GAY PARIS NEED YOUR HELP
Those bastards Gay Paris toured Australian throughout 2013 in support of their album The Last Good Party, leaving a trail of beer, blood and other fluids hither and yon. They need your help to do it again for studio album number three, for which they plan to head to San Francisco to resume their work/drink relationship with producer Sam Pura, and you can help to fund their frivolities (and end up with some awesome music and goodies as a result) by contributing to the band’s Pledgemusic drive. There are all sorts of perks available, from various versions of the album on download, CD, vinyl or what have you, to shirts, stickers, lyric books with your name in the liner notes, golden tickets qualifying you to a year’s worth of Gay Paris gigs for you and a friend, a Godin acoustic guitar signed by the band, the honour of having the band party and DJ at your venue, a private gig, a game of Dungeons & Dragons with Slim and W.H., the opportunity to go on tour with the band for a long weekend (including entry, trail, accommodation and the honour of having the guys look the other way while you drink their rider), and even the ‘Hail Satan!’ package, where for $10,000 you get anything you want as long as it’s legal.
FRANKENBOK THIS WAY COMETH
The mighty Frankenbok will utterly decimate The Reverance Hotel in Footscray on Friday June 27 with special guests Moustache Ant, Enter Reailty (Sydney) and Bury The Fallen. Entry is $20, doors at 8pm. The band is also having a huge merch clearance sale with free postage in Australia and only $9 for all t-shirts. Check it out at frankenbok.bigcartel.com.
ANATHEMA TOUR. FINALLY.
Anathema’s Australian fans have been waiting patiently for almost 25 years and the innumerable calls and requests have finally borne fruit – Anathema are making their long awaited first visit to our shores in August! Anathema have been at the forefront of the UK rock/metal movement for many years. Influential pioneers of melodic heavy music, the band’s forward thinking, intellectual musicianship has earned them accolades such as Classic Rock’s 2010 and 2012 Prog Album of the Year. And whilst their sound and musical vision has continually evolved Anathema have always remained true to their original goal of creating meaningful, passionate and honest music. Likened to acts such as Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and King Crimson, Anathema present an aural and visual experience that stimulates all six senses from start to finish. And you can catch them at the Corner Hotel on Saturday August 23. Tickets are $69 plus booking fee from metropolistouring.com, and strictly limited VIP meet and greet packages are also available.
VERUCA SALT SELLS OUT. IN THE GOOD WAY.
Holy crap, that was fast. Last week Veruca Salt announced an Australian tour featuring the original lineup (a few hours after this column was submitted), and the Melbourne show at the Corner Hotel on Friday September 26 sold out in a day. Now, I don’t know about you but I had a huge crush on Louise Post throughout my teens and while I’m happy for the band for selling out this show, I’m bummed out for everyone including myself who didn’t manage to get a ticket. Check out the band’s new single The Museum Of Broken Relationships, which perfectly recaptures the sound and spirit of their best ‘90s work.
GARY NUMAN TO KICK ALL OUR ARSES
The one and only Gary Numan – electronic pioneer who has influenced everyone from Trent Reznor to Fear Factory to Prince and The Prodigy to Afrika Bambaataa, Basement Jaxx and Kayne West – released his 20th album last year (called Splinter), and it reaffirms what hardcore fans have long known: that Numan remains a fiercely individual creative force who shows no signs of musical stagnation. And he’ll be here in just a few short weeks to perform tracks from Splinter as well as material from his expansive back catalog. You can catch him at The Hi-Fi on Friday May 30.
TRIVIUM PARTS WAYS WITH DRUMMER
Trivium have announced that they’ve parted ways with drummer Nick Augusto, who has been with the band since 2010. Bassist (and excellent backing vocalist) Paulo Gregoletto said in part: “This decision was not one that we took lightly, given the fact that we are in the midst of a tour, and more importantly, that Nick has been with us for almost three-and-a-half years. We spoke face-to-face for about an hour on the bus – first informing him of our decision to move forward, both discussing the situation and how to precede with announcing it, as well as personally thanking him for being there when we needed him as a tech, and then as drummer. On stage we all fit well together – I believe we became a tighter and more unified band because of him. There was not a dramatic ending to this, honestly it was quite muted and I am happy to have been able to speak directly and calmly to one another. I believe we all agreed that what started out great “off stage” in the beginning, over time began to fray. It became obvious that things were not going to work out in the long run. We did not want to reach the point where the differences between us became apparent on stage.” The band’s drum tech, Mat Madiro, stepped in and learned Trivium’s entire set in 24 hours so they could continue their current tour without interruption. No word yet on future plans – hell, they probably haven’t had time to even discuss it yet.
