Jumpin Jack Flash!!! Rolling Stones are Coming!!!

Thats right people, on the 11th of April... the gods of rock and roll, the legends of rhythm and blues, the leaders in grandfather fashions, The Rolling Stones are coming to Sydney!!! Tickets range from roughly 60 bucks all the way up to 500 bucks. It's well worth it when you imagine the kind of support act they will select.

This writer thinks it could be The Darkness who are playing at Luna Park Big Top some two days later. This writer will see you at both!!!

p.s the rolling stones are also playing melbourne, but who really cares about them, AFL friken sux

The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers Album Review

The band you never wanted to like. With all the subtle and not so subtle hype surrounding this band, its evident that regardless of what their music sounds or doesnt sound like, they take the cake (and i betcha they eat it too) for the undisputed unconested ugliest band of the millenium! All your visual sense tell you to steer clear of this band, until you put that circle object into your audio playing device or rip it off the net to save money... god knows you dont need the pictures to burn your eyes and you only need to use your 1980's scrabble board to reincarnate the front cover.

But once their sound hits your eyes, its instant feel good jives and sweet british pop hooks sooth the soul from the crunches and crunks of mudvayne and lil jon! The opening track "Morning Eleven" introduces our ears to the magic numbers with suitable delivery, infectious and feel good mixed with varying tempo and shoodooobeeedooo backing vocals spurring a sing-a-long- to rival hands across america, almost taking the listener through the ups and downs of a fleeting 5 and a half minute romance. One nods their head in approval, but would not necessarily break out into full blown Andre 3000 danceathon.

The highlights of this cd are really relative to what aspect of The Magic Numbers your looking to love... the pure infection and rational abandon of "Love me like you" & "Forever Lost" are extremely difficult to overlook as clear winners, the hillbilly tappin of "Mornings Eleven" & "Long Legs" or the delicate ballading of "I see you, You see me". In every song, the vocals and sheer harmony take centre stage with frontman Romeo obviously a clear stand out, however in this writers opinion, it is the diversity and groove cultured by the skillful basswork by Michele is a cornerstone for the success of the Magic Numbers, "Love me like you" a definitive example and a true triumphant inspiration to all feminine bassists that you are allowed to be creative and use your brain when constructing basslines.

If you big enough to admit listening to this love ridden happiness, it is a quality cd lacking any filler tracks with careful consideration given to song structure and a firm cuddling emphasis on melody.

The Magic Numbers are not so much dynamic or vibrant as they are nice and comfortable, no fancy NME buzz words required. Tearing down the hype and facades, replacing them with common sense and rationality still leaves the Magic Numbers a 1,2,3,4 success, provided they continue making records and avoid going outdoors where others can see them.

Strangefuzzykandi

Plenty going on in the Sydney scene over the next couple of weeks with festivals, new club nights and overseas visitors on the way.

Saturday nights at the Terrace, Home Nightclub comes 'Strangeways', a club night that will push the boundaries playing what promoter Andy Rigby calls 'eclectro', a healthy mix of electro-house, tech, breaks, progressive, techno and electro with smatterings of drum and bass, hip hop and dancehall. The mantra 'as long as its rocking. reiterated by Mr Rigby should be exciting to lovers of electronic music that is left-of-centre. Strangeways kicks off March 4.

Fuzzy 360 converges on the Hordern Pavillion + The Dome on the 15th April which is Easter Saturday. The line-up features Felix Da Housecat, Tom Novy, Audio Bullys, Ajax and Kid Kenobi.Tix are $65 early bird and $75 for the final release.

Tank will launch its new saturday club night on the 18th March, but before then it will celebrate its 5th birthday with the Hed Kandi crew helping Tank with the celebrations. Entry is $25, not a bad price for a Hed Kandi night.



The official whiteboydancefloor 'Whats Hot and Whats not' guide for this week

If you want to be cool, and dont want to run the risk of looking like a square, then check out whats hot and not so you wont get caught out by your much cooler friends.

Whats Hot :

Sunset Rubdown - Keep an eye out for the album later in the year from Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug. A little more restrained than Krug's other project yet no less engaging.

The new Prince single - How good is the guy, 'Black Sweat' makes Prince sound as vital and hot as ever.

The Knife's new LP 'Silent Shout'- A definite contender for Album of the year already. It's the sound of computers turning on their masters and dancing on the corpses.

Tiga - Finally he drops the album Sexor, and now he is the coolest kid in school. He shows why electro-pop is so damn sexy.

Whats Not :

Arctic Monkeys - it was cool to like them for about 5 minutes last year, now you'll just look a bit silly when you utter 'Have you heard this new rad band called...'

Mylo mash-ups - Drop the pressure was awesome, i get it. That was 2 years ago, it's time to move on.

Plus : Sydney and surrounding area venues charging a high cover charge for poor line ups, hard-asses with popped collared Industrie polo's, suburban clubs with unnecessary dress codes .

Sigur Ros - Viðrar vel til loftárása

This song is an old one from Sigur Ros' 1999 album 'Ágætis Byrjun', but still a brilliant one. I stumbled upon this video You-Tubeing (its a verb now trust me) through piles of vidoes showing idiots fiming themselves doing moronic dances and poor Bum Fights imitations. This video is as confronting as it is stunning and is quite poigniant as its thematic concerns are are a hot topic in film as of late. It is beautifully shot and the music proves that Sigur Ros should be making film scores and their clip directors more movies, and if i ever make a film i want their music on it.

Tags Sigur Ros, YouTube, Music Video

Myspace Bitch!

Hey all and the rest

just a brief note to inform you all that whiteboydancefloor has extended its reach to the cravass known as myspace to ensure everyone knows about whiteboydancefloor. After some great comments from friends and randoms, whiteboydancefloor will be sending all its myspacers updates and info on whats happening on the blogspot via myspace.

By no means will whiteboydancefloor be more myspace and less blog spot... rather myspace will serve as a handy backup to keep the word out there, so add us if you want so we can send ya bulletins and what not about whats going down.

Click Here to go to the whiteboydancefloor myspace page...

P.S... you dont have to be emo to use myspace, just a tad mentally disturbed

Time for the news of the day...

Ive trolled the net, searching for some interesting music news, and all i could come up with is this.....so....enjoy!

* The new Radiohead tribute album is on the way, with the likes of ?uestlove, Sia and Mathew Herbert covering classics such as 'Nice Dream', 'High and Dry' and 'Paranoid Android'. I stumbled upon the Mark Herbert and Ash Grunwald (the dude from phantom planet) version of 'Just' and if that song is anything to go by, we will be in for a treat. In more Radiohead news, teh band are working on a new album, and according to Pitchfork, an OK Computer era track called 'Nude' will feature on the record, which could be a hint to the direction the band is going to take.

* The new Streets single has been released on to the net , titled 'When You Wasnt Famous', along with a new album out in April called 'The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living'.

* One of my favourite singer-songwriters, the charming Swede Jens Lekman is heading back to Australia to play the St Jeromes Laneway Festival and a gig on a Sydney harbour cruise. After quitting the music business and taking on a job in a bingo hall, before getting the music writing bug again, im sure a new studio album can't be far off.

* NME had their wanky annual awards Today, predictably the Arctic Monkeys won a thousand meritless statuettes. Other mediocre acts to win were James 'i cant believe its not oestregen' Blunt, Pete 'Where have my nasal cavities gone' Doherty, and the queen of saggy bosoms , Madonna.

* The king of West Coast rap, Snoop Dogg is headed our way! Fuck yeah! He will be hitting the Ent Cent on the 11th April with an entourage of no-name up and commers. Tix through Ticketmaster.

* Plus the likes of Bloc Party, The Walkmen, Outkast, The Roots, The Go! Team (maybe) , Bruce Springsteen and even Bob Dylan will be releasing albums later in the year.


Tags:
Radiohead The Streets, Jens Lekman ,Snoop Dogg ,St Jeromes Laneway Festival, Arctic Monkeys

I got a woman, way over town that's good to me

By now everyone knows the song 'Gold Digger', Kanye West's thumping crtique on money-minded ladies which samples the Ray Charles classic 'I Got a Woman'. Its been played ad nauseum, and maginalised by the impressionable and ignorant listening public as 'just another song i can grind on the dancefloor to'.

Well Mr West wasn't the only person to wake up to this song by the king of R&B, artists have been re-interpreting this song all the way back to the Beatles. Here is the original, plus three covers/remixes of the same song, tell us what you think is the best.

Ray Charles - I Got A Woman (1952): The 1952 original that catapulted the man into the spotlight and made him big. The jazzy drumbeat, the cheeky brass rhythm section and that muted trumpet solo come together so perfectly stirred with Ray's stunning voice.

The Beatles - I Got A Woman: This version gets the Beatles treatment with twangy rock guitars replacing brass and those distintinctive vocal tones leaving the Beatles stamp all over this cover. Its still rhythm and blues, but its R&B via Liverpool that shows R&B and Rock and Roll share the same blood.

John Mayer Trio - I Got A Woman (2005) - A more jam oriented version of this track with its live aesthetic leaving John Mayer and his trio up to their ambitious nature to take this song to high places. Its a strong blues-y strut that releases the inner soul man in the tall skinny white man.

Diplo - I Got A Woman (2006) - Taking cues from Kanye's 'Gold Digger' , Diplo leaves many elements of the original which are sampled over the top of synthed bleeps and a driving, off-kilter electronic beat at times echoing Kanye's interpretation. Its a slice and dice affair that leaves a refreshing aftertaste.

Tags: Ray Charles,Kanye West,Gold Digger,John Mayer,Diplo,The Beatles,I Got A Woman

Dont leave your kids alone with robots.

I had a post ready but our file hosting service is down, you will have to wait a bit children, hopefully today or Thursday it will be up and running. But in the mean time, listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Listen to 'Moya' and then change your underwear. See at least i give you something in the absence of something.

Event Review - Bloc Niteclub Opening Night 17/02/06

It was the talk of the town all week, the coming of a trendy night spot to Penrith, an area that has one of the highest concentration of young people in the greater Sydney area who have craved a quality night spot since clubs like Venue and DNA closed many years previous. With a $15 cover charge and the promise of a 'strict dress code', the 'upscale' club seemed to be living up to its claims before the whiteboydancefloor crew arrived.
The team and their extensive entourage arrived at the venue and were greeted by friendly (and highly attractive) door staff. The venue was surprisingly large, with a massive open plan main room known as the 'Industry' room, with a large perspex DJ booth, 3 bars and plenty of lounges for some inane chatter or fornication. The second room, the 'Island' was accessable through a mystrerious tunnel and is a jungle island themed room with a dark, intimate and sexy vibe; opening up to a large balcony area with an outdoor bar and BBQ.

Enough about the architecture and design, it was the music that mattered. The larger industry room played host to some superb house, while the Island was the home of banality, spinning pointless RnB. Sublime regulars Kate Munroe and Matt Mandell were the big ticket acts in the industry room, and played a superb mix of deep, funky and jazzy house with smatterings of electro thrown in for good measure. The island played host to Selwyn, seemingly few cared and the RnB on show was predictable radio friendly fare.

Overall, the club was highly impressive. Drinks are reasonably priced, with a Smirnoff Black fetching 7 bucks. The staff were friendly yet some bar staff were inexperienced. The crowd was predominantly young suburban with a strict dress code seemingly ignored with dirty skate shoes entering the venue on more that one occasion. There wasn't a great deal in the way of hardcore clubbers present with whiteboy dancing at very poor levels of skill and co-ordination, maybe its the distance from the CBD or the fact that the venue is only new but with a solid DJ line up, a proper club ambience and well priced drinks, its only a matter of time before the dance music scene sits up and takes notice. Bloc was a winner, lets hope the Penrith club curse doesnt hit yet again.

Dance, Dance. We're falling apart to half time.

I have some guilty musical pleasures where i let my critical guard down and enjoy a song for its simplicity and sheer catchiness rather that its compostional prowess, ingenuity or originality. Fall Out Boy are one such band that i like to indulge in now and then. You know its wrong, but it feels so right at the same time. After several listens of this track, i now agree with Elfonzo in saying this track is pretty cool with a great video to boot. With an intro that is the bastard child of AFI and Green Day, clever lyrics, a frenetic speed metal-esque pre-chorus and a HUGE chorus with the viral 'Dance, Dance' ostinato hook oozing its way into the repitition centre of the brain. Somehow simplicity seems to work here. Watch the video, and you will be singing for days.

Whats on in Gigs and Clubs...

As always there is a myriad of shows going on around Sydney, whether you want to rock out, chill out, or dance the night away, there is something to satisfy even the most refined and discerning musical palate. Here is what is doing over the next couple of months!.

This Friday night, why not join and meet the whiteboydancefloor crew at the grand opening of Bloc Niteclub, Station and High Sts Penrith from 8pm with $15 cover charge. Or if you want to hit the city, Sublime is a staple of the Sydney music scene at Home with its various regulars, and not far behind is Defected at Tank, every Friday night dishing up sexy house grooves.

Or tonight, catch the kings and queens of weird indie Deerhoof at Spectrum Darlinghurst or the purveyors of some of the smoothest aussie Hip Hop Kid Confucious at Candy's Apartment Kings Cross.

Saturday sees Good Vibrations take over Centennial Park with the likes of James Brown and Talib Kweli. I dont know if its a sell out, but if it is, get your 'ticket' from Bunnings in the ladder aisle and scale the perimeter fence. The festivals keep on coming with the St Jeromes Laneway Festival at Circular Quay on March 5 featuring the Avalanches, Broken Social Scene and Pretty Girls Make Graves; the Future Music Festival at Randwick Racecourse on the 4th March with the likes of Armin Van Buuren and Max Graham; and the grossly underhyped Great Escape festival on Easter Weekend at Newington Armoury Homebush Bay featuring Sigur Ros, silverchair and Martha Wainwright.


Over the next couple of months acts such as the Alkaline Trio will play the Roundhouse March 11, Kanye West owns the Opera House in April , Sigur Ros immerse the Enmore Theatre on the 12th April, John Darnelle aka The Mounatin Goats are at the Annandale on the 19th April and also play the Great Escape, De La Soul play the Enmore on the 23rd March and for all the punkers The Misfits emerge from wherever they were for all those years to play at the Metro on the 8th March.

Music 'news', an album stream and Ministry of Sound Numero Deux!

Hey there my fellow ass shakers, we're back after our little hiatus. Apologies to you all and to make up for it, here is a nice big post filled with lots of goodies.

 - Reports from LA have suggested that the Lazarus of the music industry Mariah Carey was inconsolable and would not leave her dressing room after U2, according to whiteboydancefloor's 'reliable' sources , rigged the Album of the Year award at the Shammys 06 held last week.  Bono wore sunglasses inside like a prat yet again, Kanye West was robbed  (just ask him), Slipknot actually won a grammy and John Legend proved that yes, he is a legend (sorry).

- According to 'respected' 'magazine' 'Rolling Stone' (lol me r sarcasm), have come to the grand  conclusion that old people (over 35's) think music today is getting worse (no way?! your kidding!) with 35% of respondents to a survey who were in this demographic comissioned by the publication and the AP stating this and 9% of Americans surveyed discover new music by watching TV shows like 'The OC' and 'CSI'. But the most interesting conclusion that came about from this survey was that people that download music illegally or legaly are more likely to actually go out and purchase CD's. Doesn't the record industry look silly now (more so).

- whiteboydancefloor has receieved its invitation to Bloc Niteclub's opening night this Friday! Because we are so kind and want to see you guys there partying with us, here is the invite. All the cool people will be there. That RnB Popstars relic Selwyn will be there plus the infinitely irritating Labrat and Lowie (a reflection of the female clientele maybe?) from the Austereo radio network.

- The nominations are in for the New Panthenon awards, voted by the 'tastemakers' of the industry including Elton John, Beck and erm, the dude from Cake to determine the best records of 2005. It makes for some interesting reading, especially when a character from the OC appears to have decent taste in music. Go here to have a look.


-Forget the track of the week, this week we have the ALBUM OF THE WEEK!



This week we have the new album from swedish electronic collective The Knife titled 'Silent Shout'. Their sound is dark, deep and eccentric, and we think you should hear it. Click here to stream from their MP3 store. 'We Share Our Mother's Health' is a cracker trust me.


-Last Saturday night Home @ Cockle Bay hosted a massive event, Ministry Of Sound Numero Deux. The editor and a small posse of whiteboydancefloor readers made our way down there to check it out and bust a few moves.
    What we were treated to was some fine electronic music. Early in the night our appetite was whet by Van She playing a DJ set full of hipster friendly Electro beats overlooking the spectacular Darling Harbour. Later we caught Aussie beat purveyor Goodwill in the main room, who mixed it up with an obligatory mix of well known House-y beats. Much to the delight of 'dancefloor friend Breastfed, Mylo's 'Musclecar' featured prominently and was played twice more by various DJ's throughout the evening. Over in the Aquarium room, the mystery of the drumkit with the Faker sticker on the front that had baffled us all night was solved, when Melbourne electro rockers Midnight Juggernauts jumped on the kit, grabbed a guitar and switched on the synthesiser who then ripped their way through a highly energetic set.
    They were followed soon after by Jamie Doom taking on DJ Damage which continued the Housey Electro vibe that underpinned the event and subsequently tore it up. Enough of the little fish, the crowd turned out to see the big Swedish fish named Axwell who didn't disappoint. Playing some of his familiar compositions such as 'Watch the Sunrise' and 'Together', coupled with an off kilter remix of the former track and a killer remix of M.I.A's 'Bucky Done Gun'. As 4am neared the punters finally heard what they had been waiting for, Axwell's smash 'Feel The Vibe' which whipped the 2500 capacity venue into a writhing, grooving beat factory. Definetly a top show which left few disappointed. Tilll next time, dance motherfuckers!

  

Sorry no juice for little Jimmy today

Sorry guys be back with more content soon, been too busy and preoccupied to put anything together. Hopefully will be back on Wednesday with something grand to make up for it

Cheers,
Chris

Underwear Briefs

* The fourth LP from rockabilly/rock threesome The Living End was released this week. The latest effort from these boys entitled "State of Emergency" features 14 brand spankin new tracks from the boys. The first two singles "Whats on Your Radio" & "Wake Up" have already been featured on our airwaves and put on show at Big Day Out 06. Other Highlights include the opening track "Til the End" & its predecessor "Long Live the Weekend". All up a solid effort from The Living End and with the other songs, give them time to grow on you, they don't have the immediate grab of the others but are definitely worth your ears attention. This may just be the year of The End!

* In spectacular news for all those who have been blown away by Bombshellzine and be sure to go and buy all the accessories and grow all the hair you need to get in on all the fun... *cough...sniffle...cough*

*Ball strapped rockers The Darkness will be gracing our fine shores in April this year! While they would have been an ideal addition to the Big Day Out 06 line up... a visit riding on the back of their new album "One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back..." will suffice for all diehard fans, Elfonzo included. Tickets go on sale next week, so be quick and be among the first Aussies to observe how their new 4 stringer holds up to Frankie's high standard!!!!

Thats all for now but keep checkin back on WhiteBoyDanceFloor for more fresh juice day in day in!!! JUST SQUEEZE!

Event Profile - Ministry Of Sound Numero Deux @ Home Cockle Bay

To round out the glorious summer weve had here in Sydney and coupled with the launch of the Clubbers Guide 06 compilation, Ministry of Sound are hitting Home @ Cockle Bay this Saturday 11th February! Headlined by Swedish superstar DJ/Producer Axwell and with the likes of his Clubbers Guide partner in crime Goodwill, perennial Annual mixer Mark Dynamix, Q45, Jamie Doom and Van She in tow. With four massive rooms spinning House, Electro and sythned up rawk this will be a massive show.

Where - Home Nightclub, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour Sydney
When - Saturday 11th February 10.30PM
Who - Axwell, Goodwill, Mark Dynamix, Q45, Midnight Juggernauts , Jamie Doom vs DJ Damage, Tim McGee, Johnny Rad, Van She (DJ Set), The Potebelleez and Friends
How Much - $30 presale at Glue, Mall Music, Fish Records, Central Station and The Urban Store, $35 at the door

Tracks of the Week : The Advantage - Megaman 2; Dr Wiley & Mario Master Blaster (Live)

The Advantage - Megaman 2; Dr Wiley
The Advantage - Mario Master Blaster (Live)

This self proclaimed '8-Bit Nintendo band' who are ' a serioius band with good Nintentions' recreate timeless NES era game songs and infuse them with elements of prog rock and electro pop to come up with this. The first, track taken from their sophmore release 'Elf Titled' is an adaptation of the music from a level of Megaman 2, a late 80's 8 bit classic. And track number two is a live version of 'Mario Master Blaster'. That one should be familiar, we all know Mario pwns hXc yo.

Are You Invited? You are now...

It's official whiteboydancefloor readers, the return to Penrith of a dedicated clubbing venue in the form of Bloc Niteclub, opens on Friday 17th February! The club took out a front page advertisment in this week's Three D World magazine as well as a section in the street press' 'Essential Guide' boasting to host 'The biggest names both worldwide and in Australia', with 'live instumentals' ala Roxy's resident Boogaloo Crew, cage dancers, two themed rooms and a 'massive' sound system. Embassy's current mix of House, Electro, Commercial R&b/Hip Hop and Trance will be on show at the new venue. Will the club live up to the hype? Will drinks remain at the current owner the Embassy Hotel's reasonable prices? Will the club attract top shelf DJ's and acts to Penrith? Post your thoughts guys, its an exciting time for suburban clubbing.

Big Day Out: The Elfonzo Hours

It has taken a week of deep and meaningful reflection, and even still, Elfonzo is only just comming to terms with his Big Day Out. Such a big day needs to be reflected upon significantly! And now, from the safety and tranquel surrounds of the venician gondola, I have fathomed big day out 06 enough to put it down in text!

Twas the year of the funboy... and now would be as better time as any to reveal to the public what my true identity is. I, Elfonzo Von Popintickel featured in the big day out funboy experience sporting to letter F! In a rare moment of cognitive dissonance, Elfonzo made a non european, non portugese PUBLIC APPEAREANCE... leading the charge of the funboys, closely followed from behind by my general at arms, my 2IC...Mr "U".

Ok... without further banter... my review of the 2006 big day out may begin. As always awaiting the arrival of other more tardy funboys, and keeping the other faction of funboys together was more difficult than i had anticipated, but as everyone pointed out to "F"... this is all apart of bigdayout... and one i grow tiresome of... it puzzles Elfonzo why others cannot just have the same opinion as himself. This unorganisation led to Faker being crossed off my want-to-see list without me actually seeing them.

Anyway, Moving on.

My day started with a brief swaray in the boiler room, getting in the mood with some pumping tunes from aussie boys The Presets... while in their personal lives they may be more "funboy" than I care for, there homosexuality doesnt get in the way of them putting on a fucking impressive show. Dance/Electro/Funky House, all those genres have always been considered International and not really apart of what is Australian. Well The Presets are flying that aussie flag better than many of their counterparts and it was refreshing to see such charisma!

Whilst making my way to the line up for the D barrier I viewed an extremely brief showing of Gerling and while there not my thing, they had a decent vibe and the songs were dancable and catchy, had not a bad nor good thing to say bout them. Lets leave it at melancoly indifference.

Then after some basic site seeing Mudvayne were next on the agenda. While yes I did see Magic Dirt while in the D barrier waiting for Mudvayne, id rather strike the dirt from my memory. I tried to get into the whole "hey there aussie big up yourself aussies" spirit being Australia day and all, but the only string of truth to the dirt is that adelita did not shed anymore clothing than the lack-of she began the set with.

Mudvayne however, finally did arrive and arrived with great force. Started with great intensity and being more a vayne fan than Chris, I was really getting into the whole set alot more, however, the culmination of my whole Mudvayne experience was awaiting the arrival of my all time favourite "Nothing to Gein" or at the least "World So Cold"... neither arrived. Making the overall Mudvayne vibe somewhat lost on me which was a real shame. I left feeling as if the tuckshop lady had given me a free whizfiz but short changed me 3 bucks.

Funboys used the Wolfmother set as a perfect chance to do some stretching and warming up, while my attention was focussed on my quads, I found these guys solid, they didnt do anything wrong by me, Elfonzo is merely yet to see why the hype and Triple J album of the year is warranted.

Now that the boring bits are finished, this is where the day starts to take a turn for the fun! Seeing the aussie hip hop kings Hilltop Hoods from not the most ideal positions but still enough to grab onto their phat beats and dope rhymes (yo g flippin waaaht) it was so refreshing and almost emotionally phat (p-h phat waaaht...O.K lil jon uh) to see these aussie hip hoppers working the mainstage and doing a more than capable job. My not so ideal position meant i couldnt really grasp a great deal of quality sound yet let this take nothing away from these guys. "Nosebleed Section" got the whole ground grooving as did the rest of the solid set.

Then onto my gods... Kings of Leon! Not everyone cup of tea I appreciate but one of my holy grails, after seeing them when they first came out and seeing them now with a new album under their belt and a whole lot more touring. It was so fantastic to see the way they'd learnt to really command a crowd and do it without the help of crowd g-up aussie aussie aussie banter... lead singer Caleb kept the chatter to a minimum and his first words to the crowd were "Thankyou, we're Kings of Leon"... the mosh erupted. Sound quality was brilliant and couldnt help but notice the newly shaven Nathan adapted his drum beats ever so slightly to give them a little bit extra head bopping fuck yeh elements! If your not a fan dont bother, but for those of us who are, this was a band who truely proved why they are deserved of Kings in the band name! Highlights included "The Bucket" "Wasted Time" & "Four Kicks" yet it was when the chorus of "Pistol of Fire" hit that the crowd truely got its asses fucking shaking and grooving big time... Elfonzo did not feel as if his body could shake quite enough to do justice.

A late kings shuffles across to the opposing side of the mainstage d barrier area brought the belated arrival of aussie rock n roll legends The Living End. Opening with first album killer "Second solution" got a we mean rock n roll business from the word go. Chris Cheney said it best when it stated "just because its daytime doesnt mean we cant have a bit of fuckin rock n roll". Song selection was brilliant, possibly breaking in new song "wake up" did stem their momentum slightly but with "whats on your radio" did prove a newwy and a goody. When you think about it, The Living End plus Big Day Out plus Australia Day results in nothing short of an ideal band playing to an ideal crowd. Ceasing the patriotism is the crowd worked a treat for these guys and closely with "Prisoner of Society" & "West End Riot" left everyone well and truely satisfied.

Then... after one has just been blown away by a Kings of Leon, Living End double... Franz Ferdinand remind you why your ticket is easily worth its weight in music! Not putting a foot wrong the whole day, I was a skeptical fan, apprehensive as to whether there songs would relay some live brilliance. Thankfully for my sanity and belief in these guys, I was thoroughly rewarded. No one delivers the word "catchy" is musical form better than these guys. Energetic in every sense of the word, Franz Ferdinand proved exactly why they deserved a spot on the bill higher than the likes of The Living End, Mudvayne, Kings of Leon & Wolfmother.
With their perfect sound quality Elfonzo sadly missed the closing song "burn this city" but by the time "Take Me Out" had dropped, the crowd weren't merely awaiting their one hit before they would take off... FF had commanded a new found respect as a worthy later night time festival semi-headliner.

In keeping in touch with the other Funboys, i reluctantly went on to the other stages to get a good spot for The Mars Volta which inevitably proved pointless because none of this time was spent searching for a good spot, rather pointless banter which non the less is apart of big day out I dont regret. Now as for the eccentric boys known as The Mars Volta I must admit that much like Kings of Leon if there music is your thing, this set was musically intense and so uniquely The Mars Volta that even a non fan could not really fault it. However while there was no faults in their set, an hour and a half filled with improvisation for 60% of the music left me alittle wearing being so late in the night and my attention wavered. However let it be known that the crowd response did not reflect my groans, rather it was one of pure amazement and appreciation for these extremely impressive musicians. It was not the Omar & Cedric show... this was a whole band, holistically and in its entirity putting on one hell of a performance. In Elfonzo's opinion, maybe an hour and a half was a tad too long.

Now in almost rapping up my day, a brief stint of Cog confirmed what I already knew from previous experience. These guys make a whole lot of noise from merely 3 people and in my books they could not put a foot wrong. Song selection and order kept the set moving along quickly and as with any good big day out band, their time slot seemed to fly buy due to the sheer feeling of being completely caught up in the music. The sound was immensely heavy and the vocals perfect as always from Flynn... one of heavy rock's finest vocalists ever! "My Enemy" & "Anarchy Ok" didnt disappoint and unlike Adelita from Magic Dirt, Flynn did not use big day out as a medium for him to preach his personal political views which dampen big day out... rather the music did the talking and Flynn kept his comments to profoundly well recieved gestures of good will and peace to all!

To end out my night... Shihad were there to deliver another great set of heavy rocking tunes. Having also seen them before, nothing really surprised me but this didnt diminish my enjoyment of the set. Jon Toogood seemed to really give the gig his all and has developed a very clever and simple formula to gain crowd involvement and participation. Having seemingly made these guys our own, Shihad embraced the australia day vibe well and really impressed. Being an avid fan already, Shihad did not need to do much to impress me, all I ask is "none of the above" "my minds sedate" & and blistering version of "alive" and i am set. All they needed was to allow Shihad to do an encore and that would of topped them off even more sweetly! Anyway not to worry, it is more so just refreshing to see them back as Shihad, sticking true to their personal and musical truth.

All in all, this big day out for Elfonzo was one that marked the start of the fun boys and start of more and more fun... musically the pulling out of AFI & Mylo did dampen my day alittle but none the less there still was enough quality for me to even miss some of my personal favourites.

Big Day Out 07 here come the Fun Boys... BUT SUPERSIZED!

Clubbing and Gigging - 2 February

Friday
Defected In The House @ Tank (Every Friday)
Feat. ATFC from the UK, Allan Thompson etc
$25

Goodtimes @ Docks - West Darling Harbour (Every Friday)
Melbournes biggest RnB and House club comes to Sydney every Friday night
$15


ART 1st Birthday @ Yu, Potts Point
Soul Avengers (UK), Pain Relief , Shamus etc
$10

Dirty Fridays @ Echo Lounge 4 Phillip Street, Parramatta (Every Friday)
Dirty House, electro and funk
$10

Sublime @ Home Nightclub, Cockle Bay (Every Friday)
Jumping jack, Nik Fish, Elroy, Peewee Ferris and more
$25


Party local at

Mean Fiddler, Windsor Rd Rouse Hill

Castle Hill Tavern, Victoria Ave Castle Hill

Roxy Hotel, George St Parramatta (Suburban RnB)

Embassy Hotel - Cnr Station and Union Penrith



Saturday

4PLAY Tour @ Embassy Hotel Penrith
Jimmy Z
$?

Kink @ The Arthouse Pitt St Sydney
Shamus, Ben Morris
$25

Absolut @ Cruise Bar Intnl. Terminal, Circular Quay
Kirk Nicholson et all spinning Soulful house
Free

Party Local at..

Castle Hill Tavern, Victoria Ave Castle Hill (Solid Gold)

Roxy Hotel, George St Parramatta (Boogaloo Nights Funky House)


Local Clubbing News - Bloc Niteclub opening night is less that 2 weeks away. From the pictures Penrith could finally be getting a city-style club, hopefully not at city prices. Our sources tell us the closely guarded secret location is above the current Embassy Hotel site on Station St. Stay tuned.

UPCOMING SHOWS....
FEB 11 - Ministry Of Sound Numero Deux - Home Cockle Bay
FEB 18 - Diplo - Mandarin Club
FEB 18 - Good Vibrations - Centennnial Park
MARCH 4 - Broken Social Scene - Metro Theatre
APRIL 12 - Sigur Ros - Enmore Theatre
APR 14 - 16 - GREAT ESCAPE Festival - Newington Armoury
APRIL 19 - The Mountain Goats - Annandale Hotel


Thanks to Three D World and Drum Media for dates

Track Of The Week : Elton John - Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

Ok this song is an old one, but i can't stop listening to it at the moment. This track is off the 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' album which is an absolute triumph and is without doubt a classic. Sure it goes for 11 minutes and its two songs in one, but it rewards you the whole way. Elton's piano work and his amazing band are on show here in what is such a damn good song even Dream Theatre did a cover of it. But for now, just stick to the original. I have dreams about playing this song live, id make it glitchy and more synthy and a bit darker with a wicked power metal solo near the end but enough about my fantasies, here it is.

http://rhaplinks.listen.com/rhaplink?&track=5779416&from=cnet


PS. Im careful when i post mp3's cuz of the legal thing, so when i can ill give u stream URLS like this one but if not you will get an mp3. If the link doesnt work, just search on p2p or something use your imagination people.

PPS. Gig and Club guide for the weekend will be out tomorrow, havent had enough time to compile the dates and to talk to the club promoters yet ;)