I got a tip today about a new club opening in Brisbane. A couple of DJs who used to kick around the valley in my younger years are opening a club called Overdrive on Friday 13th at the old Lands Office hotel (cnr George St and Mary St.) Does that place even exist any more? I thought it closed long ago…

Anyways, these guys are promising to play all the music you dance around your lounge room to because it isn’t played in clubs anywhere. I’m going to try and track them down and figure out exactly what kind of music they are talking about, but if its anything like the stuff they used to play, we’re talking Beasties, Bjork and Blur.

So far, alls I can tell you is it opens at 9pm, its free before 10pm, and closes at 5am; they are promising cheap drinks, plus anyone who attends on the opening night gets free membership. I’ll report back when I’ve chatted to the boys and got a little more information.

Last week, I saw the Dropkick Murphys and Sick Of It All, two bands I’ve listened to for a very long time, but never seen live. I discovered Sick Of It All like I discovered a lot of new music, from snowboarding movies. The Dropkick Murphys, I discovered in a drunken haze somewhere or other .. possibly while also listening to Flogging Molly and The Gourds.

The show was at the Tivoli, and I do believe more of my friends turned up to this show then any other concert I’ve ever been to. It was a great night!

Sick Of It All were a lot more hardcore than I remember. When the ‘Murphys came on stage, even Al said “I asked those guys to take it easy, but like always they didn’t listen…” Now that I think about it, I don’t think I have any Sick Of It All albums - maybe I should have done a bit more research before I went there. But that’s ok - my time was well spent waiting in line for booze and catching up with friends.

When Sick Of It All left the stage, the “Let’s go Murphys” chant began and didn’t stop until the show got started.

The show was great, and the crowd was rougher than Queens of the Stone age at the Arena a few months back. In fact, my slight friend Ryan and I started a circle pit, the physical abuses of which I haven’t enjoyed for a couple of years. There was crowd surfing and moshing, all to the slowest punk music there is - Celtic punk (aka Irish drinking punk.)

I came out of there drenched in sweat, with a ‘Murphys football jersey and a smile on my face. Too bad it was a school night and nothing was open afterwards.

On June 21st, Brisbane will host Fête de la Musique for the very first time. Fête de la Musique is a free multicultural, multi-community event which began in Paris in 1982. Every year on June 21st, hundreds of cities worldwide celebrate this event.

Presented by Brisbane City Council, Brisbane Marketing and Alliance Française, Fête de la Musique offers free concerts in a variety of indoor and outdoor locations, not traditionally dedicated to music. There will be a number of performance spaces throughout the Queen Street Mall and Fortitude Valley malls with a huge finalé concert scheduled at Reddacliff Place at the top of Queen Street Mall on George Street.

This event is a unique opportunity to encourage major music institutions, like orchestras and operas, to perform outside their usual locations. Being a multicultural event, many styles of music will be represented, including classical, jazz, rock, electronic, rap, pop, folk and traditional.

This is a non-profit event and artists can perform as many times as possible during the day. When a schedule is available, your intrepid reporter shall provide. What this space for information about what’s going to be a massive free music festival!

Ok, so it’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog post. More than a month in fact! I find solice in the knowledge no one actually reads my rants, but still, if I don’t make the time to express myself, .. well, I’m sure something bad may happen.

What’s been happening? Queens of the Stone Age baby - that was the highlight of March. Those boys rocked the Arena on the 27th I seem to recall… I’d seen Black Rebel Motorcycle Club there earlier in the year, and it was the LOUDEST show I’ve ever been to. I was hurting for days afterwards. So this time I was prepared - feeling every day of my 31 years, I had earplugs in my pocket, you know, just in case. Luckily, the rock was just the right volume and I crowd-surfed my way to rock n roll heaven.

Also, I made a fine Brisbane live music discovery was made just yesterday. If you like your music a little sophisticated, getting drunk at the Powerhouse museum sunday session while listening to a Conservatorium of Music band classy the place up is a good way to start. Jokes aside, it never ceases to amaze me the depth of musical talent in this town. Definitely worth a look see.

One more thing - another unsigned Brisbane talent, Madeleine Paige, has her EP launch at the Globe Theatre this Thursday. Your intrepid reporter will be there; so should you!

One of my favourite unsigned local artists is Anna Weatherup. This chick has the most amazing voice and is starting to generate quite a buzz around Brisbane. March 6th will see the launch of her first EP Truth at the Globe Theatre, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. The first single off the EP - “Real” - made it to number 1 the Triple J Unearthed Rock charts (number 4 on the overall chart.)

You think that I’d know better this time
God give me strength tonight
                - Anna Weatherup

She plays on her own, with just her Maton guitar, her stomp box and her amazing voice. And her EP is no exception. I spoke with her about the recording process, and she said she did record extra guitar, bass and drums, and in the end scrapped the lot of it to keep the same feel you get when you see her play.

Her Unearthed profile suggests she sounds like Mia Dyson, Alanis Morisette, or Sarah McLachlan. She does do a wonderful acoustic version of Silence (Delirium featuring Sarah McLachlin), my you can also make comparisons to other Aussie breakthrough artists like Missy Higgins, The Waifs and Lisa Mitchell.

Speaking of the Waifs, last year, they were rushed to Australia to fill the headlining spot for the Splendour in the Grass music festival at Byron Bay (I can’t recall who pulled out - I’ll get back to you.) Anways, Anna was playing at a cafe in the Brunswick St mall around that time and did a version of Lighthouse, by the Waifs. One of the sisters, who happened to be walking past, felt compelled to come and tell Anna that she sang that song better than they did!

Next Thursday, she is supported by two wonderful immerging artists: Madeleine Paige & Shelly Evans. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12 from OzTix.