Radiohead played the last show of their 2006 tour last night in Amsterdam. The show capped off a brief European festival tour which did not feature any new songs that had not been debuted already. The Amsterdam show was a make-up show for the concert that had to be postponed at the last minute due to the sudden death of Phil Selway’s mother in May. The setlist at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam last night was:

01 You And Whose Army?
02 The National Anthem
03 Morning Bell
04 15 Step
05 Arpeggi
06 Exit Music
07 Dollars and Cents
08 Videotape
09 Paranoid Android
10 Street Spirit
11 The Gloaming
12 Bangers N Mash
13 Nude
14 Myxomatosis
15 Spooks
16 Idioteque
17 How To Disappear Completely
———
18 Like Spinning Plates
19 Bodysnatchers
20 There There
21 Everything In Its Right Place
———
22 Fake Plastic Trees
23 All I Need
24 Lucky

And since it’s all over now, here are some of my favourite/higher quality versions (that I have on my computer) of every new song Radiohead debuted in 2006 (just click the title to download the mp3s). They are mostly from the first half of the tour as all my bootlegs from the latter half are on CDs and not my computer.

Videotape (June 4, Boston)
Bangers ‘n’ Mash (May 9, Amsterdam)
Spooks (June 4, Boston)
15 Step (June 8, Toronto)
Nude (May 9, Amsterdam)
Bodysnatchers (May 18, London)
Go Slowly (May 13, Blackpool)
House of Cards (May 9, Amsterdam)
Down Is the New Up (June 8, Toronto)
Open Pick (May 9, Amsterdam)
All I Need (June 20, Chicago)
Arpeggi (May 12, Blackpool)
4 Minute Warning (June 4, Boston)

In addition to all those, I also have a couple new songs that have yet to be played to an audience, but were recorded from soundchecks in California in June. The quality is terrible, and they are just minute long clips, but if you’re obsessive like me, go nuts.

Soundcheck Song (Berkeley; perhaps ‘Burn the Witch’?)
Soundcheck Song (San Diego)

And now for some other random things from the tour. First up, a recording (just a clip) of the band soundchecking ‘Wicked Child’ with Jonny on the banjo. BANJO.

Wicked Child (San Diego soundcheck)

And this might be the best version/recording of Like Spinning Plates ever. It was recorded at the Rock Oz’Arenes festival in Avenches, Switzerland a couple weeks ago.

Like Spinning Plates (Avenches 2006-08-15)

And finally, just becuase they busted it out at the European festivals the last couple weeks, here’s ‘Creep’ from the V Festival in England.

Creep (V Festival 2006-08-19)

Alright, that’s all the Radiohead we can expect for a while. They head back into the studio with Nigel Godrich for the rest of the year to finish off that record they started…a year ago. I’ll do a comprehensive post on Thom’s solo stuff in a few days. For now, enjoy this.

Just a quick post to let you know that Dappled Cities Fly will be playing a FREE SHOW as part of the Beach Road Hotel’s Rex Sets. The show is on Sunday September 3 (5pm) at the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi. It will be cool to see what the boys are playing seeing as they just finished recording their sophomore album in the States.

Bluebottle Kiss played a pretty special show last night at the Manning Bar. They played their third and final show featuring the entirety of their new double album, Doubt Seeds. I have yet to pick up the album and had only heard five songs from it heading into last night’s show. So, for me, my first listen to the album was by the band, accompanied by a horn section, keyboardist, four female backing vocalists, and a second drummer playing the whole damn thing live without an intermission. Pretty amibitious. But the record is an ambitious one too, with diverse sounds and moods which were all captured last night. There were incredibly noisy crescendos and beautiful quite moments. Sarah Blasko even came onstage to duet with Jamie Hutchings on ‘Speak Up Memory.’ The show ended with Jamie Hutchings crowd surfing during the most peaceful song of the night ‘Silent Golden’ and then pulling a fan onstage and dancing with him. The band then returned for an encore of ‘Everything Begins and Ends at Exactly the Right Time’ which was followed by a second encore of ‘Father’s Hands’ by Jamie on his own. All in all a fantastic night.

Photos here
Download – Father’s Hands
Download – Everything Begins and Ends at Exactly The Right Time
Check out new tracks at their MySpace

Pivot and The Model School opened the show. Pivot aren’t really my thing and they didn’t cover one of my favourite Neil Young songs (‘Revolution Blues’), which The Model School did so The Model School won ‘Opening Band of the Night’ for me. This is the second time I’ve seen Neil Young covered by Australian artists since I got here (Augie March and Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males covered ‘Don’t Cry No Tears’ in April) and I like to think they’re doing it for me. Thanks guys.

Even an idiotic (though energetic) crowd couldn’t deter from The Mess Hall’s fercious live show at the Annandale last night (click here for Amanda’s thoughts). They tore through a 75 minute set barely stopping to take a breath. It had been a long time since the last time I saw them live and I’d forgotten what a great live act they are. I was also stoked that they are still playing their Nirvana cover. I think they played some new songs last night as well so hopefully a new record will turn up early next year. But last night they definitely reaffirmed their place in my “Favourite Aussie Acts” list.

I did use my camera to take some video but the sound isn’t all that great. Check out their cover of Nirvana’s ‘Breed.’

And Disco 1:

Bit By Bats took the stage before The Mess Hall. I had seen them at Big Day Out earlier this year but I wasn’t all that impressed. So I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed their set last night. Looking forward to that debut album now. Their bass player kicks ass. Check out some mp3s below:

Dance the Dance
The Suburban Ballet

Check out photos of The Mess Hall and Bit By Bats from the Annandale last night here.

Off to Bluebottle Kiss tonight. I think.

We’re just five months away from Australia’s biggest touring festival, Big Day Out. And what do we know so far? Well seeing as Tool were rumoured to be on the bill last year and have announced a show in Sydney for January 24 (my birthday!) I think it is safe to assume that Tool will be one of this year’s headliners. Boo…I hate Tool. One other rumoured headliner was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but seeing as they have announced Australian shows for April, I very much doubt they’ll be on the BDO lineup. I’ve also heard rumours that Muse and The Vines could play as well. Can I just throw the Flaming Lips in there? They love festivals.

What have you heard?

I read over at Get Big, Little Kid that Dappled Cities Fly have finished recording their new record. Yay!

And finally today, Jonny from/of Brown Cardigan has a new project underway called Rocking Hoarse. It’s a Sydney gig listing of bands that don’t suck complete with maps and commentary. Bookmark it! I will be doing my best to help him keep up-to-date with shows so if you know something coming up that should be listed you can do so at Rocking Hoarse or by leaving a comment on any post here.

Anyone else seeing The Mess Hall on Friday at the Annandale?

Last week I was watching a friend’s band (Tragic Daisy) at Sol’s Deck Bar on Oxford Street. After they finished we were outside on the patio chatting when I heard the next band hit the stage. I had no idea who they were. But the lead singer’s voice pulled me into the room all the way from the patio. I walked into the room and onstage was a slightly gruff looking figure with a trucker hat (-10 points) standing behind a keyboard belting out a really beautiful song. His voice, while at some times a bit growly, was nothing short of a revelation. So much passion. I walked back to the woman at the door to ask the name of the band. She replied, “The Religion.” As the first song slowly faded out the rest of the band walked on stage as the first song flowed seamlessly into the second. I was really impressed.

I could only stay for another couple songs as we had to get home. The next day I did some googling and finally found their MySpace where you can download four demo tracks. None of them really match up to the voice I heard on stage but I think they show some promise. I’ll upload them as well….but be warned they are only 96kbps.

With the Innocent
Mary Fall From Grace
Natalie
Melodrama

Their MySpace page describes them as spounding like “Genesis & Tom Waits on a rooftop, after a few beers. The Beatles, circa 1967; with scotch instead of Acid. Joe Cocker with Led Zepplin; singing in a karaoke competition at a Cabaret Piano Bar, with a bottle of Green Fairy.” Yeah. Most of their songs seem to be based on the piano but they sound nothing like Keane which is a breath of fresh air these days. In fact, ‘With the Innocent’ reminds me of Antony and the Johnsons. So, forgive the trucker hat, the slightly dodgy band name, and their MySpace page which looks like the page of a metal band and check them out next time they play (which happens to be September 8 at the Bridge Hotel here in Sydney).

I know Dan did this just last month, but I feel the need to do it as well. When I started this blog last year there were very few Sydney/Aussie mp3 blogs, which I found a little odd. But throughout this year there have been many new Australian music blogs established and some of them are pretty damn good. I think a little community is sort of forming which is kinda cool…it’s always nice to get web-phucked (I would have come out last night if I didn’t have plans).

One of the first things I did with this blog last year was the Top 25 Australian Bands list. While I had the input of quite a few bloggers and DJs I am really looking forward to this year’s list as there are so many more people I can ask to help me out. So consider yourself warned bloggers. In October (I think) I will be sending out emails asking for your favourite Australian acts of 2006; I can’t wait to see the results this year actually. Should be interesting. Plus I know all these bands now (unlike last year when I was still new to Australia).

I’m thinking of reorganizing my links on the right to have an Australian section…but I can’t think of a “clever” header that maintains my “theme.” Import and Domestic? Maybe…but for now here’s a list of Aussie music blogs I visit on a regular basis. Some may not be 100% music content. Sue me. Any others I’m missing in this list?

12 Major Chords
Boudist
Brown Cardigan
Fat Planet
Fortune Grey
Get Big, Little Kid
Invasion of the Reverb Snatchers (hopes Stove isn’t dead)
Monachilada
One Hundred Scenes
Open Your Eyes
Soapbox Notes
Sympathetic Stupid
The Sandwich Club
Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Yellow Spacesuit

If you’re the type so start making New Year’s plans early (I’m more the type that decides at about 3pm on December 31) you may want to consider hitting the Newtown RSL as it seems that Cansei de Ser Sexy will be ringing in the new year for some lucky/sceney/hipster Sydneysiders. Can you imagine all the scene kids at this show? My god. I only know a few CSS songs and they don’t really get me goin’ but I’ve heard their live show is lots of fun. The band will also be playing around the country the following week as well:

Jan 2 2007 Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Jan 5 2007 Revolver Upstairs, Prahan, Melbourne

No ticket info yet (at least I can’t find any)

Download – Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (RIP)
Download – This Month Day 10

A few days ago I posted the details of The Grates Australian tour. And now I can add that tickets will be on sale Monday August 21. In addition you will be able to pick up new single ‘Science is Golden’ in stores August 26. And, as this comic illustrates, Faker will be opening most of the tour:

And in non-Sydney related tour news, check out Quinn’s thoughts on Sleater Kinney’s final two shows ever in Portland over the weekend.

And finally, Stylus’ weekly article is a review of all the new Radiohead songs

Well after checking out the very successful 3 Songs. No Flash. exhibition on Friday night, Amanda and I made our way over to the Hopetoun Hotel to check out the Deloris show. I wasn’t all that familiar with their stuff but was pretty impressed by their short (and somewhat shambolic at times) set. The band have a new record out in a couple months so the bulk of the set was new stuff and it seemed to go over well with the crowd. The highlight for me was (shocker) the one song I knew best (The Unbroke Part of It) as well as a new one which was called ‘The Mountain’ on the setlist. Although it seems the band didn’t come back for a planned encore I was intrigued enough by their stuff to make sure I see them again when they come through town. And pick up the album.

Download – The Unbroke Part of It

We arrived part way through Pitching Woo‘s set. And while I thought they lacked some edge I found them to be pleasant enough. I think it’s a good sign when a young band has two guitarists but is smart enough to know that every part of every song does not require both guitars. This allowed space for some of the songs to fill the room with more subtle guitar work. I don’t know why but even though the band have pretty typical song arrangements they had a bit of a post-rock feel. No idea why. They sound nothing like Godspeed or anything…probably just me. The band has an EP out called Yours, etc and you can download two of the songs from it:

If I Don’t Sleep
The Colder Front

After Pitching Woo’s set, Sydney’s own Tucker B’s (kickass website) took to the stage. I’d heard quite a bit about them but had yet to hear a note of their music. Verdict? I found them to be a bit too screamy for my taste. Maybe I’m just getting old. I will say this though: the more I poke around their website the more I want to like them. Download:

Brown Dog

Check this page for more mp3s

And a big thanks to Monchilada for heeding my call and coming up to say hi. The internet is a funny place. I even scored an invite to a party out of it! Your balcony kicks ass.

Check out photos from all three bands here

And Radiohead kicked off the final nine dates of their 2006 tour last night at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary. Nothing brand new was played and only two newish songs were played at all. Perhaps they intended to bust out as many hits as they could in a city they had never played before.

Setlist:

01 Airbag
02 The National Anthem
03 There There
04 15 Step
05 Exit Music
06 Karma Police
07 I Might Be Wrong
08 Nude
09 Paranoid Android
10 No Surprises
11 The Gloaming
12 How To Disappear Completely
13 Pyramid Song
14 Lucky
15 Just
16 Idioteque
17 Street Spirit
—–
18 You And Whose Army?
19 2+2=5 (false start)
20 Bones (not on original setlist)
21 Fake Plastic Trees
22 Everything in its right place

When last we left The Grates they had just finished playing the Metro back in May. A memorable show as Patience and I shared a moment. *sigh* Well a few months later and we received this from The Grates:

Um, what else? You’ll be happy cos we’re gonna be doing our huge, last headline Australian tour from late September into October, and youse definitely can’t forget, cos we’re gonna try our little hearts out to make it special, memorable & impressive. If we don’t pull it all off though, we’re sure it will just be memorable in that kind of ‘suckers!’ way.

And those dates are now available and include a show at The Enmore here in Sydney on October 14th when Patience and I are finally reunited. All dates are listed below:

29th September 2006 – Metropolis
Fremantle, WA. Australia.
Tickets available through Mills (08) 9335 1945, Beat (08) 9446 5839 78′s (08) 9322 1498 Planet (08) 9328 7464, heatseeker.com.au

30th September 2006 – Players Bar
Mandurah, WA. Australia.
Tickets available through Mandurah Surf Co: (08) 9535 4500 heatseeker.com.au

2nd October 2006 – HQ
Adelaide, SA. Australia.
Tickets available through Venuetix: (08) 8225 8888 venuetix.com.au CIB Ticketing: (08) 8231 0824

4th October – Sands Tavern
Sunshine Coast, QLD. Australia
Tickets available through the venue – (07) 5443 7944

6th October 2006 – Tivoli Theatre
Brisbane, QLD. Australia.
Tickets available through Ticketek – 13 28 49 Rocking Horse – (07) 3229 5360 Skinnys – (07) 3229 2389 ticketek.com.au

7th October 2006 – Coolangatta Hotel
Gold Coast, QLD. Australia.
Coolangatta Hotel, – (07) 5536 9311 Sunflower Music, Pacific Fair – (07) 55381850 Head Hi Music, Burleigh Heads – (07) 5568 7568 Music Mania, Southport – (07) 5591 1665… thecoolyhotel.com.au , oztix.com.au

11th October 2006 – ANU Bar
Canberra, ACT. Australia.
Tickets available through Ticketek 13 28 49 ticketek.com.au

12th October 2006 – Bar On The Hill (Newcastle Uni)
Newcastle, NSW. Australia.
Tickets available through Venue – (02) 4968 3845 The Rock Shop – (02) 4929 1856 Beaumont Street Beat – (02) 4962 5939 bigtix.com.au

13th October 2006 – The Forum
Melbourne, VIC. Australia.
Tickets available through Ticketek 13 28 49 ticketek.com.au

14th October 2006 – Enmore Theatre
Sydney, NSW. Australia.
Tickets available through Ticketek 13 28 49 ticketek.com.au. Venue – (02) 9550 3666

And the band have a brand new video for brand new single ‘Science Is Golden’:

The band have also put up what I believe is a “Nintendo” version of Inside Outside on their site:

Inside Outside (conan thorogoods nes rendition)

In somewhat related news, the last time I saw The Grates one of the opening bands was Perth’s The Panda Band. I wasn’t all that impressed but they have been getting some blog love from some of the bigger music blogs in the US. Check them out here and here (mp3s included!). Maybe I need to give them another shot?