UPDATE: Upcoming Australian tours

There;s a couple of national tours that have been announced over the past couple of days. We thought we'd squash them all into one little article for you. Ready?

Buzzcocks 'Another....Bites' National tour
Nov 18th - Nov 25th

Ladyhawke
Nov 5th - Nov 14th

Hilltop Hoods 'Still Standing' National tour
Oct 16th - Dec 12th

Erol Alkan (Parklife sideshows)
Oct 2nd - Oct 4th **Melb, Syd only

Metric (Parklife sideshows)
Sep 30th - Oct 2nd **Melb, Bris, Syd only

Metronomy (Parklife sideshows)
Sep 25th - Oct 1st **Bris, Syd only

Chali 2NA (Jurassic 5)
Oct 30th **Melb only

Future of the Left (Falls fest sideshows)
Jan 3rd - Jan 7th **Bris, Syd, Melb only

For more details, go to liveguide.com.au

Falls Festival lineup leaked!!!

The lineup for this years Falls Music & Arts Festival has been leaked and let's just say it is sensational!

Moby, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Editors and Grizzly Bear set to play at the festival.

The full line-up so far for Lorne is (awesome acts are in bold):

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Moby
Hilltop Hoods
Grizzly Bear
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
The Temper Trap
Xavier Rudd
Emiliana Torrini
Little Birdy
Midnight Juggernauts
Andrew Bird
Lyrics Born
Chairlift
King Khan and the Shrines
Editors
Philadelphia Grand Jury
Kaki King
Sarah Blasko
Art Vs. Science
DJ Yoda
Liam Finn
Lisa Mitchell
Major Lazer (Soundsystem)
Patrick Watson
Seasick Steve
The View
White Rabbits
Future of the Left
Killaqueenz
Yves Klein Blue
The John Steel Singers

Punters are able to subscribe for a ticket ballot to increase their chances of access to tickets. For info on how that works, go to the falls website.

More news to follow......

Falls Festival
Lorne, VIC
29th December - 1st January
www.fallsfestival.com

Homebake 2009 - 15th Anniversary

This year's Homebake festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary. To mark this amazingly achieved feat, the festival have announced Powderfinger as their biggest drawcard.

Brisbane boys Powderfinger have not played at Homebake since 1999 and haven't released an album since 'Dream Days at The Hotel Existence' (2007), but are apparently working on a new one as we write this. One can only expect a set jam packed with classic hits and a couple of newbies.

Joining The Finger are three other Aussie heavyweights, Jet (new album 'Shaka Rock' out soon), Hilltop Hoods and Eskimo Joe. There will be a special performance from Tim Finn as well as a couple of bands getting back together for a one-off performance including Tumbleweed and The Underground Lovers.

Daniel Merriweather will make the girls scream, Eddy Current Suppression Ring will make the boys mosh and the Midnight Juggernauts will hopefully get them dancing together.

HOMEBAKE 2009 – The Fifteenth Anniversary
Saturday December 5th, 2009
The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens

Here’s how the line-up looks so far. Tickets on sale 9am Monday 17 August.

POWDERFINGER
JET
HILLTOP HOODS
ESKIMO JOE
SIA
DANIEL MERRIWEATHER
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS
SARAH BLASKO
A special best of performance by TIM FINN
CLOSURE IN MOSCOW
TIKI TAANE (NZ)
SHORT STACK
UNDERGROUND LOVERS (original line-up)
PHRASE
DECODER RING
BUMBLEBEEZ
TUMBLEWEED (original line-up)
EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING
ROWLAND S HOWARD (together with Mick Harvey, JP Shiloh & Lindsay Gravina)
THE FUNKOARS
THE MIDDLE EAST
THE ASTON SHUFFLE
SUGAR ARMY
RECORD PRODUCER
SHOCKONE

www.homebake.com.au

REVIEW: Groovin In The Moo Festival (Bendigo, May 16th)

Jeez Groovin In The Moo Bendigo was one hell of a party. We didn't get there till just before 4ish (due to a certain football game featuring Liz Hurley), but as soon as we arrived we could already feel the party in the air.

First up for us was Okkervil River. Some of us had been waiting to see this band play for a long time now and we weren't dissapointed. Playing songs from all their albums, including the latest one 'The Stand Ins', Okkervil knew how to get the crowd going. Okkervil gave a fond farewell to the Bendigo crowd ending with the song 'Unless if Kicks' to make us salivating for more.

After Okkervil and a couple more drinks we headed to the tent for De La friggin Soul. One word comes to mind when we think back to their set - ridiculous. Non stop jumping and arm waving. Non stop shouting and singing. Non stop smiling and joy De La Soul are the masters. If you haven't seen them yet, put simply. you're an idiot. De La were definitely the best performing artist of the festival and you can ask every single person in that jam packed tent and we're sure they'd agree. Playing hit after hit and ending with 'Ring, Ring, Ring' . Without a doubt we at Music Universe won't ever forget when De La Soul got the whole crowd singing back to them 'Hey how ya doing, sorry i cant get through, why dont you leave your name and your number, and I'LL GET BACK TO YOU!"

After De La we needed a little break from the mosh and watched Architecture in Helsinki, Ratatat and The Grates from a distance. Architecture are always fun. The Grates leading lady Patience Hodgson was frenetic on stage pumping the crowd up with every song. As for Ratatat, we didn't hear much from where we were, but we could see the crowd in the tent and boy were they dancing. Next up for us in the moshpit was The Hilltop Hoods. The Hills have a new album about to be released 'State of The Art' and played a couple of newies off the album which weren't that bad, but obviously the crowd were only there to hear their big ones. Some of us at Music Universe had seen them a few times before and felt this wasn't their best set, but the Bendigoens still enjoyed it.

Last but not least was a choice between Muscles or The Living End. We chose The Living End so we could end on a bit of rocking and rolling and more importantly, a bit of moshing. Like De La Soul are one of the masters of Hip Hop, The Living End are one of the masters of true Aussie rock n roll. We've seen them about 25 gazillion times but they never get dull or boring. Playing a number of sorta still newish songs and a number of classics, The Living End know how to work a crowd. Ending with a rockabilly medley jam, with Chris playing his guitar with a VB can, fans left The Living End with dripping wet tshirts.

So, we grooved, we mooved and we enjoyed Groovin In The Moo Bendigo. We look forward to next year. Oh yeah, and for those who wanted to see what De La Soul's set was like live.....well here's a little clip we've got for ya. Enjoy!

Hilltop Hoods announce Australian tour

After witnessing their performance at Groovin in The Moo festival in Bendigo, we've just learnt that Adelaide hip hop masters Hilltop Hoods have announced a national tour in conjunction with their appearance at Splendour in The Grass.

It's their first headline tour since 2006 and will no doubt be a sweat fest.

The trio’s fifth album 'State Of The Art' is due out soon (June 12th), with first single 'Chase That Feeling' already getting plenty of radio airplay.

Joining them as tour supports are Canadian veteran Classified and new kid Briggs.

Expect this tour to sell out. Tickets on sale Tuesday 26 May.

Saturday 18 July – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, (Lic/All Ages)
Thursday 23rd July – Capitol, Perth (18+)
Friday 24th July – Hi-Fi Bar, Brisbane (18+)
Sunday 26th July – Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay
Thursday 30th July – City Hall, Hobart (18+)
Friday 31st July – Palace Theatre, Melbourne (18+)
Saturday 1st August – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide (Lic/All Ages)
Tuesday 4th August – ANU Refectory, Canberra (18+)

*Expect Hilltop Hoods photos and a review of Groovin in The Moo soon

www.hilltophoods.com

Splendour in The Grass 2009 - First announcement

Yes folks, its that time of the year again already. It's Splendour time baby!

The team from the Splendour in The Grass festival have just released their first announcement on who's going to be performing at this year's show. Before we get to the names however, we at Music Universe would like to add our two cents in.

MU's two cents: Our gut instinct when we were told about the lineup was......meh. Yes it has a couple of huge headliners, but there's also a few acts that normally would be considered headliners but because they've played in Australia a number of times or recently it just makes the lineup a little.......meh. There was always going to be the standard and obvious 'let's play at every festival' aussie contingent, but on the flip side there's also a couple of new up n comers (which in our eyes are very important) that round out the first announcement.

So, to the lineup........semi, soft drumroll please I guess......

Main headliners announced so far are Jane's Addiction and The Flaming Lips. Solid headliners for any festival no matter where in the world. Bloc Party and MGMT return to play their only Australian shows at the festival. Been there, done that. Next!

Old schoolers and celebrating their 30th anniversary, The Specials, are making there way over too. Along the same theme of 'old schoolers' but with an Australian flavour to it, Grinspoon will make yet another appearance to try and rev the crowd up. The kings of revving the crowd and token hip-hop act, The Hilltop Hoods, will be reemerging. Also, after riding their wave of success off the back of their stunning debut, Midnight Juggernauts will be venturing out to hopefully play some new tunes.

As for the up n comers that we at Music Universe are very interested in seeing, the likes of Friendly Fires, White Lies, The Gutter Twins and Manchester Orchestra will be making their first appearances in the country. Rounding out the announcement are the standard stock boring Australian bands like Augie March, Bob Evans, Little Birdy, Birds of Tokyo and Yves Klein Blue. The singer/songwriter's list looks dull with Sarah Blasko, Josh Pyke and Kram wasting space on the schedule.

Anyway, here's hoping the second announcement brings out the big guns. Please.

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2009 – 1ST LINEUP
Bloc Party (in their ONLY Australian show), The Flaming Lips, Jane’s Addiction, MGMT (also in their ONLY Australian show), Hilltop Hoods, Grinspoon, Midnight Juggernauts, The Specials, Sarah Blasko, Augie March, Josh Pyke, Friendly Fires, Little Birdy, Birds Of Tokyo, The Gutter Twins, Manchester Orchestra, Yuksek, Bob Evans, White Lies, Kram, Yves Klein Blue, Decoder Ring, Lost Valentinos, Leader Cheetah, Jack Ladder, The Middle East, Polaroid Fame and Glass Towers

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2009 TICKET PRICES
Event ticket: $240.00 (inc gst) + bf
Carbon Offset Ticket: $245.95 (inc gst) + bf
Camping ticket: $132.00 (inc gst) + bf

TICKETS ON SALE
9.00am sharp on Thursday May 14th - Internet sales only – www.qjump.com.au

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2009
Sat July 25th and Sunday July 26th
Belongil Fields,
Byron Bay

For all event info and updates please go to:
www.splendourinthegrass.com