Concrete Playground

Monday, 28th September - 5AM
@ Government House

Whether it be adult contemporary, gypsy hip hop (or gyp hop), avant-rock or blues-country, Garden Music has something for you. Sit down for a picnic and watch The (dead boring)... Read More »

Tuesday, 8th December - 3PM
@ Metro Theatre

Since he was 15 years old, Jarvis headed up Pulp, the Sheffield Brit-poppers that broke all barriers of the non-movement. Pulp changed the musical climate in England and abroad with... Read More »

Friday, 25th September - 1PM
@ The Hopetoun

The Devoted Few, stalwarts of Sydney’ music scene, complete with the unmistakable flame red hair of Ben Fletcher, are teaming up with Sherlock’s Daughter on a east coast tour of... Read More »

Saturday, 31st October - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

If there’s a band I know well and have seen many times, it is ‘the juice’. I watched them 14 times last year when my band The Paper Scissors (plug!)... Read More »

Friday, 2nd October - 1PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Remix masters and synchronised dance machines Metronomy have expanded from a 3 piece to 4 since they graced our shores in January, wowing audiences with their candy-pop meets quirky-dance electro... Read More »

Saturday, 19th September - 1PM
@ Enmore Theatre

Ornithologists and rock fans achtung! Get your binoculars out and head down to Little Birdy at the Enmore. One of the many bands in the seemingly endless pool of talent originating... Read More »

Friday, 25th September - 1PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

My Disco have been somewhat AWOL from our discos of late but Sydney will be graced by their mathematical and minimalrock towards the end of September.They should be in astounding... Read More »

Saturday, 26th September - 1PM
@ The World Bar

The advent of the music blog has been reshaping the musical landscape with the likes of stereogum, pitchfork etc. almost determining the future of bands with their gospel.If we turn our collective digital... Read More »

Friday, 2nd October - 1PM
@ The Hopetoun

Seattle: Nirvana, Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal. Those are the things that come to mind, but maybe I shouldn't have admitted the last two.While she shares the same label that Nirvana started... Read More »

Saturday, 26th September - Friday, 2nd January
@ Oxford Art Factory

I suppose everyone has to give up the funk eventually… Sydney eight piece Kid Confucius have stripped back the influences coming from D’Angelo, The Roots and future soul, omitted the... Read More »

Wednesday, 30th September - 1PM
@ Enmore Theatre

So this week it has all been about redheads. The Devoted Few, a great news piece I saw on BBC about 3,000 red heads getting together in Breda, Netherlands, and... Read More »

Thursday, 22nd October - 2AM
@ Spectrum

Gaining a fair bit of hype on the strength of a song called The Storm, Boy & Bear, a relatively fledgling Sydney 4 piece, will release a new single this... Read More »

Sunday, 1st November - 2PM
@ The Enmore Theatre

The pint sized NYC rapper Nas has existed at the fore of the East Coast rap scene since his debut Illmattic in 1994. Whilst he has never exploded like your... Read More »

Sunday, 11th October - 2PM
@ Hermanns Bar

If you imagine combining that dust storm with bass amps, amphetamines, booze, and loud guitars, all running off a generator in the desert, then you might be able to picture... Read More »

Saturday, 10th October - 1PM
@ Manning Bar

Ok, so there are lots of people in the band, they are from Townsville (so hot right now no pun intended), people say they are Christians, they were  featured on... Read More »

Sunday, 4th October - 2PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

I saw the film that Wolf & Cub are named after once, Lone Wolf and Cub. It was one of those random gems that you sometimes stumble across on SBS.... Read More »

Friday, 9th October - 2PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

If you're a fan of both types of music – country and western – this could be the show for you. Justin Townes Earle, a Nashville singer-songwriter, is one of... Read More »

Thursday, 8th October - 2PM
@ The Studio at The Opera House

For a little while, after seeing some great photos of insane looking parties in New York and London where brass bands and gypsy-punks like Gogol Bordello were all downing Wodka... Read More »

Monday, 2nd November - Friday, 2nd January
@ The Annandale Hotel

Just off the back of a tour with all girl Japanese garage-rockers Shonen Knife, Brisbane's I Heart Hiroshima are stopping back in to Sydney to launch their second album The... Read More »

Thursday, 8th October - 2PM
@ Beach Road Hotel

Sydney indie rockers Red Riders have been churning out hits and whipping the kids into frenzys for years now. They have been keeping themselves busy of late, touring with Little... Read More »

Saturday, 24th October - 2PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Oh Mercy are one of the crop of Australian bands that are indulging their more sensitive side, leaving the angular jaunts and sweat for harmonicas and acoustics, not afraid to... Read More »

Sunday, 18th October - 2PM
@ The Forum

Large men from a small country across the way, Fat Freddy's Drop are once again visiting our large land. I must say that last time I saw them I was... Read More »

Saturday, 24th October - 8PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

The Philly Jays, as they are known to their fans and loved ones — and as Sydney-siders you should be one of these — have been smashing both stages and... Read More »

Saturday, 17th October - 2PM
@ The Cad Factory

2ser 107.3 has been a pillar of the airwaves in Sydney for 30 years now. This month they celebrate this 30th with a great lineup of shows all around town.... Read More »

Saturday, 24th October - 2PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

There are some great bands coming out of Brisbane at the moment. Not sure what it is, perhaps the fact that they have a healthy but small live scene with... Read More »

Tuesday, 15th December - 9PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Jona Bechtolt must not sleep. He could just be one of the most prolific humans on the planet. Over the last 6 years he has released countless records under the... Read More »

Friday, 30th October - 8PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

The Scare have been somewhat transient and homeless in Australia. Since leaving their native Sunshine Coast in Queensland, they have recorded a debut that was largely overlooked in Australia but... Read More »

Friday, 6th November - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

Midnight Juggernauts steamed ahead of the pack of indie/electro bands way before it became the flavour of 2009. Before The Presets were winning ARIAs, while Ladyhawke was still eating fush'n'chups... Read More »

Sunday, 10th January - 10AM
@ Entertainment Quarter

Slightly patchier than last year's lineup, Days Like This Festival returns to the Entertainment Quarter (yes, it used to be called Fox Studios, and yes the new name is stupid).... Read More »

Friday, 20th November - 9PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

My girlfriend and I got into an elevator in Tokyo recently with Kim Moyes, and it was one of those awkward moments where you are both Aussies in a different... Read More »

Friday, 20th November - 8PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

There must be something in the water in the Blue Mountains, or maybe it's in the fresh air, or maybe they go down to Penrif to get it? This substance... Read More »

Friday, 20th November - 8PM
@ The Factory Theatre

Melbourne band The Basics have just dropped a new album, titled Keep Your Enemies Close. Sometimes known as the side project of Wally de Backer (aka Gotye), it seems that... Read More »

Saturday, 21st November - 8PM
@ The Annandale Hotel

Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers music sounds like a pop-up book for kids that have grown up too quick. It jumps out at you with Richie Cuthbert's lyrics about 20- something... Read More »

Thursday, 12th November - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

By the sounds of things, the whole time Adrian Deutsch was a member of Sydney's tight jeaned indie afficionados Red Riders, he was hard at study. His topic of choice... Read More »

Saturday, 21st November - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

If you didn't get tickets to Vampire Weekend on this same night, you could divert yourself down the stairs at the OAF and catch Sydneysiders The Model School in the... Read More »

Tuesday, 5th January - Thursday, 1st January
@ Oxford Art Factory

I wonder how long you have to live in Brooklyn to say you're a Brooklyn band? Yeasayer, TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dragons Of Zynth, Animal Collective, The... Read More »

Saturday, 28th November - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

There is a growing trend in Australian music. I will call it the rising of the thinking-person's-singer-songwriter. Catchy, I know. I'm talking Blasko, Washington, Paul Dempsey's solo stuff, Holly Throsby,... Read More »

Sunday, 24th January - 8PM
@ Enmore Theatre

It's anyone's guess what went down in Dizzee's dome to make him start doing rave tunes and drinking champagne in the tropics with scantily clad women. Maybe too much sun... Read More »

Saturday, 6th March - 8PM
@ Manning Bar, University of Sydney

With their visceral and deceptively simple sounds, the Mess Hall are loved for their attitude laden blues, heavy on guitars and stripped back to the bare bones. The two piece... Read More »

Sunday, 10th January - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Billed as "a unique collective of experimental pop, indie and electronic" The Sister Cities Music Festival would be graded as small on the festival-ometer, but still packs punch with some... Read More »

Saturday, 16th January - 8PM
@ Spectrum

Apparently this show is a fundraiser for Sounds In Motion but details are sketchy - I've tried researching what Sounds In Motion is, but not much comes up. Anyway, charity... Read More »

Friday, 15th January - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

M Craft toiled away at noisey rock throughout the 90's with Canberra's finest, Sidewinder. After spending too much money on Tangerine ('97) and being dropped by Mercury records, Craft packed... Read More »

Wednesday, 20th January - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The big haired, skinny jeaned UK outfit The Horrors are all pomp and dark romance. From the scuzzy thrash punk beginnings of their debut Strange House, they exploded in the... Read More »

Wednesday, 20th January - 6PM
@ Spectrum

Ukulele manufacturers must be pretty stoked at the resurgence of the uke, heralded by the likes of Dent May, who sings melodic and whimsical tunes in keeping with the traditions... Read More »

Wednesday, 20th January - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

With a voice so high you picture him as a cartoon character, Michael Angelakos fronts the Massachusetts wonky popsters Passion Pit. After the release of the Chunk Of Change... Read More »

Monday, 1st February - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

St Jerome's Laneway Festival has a knack of bringing out people we might otherwise miss in our backwater down here in 'Straya, and Wild Beasts definitely fit into that camp... Read More »

Wednesday, 27th January - 8PM
@ Beach Road Hotel

These Byron transplants are the kind of people who give you the shits: classicaly trained musicians who write great songs, are years younger than you, and still manage to be... Read More »

Friday, 29th January - 8PM
@ Becks Bar

It was a bit of a sad time for funk for a while there. In the noughties cool was poached from the genre by those dastardly New York... Read More »

Saturday, 13th February - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

I first saw The Dodos last year at The Spiegeltent in Manhattan. It was going to be perfect: a balmy evening, good friends and a band who had put out... Read More »

Thursday, 21st January - 8PM
@ The Gaelic Theatre

If you are looking to "wave you hands in the air like you just don't care" then forget this show. Dead Prez care big time.They have been churning out agitated... Read More »

Saturday, 23rd January - 9PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The oracle that is The Oxford Art Factory has decided they can predict the future and have picked a few bands that they are shooting forth into the stratosphere. The... Read More »

Monday, 25th January - 7PM
@ Sedition Gallery

I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Sydney has a very healthy noise scene. Our pretty harbour city is home to some of the finest purveyors of... Read More »

Thursday, 28th January - Friday, 29th January
@ Enmore Theatre

This show has such a curious mix of reggae greats and amusing pop artists. You have on one hand Sly & Robbie, who are absolute legends of the genre who... Read More »

Sunday, 14th February - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

I remember listening to Wu-Tang Clan when I was a teenager in the lovely beach side suburb of Suffolk Park. I'm not quite sure if I grasped the anachronism of... Read More »

Monday, 22nd February - 8PM
@ Hordern Pavilion

Echo & The Bunnymen, Jane's Addiction, My Bloody Valentine, Duran Duran, Rage Against The Machine, The Pixies  Happy Mondays...  The last few years have seen more reformations than you can... Read More »

Friday, 26th February - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The Big Apple has been dominating America's music output lately with a slew of amazing bands making music that is both challenging and progressive. But it seems on the West... Read More »

Friday, 26th March - 8PM - Saturday, 27th March - 8PM
@ Enmore Theatre

Out of the supergroups and celebrity collaborations that have popped up recently, I think The Dead Weather are making the best music. They are on the other end of the... Read More »

Monday, 8th February - 8PM
@ Manning Bar

You like your instruments played badly, your sounds scuzzy. You are thrilled by the possibility of stage invasions and band members vomiting, and you want to have some fun. This... Read More »

Wednesday, 17th February - 7PM
@ Metro Theatre

The original Sel et Poivre are coming for Good Vibrations! They have been pulled from the hip hop attic, dusted off and polished up, as have Naughty By Nature.  Not... Read More »

Friday, 12th February - 10PM
@ Civic Hotel

Future Classic are the Mrs Dalloway of Sydney's electronic music scene, putting on parties galore and schooling Aussies on some of the less obvious musical taste-makers of the world. One... Read More »

Friday, 12th February - 9PM
@ Good God Small Club

To be at Jingle Jangle is to be transplanted to a different time and place. Maybe the dimly lit walk through the dingy Spanish restaurant La Campana into Good God... Read More »

Friday, 19th February - 7PM
@ Brass Monkey

Not to be confused with the god-awful metal band Dead Letter Circus (sorry if you are into that sort of thing), DL Chorus make wonderfully melodic rock, with dabblings of... Read More »

Friday, 19th February - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

As Sydneysiders you should be goddamned proud of the Necks. They are one of our finest ever exports. Since the late 1980s when they started playing together in a school... Read More »

Sunday, 28th February - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

The Brian Jonestown Massacre's latest single boldly repeats the phrase "let's go fucking mental" — and anyone who knows the band, has seen the film DiG!, or has witnessed one... Read More »

Friday, 26th February - 7PM
@ Factory Theatre

If it weren't for Elefant Traks, Sydney hip hop would be screwed. They have released countless records from Sydney's rising stars and stalwarts over the last 12 years, cementing themselves... Read More »

Thursday, 18th February - 7PM
@ Annandale Hotel

Multimillionaire Dicky Branson didn't give up the cash; instead, the normal wage-enslaved, music-loving proletariat, you, and Sydney's bands saved FBi radio by donating money and time to the station last... Read More »

Friday, 7th May - 8PM
@ The Forum

Spoon are a great band. I won't try to hide that I'm a fan. In fact, just then I was visiting their website and got sucked into completing my Spoon... Read More »

Sunday, 7th March - 7PM
@ Sydney Opera House

Since calling a hiatus from the Dresden Dolls, Amanda Palmer has been touring the world off the back of her solo debut Who Killed Amanda Palmer (a sister to Laura,... Read More »

Thursday, 25th February - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

I remember instantly liking Hungry Kids Of Hungary. Their name is delightfully stupid but it demands your attention and makes you want to have a listen. Well, it's worked for... Read More »

Friday, 12th March - 8PM - Saturday, 13th March - 8PM
@ Spectrum

The Scare inhabit a truly jaunty world of post-punk swagger. Their debut Chivalry and its scuzzed-out, big-haired, big-guitared rock was largely ignored by their brothers and sisters here in Australia.... Read More »

Thursday, 4th March - 4PM
@ Annandale Hotel

The Drones are about to pack up their live show and head back into the studio to record their follow up to the critically and publicly salivated-over Havilah. The band... Read More »

Wednesday, 3rd March - 8PM
@ Beach Road Hotel

I heard Jonathan Boulet between the cabin crew's witty quips and Kate Miller-Heidke tunes on Virgin Blue the other day; he's definitely creeped into the mainstream since releasing his debut... Read More »

Friday, 12th March - 8PM
@ Red Rattler

Melbourne gypsy-jazz seven piece Barons of Tang are back in Sydney to drop in to our favourite warehouse (that hasn't been closed down yet, unlike Quirkz), the Red Rattler. It... Read More »

Tuesday, 13th April - 8PM
@ Manning Bar, University of Sydney

For a long time I dismissed the Mountain Goats as a bit of a joke band; I linked them with late 90s Triple J novelty tunes — you know 'Cows... Read More »

Thursday, 18th March - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The co-headline tour has become the staple diet of Aus indie bands. You save money on hire cars, always have at least a whole band to watch your set at... Read More »

Tuesday, 30th March - 8PM - Thursday, 1st April - 8PM
@ Factory Theatre

The reinvention of one's persona is a pop tradition; Bowie had the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust, Madonna has made a career out of it and Prince renamed himself... Read More »

Wednesday, 31st March - 7PM
@ Metro Theatre

If gypsy-punk, moustaches, thick Ukrainian accents, screaming guitars, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and singalongs squeeze your proverbial squeezebox, then this is the show for you. Gogol Bordello are a multicultural ensemble that... Read More »

Tuesday, 27th April - 8PM - Wednesday, 28th April - 8PM
@ Sydney Opera House

Regina Spektor manages to tread the line between indie-quirk and mainstream pop. She does it with sheer songwriting prowess and musicality, her lyrics never obvious, but full of literary and... Read More »

Thursday, 6th May - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

The Slew is a project started by the quirky turntablist Kid Koala and Dynomite D. It started as a collaboration to make music for an upcoming film; the film went... Read More »

Wednesday, 7th April - 8PM
@ Beach Road Hotel

A few people have told me about Wim, you know those "you should toootally go see Wim" kind of comments you get from people. And this could be our chance... Read More »

Thursday, 29th July - 7PM
@ Hordern Pavilion

No doubt you've heard that the world's favourite rich-kid band, the Strokes have dusted themselves off and are back in the studio. Not sure how it's going down, especially after... Read More »

Sunday, 11th April - Monday, 12th April
@ Luna Park

The Come Together festival is badly named; the two-day, Luna Park event splits the lineup stylistically into two separate days, so it's actually more about pushing things apart than coming... Read More »

Friday, 16th April - 7PM
@ Notes

I remember seeing the Drones at the Hoey (R.I.P.), years back. I didn't know who the hell they were and a friend of mine took me along. I was floored.... Read More »

Tuesday, 27th July - 7PM
@ Hordern Pavilion

The word 'meteoric' is bandied around quite liberally in the music industry, but the Temper Trap's upward trajectory definitely deserves the term bestowed upon it. I remember seeing them play... Read More »

Friday, 23rd April - 8PM
@ Sandringham Hotel

There must be something in the river water in Brisbane that dictates a synthesizer fascination, at least since the mid '90s when Regurgitator added a keytar player to their band... Read More »

Sunday, 6th June - 7PM
@ The Studio at The Opera House

My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer/composer Shara Worden. You might have seen her open for Sufjan Stevens a few years back at the Sydney Festival: she was the... Read More »

Saturday, 1st May - 7PM
@ State Theatre

I remember thinking country music was mega uncool when I was a teenager. And I suppose it is, if you judge it by, say, Garth Brooks or Lee Kernaghan —... Read More »

Friday, 28th May - 8PM
@ Annandale Hotel

Most of you will be familiar with Melbourne's rag-tag, country/hippy sensation Wagons, led by none other than Henry 'Wagons' Krips. And for those of you who aren't: they play alt-country... Read More »

Thursday, 3rd June - 10PM
@ The Studio at The Opera House

King Khan & BBQ Show is not a cooking show. King Khan is the Berlin-based, Canadian rocker that just messed with our heads for Falls Festival with his soul band... Read More »