Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

Bliss n Eso packed out the Enmore Theatre on Friday night, bringing with them a multi-generational crowd and a career-spanning show. From the opening moments, a cinematic, space-themed intro, to the final notes of 2010’s ‘Addicted’, the energy never waned. And with the scale and momentum of this mammoth national tour, I’d expect nothing less. …

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Backseat DownunderMusicNews

Australia’s hip-hop heavyweights Hilltop Hoods are stepping back into the spotlight. Today, the Adelaide trio announced their Never Coming Home national arena tour, their first since 2022’s sold-out Show Business run. The tour lands in major Australian cities early next year, coinciding with the release of their anticipated eighth studio album, ‘Fall From the Light’, …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

The Metro Theatre doesn’t sell out for just anything – but Machine Girl isn’t just anything. Last week’s show felt like an 8-bit summoning ritual. Shoulder to shoulder, a sea of goth, raver, e-kids and co. all packed in like they knew something the rest of the city didn’t. Opening was Hobart’s Quest Master, and …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

Touring ‘Frog in Boiling Water‘, their first album in five years, DIIV brought their thick, slow-dripping sound to life with a set that doubled as a collage of cult consumerism, protest, and digital rot. Across the huge screen behind them, ads flickered like computer viruses: Soul-Net, ExxonMobil, fake slogans, anti-slogans. Aesthetics lifted from American mall …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

I was never a scene kid, and I’ve accepted this as a huge loss on my part. I wasn’t allowed to hang out at a Westfield, nor was I on Myspace. I did, however, love my side fringe, and in 2010, I listened to Short Stack’s ‘Planets’ religiously on my mum’s hot pink iPod Shuffle. …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

One moment the Concert Hall was full of chatter, the next it was all brass and a single giant spotlight – Ezra Collective had arrived to perform their Vivid LIVE showcase, and they weren’t waiting around.The stage had been opened up for this one, with the audience wrapped around all sides like a sunken dancefloor, …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

Seeing Ball Park Music feels like running into the oldest of friends, no awkward catch-up, just straight back into the rhythm. Timing still perfect. And that comfort kicked in before a single chord at Enmore Theatre last week. The Brisbane five-piece are on a mammoth, nearly two-month national tour celebrating their eighth studio album ‘Like …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

It simply felt like a dream. That’s the only real way to describe Ichiko Aoba’s performance at the Sydney Opera House for VIVID LIVE. In the middle of a festival that thrives on sensory overload, Aoba offered us something slower and beautifully detached from the teeming cityscape outside. The Japanese artist had transformed the theatre …

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Backseat DownunderGalleryLive ReviewMusic

Masked and mysterious, Pale Jay stepped onto the stage of the Sydney Opera House for his first Eora/Sydney appearance and only his second show ever. As part of this year’s Vivid LIVE program, the rising soul artist delivered an excitingly curated set for a room full of undoubting fans. Known for the signature red balaclava …

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Backseat DownunderMusicTrack / Video

A year after ‘Frog in Boiling Water‘, DIIV return with their first new release – ‘Return of Youth‘, a quietly devastating single that trades widescreen collapse for something far more personal. Unsurprisingly, the track is a masterclass in shoegaze’s more delicate corners: layered, intimate, and full of restraint. It’s a noticeable shift from the chaos …

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