Archive for the 'Gigs' Category

Soilwork Australian Tour 2010

One of the reasons I’ve been super busy of late was because of the work I was doing on this trailer for Red Ant Touring. It was a lot of work but a rewarding experience nonetheless. I got a lot of time for the kick ass peeps at Red Ant and together, we whipped up the following trailer.

Looks like it is going to be a friggn awesome tour as Soilwork are a uniquely gifted act with some incredibly melodic tunes and high energy! Really looking forward to this one.

Check out the trailer below and all the tour info you could possibly need is available here.

Sweden’s melodic death metal masters Soilwork will be ripping up Aussie shores for only the third time in October this year. Touring on the back of the release of their eighth studio album, The Panic Broadcast, which drummer Dirk Verbeuren has described as “the true musical path of Soilwork”, the band will be bringing their killer live shows that The Metal Observer have dubbed “Metal with the fun factor in the driving seat”.

In terms of Swedish metal bands, Soilwork has proven themselves as the crème de la crème, still a cut above other native Swedes such as In Flames, Meshuggah, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity and The Haunted. Thom Jurek of All Music Guide writes “Their anthemic chorus’, with killer backing harmony vocals, takes Soilwork beyond most of their Swedish peers” adding that “Punters at their shows are absolute putty in singer Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid’s hands”. Artistically empowering on stage, the band demonstrates their use of textured guitars and keyboards, instrumental sounds and pristine echoing vocals, as if letting the audience in on a secret. Because of this Soilwork’s live shows never cease to entertain and amaze, with PyroMusic describing the atmosphere of their shows as “an extremely fun mass sing-a-long with a destructive twist often leaving audiences in a pool of blood, sweat and tears”.

Jane Hawkes of Crossfire MusicZine’s review of Soilwork’s last Australian tour read “The band are immensely watchable and towards the tail end of their night, they steamroll into ‘As We Speak’ with a near-unbearable intensity which leaves revelers in awe. Wrapping it all up with a white hot rendition of ‘Follow The Hollow’ to near euphoric cheers, the wait seemed absolutely worth every minute. Amazing, all consuming stuff.”

Soulfly and City Of Fire Oz Tour

Soulfly and City Of Fire Oz Tour

If you favour Metal in its most primal form, then prepare yourself, because this line-up is what you’ve been waiting for. Soulfly will team up with City of Fire and Incite for a triple International tour of the nation, starting September 7.

Most bands slow down with age – not Soulfly. More than 10 years since their self-titled debut album became a genre classic (and achieved Gold sales), they’re back, and they’re bringing their brutal Heavy Metal assault to the masses, showcasing their seventh album, ‘Omen’. Led by former Sepultura frontman, Max Cavalera, Soulfly have become an even fiercer, fierier and more furious metallic monster.

Well known for their collaborations with up and coming talent, Soulfly will share top billing with Vancouver five piece, City of Fire, featuring members from Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad – Burton C Bell, Byron Stroud and Jed Simon.

Despite only being in their current line up since 2008, City of Fire has created a name for themselves, delving into everything from Metal to Hard Rock to Punk. Sonically hard, yet groove-heavy, they pay dutiful homage to their home-town, with a challenging, yet illuminating sound.

Preparing to create chaos in a whole new way, Soulfly and City of Fire will take their aural assault all over the country along with support from Phoenix natives, Incite (fronted by Richie Cavalera).

Metal, Punk and Hardcore fans DO NOT want to miss this tour! Dates below, tickets from the usual outlets.

    Tuesday 7th September- Hi FI Brisbane QLD
    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THEHIFI.COM.AU 1300-THEHIFI (8434434) and all usual outlets

    Wednesday 8th September- Palace Theatre VIC

    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM TICKTEK.COM.AU 132 849 AND OZTIX.COM.AU 1300 762 545
    Polyester Records City & Fitzroy, Greville St Records, Espy and National Hotel Geelong

    Thursday 9th September- UNSW Roundhouse NSW

    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM TICKTEK.COM.AU 132 849

    Friday 10th September- Panthers Newcastle NSW
    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM MOSHTIX.COM.AU BIGTIX.COM.AU, OZTIX.COM.AU

    Saturday 11th September – ANU BAR Canberra ACT
    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM TICKTEK.COM.AU 132 849

    Sunday 12th September – HQ Adelaide SA
    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM VENUETIX.COM.AU (08) 8225 8888

    Tuesday 14th September – Capitol Perth WA
    TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM BOCS.COM.AU, MOSHTIX.COM.AU
    78 Records, Mills records and Planet

TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 1ST JULY 9AM FROM ALL USUAL OUTLETS

Dillinger Escape Plan Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

Dillinger Escape Plan Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

I knew it was going to be a difficult night when before Dillinger Escape Plan hit the stage, there were 10 security goons in the pit and about 8 photogs. Chaos was on the menu tonight and it didn’t surprise me in the slightest when after one song, we were told to vacate the pit. Pronto!

Seems to be a common occurrence at Billboard. There’s one little security dude who pulls the pin at the first sign of an energetic crowd.

But… it wasn’t so much as the crowd partaking in the old crowd surf… it was more the members of Dillinger jumping over our heads and into the crowd seconds into their mindfuckingly energetic, frenetic, chaotic set. Holy fuck! What the frag was that?

Never have I experienced a band like this. So maniacally gung-ho. So intense – yet still managing to play complex, intricate musical stylings. It’s as if the five members of that band are all playing different songs at the same time yet managing to meet somewhere in the middle and it all kinda makes some sorta sense! Wow!

As stated, the photogs were told to vacate the pit but we congregated on the each side of the stage and pretty much did our work there for the majority of the band’s set.

It still proved to be a difficult exercise. The entire set was atmospherically dimly lit so I found myself pushing the camera more and more after each and every shot to try and get some sort of result. Fuck it, this would be a good time as any to practice and see what I was made of. Damn you to hell lighting man, you ain’t gonna beat me that easy!

Opening proceedings tonight were the much hyped Periphery – who failed to impress me to be perfectly honest and a bunch of southern rock crooners called Maylene & the Sons of Disaster. Can’t say I have ever heard of them but they both paled into insignificance after the chaos that Dillinger Escape Plan brought to the table.

Wild!

Continue reading ‘Dillinger Escape Plan Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia’

Overkill Across Australia

Overkill Across Australia

US Thrashers Overkill are gonna turn Australia to absolute mush! The pioneers of the Thrash Metal genre who were thrashing it with the best of them before there was even such a label – are heading our way!

The band is celebrating their 25th Anniversary and are set to tour Australia for the very first time in their career.

Paul Dianno ’30th Anniversary of Iron Maiden’ Australian Tour

Paul Dianno 30th Anniversary of Iron Maiden Tour

Whilst there can be no doubt that Iron Maiden recorded a couple of classic albums with Bruce Dickinson, for this punter, the absolute best music Iron Maiden ever spawned – lie in the grooves of the first two albums. The self-titled masterpiece ‘Iron Maiden’ and the equally amazing ‘Killers’ – have both stood the test of time and clearly illustrated a band at its absolute best.

The Paul Dianno led Iron Maiden spawned, influenced and defined the Metal genre.

Hardline Media is proud to announce the “Paul Dianno 30th Anniversary of Iron Maiden Tour”. This is a very special tour, marking the 30th Anniversary of the debut self titled Iron Maiden LP. For the first and only time in history, you will hear every song from the debut Iron Maiden LP played live, along with multiple tracks from Killers, Iron Maiden’s legendary second album. Some of the songs from the first LP have not been played live for nearly 30 years, so this is a very special occasion for Australian fans, as this occasion looks set to only happen here in Oz.

Iron Maiden’s debut album shot the band to stardom to become one of the most influential bands in history, with the bands total sales well over 100 million. Paul Dianno was an integral part of the band, singing on their first two albums, ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Killers’. Tickets look set to sell fast so get in quick, and there will be special “V.I.P.” packages available for the die hard fans. These packages will get you entry to the show, a merch bag, tour poster and a meet and greet with the Beast himself, Paul Dianno. Please contact Hardline Media at hardlinem@yahoo.com for more info on these packages.

PAUL DIANNO 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF IRON MAIDEN TOUR

  • Thu 17 June – Bar On The Hill – Newcastle
  • Fri 18 June – Waves – Wollongong
  • Sat 19 June – Gaelic Theatre – Sydney
  • Sun 20 June – ANU – Canberra
  • Thu 24 June – The Espy Gershwin Room – Melbourne
  • Fri 25 June – Republic Bar – Hobart
  • Sat 26 June – Fowlers Live – Adelaide
  • Sun 27 June – Amplifier – Perth
  • Tue 29 June – Rosies – Brisbane
  • Thu 1 July – Al’s Bar – Christchurch – New Zealand
  • Fri 2 July – Bodega’s – Wellington – New Zealand
  • Sat 3 July – Transmission Room – Auckland – New Zealand

Supports to be announced and more info available below:

www.myspace.com/hardlinemedia
www.pauldianno.com

Can’t wait for this one and I will be fortunate enough to be photographing the Melbourne show. See you there!

Job For A Cowboy, Behemoth, Goatwhore Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

Job For A Cowboy, Behemoth, Goatwhore Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

It’s always refreshing going to a gig cold, not really expecting too much and then subsequently leaving totally and utterly blown away! Tonight’s Billboard Metalfest featured local act The Amenta opening the gates of hell for Goatwhore, Behemoth and Job For A Cowboy. A veritable feast of Metal goodness that had the Melbourne throng in pure Metal overload!

Having said that, I thought Goatwhore were one out of the box and completely obliterated all in their path.

I wasn’t feeling the best today so an assignment to photograph these bands was going to be quite a challenge. Apologies to my editor, but I didn’t get to shoot Job For A Cowboy tonight as the long day finally took its toll on me but I did manage to shoot the aforementioned Goatwhore – who practically tore a hole in the Billboard stage such was their ferocity and attack of the Melbourne audience. They were good! Real good and an absolute pleasure to shoot.

When I was in the pit and shooting them from dead center, I did cop a boot to the back of the head from a flying punter which rattled me momentarily and once the bodies started fliyng over, the security got us the hell out of dodge so in effect, I only had two songs to work with tonight.

Just before Behemoth was to hit the stage, there were quite a few photogs and security in the pit. Hardly any room to move in and I noticed one of the security guards signal to the others in hand gestures, ‘photos one song only’. Great. It is pretty hard to capture anything decent with such a small amount of time, but thankfully, we ended up getting our three songs.

The fans seemed to lap everything up that Behemoth had to offer but in all honesty, they just didn’t do it for me. Maybe its ‘cos prior act Goatwhore put in such a stunning set that anything following them, would have to be of a pretty freaking high standard. Still, it was fun shooting them – I do like photographing the visual acts and visual is exactly what they were.

As stated, I was in no condition to stick around for Job For A Cowboy so I unfortunately missed out on that opportunity.

Continue reading ‘Job For A Cowboy, Behemoth, Goatwhore Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia’

The Black Procession Tour: Machine Head, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Emmure

The Black Procession Tour: Machine Head, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Emmure

First of all, before we kick things off here, I gotta thank the promoters Blunt, Metal Obsession and Soundwave – for allowing the photographers to stay in the venue after our respective three song allotment for each of the four acts on tonight’s bill: Machine Head, Hatebreed, Bleeding Through and Emmure. You made our lives a helluva lot easier and we didn’t have to endure the stupidity of being escorted out of the venue after the first three songs. (As was the case for the Lamb Of God, Devil Driver, Shadow’s Fall & Hire On Fire gig back in December).

At one point, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of that as Emmure had hit the stage and all the photogs were still outside and waiting to be let in. Thankfully, we were escorted in and the shooting began in earnest.

Emmure hit the stage a little before 7pm and played in front of a mostly empty Festival Hall. They tried their guts out and put in a serviceable set. Can’t say I am a fan of that particular brand of music but I did my best to get some shots under the very, very limited light show they had at their disposal.

Security was quick to pull us out of the pit after the 3 song limit and were proceeding to escort us out. Oh no, not again. I quickly flashed my pass AND the ticket we had been given by the promoter and were subsequently allowed to stay in the venue. My fellow photogs and I got to witness the remainder of each band’s set from stage-right. Much nicer than sitting outside the venue in-between bands I-can-assure-you!

I thought Bleeding Through were a little on the disappointing side. Granted, they were without two band members and had fill-ins take their place. It all seemed rather sloppily put together but I can only imagine how hard it would be to replace your drummer and guitarist for any given gig. All in all, a pretty forgettable performance.

Hatebreed on the other hand, well, they were simply phenomenal. They received tremendous support from the crowd and put forth a blistering set. Seriously, they blew me away and if tonight was any indication, I’d clearly go and see these guys again when next on our shores.

Headliner Machine Head are quickly moving to the upper echelon of Metal acts. After a few years of some amazing albums, they are quickly becoming a slick, polished, well oiled machine. It was an absolute pleasure shooting them. There were several times where I was getting total eye contact with main man Rob who stared me down at one point as I was clicking away frantically. He finished his verse off with giving me the mighty finger, but I was getting some great, great expressions from him and was well pleased with the resultant shots. An amazing live band all round who can now mix it up with the big boys. A class act!

Continue reading ‘The Black Procession Tour: Machine Head, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Emmure’

Devin Townsend Project Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

Devin Townsend Project Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

It’s kinda hard when you are shooting an act who you really, truly dig! It is sometimes hard to divorce yourself from the sheer magic that is pouring off the stage when a band is pounding through tracks you have played to death many, many times over in the past and concentrating on getting your shots – becomes somewhat difficult.

Tonight was no exception.

Big fan of anything and everything Devin Townsend touches be it the mind bending heaviness of Strapping Young Lad, or his various other endeavours in the form of the Devin Townsend Project et al.

Tonight, I made it to Billboard by the skin of my teeth. Last time I checked, the band wasn’t gonna hit the stage till 10pm but a last minute check on the venue’s website informed me that the time had been shifted back to 9.30. I was still at home at 9pm so there was a frantic dash to get to Billboard, park the car, get my pass and then wade through the gathered throng to the front of the stage.

And it was packed. To the fucking rafters. Getting to the front proved to be a monumental task.

By the time I got to the pit, Devin was already creeping out from behind the amps to a rapturous crowd. With cheeky grin and pin-stripe suit… the man approached the mike looking like a demented, bald, scientist… albeit with a flying-V guitar! As I got the camera ready, they mercilessly started grooving to the lead song from the masterful ‘Addicted’ album. Holy fuck it sounded just magnificent live! Kaboom!

Devin looked positively maniacal. Stomping the stage and pulling and contorting his face with every lick and riff pouring off his glorious flying V axe! The wall of sound behind him was as magic as you can get.

Standard fare in the pit, three songs and you’re out. Lucky tonight the opening three songs were nice and long so I was firing off shots like there was no tomorrow. The pit was also packed with at least 6-7 photogs and as many bouncers so it was awfully crowded and very, very hard to move.

Continue reading ‘Devin Townsend Project Live @ Billboard, Melbourne, Australia’

Nashville Pussy Live @ The Espy, Melbourne, Australia

Nashville Pussy Live @ The Espy, Melbourne, Australia

I think I inhaled enough second-hand dope smoke tonight, that I will wake up in the morning and the world, no doubt, will be spinning!

You know it is going to be a damn hot night of pure Southern Rock the minute you walk into the hallowed grotty floor of the Espy. You can feel it in your bones even before the band, in this case, Nashville Pussy, have even set foot on the stage.

Never really checked these guys out but after tonight’s showing… geez, they sure can rock it with the best of them.

Photographically speaking, I was re-united with my beloved 25-105mm lens, having picked it up from the repair shop this afternoon. The lens has been out of commission since the Ace Frehley tour of last month, and you can bet your bottom dollar I have missed it so. For a pub gig environment, it is the perfect lens and it was a huge struggle to be without it this past month.

I put it through it’s paces tonight, and it was like being reunited with an old friend.

As stated, the band tore it up big time and had their rabid following loving every single minute of it. The rock was pounding, the whiskey was plentiful and the Espy well and truly got its collective ass kicked to hell and back.

For the complete Nashville Pussy experience, head on over to the Visceral Industry.

Continue reading ‘Nashville Pussy Live @ The Espy, Melbourne, Australia’

H.I.M Live @ The Hifi Bar, Melbourne, Australia

H.I.M Live @ The Hifi Bar, Melbourne, Australia

It’s always a treat getting to shoot a band you absolutely adore! Having been a huge H.I.M fan for quite a few years now, I was greatly anticipating the opportunity to photograph these guys.

Which is saying something. Earlier in the day I won a pass to go and see the incredible Faith No More but I surrendered that ticket to my cousin. Couple that with the fact that also, Meshuggah were doing a show elsewhere – I decided to stick with Ville and the boys and finally get to photograph this truly incredible band.

From the outset, The Hifi Bar was packed to the rafters. I was there about an hour early, made my way to the photo-pit and just could not believe the heat inside this place.

A hot night for rock and roll!

I shot tonight totally with my new 70-200mm – wanting to put it through the ringer and see what I could achieve with it. Granted, I am missing the hell out of my 24-105mm lens which is still getting repaired – but I thought it would be a good challenge to see what this new baby could do. I was pleased with the results. Even without the IS (Image Stablization) I managed to get some good, crisp, sharp results. I also fiddled around with my White Balance tonight and was trying for a more warm, ambient atmosphere.

I didn’t stay past my allotted three song limit in the photo-pit but as far as I could tell, it was proving to be a pretty raucous and fun gig. I’m sure the packed Hifi Bar had themselves a great night tonight.

And as much as I love the band, I was more concerned with my photos to worry about anything else…

Continue reading ‘H.I.M Live @ The Hifi Bar, Melbourne, Australia’



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