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 Ben Green

In Words: Laneway Festival @ Brisbane Showgrounds, 10.02.2018

In Words: Laneway Festival @ Brisbane Showgrounds, 10.02.2018

A laneway it ain’t. After a few years of hide and seek around the sun-striped pavilions of the Brisbane Showgrounds, the Laneway Festival has finally pitched its tent in the Main Arena, the wide open space used for livestock parades, sheepdog trials and the hallowed Livid Festival. Punters at the twin headline stages trample the […]

 Ben Green

Reviewed in call and response: Chain and The Gang + I Heart Hiroshima @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 14.03.2017

Reviewed in call and response: Chain and The Gang + I Heart Hiroshima @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 14.03.2017

Well alright. ALRIGHT! Say what? WHAT? Nice. So I Heart Hiroshima, do you remember them? YEAH! I said, do you remember them? YEAH, WE REMEMBER THEM! Tell me all you know. THREE PIECE, DRUMS AND TWO GUITARS, OVERLAPPING VOCALS, JUST ABOUT DEFINED A TIME IN BRISBANE. GOT KNOWN WHILE KEEPING IT REAL AT HOME. THAT […]

 Ben Green

“Minimum rock and roll”: An interview with Ian Svenonius of Chain And The Gang

“Minimum rock and roll”: An interview with Ian Svenonius of Chain And The Gang

We’re not just reciting some studio masterpiece. Our songs are tossed off, they’re just these tossed off ads for a happening or interaction, you know?

Photo: Jamie Goodsell Ahead of the first Australian tour by Chain and the Gang, the garage funk group described by Henry Rollins as “one of the coolest live bands anywhere”, I spoke with frontman Ian Svenonius. Equal parts enigmatic and energetic, Ian previously led Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Weird War and a clutch of […]

 Ben Green

Simple Minds + The B-52s + Models + Machinations @ A Day On The Green, Sirommet Wines, 12.02.2017

Simple Minds + The B-52s + Models + Machinations @ A Day On The Green, Sirommet Wines, 12.02.2017

The B-52s are the coolest. Look: And we haven’t even talked about the music. We’re at A Day on The Green, the popular mini-festival for the demographic who want to bring folding chairs and eskies to a gig (I’m down with this). We’re on the eastern side of a grassy hill at Sirromet, the winery […]

 Ben Green

Fun to be had: YACHT’s sex tape stunt and the Internet hive mind

Fun to be had: YACHT’s sex tape stunt and the Internet hive mind

No one likes to be had. But everyone likes to be quick: quick to know, quick to judge, quick to react. This is why, as they say, there’s one born every minute. If you like quick, you’ll love the Internet. But the Internet doesn’t satisfy these desires; it accelerates them. The desire to know is […]

 Ben Green

In Words: Deep Heat + 100% + Deafcult @ Trainspotters (Grand Central Hotel), 23.04.2016

In Words: Deep Heat + 100% + Deafcult @ Trainspotters (Grand Central Hotel), 23.04.2016

Deafcult are aptly named. Normally I’m not keen on earplugs but tonight I am perfectly happy with the foamy ones I use for whippersnipping, taking the harsh edge off while the physical force of the five piece surrounds me. I ponder from the back of the room whether I am the only person truly enjoying […]

 Ben Green

In Words: Deradoorian + Sunbeam Sound Machine + Andrew Tuttle @ The Zoo, 17.04.2016

In Words: Deradoorian + Sunbeam Sound Machine + Andrew Tuttle @ The Zoo, 17.04.2016

“There’s not much open on a Sunday night in Brisbane,” laments Angel Deradoorian. “We ended up eating in the food court in the mall.” Our well-loved Chinatown is less than a block away and there’s a rash of bars copying the fried fare of her native California. But as any local who’s been asked for […]

 Ben Green

Reviewed in words: The Fall, Gold Class, Nite Fields @ The Zoo, 20.10.2015

Reviewed in words: The Fall, Gold Class, Nite Fields @ The Zoo, 20.10.2015

NO RESPECTS! These are the first words discernable from the disembodied diatribe, but the personality behind them was perfectly clear when the first slurred syllable pushed out of the PA. The voice emanates vaguely from a stage semi-populated by tight-lipped musicians behind a spot-lit empty platform, but its presence is physical. People look, grin, cheer […]

 Ben Green

In Words: Mogwai + Mick Turner @ The Tivoli, 04.03.15

In Words: Mogwai + Mick Turner @ The Tivoli, 04.03.15

“This song’s called ‘Sister’, it’s for Gillian Triggs, for standing up to the bully boys.” Mick Turner throws up a long arm with devil horns at the end and smiles slightly. “Fuck Brandis”, yells an audience member and Turner turns thoughtful. “Yeah, Bookshelves Brandis,” he muses. “What a turd.” He brushes his guitar strings into […]

 Ben Green

In Words: The Courtneys + Hinds + The Furrs @ Black Bear Lodge, 20.02.2015

In Words: The Courtneys + Hinds + The Furrs @ Black Bear Lodge, 20.02.2015

By Ben Green When it rains it pours. It’s one of those nights where Brisbane’s already marginal music vote is split, a full card of candidates rolling into town and setting up their soapboxes on opposite street corners. The elder axeman, the emo-glam queen, the scrappy next-big-things. Not to mention the cyclone bearing down. “You’ll […]

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