Jarvis Cocker is a total icon and last night at the Metro he lived up to every single expectation I had. In fact, he was pretty much perfect. I never got the chance to see Pulp live but I’d seen enough live footage to know that Jarvis was the quintessential frontman (well…apart from the looks maybe). As soon as he took the stage in front of a very excited Sydney crowd I could tell he hadn’t lost a step.

He preens and he poses. He takes the piss out of himself and the entire notion of rock iconography. He even managed to introduce nearly every song with a story that was not only entertaining and relevant to the upcoming song, but he managed to tie many of the themes of his lyrics to Sydney and Australia as well. And he did it with such ease. He simply commanded the room in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. At least not in quite some time.

The set, predictably, drew mostly from Jarvis’ recently released debut solo album. The show kicked off with a version of Fat Children that puts the album take to shame. From Auschwitz to Ipswich was a highlight for me, along with set closer Black Magic. The band, including Steve Mackey and Richard Hawley who were both members of Pulp, returned for an encore of Cunts Are Still Running the World and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s State Trooper (which has also recently been covered by the Arcade Fire). Jarvis has been ending all his shows with a selection of covers including Space Odyssey and Shot By Both Sides.

When introducing the final song of the night Jarvis told the crowd “This next one is a cover” to which an audience member screamed out “COMMON PEOPLE!” Jarvis very quicky replied, “No, this song was written by a REAL musician.” I was pretty impressed as that was the first time I heard a Pulp request all night. If nothing else, I think that is a testament to the brilliance of last night’s show. For 75 minutes I totally forgot that he was in Pulp. On that stage he was just Jarvis Fucking Cocker.

Setlist
Fat Children
Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time
Heavy Weather
One Man Show
I Will Kill Again
From Auschwitz to Ipswich
Tonite
Big Julie
Disney Time
Big Stuff
Black Magic
——–
Cunts Are Still Running The World
State Trooper

Photos here.

And in case you still haven’t heard anything off the album…

Download: Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time

ugh…i just read this over and it’s TERRIBLE writing….sorry i’m tired. but also too lazy to fix it.

Pitchfork published a lengthy and well-written article on the Laneway Festivals in both Melbourne and Sydney. It’s well worth a read for an outsider’s perspective on the Australian music scene (in addition to his reviews of the shows). Something I should do more of.

I wasn’t introduced to the writer, though I saw him at the Dappled private show, Peter Bjorn and John and Laneway…so he certainly crammed a lot in to his visit.

Download: Dappled Cities Fly – Fire Fire Fire

Festivaled out yet? Even if you are, the Essential Festival, returning to the streets of Surry Hills for a second year, still has a lot to offer: a stellar lineup of local talent, only 1000 tickets, and a ticket price of $38. Not bad at all. Plus it’s on Anzac Day so you don’t need to book the day off work (though you may want to book the next day off if you have a big day planned). Ze lineup (BOLD = me excited):

Gerling, Dappled Cities Fly, Bit by Bats, Young & Restless, The Exploders, Children Collide, Old Man River, The Lovetones, Peabody, Laura Imbruglia, Regular John, Whitley, Belles Will Ring, I Heart Hiroshima, Pomomofo, The Paper Scissors, Flamingo Crash, Teenagers in Tokyo, Pig Out, Soft Tigers, Dolly Rocker Movement, The Hate Game, Theatre of Disco, Melanie Horsnell, The Seabellies, The Waysiders, Erin Marshall

More details at the Essential MySpace.

Tickets on sale now via Moshtix.

Download:
Belles Will Ring – Park Benches
Dappled Cities Fly – Within Hours

In other Sydney gig news….

I mentioned last week that Phoenix had added a second headlining show in Sydney at the Factory Theatre in Enmore for April 5. Well I read today that The Rapture have been added to the bill. And they are supporting…kind of odd. I can’t find any confirmation online but if that piques your interest (and it should) you may want to think about getting tickets.

UPDATE: FasterLouder confirmed today that The Rapture WILL be supporting Phoenix on April 5 at the Factory.

Also that night (April 5) Dappled Cities Fly and Dardanelles are at the Manning Bar. I think that one’s free.

The Religion are at the Annandale on Friday March 30.

The Brag says that The Vasco Era are at Spectrum this Wednesday…but I don’t see anything online about it. Anyone know? They kick so much ass live.

Architecture in Helsinki play Sydney for the first time since I moved here nearly two years ago. They hit the Factory on May 11 with Muscles and Soft Tigers. That show has FUN written all over it.

New Buffalo is at the same venue the night before, May 10. Anyone heard Sally’s new record? If so, how is it?

Think that’s it for now…

I hate it when I don’t write about a gig right after as I never remember what I really wanted to write. Thursday night saw me trek back to the Cross for Sandwich Club’s monthly good times party. I didn’t stay the entire night which sucked as I missed Fait Accompli. I have it on good authority that they put on a great show and that they are one of Sydney’s most promising young bands. So keep your eye out for future shows. On before them was Chequered Leopards. At first I wasn’t all that taken with their set, but towards the end I got into it a bit more. Fast paced, Strokes-riffy guitar rock with a singer that sounds like the non-growly-non-guy-on-right in Gomez.

Most impressive on the night though was Papa Vs Pretty. They previously played an SClub party back in November and I was kinda stunned as the band consists of boys around the age of 16. And they started their set by covering Love Will Tear Us Apart. Well, four months later and the band have added another guitarist, a couple keyboards, and a whole lot of new stuff. Once again I spent most of their set shaking my head in disbelief at their maturity and Tom Rawle’s guitar playing. They opened with their Joy Division cover, then proceeded to impress with their own stuff. Perhaps the highlight though was when lead singer Tom said, “This song is a Daft Punk cover” followed by a STORMING version of Digital Love complete with the quieter, muffled opening. Brilliance.

While the band are certainly still in need of lots of rehearsing and gigging, I can’t help but be impressed by these guys. They clearly have great record collections, they can play, and their indiscriminate passion for music is infectious. If I was 17 I would be kicking down doors begging to be in their band.

Download:
Cassanova 2.5
Final Frontier

No photos of the night…

Totally unrelated but Stereogum have written up Dappled Cities Fly again.

I’ve not yet read any blogs today, but I’m assuming this has been posted everywhere. Oh wellz. The National’s Alligator came out of nowhere for me. I never got around to hearing it when it came out, then finally heard it at the end of 2005 and have been playing it regularly ever since. Needless to say I’m eagerly looking forward to Boxer, the follow-up, which is out in a couple months. The first official taste of the album:

Download: Fake Empire

So so so good. I loved the song instantly and then the ending was a nice little surprise too. Great stuff. Make sure you check out Blogotheque for two brilliant videos of The National performing songs from The Boxer under unusual circumstances.

Next month, Australia’s finest purveyors of rock ‘n’ roll, The Basics, are undertaking an ambitious tri-state residency:

April 2007: East Coast tristate residency
Tuesdays in April: Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills, Sydney
Wednesdays in April: The Troubadour, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
Thursdays in April: The Empress Hotel, Nth. Fitzroy, Melbourne

The dates are, of course, in support of their brand new album Stand Out / Fit In, which promises to be one of my favourite records of 2007. Support for the Sydney shows comes from (in chronological order): The Saturns, Cuthbert & The Night Walkers, Tokenview, and Amanda Baker (complete details for all shows here). As an added bonus, us Sydney folks can also see The Basics this Friday (March 23) ahead of their Hopetoun residency as they support Tokenview’s single launch at Ruby Rabbit. The room will be tiny, sweaty, and full of people dancing dancing dancing. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

The Basics’ Just Hold On was also just featured as an iTunes Single of the Week which seems to have brought a lot of positive attention to the band. So be sure to see them this week and next month before they’re selling out the big places and you’re standing at the back cursing all the tall bastards in front of you.

Download:
Second Best
Call It Rhythm & Blues
Baby, Let Me In

And that video for Lookin’ Over My Shoulder:

Basicsmania starts now.

A little less troublesome than I had imagined it would be…plan your day accordingly! Full details here; that pdf is really printer UNfriendly so I’ve typed it out below…now if someone can whip me up a nice spreadsheet of this I’d be much obliged. And I’ll post it here for others.

THIS STAGE
Pixies 9:00 – 10:15
Beck 7:15 – 8:30
Jarvis Cocker 5:45 – 6:45
New York Dolls 4:30 – 5:15
Phoenix 3:15 – 4:00
Softlightes 2:00 – 2:45
Mercy Arms 1:00 – 1:30

THAT STAGE
Pet Shop Boys 8:30 – 9:45
Groove Armada 6:45 – 8:00
Gnarls Barkley 5:15 – 6:15
Nouvelle Vague 4:00 – 4:45
Bumblebeez 2:45 – 3:30
Temper Trap 1:45 – 2:15
The Seabellies 12:45 – 1:15

OTHER STAGE
2ManyDJs 8:30 – 9:45
Soulwax Niteversions 7:00 – 8:00
The Rapture 5:30 – 6:30
New Young Pony Club 4:15 – 5:00
The Valentinos 3:15 – 3:45
Ghosts 2:15 – 2:45

Then there is the Mobile DJ stage…but I don’t really care about that so I can’t be bothered to type it up.

Somewhat related, and perhaps will make a difference to how you plan your day, Phoenix have announced a second sideshow after the first one sold out. The new date is Thursday April 5 at the Factory in Enmore.

Rumour 1: No Pixies sideshows
Rumour 2: Pixies sideshow

Turns out rumour 2 was the correct one. Pixies announced this week that they will be playing NEXT Friday (March 30) at the Big Top at Luna Park. Tickets on sale Friday March 23 through Ticketmaster. However, there is an internet presale that starts tomorrow. Tickets will set you back 75 bucks.

Since I already have V Festival tickets I’ll be giving this a miss; from past experience with Pixies at festivals, they won’t play a much longer set at their own show. That said, this thing will sell out fast one assumes, so you better get your tickets early.

Since the new Radiohead site went up last week the Hodiau Direkton section has been constantly updated with new images and artwork. Possibly forecasting what we can expect from LP7 one assumes. My favourite so far:

Down is the new up…

Last month Portishead made a surprise appearance in a Bristol pub. They played a few songs in a very stripped down form including one new one. Perhaps 2007 is the year we finally get a follow up to 1997′s Portishead? Last year they posted a few sketches of songs on their MySpace, which does have an optimistic url. So while we wait and wait check out this stunning version of Wandering Star played to an unsuspecting crowd in a Bristol pub.

Brilliant stuff.