Welcoming Back Live Music With Ocean Alley

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a live music recap with you. It’s been a hot minute. Partially because I’m lazy but mostly because the last concert or live gig I went to was over a year ago in February 2020. We’ve had some ups and downs, we’ve had concerts moved, concerts completely cancelled, but finally, Melbourne, the live music capital of Australia, returned in all it’s glory with a list of incredible line ups and artists.

I saw Ocean Alley at The Sidney Myer Music Bowl on the 24th of March, and to say I was keen is an understatement. The OA concert only faced one scheduling shift due to COVID19, and that too not even that bad, just being moved back two months. In comparison to some of the concerts that have been shifted to the end of the year or cancelled entirely, I couldn’t be mad.

I went with my cousin Alishia, as well as one of my best friends Tessa and her boyfriend. We had a great little table for the four of us and between the music, the drinks, the food and the great company, it was one of the best nights out I’ve had in a long time.

The Grogans, who you may be familiar with some past blog posts, kicked off the night. It’s a bit of a full circle moment, considering they were the last concert I attended back in 2020. They brought their usual energetic charisma and punch to the big stage, followed by Maddy Jane and Slowly Slowly, two more amazing Australian acts.

When Ocean Alley finally got on stage, it was to a huge applause. The socially distanced concert, with everyone organised into mini stages of their own amongst the grass and with tables for smaller groups sprinkled across the many levels of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl was far better than I imagined it would be.

I did my old ‘find best tickets available‘ when purchasing tickets, so imagine our suprise when we were led to the front section and given a table right in the middle. It was a great stroke of luck. Turning around and seeing just how many people were packed onto the grass made it even luckier. It was such a great outcome for live music and Ocean Alley really turned it on for us.

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Ocean Alley has been one of my favourite bands for the longest time, and this was my third time seeing them live, yet time and time again, their concerts are some of my favourites to attend. Their always bring such a warm and relaxed energy, while all being incredibly talented musicians individually and as a band.

Getting to hear some of my favourite songs like The Comedown, Infinity, Wet Dreams, Yellow Mellow, Way Down and their hits like Knees, Confidence and Tombstone was such a great way to get back into the live music, gigging mood. Such instant mood-boosters.

I was only a little bit sad that they didn’t play Partner In Crime, my all time favourite OA song, which I streamed over 130 times last year according to my Spotify Wrapped…

If there was a lowlight to the show it’s that it finished so quick. I mean, they finished off Knees and I genuinely thought we had about half an hour to go, so was instantly shocked when they thanked everyone and walked off stage. Like, super cool walk off, but I wanted more!!

I guess I just have to hope they play some more tunes when I see them next week at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest….

x

Priya

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Laneway Festival // 2020

How satisfying is ‘2020’ to read and write?? That alone could honestly get me through the year.

Anyway. Not the reason we’re here today is it?? We’re gonna talk about Laneway Festival 2020!! I first went to Laneway Festival last year, which you can read about HERE, and to date, regardless of some hiccups concerning how the event was planned and organised, it’s one of my favourite day festivals that I’ve ever been to. Which is why when the lineup came out sometime last year, featuring some of my all time favourite artists ever who you’ll hear about soon, I told my friends that I was going regardless.

Now I’m not trying to throw shade at any of my friends whom I love dearly, but Laneway was my first festival of 2020, and it was the first chance I had to entirely body this Tweet that I sent out into the world at the beginning of the year.

2020 is gonna be the year of sticking to your guns and seeing who you actually wanna see at a festival rather than feeling obliged to stay with your friends for the whole entire thing to watch seven white guys with mullets play the same song on three different stages x

— P R I Y A (@priyafrancis_) January 22, 2020

When I say the lineup for Laneway Festival 2020 was incredible, it was incredible. If you don’t recognise at least some of the names on this lineup from somewhere on my blog in the last three years, I’ll be severely disappointed.

I mean, how good? Just as good, was the absolute squad we had going into the festival. You guys know my best friend Kate, and you may also know Tessa, if you’re up on my social media. Joining the three of us, we had Kate’s younger brother and his group of friends, my two cousin’s, one of my cousin’s boyfriend, and the other cousin’s group of friends as well. Because Laneway is a 16+ event now, the rule that has been implemented since last year is that anyone with a 16+ ticket, has to enter the festival with a guardian who has an GA 18+ ticket, with each guardian allowed to bring in five minors. So because of this, Kate, my cousin Alishia and I all had five 17 year old’s registered to us as our children, to bring into the festival, which is a lot more fun than it sounds.

Cue a little fence hopping to get into the line and being partially split up for a few minutes, and getting into the festival this year literally took twenty minutes, opposed to the two hours we waited last year, but we won’t talk about that.

Getting in so early, meant we literally had the whole day to see every artist we set out to see, and I’m so glad I got to catch everyone I had on my list. It was such a successful day. Here’s some of my favourites.

AGUNG MANGO
Agung Mango was added to lineup for Laneway as the Melbourne winner of the Triple J Unearthed competition which was super exciting for me, as he was an artist who’d been on my radar, but I’d never gotten to see live or really listen to properly. Luckily, we managed to catch majority of his set as soon as we got in, and it was such a great start to the day. His high energy performance consisted of several songs spent moshing in the pit with everyone, bringing guys on stage to rap and mosh with him, hyping and directing the crowd, and genuinely giving his all to the set. It was enough to make a fan out of my cousin Alishia and I straight away. I definitely recommend giving him a listen if rap, hip-hop, RnB is your type of stuff!

OMAR APOLLO
No surprises here, but Omar Apollo was one of the main artists I wanted to see live. After listening to his music and being thoroughly obsessed for close to three years, I made sure that I was ready, drinks in hand, in the mosh for his set to begin. And begin it did with Omar making his entrance in a silver, shiny button up, strutting across the stage knowing he owned it. It was such a good set, with amazing solos from not only him but his band as well. He started with Ashamed possibly one of the best opening songs I’ve seen in a set ever, and played all my favourites like Kickback, Ugotme, Headlights, and Hit Me Up. Thoroughly energised for that entire set, and the high just continued for the rest of the day.

KAIIT
If you think the name Kaiit might seem familiar, you may have caught my live review of her concert earlier last year when I saw her at Max Watt’s with some of my friends. If you happened to miss that post, you can read it HERE. She also features heavily in a plethora of my personal playlists. Over the years Kaiit has become one of my all time favourite musicians, and she was a big part of the reason I decided to bite the bullet and buy tickets to Laneway for the second year in a row. Her set was magical. The energy she brought to the stage, and the love she was able to share with everyone in the audience and on stage with her was contagious, and made for one of the most wholesome mosh pits I’ve ever been a part of. I made friends with complete strangers while singing along to her songs, and it was incredible to see how the crowd grew and grew as her set went on.

OCEAN ALLEY
I mean, would it even be a You Should Hear festival post without mentioning Ocean Alley?? Probably not. They had such a breezy set. The more festivals I’ve gone for, the more I’ve been happier to hang at the back of the mosh pit and actually get to see and hear the act on stage a bit more clearly. This was definitely the case for Ocean Alley who had a huge crowd for their set. They played so many of their fan favourites, it was such a wholesome set. I don’t know, there’s something about them that just makes me feel so content the few times I’ve got to see them live. Their set was a great mix of chill-er, laid back songs, mixed in with some of their heavier stuff that allowed you move around and bang your head, perfect for the readily waiting Laneway crowd.

MAHALIA

Arguably, my favourite set from the day. I had such a fun time in this mosh-pit. We managed to get there about ten minutes before she was scheduled to go on, and get quite close to the stage. The crowd literally tripled in size over the course of her set, and it felt like the entire festival was behind us, but I’ve never had so much fun. I was with my cousins, my cousins friends and Tess and Kate, and it was such a wholesome forty minutes of just dancing and screaming along to her songs. The video below probably sums up the vibe a lot better than I can describe it to be honest, so I’ll leave you with that.

THE 1975
The finale. I’m gonna be honest, I had no intentions of trying to fight my way through to get anywhere near the front, or even the middle of the mosh for The 1975. I like them. Am I in love with them? No. Am I in love with a very limited selection of their songs? Yes. So I was quite content hanging out closer to the back of the mosh for their set, and considering majority of festival goers were there for the final act of the day, it was pretty far back. That had no real impact on how much I enjoyed it though. I’ve always wanted to see The 1975 live, purely for how atmospheric and ambient their music is. You just get hit in the face with a wave of nostalgia anytime you listen to their music. Getting to hang at the back with my arms around my cousins, absolutely screaming the lyrics to Somebody Else and Love It If We Made It really just topped off my entire day to be honest.

To be real with you, I’ll probably be at Laneway Festival again next year (here’s hoping I don’t jinx it). It’s kind of become a little family affair over the last two years, so I’m keen to see how 2021 Laneway Festival pans out.

x

Priya

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A Bit Of Shawn Mendes With The Girls // Live

Hello hello!

Hope you’re all well! It genuinely seems like time seems to be speeding past and the end of the year is hurtling towards us, which was highlighted by this particular concert rolling around, tickets for which we booked over a year ago!

Honestly, Shawn Mendes. What a man.

I used to listen to his music when he was fresh off Vine, and then it kind of fizzled out for me. However, the music he’s been releasing in the last two or three years has been right on my radar, so when he announced he was doing a tour that would feature a few shows in Melbourne, I was a little bit on the fence about if I should go.

However, when my sister and her best friend decided to go, it was brought up that they’d need someone to take them. My mum’s past experience with my friends and I at the first One Direction concert in 2013 was enough for her to shut down the idea straight away, but when my best friend Kate mentioned she was interested in going – it all just clicked perfectly into place, and a few days later, we had four tickets.

The concert arrived on one of the warmer days of Melbourne’s undecided October, which made for a great time catching the train together and walking to Rod Laver from Richmond station with the huge cluster of concert goers. Kate and I were probably amongst the oldest people we saw at the concert, aside from a few parents and groups of older adults.

We made two quick pitstops, one so my sister could buy herself a T-shirt from the merchandise stand, and another to grab some food, which we ate before heading inside.

Dan + Shay were the opening act, and I was pleasantly surprised. I never listened to them much before, despite how much I’ve been told to by numerous people, so hearing them for the first time in a live arena setting was a treat. The vocals were incredible, so many people knew the words to nearly every song and they were definitely one of the best opening acts I’ve seen thus far.

When Shawn finally stepped on stage, I sweat to God, I had war flashbacks from the One Direction concerts I went to in high school. The shrieks were insane, and Kate and I spent a good half of the first song, laughing at my fifteen year old sister and her friend screaming and singing their heads off.

Lost In Japan is one of my favourite songs from his latest album, and it was arguably the best song to open with. It was so groovy, and I should have seen the foreshadowing for the rest of the show in that song along. Every little nuance of Shawn’s voice is super interesting to me, but there was also this added element of jazz and RnB that I never knew to expect, and the music arrangements probably would have impressed most music nerds.

Highlights for me definitely included Stitches, which had my throat sore and aching from screaming along with the girls. It got to a point where we became that annoying group of girls who you sit in front of and can only hear them singing horribly for the entire show.

He moved to a little B Stage, where he performed a Whitney Houston cover, as well as a medley of songs from all of his albums, and one of my favourites, Ruin, which delivered my favourite guitar solo on the album. I had seen videos of him doing it live the night before, so I was eagerly anticipating it the entire night.

I loved Where Were You In The Morning, as well as Particular Taste, where he decided to actually pop off with his falsetto. If you follow me on Instagram – @priya_francis you’re welcome – you’d have seen my Instagram story just obsessing over the control and range he had and how good everything sounded. He screamed and went into his higher register with such ease, it was a very rock-star moment, and everyone couldn’t help but lose it each time he did an unexpected note.

Mercy went off, and the final song, In My Blood was such a beautiful finish, with the giant rose that had been rising and falling throughout the show being covered in confetti from canons that heralded the end of the show.

Look, I don’t know what I was expecting from that show, but he blew all my expectations out of the water. My sister and I literally sat for half an hour after the concert downstairs with our parents, showing them different clips of him singing, our favourite parts and songs. It was such an enjoyable concert, and I’m glad I went with the gals I did.

x

Priya

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Bruno Major // Live

Hello, hello, hello!

Hope you’re all enjoying your week – today’s post is another little concert review!!

Late in September, a good friend of mine from high school and I decided to have a cute little night out with one of our favourite singers, Bruno Major. You may recognise his name from a few of my previous posts, such as my Very Specific Pt. 15 post and a few monthly tunes collections.

When we discovered that we were the only two people we knew who listened to his music and loved him, we were the first to message each other when her released new music, tag the other in his Instagram posts and just generally love and appreciate his music.

So when it was announced that he’d be doing a tour around Australia, Amy was the first person I messaged, and I bought tickets for his second Melbourne show straight away.

As I’ve come to realise over time, as great of a venue as it is, Northcote Social Club, where the concert was taking place, is a trek and a half. To get there by public transport means I have to catch two trains, get on a tram for close to forty minutes and then walk about fifteen. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but when the public transport system is as unreliable as Melbourne’s consistently seems to be, driving is just the easiest option, so when Amy volunteered to drive us in, I was down.

We had a phenomenal meal of Mexican for dinner, before heading towards the venue.

We got there just in time to catch a good chunk of the opening act, Georgie Clifford, a New Zealand artist who I actually follow on Instagram, after discovering her through @pickupmusic. PS. any music nerds out there – throw @pickupmusic a follow, you will not be disappointed.

For those of you that don’t know about Bruno Major, in 2016 he announced that he’d be releasing a song a month for a year, and that culminated in the release of the album he is currently touring, A Song For Every Moon. However, the fourth track on that album, Easily, really kicked everything off for him, and it was that song that led me to the discovery of this magical, magical artist.

By the time Bruno got on stage it was packed, and his first song was received so warmly. And then he said “hello” in his British accent and everyone lost it. There’s something so calming about his voice, and the refined nature with which he spoke made everyone hang to his every words.

If I had to describe the concert in one word, it would be, serene. Not all the songs were happy. While a large majority of his songs were the beautifully simple love songs that he’s used to make a name for himself, some were about heartbreak, some dedicated to the loss of family members, about the end of the world and other sentimental musings yet it was all encompassed by this over-arching atmosphere of serenity.

Some of my favourite parts of the concerts were the moments where the beautiful gentleness of the songs were pushed to the back and he literally just shred. I say ‘shred’ pretty generously, because I feel like the type of guitar playing Major showed off was so nonchalant that ‘shredding’ is too aggressive of a word to use. That type of smooth jazz/RnB style of guitar playing is honestly some of my favourite, think Nokia Theatre John Mayer style. It was so clean and finessed and understated, and he pulled it off so perfectly. I was genuinely entranced for the vast majority of the set.

He performed so many of my favourites. Wouldn’t Mean A Thing, Second Time, Places We Won’t Walk, Old Fashioned, and his most recent single, Nothing. It was such a gentle and pure concert, and the audience was so respectful, yet still managed to sing along to every word.

 

 

It took everything in me to not deviate from my budget for the month and buy one of his shirts from the merchandise stand too. That said, this concert was around $42 AUS, which for me, considering how beautiful every single moment was, whether he was on the guitar or the piano, was absolutely worth it.

x

Priya

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Julia Michaels aka Sunshine Personified // Live

Hello friends!!

Hope you’re all well and having a great week.

Today’s post is another concert review. The topic of today’s post, as you can quite obviously read from the title, is the one and only Julia Michaels.

I have to be honest. I don’t listen to a ton of Julia’s music, I have some favourites that I keep in my playlists, but when she announced she’d be doing a couple of shows in Australia, it wasn’t something I jumped on straight away.

Enter my best friend Kate who loves Julia Michaels.

Kate, being the absolute legend that she is, pulled through and bought tickets to come and see Jon Bellion with me in November, so when I found out how much she wanted to see Julia, I decided to return the favour and buy a ticket with her.

Julia played on the 4th of September, so I headed to the station straight after work, doing a quick outfit change in the car before heading off, and met Kate on the train into the city. We initially thought the show started at 7, so were a bit hesitant about trying and getting something to eat, but after a later update on the FaceBook event notifying us that she’d be on at 8:45, we stopped off at an old favourite, Nando’s, for dinner.

It worked out well, as the Nando’s we ate at was right next to The Forum, where the concert was taking place. It was only after stepping out of the restaurant, that we realised it was bucketing down. Torrential rain. Luckily we were undercover, however as we walked towards The Forum, we quickly noticed the line of people waiting to get in, that curved down Hosier Lane, getting absolutely soaked.

Now, we were keen for the concert, but not keen enough to stand out in the rain, I’ll tell you that.

So instead, we decided to wait under the shelter of the restaurant that was on the other side of Hosier Lane and as the doors opened and people started moving in, hopping onto the end of the line as it passed us, spending the least amount of time out in the wet as possible.

Getting in, Kate took the opportunity to buy a hoodie from the merchandise stall, and I grabbed a drink from the bar, before we started our well practiced maneuver of making our way down the side of the theatre, into the mosh pit, and moving up from the left hand side of the mosh. I promise you, it’s worked every time. We did the same for Gang Of Youths so we knew it worked in The Forum, and sure enough, we managed to get pretty close to the front without being absolutely packed like sardines, much like the people a mere few metres away from us.

As I said, I don’t know many other songs from Julia other than the few favourites I’ve added to my playlists, so songs like Pink which she opened with, Make It Up To You, Hurt Again, Apple or Priest gave me the opportunity to really enjoy the show, take note of her amazing band and appreciate how much effort she put into the performance.

On the other hand, we had songs like I Miss You, her collab with Clean Bandit, Heaven, Happy, Anxiety, Uh Huh and my absolute favourite, Into You, where I really got into it and sang along with everyone else in the crowd.

Kate and I constantly had to comment on how happy and energetic she was. I swear to you, she didn’t walk once across the stage. She genuinely skipped every where she had to go. Even when she parted the mosh pit like the Red Sea and walked through to perform a cover of Fuck You by Cee Lo Green as well as one of her own, she skipped down through the fans and took her place in the middle of the theatre.

She of course finished on two very strong notes, starting off her encore with What A Time, originally dueted with a favourite around these parts, Niall Horan. That particular song got everyone in the theatre singing along, and we were all more than ready to absolutely belt Issues when it finally rolled around. It was a deafeningly loud version of the song, but there was so much energy within The Forum. Julia pulled a really dynamic and diverse crowd. There was a large majority of females, ranging from young, little girls to older girls in their late teens and twenties like Kate and I, but there were also quite a few boyfriends who came along, groups of guys, older families and couples, and everyone sang along super enthusiastically.

It was a very, very wholesome experience.

Like I mentioned before, her band were very commendable. They vibed with her perfectly, joining in with the choreographed dancing enthusiastically enough that it didn’t seem cringey or inauthentic, and vibing with the crowd in between Julia’s two breaks. It was overall a really positive, insanely cute concert.

 

 

Another thing that stood out to me was the amount of fans she knew by name. She called out a ‘hello’ to one as she passed them on her way back to the stage, she commented on how every time she’s back in Australia one specific fan keeps getting taller and taller and she dedicated one of the last songs to a specific fan she had spotted towards our side of the mosh pit. Like I said before, wholesome as hell.

x

Priya

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Childish Gambino, In The Flesh // Live

My. Dudes.

This post has been a long time coming. In fact, it’s been in the works for more than three years, and it’s finally happening.

Childish Gambino live in concert.

And how do we make it just that little bit better? We add Mia into the mix.

I’ve loved Childish Gambino for close to four or five years now. Heck, he’s got a dedicated space on my wall, among four other artists who I look up to and am inspired buy (check that out HERE), and he’s become one of the most talked about musicians ever. Whether it’s his music, his comedy, his acting/writing/directing, he’s become a well known name and whether you’re calling him Gambino or Donald, he’s made some impact in the societal sphere, especially within the last two or three years.

Which is why, finally getting to see him in concert, after years of rapping his songs in my room, singing or dancing along with my friends, talking about his cultural influence and critiques; seeing him in concert was something I had been waiting for.

There was also a certain weight to Gambino finally coming down to Australia. I think he’s been injured twice and had to cancel, and the last time he announced a tour I didn’t even get tickets. Which made his final concert so incredible and energetic.

PLUS. The fact that I went for the concert with Mia??? Mind-blowing. If you have the time, keep scrolling to some of my first posts and you’ll eventually come across quite a few where the comment section is purely just Mia and I (and homegirls Chloe and Fiona) fangirl-ing over Donald. And that’s before she moved to Australia. So obviously, huge significance with the fact being the first time I get to see him live, it’s with that gal.

I met up with Mia in the city, and after grabbing a drink to pass the time before the concert, we headed into Rod Laver Arena, obviously peer pressuring each other to buy a T-shirt at the merchandise stand beforehand.

It took a little while to start filling up, though Channel Tres did his best to get everyone hyped up. His set was a little hit and miss for us, with some songs being absolute bangers and really getting our attention, and others falling a bit flat. However, it made the wait for Gambino a bit more bearable.

When he finally came on, it was with little to no theatrics, just him walking to the front of the catwalk, and bowing his head, a move that’s become almost signature. He played a huge plethora of songs, some that had me jumping up and down, dancing and rapping along, others that gave me some space to just watch him and his incredible band.

Summertime Magic came pretty early in the setlist and it brought some warmth to the cold Melbourne night. It was such a fun song to see live and dance along to, which of course Mia and I did.

He performed so many killer songs, like The Worst Guys, Worldstar, Me and Your Mama, Boogieman, Have Some Love, pausing in the middle of these killer tracks to perform another fan favourite, Feels Like Summer and continuing to just give an amazing overall performance, one I’ve literally been waiting years to see.

One of the most commendable parts of the show, was a moment when he completely disappeared from the stage, only for a live feed to be brought up onto the big screens, following him around the underground of Rod Laver Arena. When he finally emerged outside in the front of the arena doors, walking past the merchandise stand, food stands and bars where we all were before the show began, everyone went nuts, searching for the door he’d enter through. He finally appeared, right at the top of Rod Laver Arena, and made his way down through the seats, cool as a bloody cucumber, giving cues to his band back on the stage to solo and really get a moment to show off how amazing they all were as musicians.

This Is America was always going to go absolutely mental, and to have it played live in front of us was something from a completely different planet. The signature dancers were lively and energetic up on the stage with him, and he somehow managed to match their energy seamlessly, still rapping every word, aside from those he prompted the crowd to scream back at him.

When he finally went off stage for a moment, the roar for the encore was deafening as Mia and I tried to think of all the other songs he could possibly play during the encore. Ya girl had personally been holding out to hear Bonfire or IV. Sweatpants, so my fingers were crossed.

It’s hard to be upset when the first song of his encore was Sober, which once again set everyone in the audience absolutely off, and the transition into V. 3005 was seamlessly, continuing the stream. He was phenomenal to watch, and it was like he somehow managed to bring his energy and commitment up a notch during this encore.

I nearly shrieked when IV. Sweatpants started and Mia and I probably pissed off everyone sitting next to, in front of or behind us from how much we jumped and screamed. I mean, this was one of the songs we went absolutely ham on during our roadtrip for Falls Festival, so it’s our song. Of course, he had to tease me a little with the intro to Bonfire playing as a lead up into Redbone.

Watching him kneeling down on the stage, singing the song even better than the studio version, then jumping off the stage to wade through the moshpit?? A moment. I wish I had some photos to include in this post, but honestly I don’t. I was literally so enthralled by the absolute magic going down.

Childish Gambino was literally more than I ever could have imagined. It honestly didn’t matter that we weren’t in the first row or down in the mosh pit – he had the entire arena in the palm of his hand.

x

Priya

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Kaiit Killed It // Live

Hellooo friends, and welcome to another blog post.

Today’s post is gonna be a rundown of what was one of the most wholesome gigs I’ve ever attended. On the 12th of July, I got to see Kaiit, who I consider to be somewhat of a Melbourne legend.

She played at Max Watt’s theatre in the city, so it was another Friday night of meeting my friends, this time Dan and James who also play in a band with me, at the station and hopping on a train, then a replacement bus into the city. We got there considerably early, having our wrist stamped at around 8:15, so by the time we got into the venue it wasn’t too packed at all.

After a drink and a quick suss of the first opening act we decided to head back out into the city for something eat, with Subway making do, before returning to MW for Maya Hirasedo, the second opening act.

I’ve actually mentioned Maya on the blog before, so you can read that post HERE. She did a fantastic job of getting the vibes up and the place continued to fill up more and more as she performed.

Finally, it was time for Kaiit. While waiting for the boys to get another drink, I held the amazing spot we’d got on the steps above the pit that served as more of a moshing area compared to the rest of the space where the standing and dancing was a bit tamer. I also bumped into another friend who was making his way through, so him and his mate ended up joining us for the concert.

When it came time for Kaiit to come on stage, we were absolutely blessed to have her mum, come on stage and pay respects to traditional owners of the land, and throughout the performance there were elements of Indigenous and Polynesian culture which made my heart swell so much, it was such a beautiful and respectful display from such a beautiful artist.

Kaiit was phenomenal. Amazing. So, so, wholesome. She was constantly emphasising how grateful she was to have a sold out show in her hometown, and when she wasn’t saying it, it was coming through in her singing.

If you haven’t checked out her music, especially since you started reading this post – please do. Kaiit is so insanely talented, and if you’re someone who calls to artists like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Nai Palm, Jill Scott, Amy Winehouse, Kehlani or any female artist who sits in that pocket for inspiration or killer tunes, then you will 10/10 enjoy all of Kaiit’s music.

 

 

There were definitely crowd favourites. 2000 n Somethin went off, despite how mellow and ambient it is. Everyone in the crowd, sang every single lyric. My pals and I literally stood up on the steps with our arms around each other screaming all the lyrics. Like I said, a wholesome, wholesome gig.

When she sang her latest single, Miss Shiney, there was this huge cheer from the audience, and it was such a beautiful song to highlight her band and their musicality, especially her backup singers, who had two of the most angelic voices I’ve ever heard.

 

 

Natural Woman was sung later in the show, and it was such a great vibe. One of my friends new the rap just as tightly as I did, and we had the best time vibing off each other and singing lyrics to the others in our group. This song is one of the smoothest songs Kaiit has ever released in my opinion, and it translated perfectly live. Smooth like honey.

Her encore, was definitely one of my favourite encores so far this year. She came out to the sounds of one of her most loved songs, OG Luv Kush pt.2, the perfect way to end the show. She literally floated on stage, joint in mouth, with four spares to throw into the audience, and everyone went absolutely mad.

Kaiit absolutely killed it. Her Melbourne show was the perfect display of what makes her such a loved artist not only here in the city, but all over the country and around the world. Even as we were walking back to Flinder’s Street station and on the bus/train ride home, all the three of us could talk about was how she smashed it.

She’s gonna be huge. I’m telling you. Pinky promise.

x

Priya

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GIG GUIDE 2019 // SO FAR

Hello hello hello!!

Hope you’re all well and good – today’s post is an attempt at the subtle brag. It’s not entirely subtle, but I’m sharing it as humbly as I possibly can. I’ve shared a Gig Guide before, if you’d like to check out my 2017 Gig Guide, you can find it HERE, and for the basic Gig Guide for 2019, which has changed a little bit, you can find that HERE, but for the most updated version of what’s happening with me gig wise in 2019, keep on reading!

Why suddenly share another Gig Guide post when the year is only half way done, you ask? Because today, I bought tickets to four different gigs. In one day. Define; insanity. Also, define; impulse spending. That said, I’m insanely excited for literally all the gigs I’ve got lined up so far.

So let’s get into it!! Any gigs with applicable posts will be linked, I highly suggest you check them out!

FEBRUARY

LANEWAY FESTIVAL
Honestly, 2019 started amazingly. I started the year at Falls Festival, which you should definitely check out HERE, and by February, I was ready to keep the momentum going, which came in the form of Laneway Festival. Laneway was a fantastic festival, with a stellar lineup, and despite a rocky start to the day I had a fantastic time. I saw some amazing acts like Masego, Rex Orange County and DJDS, and had heaps of fun with my gal pals taking photos, hanging out and chatting and listening to amazing music.

LAURYN HILL
Lauryn Hill. The queen. She’s one of my favourite musicians ever, so getting to see her live, especially now, was a once in a lifetime opportunity – that said…I’ve seen her twice??? She was amazing, and it was a masterclass in musicality.

MARCH

JOHN MAYER
John Mayer, may just be God’s gift to the world. I say this about a lot of people, but I mean it this time. I mention in my recap of the concert, but he’s one of those artists who’s just been there forever, if you know what I mean? There are so many songs we love by John Mayer, but never think about until you hear them. Not only is he a musical genius, but he’s truly been a huge part of my life in terms of his songs, his artistry and his talent.

APRIL

MATT CORBY
Again, a magical, magical man. This was one of the most beautiful live shows ever. He was so humble and gentle when speaking but put so much passion and power into his songs. I was completely still for majority of this concert, just in awe of the musician on stage.

BLUESFEST
I promise, a BluesFest post is coming. I’ve said it a million times, but it’s one of the heftiest posts to do, which I learned last year, but I promise it’ll come up eventually. BluesFest was so amazing, this year was definitely better than last year for several reasons, but there were some incredible acts for 2019. People like Hozier, Ocean Alley, Allen Stone, they were all such class acts, and I’m so glad I got to see them.

MAY

G FLIP
What. A. Cutie. G Flip put on such a great show, with the perfect balance of energy and vulnerability between all her songs, many of which were unreleased. The energy of the show was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

LAUREL
I got the chance to see LAUREL through my university placement, at a magazine where I reviewed the gig. She has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard and it was a great opportunity to see her live. She didn’t disappoint and I’m still obsessing over her music.

THE FORECAST – AS OF TODAY (12/06/19)

So there are quite a few shows I have lined up for the rest of the year, since I haven’t been to them yet, I won’t really expand on them – but definitely keep an eye out for the posts when I do go.

JUNE

KIM CHURCHILL

JULY

ELIOTT
KAIIT
CHILDISH GAMBINO

SEPTEMBER

JULIA MICHAELS
BRUNO MAJOR

OCTOBER

SHAWN MENDES

NOVEMBER

JON BELLION
SPILT MILK FESTIVAL

So there you have it! I’m clearly super excited about the music I’m experiencing this year – I honestly doubt the list will stop here, you’ll probably end up seeing a few more gig reviews than predicted as of now, but that just means more content for you!!

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what your favourite gig of the year so far has been! I’d love to know what everyone else is heading to!!

x

Priya

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G Flip // Live

Hello hello hello!! Welcome back, hopefully it hasn’t been too long.

Today’s post is yet another concert review and wrap-up.

Quite a little while ago, I shared two posts in particular; Kick Ass Females and Australian Music from Australian Artists. Both these posts featured one of the most prominent up-and-coming artists (in my opinion) at the moment, G Flip. She’s actually quite local to the area I live in, a bunch of people know her around here, and she’s become a bit of a hero.

If you’re not entirely sure who I’m talking about, G Flip is a kick-ass, 5-foot-something drummer (thought humbly also a multi-instrumentalist) and singer who’s first released single, About You kicked off on Triple J Unearthed a mere four hours after it was uploaded. Since then her trajectory has been on a steady incline and she returned to Melbourne for two shows at The Corner Hotel.

I invited my close friend and drummer James to join me for the gig, and we were both super excited for what we were sure was to be a great show.

We got inside the venue about ten or so minutes before G Flip came out and revelled at how packed it was. Her sold-out show just about filled the venue, and everyone was super eager for the set to begin.

When she finally came out, the crowd lost it.

If there’s one thing I noticed throughout the show, was that although the lead singer, supported by a two-man band on stage, whenever she stepped behind the drums, her singing wasn’t impacted in the slightest, and vice-verse. She was able to walk the line of each instrument and performance perfectly, delivering a high-intensity show that had everyone screaming and singing along.

G Flip performed a bunch of her well know songs, About You, Killing My Time (personal favourite) and Bring Me Home, as well as newer releases like I Am Not Afraid and Drink Too Much which genuinely blew the lid of the place, as well as a handful of unreleased songs and one of the best covers of Proud Mary I have ever got the privilege of hearing live.

Stupid was an unreleased track I’m super excited about. It was a great song, a bit of tongue-in-cheek story-telling that hooked us all from the get go and unlike other artists I’ve watched live, I loved that G Flip actually took the time to explain some of her songs before performing them, giving us all some context and inviting her inside her a head little bit.

Drink Too Much was definitely a highlight for me. It was also clearly a crowd favourite. G Flip had a bit of a synchronised dance with her band mate and really played up to how cheeky and playful she is on stage, and the audience loved every moment of it.

As we left the gig, James mentioned something that really stuck with me and I agree with 100%. One of the best things about the show was how authentic and real G Flip was throughout the entire time. She allowed her personality to come through, she took moments in between songs to banter with the audience and let us into her life a little bit.

She shared stories about how her dad used to work at The Corner, how many artists she had lined up to see at the venue and how insane it was that she was now selling it out. She also delivered a very convincing argument for the support of Malteser gift-boxes, a few of which she threw out at the audience at the end of the show.

It was genuinely like watching a friend up on stage, joking around with everyone in the audience, doing a little jig in unison with her guitarist and laughing as she saw the crowd’s reactions to some of the tricks she pulled out of her bag.

It was a very humble performance, authentic like I mentioned before and not in the slightest bit contrived or pretentious. It was a really great gig and I’m so glad I got to finally catch G Flip live.

x

Priya

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Matt Corby // Live

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

Hello friends. Boy do I have a blog post for you. Albeit, incredibly, incredibly overdue, but exciting nonetheless.

On the 12th of April, I finally got to see Matt Corby live. If you’ve been here for a little while, you know that I could go on, and on and on about Matt Corby and the insane amount of talent in that one person.

Due to the absolute shambles that was Melbourne public transport during the weeks before and around the day of the concert, my friend James and I met on the train, which took us a few stations forward, before boarding a replacement bus for about 40 minutes into the city.

Once we were there, we scouted a place for dinner, settling on The Duke, a popular restaurant, rooftop wine bar and pub opposite Federation Square, and spent the forty-five minutes before the concert talking and preparing for the man himself.

Following dinner, we made our way to Margaret Court Arena, only a fifteen minute walk from The Duke, and with a quick pit stop at the arena bar, were down in the mosh pit a few minutes later.

Matt’s set was electrifying, though at the same time it was one of the most serene performances I’ve ever seen. Whether that’s down to the nature of his songs and how authentically raw they all come across, or the overall presence he has while on stage, I don’t know, all I do know is that I spent majority of the concert just standing there staring at him in total awe, with James periodically checking in with my to see if I was okay.

I wasn’t.

He played some of the fan favourites quite early, like one of his recent releases No Ordinary Life, All Fired Up, Sooth Lady Wine and Brother, and I was pleasantly shocked and surprised when he played Monday one of my absolute favourite songs from Corby.

One thing that struck was, despite how packed the mosh pit was, it wasn’t a rough, pushy crowd of people. Everyone was content with listening to his voice, the amazing band and backing vocals he had behind him, and catching a glimpse of him every now and then when you opened your eyes.

He moved around the stage pretty unassumingly. He was the epitome of humility, and I think that only really served to draw us all in even more.

Empires Attraction, Resolution and Souls A’Fire were the perfect songs to ‘wrap up’ the show, and it really kept the energy levels on a steady incline throughout the entire set.

The final encore song was a tune everyone had been holding out for, one of his most popular songs from his latest album, Miracle Love.

The song was so atmospheric and Matt controlled the audience like a conductor in an orchestra pit. There was a moment where he instructed all of us on what to sing, a percussive yet hauntingly beautiful line, ‘bring back that miracle love‘ and he ad-libbed over us.

There’s something incredibly guttural yet at the same time gentle and hypnotic about his voice. He has this great ability to switch between being really tender and soft but then completely ramp up to sing with all his power behind it. It’s one of my favourite things about Matt, and the songs he writes partner with his voice perfectly.

It was a really great concert. I have to be unbiased and admit that Matt isn’t entirely in my top five artists, or maybe even my top ten, but I knew passing up the opportunity to see him live was probably one I’d grow to regret, and I’m so glad I go to see him.

If you ever get the chance to see him live, I highly recommend you do so. It’s an amazing mixture of complete humility partnered with an insane amount of talent that makes it a show worth watching.

x

Priya

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