Explosions In The Sky @ Splendour In The Grass (2012-07-27)

With the obviousness of At The Drive-In, Explosions In The Sky were pretty much the other band I booked a ticket to go to Splendour. I had seen them 3 times already in the space of a few months and to be honest, I was hooked. I can't express how much I enjoy seeing them live so naturally it was a no brainer I was going to see them over Jack White.
I'd really hoped that they would pull out a song I hadn't seen yet but that wasn't the case. Regardless though the set they did play was pretty spot on.

This was recorded pretty much right in front of the left speaker stack. I figured that would produce a good recording and I wasn't wrong. Luckily the tent wasn't too busy and my mics had clear sight to the stack.



Setlist:
1. Catastrophe and The Cure
2. Postcard From 1952
3. The Birth and Death of The Day
4. Your Hand In Mine
5. Let Me Back In
6. The Only Moment We Were Alone

Length: 55:26

Sound Quality: B+

Download Here

Karnivool, 05/07/2012 @ Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom

When a band I love as much as Karnivool announces a tour, it's usually a very celebratory occasion, with tickets being purchased immediately, and since last year, usually to multiple shows. This year was no different, and just to add to the awesomeness, they decided to call it the "Melodias Frescas" tour. What does that mean, you ask? NEW SONGS! And continuing their history of (almost always) picking great and interesting support bands, we had Sydney post-rock favourites sleepmakeswaves, and Melbourne stoner rockers Redcoats joining in for the festivities. This was set to be a great night right from the word go, and I'm happy to say it lived up to expectations.

I was a little disappointed that sleepmakeswaves were only given a 30 minute opening slot, considering they have more released material, and longer songs, than Redcoats. Nevertheless, seeing sleepmakeswaves a sixth time (and fourth for the year), I was hardly complaining. They were awesome as they always are. Bassist Alex Wilson has written an extremely entertaining and detailed blog of the tour, and it sounds like it could not have gone better for them. Not only did they get to play opener for an extremely popular band, but the people that were watching them actually enjoyed it and they made loads of new fans on the tour, by the sounds of things. As for this actual set, this was definitely the biggest rooom I've ever seen them play in and it sounded amazing. Cannot say enough good things about these dudes.
SETLIST:
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
in limbs and joints
we sing the body electric
(hello) cloud mountain
a gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun
(recording to follow)

Redcoats were up next, and I was looking forward to them quite a bit, after impulse buying their EP a few months ago and really enjoying it. Guess it's fair to say I'm a big fan of the stoner/psych rock sound, and they fit nicely under that. However, for some reason they just didn't do it for me as much as I thought they would on the night. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them. But I think they just lack a little something when it comes to performing live. Hopefully I'll enoy them a bit more next time. Anyway, they played a whole lot of new songs from their upcoming debut album, so that's why a majority of these don't have titles. I am looking forward to hearing the album too.
(Working) SETLIST:
Kaytrucker
Giants

House of Luna
Evergreen

Raven
Dreamshaker
(recording to follow)

And then, the mighty Karnivool. What an absolute belter this was. I was excited in the lead-up to the show, but there was also a part of me that thought, "Oh well, it's not the BEST gig I'll see, they tour every year, they're only an Australian band". Then I remembered, "Hang on, these guys are actually one of, probably THE, best live act in Australia". Right from the word go, this show just ruled. And true to their word (and the name of the tour), they played NEW songs. Four in total, or three if you want to exclude The Refusal as it was played last year. All of them quite different to each other, all of them awesome. But yeah, it was the old favourites that got the biggest response, quite a lot of singing and moshing going on on this particular evening. My only complaint was about those old songs, actually - they were almost exactly the same as what was played last year. It would have been great to see something from Themata make it in that they hadn't played for a while. Or even The Caudal Lure. But yeah, other than that, this show was a perfect 10/10. Actually, it was still 10/10. Some of the songs are affected by movement, I was encouraged by a friend to get right in the front, and although I won't deny I had an absolute blast, it means the recording isn't so good. Sorry about that.

SETLIST:
(Intro on recording)
The Refusal
Goliath
Simple Boy
C.O.T.E.
We Are
All I Know
Deadman
Umbra
A.M. War
Set Fire to the Hive (with amusing false start)
Roquefort
----Encore----
Aeons
Themata
New Day
DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Dirty Three, 28/07/2012 @ Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay

So I have a few recordings from the awesome (and muddy) weekend that was Splendour in the Grass, but I haven't listened back to any of the others yet and I have a feeling that some of them might not sound all that great. Plus the Dirty Three are always an absolute joy to watch, and I just wanted to get this up as soon as possible, so here it is. Mick Turner, Jim White, Warren fucking Ellis. In the GW McLennan Stage tent on a cold, muddy Saturday night, they brought pure brilliance to those who wanted something other than Bloc Party. I got a barrier spot for two sets over the weekend, this being one of them, and wow. I think it speaks volumes of how awesome this band is when, at least 27 minutes before they were scheduled to begin, there was a massive cheer from the crowd simply because Warren came out drinking coffee and checking a few technical bits and pieces. But yeah. It's hard to be the highlight of a festival where At the Drive-In are playing, but I have to say, this came damn close. I will never get tired of listening to Warren's stories - which, this time around, just happened to cover such topics as bears on ketamine, varicose veins in Gina Reinhart's arse, Justin Bieber and dead comedians. Not necessarily in that order. Oh yeah, unfortunately towards the end of the set there's some serious crackling in my microphones. I've been noticing it in some recent recordings (which I haven't posted yet) and my only conclusion is that my mics might be on the way out, which saddens me. It's not too bad if I stand completely still, and being Dirty Three I was doing that for most of the show, but toward the end of the set I was having to move around a bit to keep warm and yeah, you can definitely notice it. Sorry about that.

SETLIST:
Intro on recording
Rain Song
Furnace Skies
Sometimes I Forget You've Gone
The Pier
Some Summers They Drop Like Flies
Everything's Fucked
The Restless Waves
The Zither Player
Ashen Snow / Ends of the Earth
Sue's Last Ride 

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE