Here are some close up pictures:

The band Shihad’s website appears first but it seems those quirky New Zealand rockers have changed their domain listing information in Google to something very rock n roll.

So I guess the message is have fun with your Google results, because do you really want fans of your band that find you via Google?

ONE

TWO

THREE

A serious one, but it has clowns!

Setlist

The Mystery Zone / Got Nuffin’ / Don’t You Evah / The Way We Get By / The Ghost Of You Lingers / Stay Don’t Go / Love Song (The Damned cover) / Don’t Make Me A Target / Modern World (Wolf Parade cover) / I Turn My Camera On / Trouble Comes Running / They Never Got You / I Summon You / The Beast and The Dragon, Adored / The Underdog / Everything Hits At Once / Small Stakes / Nobody Gets Me But You / Black Like Me
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Me And The Bean (The Sidehackers cover) / Written In Reverse / Rhythm and Soul / You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
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Jonathon Fisk (special request from two members of the crowd who jumped on stage as the band were walking off stage).

What I will say is that (a) The show was amazing and (b) during the set I was caught off guard when the band pulled out a cover of Wolf Parade’s – Modern World. If you know me, we are friends on last.fm or you follow my tweets, no doubt you would have heard of my love for everything Wolf Parade. Anyway, amoungst all the love of songs from Spoon it was a pleasure to hear them cover (and do justice to) the first Wolf Parade song I heard and the song that got me hooked.

I’m still yet to see Wolf Parade live, so this as good as it gets for now. I found a cover from Britt Daniel (Spoon) playing Modern World from 2008, I’ve uploaded it to share – download!

And for the original, here is Wolf Parade.

PS: Wolf Parade’s new album Expo 86 is out “very” soon … expect a review and many tweets during this time.

It does feel like that huh? That is a line from the song ‘So Far Round the Bend‘ by The National from the Dark Was The Night complication released in 2009, it would ironically be the year that Pavement actually announced they were getting back together. If you don’t know who Pavement are and their importance in 90′s music than the rest of this post won’t mean anything to you, feel free to keep reading though. So why use that lyric? Well I was one of those kids that always prayed for Pavement to get back together and I think that with all the indie kids doing it, it finally happened.

In a few weeks Pavement will be playing their first show back, at this stage it seems that New Zealand will be the first show, but rumours are spreading the band will play a small gig somewhere in the US to dust off those cobwebs first. The countdown is on for myself and Pants as we’ll be not only catching the guys in Perth, but also making the trip over to Melbourne to catch a few shows too. Pavement are ‘one of those’ bands for us, one of those bands that have a song for every mood you’re in, one of those bands that make you dance and smile but also give you a hug when you’re feeling blue, one of those bands that will always hold a special connection since we met. If you know me and I say “This is practically as big as when the Smashing Pumpkins toured Australia in 2008 for us” then you know this tour is extremely important.

So while talking about those Pumpkins, it makes a perfect segue to explain how I got into Pavement. So I knew of Pavement in the mid 90′s, I’m sure I’d seen a clip or two on rage and I’m sure I would have liked them but there was one thing I just couldn’t ignore. They dissed my band, they dissed The Smashing Pumpkins. In Pavement’s song ‘Range Life‘ from their ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain‘ album the Malkmus sings the line ” … Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins / Nature kids / I, they don’t have no function I don’t understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck … ” and to me these were fighting words. That was it, I would never count myself as a Pavement fan. Fast forward to 2002 to when I met, and started dating, Pants (both an equally big Smashing Pumpkins and Pavement fan) and she explained the meaning behind the lyrics and pointed me towards this interview with NY ROCK and Stephen Malkmus from 1999.

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NY ROCK: There are a lot of speculations about the relationship between Pavement and the Smashing Pumkins…

STEPHEN: A lot of people claim we dissed them. We never did. I only laughed about the band name, because it does sound kinda silly… Smashing Pumpkins…. And well, their status, that they were the indie darlings, the heroes of the indie scene. I never really dissed their music. I like their songs – well, most of their songs anyway. Especially “1979,” that’s a cool song. As I said, I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status. I never really cared for the rock’n'roll lifestyle or being.

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Source

Ohhhhhh, so it seems that I was kind of wrong and it seems my naive view of the band caused me to miss out on years of enjoying their work. I mean other bands I love always cited them as huge influences, I should like them too. So with Pants now in my life she made me a Pavement mixtape (cd) for my 21st birthday [pictured below]

So the mixtape obviously worked, I became hooked hearing Cut Your Hair, Spit on a Stranger and their cover of The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen. From then on Pavement went from being just Pants’ band to being ‘our’ band. The car trips out and about would be filled with sing-a-longs and taking turns in singing their duo parts of “… A Carrot Rope”. So as the weeks become less until we see this band, catch up with equally excited friends in both Perth and Melbourne the excitement level in Chateau Brunky is just going to get higher and higher. To help with this and to help other Pavement fans out there I’m going to open up my live recording vault again and start sharing some live recordings again. YAY! So let me introduce to you …

Pavement: Live at the BBC Session 24th of May 1999

Tracklisting:

1. The Hexx
2. You Are The Light
3. Here
4. Cream of Gold
5. Ann Don’t Cry
6. Stereo
7. Father to a Sister of Thought
8. …And Carrot Rope
9. Cut Your Hair
10. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite at :17
11. Shady Lane

Sure it may look short and sweet, but the audio quality is perfect, a nice selection of songs from mainly Terror Twilight and the band are hilarious … just listen to the crazy lyrics added to Stereo and the backing vocals on Carrot Rope. Enjoy and I hope to see you at a few Pavement shows.

Download – Pavement: Live at the BBC Sessions 24th of May 1999

It is hard to describe the spot the Pumpkins have within my musical heart, indirectly they’ve played a big part of where I am and who I am today. Getting into their music when I was a teenager lead me into an interest in visual design, I was blown away by the artwork that was created for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Later on when I finally started to use the Internet in the late 1990′s I discovered a large Smashing Pumpkins online community, a place where I met life long friends and even my wife. I would eventually start up the Australian fan community, Ozphoria and this lead me further into the rabbit hole of my career. This really spark my interest in interaction with people online, web design and everything else that comes along with running a community. From organising concerts, collecting live recordings (300+ at last count), collecting official releases, to publishing artwork and to even following the band on Australian tour  and much more they’ve given me some great memories. I also landed the dream job of working for the Smashing Pumpkins as a writer for their website too. So I guess what I’m trying to get across is … I am and always will be a Smashing Pumpkins fan.

So this now brings me to the topic of the post, Twenty Thousand Smashing Pumpkins Songs. As a member for last.fm for nearly 5 years this year I’ve listen to a few tracks over the time, as Im listening to music now my count is at 141854 songs since 9th June 2005. Within that list I hit 20,000 Smashing Pumpkins songs today, the 20,000 track (by pure chance) ended up being Here is No Why. Ironically one of the most important songs to me growing up and even now, I couldn’t not post perhaps my favourite live recording of this song.

“the useless drag of another day
the endless drags of a death rock boy
mascara sure and lipstick lost
glitter burned by restless thoughts
of being forgotten …”

Taken at the height of Mellon Collie’s success this was the band as most of you would know them, live at the Brixton Academy in the UK. Enjoy, watch and wait for the Corgan snarl and scream towards the end. His voice sounds like it could break at any minute, but the power of the band and energy is something amazing to watch.

The Smashing Pumpkins Live at Brixton Academy, London 15/05/96 04 – Here Is No Why

So lets talk stats.

9th June 2005 to 6th February 2010 = 4 years, 7 months and 28 days |  1703 days in total

So with my poor maths skills, on a daily average I listen to approx 12 (11.7) Smashing Pumpkins songs per day. That would be me listening to one disc of Mellon Collie everyday of my life, it doesn’t sound like a lot but when you think every day for this long … it is quite a bit. Now of course this is a bit more than just the 7 studio albums and singles released from the band, the demos, live recordings, interviews that make up the 32 gigabytes that make up my digital Smashing Pumpkins collection does help.

Now the scary thing is, this only count songs played via my various computer or digital music players over the years. This does not count pre-computer listening (scrobbling) days from 1994 to 2005, the hours of listening to vinyl, CD’s or cassettes over the years. To include that would be extremely scary I think.

Finally, the magic moment:

To me Turnstyle were the band I connected with growing up in Perth. I grew up as a teenager in a very lucky time in the history of Perth music, it was the explosion of the Perth Power Pop scene. Bands like Jebediah, Eskimo Joe, Red Jezebel, Effigy, Beaverloop, Love Camp 7, The Flanders, Fourth Floor Collapse, Nathan Guant, Turnstyle and so many more were showing the rest of the country and the world the sounds from this sleepy little town.

Weekends would be spent seeing cheap (even sometimes free) gigs at 78 Records, City Farm, Amplifier Bar, UWA Refractory, The Ozone Bar and at so many other venues that are no longer available to the youth of Perth. I could catch the train into the city, visit House of Wax before heading to Dada’s for get the latest EP from one of the aforementioned bands and then for less than $5 head off to a gig.  It was simple, fun and safe.

With this huge music smorgasbord to choose from my ears were drawn to the beepy sounds of Turnstyle. The lo-fi beats and fun geek rock vibe brought a smile to my face each time I saw them play. I honestly can’t remember how many times I saw the guys live or how many times I did “the bus dance” at shows or in my bedroom.

As a young fan I was so excited when Adem K, PJ and Dean received national attention with the release of the ‘hit’ song ‘Spray Water on the Stereo‘ off Turnstyle Country that reached into the top 20 on the ARIA charts. Following this success the band released a few more albums before calling it a day back in 2002.

The story of the final shows in 2002.

The final gig was a full day for me with two Turnstyle gigs (supported by Sekiden) and a Tool concert. So even though I was over 18 at the time I caught the all ages gig. That was an experience to day the least. I had forgotten young kids sat down at gigs to watch the band, it was like it was being at a school assembly. After the gig finished, I picked up my copy of the Rambo EP that was released as a ‘farewell’ for fans and then headed to do some shopping at Damn Toys (RIP) to buy some NES games and the Perth CD Library (RIP). I miss those shops as much as I miss this band.

So quickly between the all ages Turnstyle gig I caught that big international metal band, Tool at the Perth Entertainment Centre (my final show at that venue before it was shut down). Tool was amazing but lets just say the crowd was a vast comparison to that at Turnstyle.

So after Tool, I ran (literally) from Perth Entertainment Centre to Amplifier to make it into the venue just as the band were starting. Now this crowd was happy, smiling, dancing (not sitting) and everybody had beers in hand ready for a fun night. This was the way to say farewell to the band I loved, 400+ people singing along to every word. It was a simple, fun night that 8 years later I still hold up as one of my favourite shows.

Turnstyle – Cologne (Live) @ Amplifier Bar 2002

Now it is 2010 and the band is back, granted they have done two smaller Turnstyle-lite (not the full line up) shows since 2002, but out of bad luck on both occasions I have been in Melbourne. Once in 2005 and the other was in June of last year. Not this time!

So if you’re heading the show in March, I look forward to joining in the fun. It should be a great night, not only are we going to see this great Perth band they will also be supported by Seja Vogel (from Sekiden/Regurgitator), Boys!Boys!Boys! and Burgers of Beef. So drop the $15 and have a great night of fun.

Buy tickets now for $15 at Moshtix

Honestly I was going to avoid it, hence why this update is nearly towards the end of the first month of 2010, mainly  just because it is a stressful experience . However voting in this years Triple J – Hottest 100 forced me to look back the year that was. I’ll keep the lists brief, no explanations and no particular order just a list. Now as friends will know I also don’t just countdown 10 items, that is boring. I use Spinal Taps method of always turn it up to 11.

The Flaming Lips – Festival Hall, Melbourne

11 concerts of 2009

1. The Flaming Lips @ Festival Hall, Melbourne, Wednesday 29 July 2009
2. Handsome Furs @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Sunday 30 August 2009
3. Jarvis Cocker @ Metropolis Fremantle, Perth, Tuesday 8 December 2009
4. Jebediah @ Rocket Room, Perth, Thursday 3 December 2009
5. The Stray Cats @ Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth, Sunday 15 February 2009
6. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals @ Metropolis Fremantle, Perth, Sunday 25 January 2009
7. Shonen Knife @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Sunday 27 September 2009
8. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday 25 September 2009
9. Shihad @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday 16 October 2009
10. Pearl Jam @ Members Equity, Saturday 14 November 2009
11. The Who @ Members Equity Stadium, Perth, Saturday 4 April 2009

Handsome Furs – I’m Confused (from the album Face Control)

Video clip contains Zombies – A++

11 Albums of 2009

1. Handsome Furs – Face Control
2. The Decemberists – Hazards of Love
3. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
4. Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
5. Passion Pit – Manners
6. Manic Street Preachers – Journal For the Plagued Lovers
7. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
8. The Horrors – Primary Colours
9. Julian Plenti – Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper
10. The Dead Weather – Horehound
11. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Dark Night Of The Soul

Manic Street Preachers – Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

11 Songs of the Year for Triple J’s Hottest 100

1. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Fix It
2. The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song
3. The Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands
4. Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls
5. Passion Pit – Make Light
6. Them Crooked Vultures – New Fang
7. The xx – Crystalised
8. Jarvis Cocker – You’re In My Eyes – (Discosong)
9. Handsome Furs – Evangeline
10. Manic Street Preachers – Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
11. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Revenge (Featuring Wayne Coyne)

Over the past few years we’ve heard it from Rage Against the Machine, Blur, Pavement and even Jarvis Cocker has hinted at the reformation of Pulp too. In no way am I complaining about these acts getting back together, who wouldn’t want to see their favourite band live from their youth, but lets not kid ourselves that this will be a ‘one off only’ show.

So who is next, well it is one of the other great ‘Britpop’ bands of the 90′s – Suede. Prior to the Oasis and Blur feud that helped define Britpop, Damon Albarn and his band had a notable rivalry with Suede (also known as the London Suede). Justine Frischmann from Elastica was the fulcrum around which the feud turned, as both Albarn and  Suede singer Brett Anderson had dated her. The 90′s where band feuds were like daytime drama scripts, not like bands these days.

So not to be outdone by the recent Blur reunion in 2009, Anderson has reformed Suede for one last moment, claiming they are only going to play one show as part of a benefit concert. The question for me is when a band goes through all this effort to reform and rehearse, why do it all for one show. It will so easy to just keep touring, if this ends up being being soley a one show only deal, then all extra respect to Suede.

Bernard Butler won’t feature in the lineup—instead this is the Coming Up era formation (ie. Brett Anderson, Richard Oakes, Matt Osman, Simon Gilbert and Neil Codling). The show will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on an as-yet unspecified date, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research.

Chances of them touring Australia, slim to none. Chances of me therefore seeing Suede live, definitely slim to none. How excited am I about this news? Extremely.

Suede – Beautiful Ones

Below is a clip I vividly remember watching with an old work mate – @coreyj – back in 2005. I won’t spoil the magic for you, I will say this though – it isn’t funny, it isn’t stupid, it does start off slow but it is amazing. If you’re a Prince or Beatles fan please take the time watch this clip, just watch what Prince does with his guitar, with this song and I ask you – where does the guitar go?