Assorted Musings

THE SHINS
I finally got to see The Shins the other day. I loved it. It was kind of odd because it wasn’t one of those shows that ‘went off’ and yet I came out thoroughly satisfied. They played a perfect mix of new and old and played it all brilliantly. Even if their drummer did happen to be asleep…..

MP3: Turn A Square

Quarter Acre
I’m gonna do something out of the ordinary here and recommend a band. That band is Quarter Acre and they put on one of the best shows you’ll ever witness. I saw them last night and didn’t stop smiling the whole time. It’s a well known fact that main man Andrew Burgess is insane, but it's the GOOD type of insanity. The whole show is just him and his antics and it's brilliant. They’ve been around for a while now and I can’t understand why they aren’t better known. The songs are all good in their own right, but live they are simply amazing. People of Sydney, write this down somewhere. Go. See. Quarter Acre.

MP3: Castle Hill
America Sucks
I’d always found it funny that Americans couldn’t drink till they were 21, but it wasn’t until ten minutes ago that I thought about the consequences. It’s not the lack of alcohol that is significant, but the inability to go to licensed events. In Australia, nearly every venue you go to sells alcohol and because of this, 95% of gigs are overage only. How you could live through this period with such limited gig access is beyond. These are the years when you’re carved into an indie connoisseur or a brain-dead clone. The implications for young musicians are even worse. Just recently I was thinking back to some of the unforgettable nights I had had since coming of age and how much better life gets when you turn 18. What are Americans doing during these years? I can only hope that underage gigs are far more frequent or they at least have a healthy fake-ID trade because otherwise it would be a very bleak outlook. Sucks to be them.

MP3: Who’s Ya Daddy? (Gerling)

Gerling were my first such gig. Very memorable indeed.

6 comments:

Estelle said...

I am an American myself and believe me kids get away with it. It's like if you aren't allowed to then you want to do it more, if that makes sense. I just turned 18 and I am finally going to go to my first concert in L.A in a month. I am seeing Arcade Fire at the Hollywood Bowl should be an awesome show!

A. Price said...

i just became an american and i was a south african. like estelle said, you are prompted to drink whenever possible despite the consequences. also, there are more shows that are "family friendly" or just shows that are more geared towards teens. stupid how we can get married at 18 or younger but not even drink at ones own wedding? stupid.

Peter said...

haha yes stupid indeed. but the fact that you get to watch Arcade Fire almost makes living there worth it. WHY WONT THEY COME TO AUSTRALIA......oh yeah, cause we have like 10 residents...

Anonymous said...

i believe you mean 2000000+ haha, thats so palty compared to everyone else. i think the point raised about the turning into clones has some validity, but is probably false. i mean how many do we have here, and we're allowed into gigs at 18. Unfortunately in life you have to accept that morons will always be in the majority and with them, their moronic sheep like ways and pop culture. :(

Anonymous said...

i left out a zero there. oh well, thank god i put in a plus.

Peter said...

oh I'm perfectly aware that we have our clones here. thats what I was getting at. it's the period you are most malleable and hence will have a strong influence on what musical direction you take. good or bad.