record another album, but it wouldn’t be right if they didn’t play some shows to launch Past and Future Ghosts, which will be available on CD at the gigs as well as digitally via Bandcamp.

6 November 2013 – Jive Bar, Adelaide
7 November 2013 – The Zoo, Brisbane
8 November 2013 – The Factory Floor, Sydney
9 November 2013 – The John Curtin Hotel, Melbourne
10 November 2013 – The Republic Bar, Hobart

John Butler Releases Live Double Acoustic CD

If you missed John Butler stripped back and acoustic at his recent Tin Shed Tales shows, or you simply want to relive the magic, you’re in luck. A double CD of songs from these rare solo shows hits music stores today.

The discs don’t simply capture John Butler’s musical prowess but also his relaxed on stage demeanour. Listening to the discs you feel like you’re witnessing someone simply having a jam session with a bunch of mates. The songs are interspersed with personal anecdotes which make the tunes even richer. Those numbers touch on his entire back catalogue. Listeners will enjoy new songs, reworked versions of old songs, and of course plenty of favourites.

The Tin Shed Tales recording is available digitally from iTunes, but with a sexy digipack hitting stores I reckon it’s much smarter to enjoy the hard copy. It’s sure to become a collector’s item!

Gossling Reveals EP Tracks on YouTube

Gossling’s new EP Intentional Living doesn’t drop until April 20, but she’s giving fans a sneak peek through her YouTube page. Every week she’ll record one of the disc’s tracks at Melbourne’s Bake House Studios before unleashing it on the public.

“We wanted to create something special for the release of Intentional Living,” Gossling explained. “So we decided to create our own space at Bake House Studios where we could film each track from the new EP live, giving fans a taste of what they can expect from not only the new release but also from the Intentional Living tour which will start days after the EP is released.”

The quirky space, seen in this live version of “Wild Love” was decorated with the help of Melbourne yarn bombers Yarn Corner. The project sounds like a great way to get more bums on seats as Gossling travels around this wide brown land, although with “Boys Like You” still enjoying chart success I can’t imagine that will be a concern.

If this live video’s got you in the Gossling mood make sure you check her out supporting 360, Josh Pyke, or fronting her own shows in the coming months.

26 April 2012 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
27 April 2012 – Clarendon Guest House, Katoomba
28 April 2012 – The Basement, Sydney
29 April 2012 – The Brass Monkey, Cronulla
2 May 2012 – Little Creatures Loft, Fremantle
3 May 2012 – The Bird, Northbridge
4 May 2012 – Wheatsheaf Hotel, Adelaide
5 May 2012 – Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury
11 May 2012 – The Forum Melbourne, Melbourne
12 May 2012 – Elder Hall @ University of Adelaide, Adelaide (supporting Josh Pyke – 18+)
18 May 2012 – The Tivoli, Brisbane (supporting Josh Pyke – 18+)
19 May 2012 – The York Theatre @ Seymour Centre, Sydney (supporting Josh Pyke – All Ages)
8 June 2012 – Waves, Wollongong (supporting 360 – 18+)
9 June 2012 – Come Together Festival, Sydney (supporting 360 – All Ages)
10 June 2012 – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane (supporting 360 – 18+)
11 June 2012 – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane (supporting 360 – Under 18s @ midday)
15 June 2012 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne (supporting 360 – 18+)
16 June 2012 – Pier Live, Frankston (supporting 360 – Under 18s @ 1 pm)
16 June 2012 – Pier Live, Frankston (supporting 360 – 18+)
17 June 2012 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne (supporting 360 – Under 18s @ midday)
20 June 2012 – The Gov, Adelaide (supporting 360 – All Ages)
22 June 2012 – Villa, Perth (supporting 360 – 18+)
23 June 2012 – Astor Theatre, Perth (supporting 360 – Under 18s @ 1 pm)

Musicians Go LIVE at Sydney Festival Art Installation

There are so many exciting musical acts winging their way to New South Wales’ capital for the annual Sydney Festival. Emmylou Harris, Sufjan Stevens, and Paul Kelly’s A to Z shows are grabbing all the headlines, but I think one of the most interesting events is LIVE: An Intimate Video Study of the Art of Performing.

It’s an installation which features some of Australia and the world’s most exciting musicians captured on film. Each artist has performed a song of their choosing against a simple white background. Visitors wear wireless headphones to choose the artists they want to hear, while they watch the visuals projected on one of four large screens.

The idea is that by stripping away the lighting, the screaming crowds, and the theatrics, we get closer to the heart of the song and the performer presenting it.  So many fantastic and fascinated artists are represented here, including Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker, Peaches, Juliette Lewis and our own Jimmy Little, Clare Bowditch, and as seen in this video snippet, Gareth Liddiard from The Drones.

Gareth will also perform on the LIVE opening night, along with Sarah Blasko, Kram, and Laura Jean. Tickets for the January 13 opening cost $45. If you can’t make it for that night you can see the LIVE installation from January 14 to 23 for $15, or $12 for concession holders. All tickets are available from the Sydney Festival website.

Ed Kowalczyk Makes Aussie Return

When Ed Kowalczyk toured Australia last August he promised he’d be back soon. He’s now making good on that vow with the announcement of a tour this October and November.

While he was in acoustic mode last time, the former Live frontman will be in full band mode this time around. He’ll play all the old Live favourites as well as songs from his first solo release Alive. We got a taste of some of these tracks during the last tour, and I can’t wait to hear them amped up with a full backing band.

Tickets for the following shows go on sale on August 19. Get them; you won’t be disappointed.


31 Sunday October 2010 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
2 Tuesday November 2010 – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane
5 Friday November 2010 – The Forum, Melbourne
6 Saturday November 2010 – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
8 Monday November 2010 – Metropolis, Fremantle

Image source: own photo