live
Live Review plus Gallery: A pop-up masterclass in craft, warmth and multigenerational magic – Crowded House, MyState Bank Arena, Hobart, 26 November 2025
The legendary Crowded House have been undertaking a return bout of what are being called ‘pop-shows’ across Australia, covering areas they missed last year and targeting more intimate venues. Neil Finn says: We are very excited about playing in some of our favourite theatres, in 2 halves to allow some musical adventures to take place, a wide …
News: The legendary Drop City announce 30th anniversary release of seminal album ‘Magic Transistor Radio’ and reform for celebratory gigs.
The magnificent Drop City burned brightly in the nineties and included in its line up the ever proficient Matthew Tow, who later went on to join The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Backseat Downunder favourites The Lovetones. Their seminal album ‘Magic Transistor Radio’ turns thirty this year and will now be available on limited edition double …
Live Gallery: Fear Factory Frontman Returns with a Vengeance at the Factory Theatre
Fear Factory’s legacy lives loud – and louder – in Sydney’s Factory Theatre.
Live Review and Gallery: Fontaines D.C. set the harbour alight at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, 06/03/2025
Fontaines D.C.‘s current live tour promoting ‘Romance’, their latest album, is nothing short of a thrilling, raw, and relentless assault on the senses, reaffirming the band’s place at the forefront of post-punk. The Dublin five-piece, renowned for their ferocious energy and compelling lyricism, have managed to push themselves into new territory with this record, embracing …
Live Review & Gallery: Hed P.E. Send Off Their Australian Tour In Style At The Triffid, Brisbane, 09.02.25
Hed P.E. takes Brisbane on an intense journey, finishing up their last Australian show the only way they know how.
Feature: Backseat Downunder’s favourite Australian gigs and photographs from 2024
2024 represented a return to full service – and more – in the live music scene in Australia where the Backseat Mafia’s Backseat Downunder Team are located. With an ever expanding range of shows attended, we covered everything from international superstars like Taylor Swift to local bands plying their trade in small corner pubs. It …
Live Review + Photo Gallery: Claire Anne Taylor brings it on home at The Founders Room, Hobart 13.12.2024
It has been almost a year since I reviewed Claire Anne Taylor’s Giving It Away (review here), and over 55 gigs later after touring mainland Australia, she and her band brought the album home to her Tasmanian base along with some surprise new tracks which have been written and road-tested while on the long haul …
Live Review & Gallery: Mannequin Pussy Debut Tour Down Under – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney 6.12.2024
Mannequin Pussy Takes No Prisoners on Their Australian Debut Tour
Live Review: Darkwave alt-pop sensation – Artemas at the O2 Forum Kentish Town 11.11.24
I principally believe we are living in a post “one-hit-wonder” era where pop music is concerned, mostly owing to the space the online world has given artists. You can have an artist, completely devoid of songs you recognise, be unfathomably popular in a way you could never have realised. In this vein, I was invited …
Live Review & Gallery: Rising to the Occasion – Viagra Boys at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney 5.11.2024
No Prescription Needed for This Viagra