FRIDAY APRIL 17: Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Beirut, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, The Crystal Method, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Are Scientists, N.A.S.A., Patton & Rahzel, M. Ward, The Presets, The Hold Steady, A Place to Bury Strangers, Felix da Housecat, Buraka Som Sistema, Ryan Bingham, Bajofondo, Peanut Butter Wolf, Noah & the Whale, White Lies, The Bug, Alberta Cross, Los Campesinos!, Craze & Klever, Molotov, Switch, Gui Boratto, Steve Aoki, The Aggrolites, People Under the Stairs, The Courteeners, Cage the Elephant, Dear and the Headlights.
SATURDAY, APRIL 18: The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Mastodon, TRAV$DJ-AM, Henry Rollins, Crookers, Turbonegro, Hercules and Love Affair, Superchunk, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the DBT’s, Amanda Palmer, The Bloody Beetroots, Surkin, Para One (Live), Calexico, Liars, Bob Mould Band, Zane Lowe, Electric Touch, Blitzen Trapper, James Morrison, Drop the Lime, Glass Candy, Thenewno2, Gang Gang Dance, Billy Talent, Ida Maria, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Zizek, Cloud Cult, Tinariwen.
SUNDAY, APRIL 19: The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K’naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.
Coachella is an annual event held in Indio,California and the reason I've posted the full lineup is because its just too bloody amazing to not be posted.A 3-day pass costs $269 USD,whereas a single-day pass costs $99 USD.Breaks my heart to see this-I mean,C'MON-this is more or less what we've had/will be having Down Under:
Big Day Out-$140 AUSD/$90 USD-a blowup of boring has-beens like Neil Young and the Arctic Monkeys,but a nice mix of fresh indie stuff from Hot Chip,TV on the Radio,Ting Tings.Fucked schedule meant the big names clashed,stages were small and the venue: Flemington Racecourse is a bare,dried-up dump.50% of the space there was filled with stores selling junk and circus rides,they could've at least made bigger stages (two of the biggest stages were exactly side by side).
V Fest-also $140 AUSD/$90 USD-Snow Patrol,Kaiser Chiefs,Killers and Duffy headline.A huge excess of bands you've never heard of come with the illogically expensive price tag.
St Laneway Fest-$99 AUSD-last year we had Feist and a bunch of goodies,this year noone even worth mentioning.The line-up's like 100 bands long,you'd spot about 4 or 5 you think you've heard of before-and the rest I'm sure are completely fictional.
And of course we have Future Music festival (which,shockingly,has a pretty decent lineup including Pharell & Basement Jaxx),but most of the big events held in Australia have miserable lineups with tickets priced far beyond their worth.They must think we're idiots to pay that much for a half-assed job.I understand to bring over even a single band and their entourage would be costly,especially with the weakening economy and all.Still,look at the Coachella line-up and I'm sure some of you would be pissed a little.
*the good bit is that this probably means the YYYs are ready to tour,and its likely they'll be dropping by.
(via WBOTLB)
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31.1.09
30.1.09
28.1.09
Tara
1. Lost returned last week,I'm digging the whole time travel thing though I wish they wouldn't bring up more questions.A couple things were sort of answered,but the true intentions of people like Ben and Sayyid get cloudier with every hour.
2. One of the shows I kept catching on SBS or some other place and never understood was Big Love,so I got the first two seasons and have been following the new eps-one of the only character-oriented shows,it does take a bit of patience because there's a lot of talk and the drama takes its time but its the kind of show you get attached to,even though none of the characters (except the naive,idealistic Marge) are completely selfless or honest.
3. Best new show,hands down-United States of Tara,3 eps so far and loved them all.Created by Spielberg and developed by Juno writer Diablo Cody,it sees Toni Collette as a mother of two with split personalities.Considering its on Showtime,I had low expectations-they always take these new young,hip shows that soar on the quirk quota like Californication and Weeds-and eventually turn it into some fancy sex-romp missing a heart.But Toni Collette plays the hell out of her "alters",and the family members make for interesting characters too.Oh,and Buster from Arrested Dev finally got a job playing the grumpy teacher.
4. Its about a billion degrees out here in Melbourne,I could grill sausages on the balcony with this heat.Big Day Out on Monday,nothing to take home except possibly the fact that Cut Copy were surprisingly superb live and Hot Chip's live take on 'Ready for The Floor' somehow sounds better than the original.Instead of calling up the wall,why don't you open up we'll talk?I am ready for the floor.This song is eternal.
5. 2 movies I've been meaning to talk about were Doubt and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.A bit of an old topic now,ey?Well,a quickie then-I liked them both especially the latter,its so beautifully shot and there's so much emphasis on capturing body language and even if it got a bit too daring for its own good towards the end I think it was an enjoyable ride overall,might catch it again at Nova.
6. Oscar noms quite predictable.There's this huge fuss about Benjamin Button,but I cannot bring myself to watch that movie because I find Brad Pitt in "I'm a serious actor" mode unwatchable.
7.
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2. One of the shows I kept catching on SBS or some other place and never understood was Big Love,so I got the first two seasons and have been following the new eps-one of the only character-oriented shows,it does take a bit of patience because there's a lot of talk and the drama takes its time but its the kind of show you get attached to,even though none of the characters (except the naive,idealistic Marge) are completely selfless or honest.
3. Best new show,hands down-United States of Tara,3 eps so far and loved them all.Created by Spielberg and developed by Juno writer Diablo Cody,it sees Toni Collette as a mother of two with split personalities.Considering its on Showtime,I had low expectations-they always take these new young,hip shows that soar on the quirk quota like Californication and Weeds-and eventually turn it into some fancy sex-romp missing a heart.But Toni Collette plays the hell out of her "alters",and the family members make for interesting characters too.Oh,and Buster from Arrested Dev finally got a job playing the grumpy teacher.
4. Its about a billion degrees out here in Melbourne,I could grill sausages on the balcony with this heat.Big Day Out on Monday,nothing to take home except possibly the fact that Cut Copy were surprisingly superb live and Hot Chip's live take on 'Ready for The Floor' somehow sounds better than the original.Instead of calling up the wall,why don't you open up we'll talk?I am ready for the floor.This song is eternal.
5. 2 movies I've been meaning to talk about were Doubt and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.A bit of an old topic now,ey?Well,a quickie then-I liked them both especially the latter,its so beautifully shot and there's so much emphasis on capturing body language and even if it got a bit too daring for its own good towards the end I think it was an enjoyable ride overall,might catch it again at Nova.
6. Oscar noms quite predictable.There's this huge fuss about Benjamin Button,but I cannot bring myself to watch that movie because I find Brad Pitt in "I'm a serious actor" mode unwatchable.
7.
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27.1.09
25.1.09
Merriweather Post Pavilion
First album I love from 09'.Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion,its name a music venue in Columbia the band members have fond memories of.And the cover,a wiggly optical illusion the work of a Japanese psychologist.So the cover's kind of MS Paint crap,and the album name cryptic-but the music is nothing short of PURE MAGIC.
Very MGMT though much more unconventional,it dabbles with a lot of alien sounds and choirboy-type vocals that sound adventurous/poignant when paired with the lyrics,I can't say much every song is really,really well-written.In terms of lyrics,In The Flowers and Brother Sport take the win.I've had the album for about 10 days,but I've had it on everywhere-in the gym,on the street,at home-and I'm not exaggerating when I say that its honestly too perfect.
Here's an unofficial vid for the best song on the album,though its a a bit poor/Youtubey in quality. "Bluish".
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23.1.09
Curly Sue
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The Jap guy had this beautiful old camera with duo lenses (or it looked like it,for all I know it could've been a fancy water bottle)-one that looked like it belonged in a glass case.There was this aura about him,a lot of people were following the rally from the front trying to keep up,and there stood Mr Jap perched on a bench or a road divider-eyes scathing and sharp,surveying the crowd like a sniper finding its hit.As for the bottom pic,this huge flag obstructred my lens mid-snap,and I thought the tint effect it produced look cool.
At Rod Laver yesterday,we got to watch 2 matches-Venus Williams vs Carla Suarez Navarrao from Spain the first,the latter player was battling World No 6 and honestly,noone thought she had a chance in Mars,she's not much of a looker and looked frail and bony compared to long-legged Venus.Dubbed Curly Sue by the group of guys seated next to us,she lost the first set (an expectedly disappointing 6-2) but went on to win the second set with 3-6,by this time the whole audience had switched their support to this unfamiliar name who had Venus running about the court,panting and screaming,while she maintained a creepy calmness and barely even squeeked.It was amazing and I can't describe how the ambience there in Rod Laver was,Carla hardly moved but had a crazy iron smash and went on to win over Venus in the third set.
As for the second game,Murray vs Granollers,it as devoid of drama and Murray was way,way to solid a player and the court was already half empty by the time he won the second set.
I predict a life-altering weekend.
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21.1.09
20.1.09
19.1.09
18.1.09
Bon Iver @ The Hifi 18.1.09
I was really looking forward to this,it was a sold out show and I had bought the tickets the second I could.He started with Creature Fear and couple other songs-even offered two new songs "Babies" and one he didn't give the title to,but was about "being alone in the snow in Wisconsin where we come from".The first had a long,continuous piano the entire way with a finale where guitars et. al pump the noise for a dramatic,loud finish-traces of Chris Martin,complete rubbish.And the second untitled one sounded like a generic Snow Patrol tune,Justin (lead for Bon Iver) said the songs will be on an upcoming EP which I don't think I'll be rushing to the store to buy.Twice he went acoustic,for their most well-known songs Stacks and Skinny Love.Those were good,got chills and only few other times in the night did their live music reflect the brilliance of their album,Forever Emma Forever Ago.Other times,it was just not what I expected.On most songs,they ended with a noisy rocky mix with the guitars especially boisterous.I mean,I really enjoyed the drums (at times there were two sets played,then Mike the obviously underage beer-drinking guitarist joined with a third on occasion) and the guitars were deeply affecting at times,but there was so much button-pushing and weird gadget-using that really contradicts the album's natural,slow ways.It was like I was watching a different band,like going to a Rihanna concert totally expecting her typical S&M freakiness and skimpy dancers going ballistic,but then seeing her emerge in a t-shirt and singing Mariah Carey covers.And the next part is going to sound painfully pretentious,but I must say it.I HATE the way he plays The Wolves (an EXCELLENT song from the album) on stage-he gets the audience to participate singing the last part of the song (a line that goes "What might've been lost") and the whole venue gets warped into singing this one line a million times as the music goes crescendo and its just so fucking cheesy everytime I see it,and putting so much emphasis on this minor part of the whole song to me eludes the the true beauty of it and is obviously a gimmick to satisfy gig-attendees who expect that sort of cheesiness and know close to nothing about the band.No doubt almost everyone was walking out cheery and still clapping but what I saw was definitely not Bon Iver,it was an effective crowd-pleasing chameleon who I might've enjoyed more if I hadn't loved the album so much.
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15.1.09
14.1.09
All about salma
1. Have been in Melbourne,turning out to be quite the tame summer.Besides the 37c sizzling plate that was yesterday,its been easy breezy peas come freezy.Have you noticed how chicken fried in light olive oil tastes so amazing?
2. Salma Hayek was on Letterman,I had no idea she was so entertaining live.
3. The 2 Kristen Wiig skits from last week's SNL blew my mind open with its sheer Greatness.
4. Its tennis season down under (going for an Aus Open match next Thurs),temporarily gone are my days of watching SBS late night not fully comprehending the film because the characters talk too fast and speed-reading subtitles ain't my major.
5. Bon Iver this Sunday,I sent an email asking if SLRs were allowed in and they replied with this really formal and threatening note full of ominous spaces ( ),something something you're camera will be confiscated and you will be escorted out the venue.Would it help if I dressed as a little girl and came in a wheelchair?
6. Something about the skies this week,have me totally mesmerized.Was on the bike in the gym and the motionless,beautiful skies caught my eyes and 20 minutes passed unnoticed.Also,according to (the dysfunctional) weight machine there,I've lost exactly -1.5 kilos despite living like a fucking cow for 3 days.Miss I lost 13 kilos is coming back in a day,I have this huge plan to get her buffed up and normal again,it involves blending a whole turkey into pulp and offering it to her as "beef fruit juice,its so trendy only astronauts drink it".
7. Speaking of gold shoes,last week's 30 rock?Like most of the eps this season,the jokes were very well-written and make for good one-liners,but the story's way off-kilter and the show's beginning to collect many,many pointless characters.
8. Rootbeer person,I miss you.
9. Bought a notebook for boring lectures,today I ended up with 3 dirty poems and an ugly sketch of the afro girl who sat in front of me,her big bush looming large like a giant bully.She smelled nice though,ok maybe not nice but definitely expensive.
10. Channel 10's ad for the upcoming season of the Biggest Loser are the worst.If I have to watch fat people trying to be cutesy to the music of Christina Aguilera's 'Fighter' again,I'll boom! was that a flying cat?
11. Lost on air again next week with a 2 hour season premiere.If I can find ONE more person who watches Lost here,I'll go all out and get non-alcoholic Dharma beer and dress up as Hurley and say "Dude!" 13 times and perform a one-person stage summary of the Kate-Jack-Sawyer love triangle,then be all paranoid Australian and give birth in the woods.
12. "You don't like me cos guys are yeah,like,yeah,yeah".
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2. Salma Hayek was on Letterman,I had no idea she was so entertaining live.
3. The 2 Kristen Wiig skits from last week's SNL blew my mind open with its sheer Greatness.
4. Its tennis season down under (going for an Aus Open match next Thurs),temporarily gone are my days of watching SBS late night not fully comprehending the film because the characters talk too fast and speed-reading subtitles ain't my major.
5. Bon Iver this Sunday,I sent an email asking if SLRs were allowed in and they replied with this really formal and threatening note full of ominous spaces ( ),something something you're camera will be confiscated and you will be escorted out the venue.Would it help if I dressed as a little girl and came in a wheelchair?
6. Something about the skies this week,have me totally mesmerized.Was on the bike in the gym and the motionless,beautiful skies caught my eyes and 20 minutes passed unnoticed.Also,according to (the dysfunctional) weight machine there,I've lost exactly -1.5 kilos despite living like a fucking cow for 3 days.Miss I lost 13 kilos is coming back in a day,I have this huge plan to get her buffed up and normal again,it involves blending a whole turkey into pulp and offering it to her as "beef fruit juice,its so trendy only astronauts drink it".
7. Speaking of gold shoes,last week's 30 rock?Like most of the eps this season,the jokes were very well-written and make for good one-liners,but the story's way off-kilter and the show's beginning to collect many,many pointless characters.
8. Rootbeer person,I miss you.
9. Bought a notebook for boring lectures,today I ended up with 3 dirty poems and an ugly sketch of the afro girl who sat in front of me,her big bush looming large like a giant bully.She smelled nice though,ok maybe not nice but definitely expensive.
10. Channel 10's ad for the upcoming season of the Biggest Loser are the worst.If I have to watch fat people trying to be cutesy to the music of Christina Aguilera's 'Fighter' again,I'll boom! was that a flying cat?
11. Lost on air again next week with a 2 hour season premiere.If I can find ONE more person who watches Lost here,I'll go all out and get non-alcoholic Dharma beer and dress up as Hurley and say "Dude!" 13 times and perform a one-person stage summary of the Kate-Jack-Sawyer love triangle,then be all paranoid Australian and give birth in the woods.
12. "You don't like me cos guys are yeah,like,yeah,yeah".
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13.1.09
12.1.09
The Wrestler
There are many things I find very doubtful or just boring about this movie.For one,its very transparent.Its constantly pressing what a nice and sympathetic guy the titular character,Randy "The Ram" Johnson is-he's friendly with kids,patient with his jackass boss and is softspoken and easygoing outside the ring.He's a wrestler but not the man we think or expect he is.I GET it.The worst part about this fakey Hallmark charade is Evan Rachel Wood,the daughter character Stephanie.She has 4 scenes,in which every time she's a blatant plot device placed just to able Randy to show his "other" side.That is,to give his "I've been a horrible father" speeches while Stephanie displays some sort of extreme emotion.Her character has no other purpose,and we're told nothing about her-who's this black lady taking care of her,where does she go to school,why does she hate her father so much?We get a bit deeper with Marisa Tomei's character,basically she's the stripper with a heart and a son she's raising on her own.The two supporting roles seem as bare on screen as they are on paper.
The one thing that saves this from the crap pile,is Mickey Rourke's performance.Its a role that you wouldn't imagine anyone else filling,literally everything about him falls perfectly into place.My initial impression about the film right after watching it was that I didn't really like it,but over time the Randy character stuck.As I pointed out,the writing for this film was really obvious and the movie does run out of steam 30 minutes before it actually closes-but Rourke brings a humanness to the character that goes far beyond the script's thin exposition,and is incredible and tragic in many different ways.
+I think the above poster is spectacular.
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11.1.09
Digitalism Live @ Forum Theatre 10.1.09
I'm not too familiar with Digitalism,but I've had their Idealism album on a couple rounds.Not bad,but I figured for a live performance they'll be innovating quite a bit and not merely pressing play on a Mac.That explains why the ticket reads Digitalism LIVE.We arrived round 9 but saw that they were scheduled to come out at 1.30 AM so went cruising and came back sometime after midnight-Forum Theatre (my first time there,damn I missed the time when Stereophonics played there last year) is one of the best gig venues I've been to-its spacious and the interior acoustics are excellent,the place was PACKED so people were pushing and shoving a lot.As for Digitalism,if you rate the craziness level on a rate of 1-10 (with 1 being that you're half-asleep and better off at a Wiggles event,10 that you pass out from the mania),I'd rate it as a perfect 8.They were on for close to 2 hours,the whole time I was totally in the zone and of course completely lost my shit when they played Zdarlight & Pogo.The German duo of Digitalism brand their music dance punk and electro,either way its not the kind of music I'm used to listening to but any band can prove themselves worthy by playing a kick-ass gig (which is in no way an easy thing to do).
The night stretched a bit,the only issue was that it was too packed and you get these pricks and bitches who purposely try to get on everyone's nerves.Among these hellsent creatures was this girl with a huge furry bag the size of a printer that she kept swaying madly at people.Eventually she stopped,puked a bit and disappeared.Then you get these assholes who spend the whole time trying to get to the other end of the room,and when they're done,get back to the end they came from.Then there was this other girl (why are they always girls?) who had her back to mine and was leaning for the longest time,so I did this violent jig to sort of bounce her off and she yelled FUCK OFF to which I had no smart response so I just shouted NO,YOU FUCK OFF.And minutes later I was too absorbed to remember she existed,but I had a distinct feeling someone was giving me the poison eyes from nearby and true enough,at the end when the lights came on there she was glaring stupidly as if to melt me with her laser eyes.
Also a damper that they don't allow SLRs in,but it was one hell of a freak gig.Lastly,there's this AMAZING remix of Zdarlight that samples MIA's Bucky Done Gun and here it is.
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9.1.09
Slumdog Millionaire
Its pure genius how director Danny Boyle has been able to dabble in so many different genres,slipping into new territory and coming out like an old pro every time.The man behind some of my favorite films -28 Days Later and Trainspotting (I kind of liked The Beach too,for the escapist plot and Tilda Swinton's cold-blooded performance)-and with Slumdog Millionare he's created another winning piece of cinema.Slumdog Millionare tells of Jamal Malik-orphaned at a very young age,he flees from Mumbai with his older brother Salim and they fall into the hands of a gangster-operated organization who force children into beggars.Along for the trip is Latika,her parents both dead and eventually she and Jamal form a cute camaraderie much to the disapproval and hatred of Salim.The brothers eventually elope,with Latika left behind-and what ensues is Jamal's search for Latika.When they finally discover her many years ahead,he loses her again no thanks to a trail of extremely convoluted events until finally as adults,Jamal joins the gameshow "Who Wants to be a Millionare" to overcome this enormous barrier that has developed between him and Latika over time.
The most outstanding aspect of the movie is its depiction of India.We've all seen films,foreign or local,dealing with poverty and the lower classes of society.More often than not,the settings are neatly packaged and engineered-like in the African film Tsotsi-the makeshift cabins look brand new,the sand looks store-bought and the "poor people" clothes seem overly fancy and too intricately patterned.In Slumdog,no part of it could ever belong on a Hollywood set-the villages are crammed with zig-zag houses and the children look downtrodden but genuine.Its an India that's colorful and animated-but every detail of it fits in an untempered way,which is what makes it such a fascinating observation.
What I didn't like,was that at heart it was a shameless,shallow fairy-tale.Things turn harder for Jamal in his process of finding Latika-challenges mount for him as more thugs and gangsters and bodyguards obstruct him,its like someone read the first draft of the script and said "No,I want him to suffer more,throw in some more baddies and make Latika a more slippery catch".In predictable,melodramatic fashion-at one point when Jamal does face Latika,she cites their now different lives and her being a gangster's whore as a reason for him to "let her go".Furthermore,characters flip from bad to good in a blink and the way every single question he's asked on show reflects on his past and is somehow pre-arranged by destiny is too hard to believe.Halfway through I gave in to this saccharine fantasy,all of which paved its way to a typically tacky and worry-free ending.
What more,actor Dev Patel (from Skins) who plays Jamal is far too young and inexperienced-in the entire film,he displays no more than two facial expressions and next to veteran performers Irrfan Khan (from The Namesake,A Mighty Heart) and Anil Kaapor,he looks silly and out of place.However,there's plenty of other things to love about it.A.R. Rahman's scoring strongly compliments the film and all the child actors were wonderful to watch,on top of that there's no doubting its extremely well-directed.So even if it was openly daft and romantic,I admit it was engaging from start to end.
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6.1.09
Lykke Li @ Prince Bandroom 4.1.2009
The opening acts were ok,and the electro music put on before Lykke Li came up got us in the buzz.The 3-piece band finally emerged,no fancy tactics for the entry just straight into business.Lykke Li began with Melodies and Desires-delicately,before letting loose over frantic drums and guitars at full volume.The crowd took bait and went wild (a couple girlfights broke out time to time),and amidst all that loudness and chaos Lykke Li urged constantly for us to "Get crazy,motherfuckers!".After 3 songs,came a cover of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.But it was only later,that THE MOST AMAZING,UNPRECENTED THING IN ALL HISTORY happened.Lykke Li shouted "Do you know Kings of Leon? We're going to do a cover".Then she covered Kings of Leon's Knocked Up,one of the most emotional and beautiful rock ballads of all time.
The set was pure adrenaline,being backed by the world's best unknown drummer (this guy BREATHED the art,he played like there was no tomorrow) and a solid band,Lykke Li sung her damn heart out.It was money well-spent-and though the levels of mania inside were over the roof,it never approached the levels her also-Swedish counterpart Robyn once achieved in this same venue.But of course,it was a phenomenal and exhausting gig anyway.
Pics in a later post.
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3.1.09
1.1.09
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