Future Music Festival

The summer of music festivals is all coming together nicely right now, with a second announcement today. This time Future Music Festival. I've never made it out to the Future Music Festival as it nearly always falls on the same day as Soundwave, which for my music tastes, is a better value for money. But this year it's the week after!

Here's the first announcement of the lineup and I've bolded the ones I want to see:

Swedish House Mafia
Fatboy Slim
Paul Van Dyke
Tinie Tempah
The Wombats
Chase and Status (live)
Skrillix
Jessie J
The Rapture
Aphex Twin (live)
Frank Ocean
Die Antwoord
Gareth Emery
LCD Soundsystem DJs (James Murphy and Pat Mahony)
Naked and Famous
Hercules and Love Affair
Sven Vath
Alex Metric
Azari and Ill
Jamie Jones
Holy Ghost!
Horse Meat Disco
The Juan MacLean
Benoit and Sergio
Stafford Brothers 

Much like Laneway, it's not a stellar cast, but between Fatboy Slim and Aphex Twin I could almost be talked into going.

March 3, Doomben Raceourse

I'm back, here's the news

After a great week spent rocking out in freezing cold Melbourne, I'm back with a musical todo list the size of Peter North's tackle. I went to shows, I drank a bit, ate some good food, met some friends, did some shopping and took pictures. I'll try and blog/share some of the shows information later on, but for now, here's the news that I missed:

Rise Against/Sick of it All/Break Even tour
Rise Against used to be one of my favourite punk-bands. Then they released the album Appeal to Reason. Sick of it All are one of the best NY hardcore bands ever. EVER. Yet they only ever come to Australia as opening bands for other internationals. And Break Even are swell dudes from Gero. Put them together, we have a great tour. I hope.

July 18, Entertainment Centre

I have a few problems with this tour. First, the price? $70. Second, the Entertainment Centre is a crap venue, especially for hardcore/punk. Third, I'd really only be going for Sick of it All, unless Rise Against's new album is a return to form.

Frank Turner
He was one quarter of number 5 in my 2010 best of gigs list, but now the hardcore-turned-acoustic Frank Turner is coming out for a solo tour. He'll be playing Thriller at Rosies on April 16. 18+ of course, and it may be worthwhile buying tickets in advance.

Frenzal Rhomb
They must be broke again, because it's been about a year since their last tour. May 6 at Coolangatta Hotel, May 7 at the HiFi. Both shows 18+ and will be full of drunken revelry and swear words.

Swans cancel
It was one of the highlights of my post-holiday 3-gig week, wrapping it all up in a noisy swath of post-punk bliss. But now it's been cancelled. The Swans gig for Friday at the HiFi is canned. It's the only show in Australia not happening and they've given no reason why. I guess I will never get to see them then.

The Wombats get another go
The Wombats are in the country for Groovin' the Moo, and they've already got one night slated for a Brisbane show. Apparently it's a popular thing, as they've announced a second, all-ages show on May 5 at the Tivoli.

Grooving the Moo sideshows

I was actually a little bit jealous when I saw the announcement of the Grooving the Moo lineup. Jealous because it only goes to regional locales, and there were more bands I'd enjoy seeing than most festivals this year (Laneway announcement included!).

But, unlike most other festivals in Australia, the promoters are letting the bands do sideshows in most major centres. And pretty much every band I want to see on this festival are playing sideshows in Brisbane.

The first band I avoided for ages, because for the life of me I could not understand what the fuck was the irony of dancing to Joy Division. But if you haven't guessed the band yet, you probably didn't listen to Triple J at any point in the last 3 years, because it's the Wombats. They'll be doing a sideshow of dance-indie May 3rd at the Tivoli.

The second band is one of those bands that kicked off my love with all things musical from the Scandanavian regions.

I've missed seeing them tonnes of times now and constantly regret it. They mix together a healthy dose of geekiness, dance and rock, generally with a mix of tracksuits and BMX thrown in. What isn't there to love?

I will definitely be there this time, May 4 at the Zoo. 18+