Looks like it's gonna be a thriller!Listening to some of the interviews over the week on 2UE, confirms this years Sydney Fireworks will definitely be some spectacle! Click the 2UE logo to listen...
Showing posts with label sydney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sydney. Show all posts
December 31, 2008
Sydney New Years Eve 2008
Looks like it's gonna be a thriller!Listening to some of the interviews over the week on 2UE, confirms this years Sydney Fireworks will definitely be some spectacle! Click the 2UE logo to listen...
April 3, 2008
Duran Duran: Sydney review
Having never seen these guys play live before (let alone the originals!), I was expecting a repeat performance of the Auckland show, in which I read the review before this show in Sydney. Auckland was apparently a rocky start for their 2008 tour (or the Australiasian Tour), but it looked like they'd sorted things out for this show.
They were great. They were fun and they showed that Duran Duran was a progressive unit - albeit older - still looking forward instead of retrospectively. I'm being generous, as we were sitting in a bad audio pocket in the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and did not experience much from the bass player. I recommend you seat or stand yourself directly in front of the band, if you plan on seeing them to eliminate the sound issue we had. That said, the rest of the audio mix was fairly consistent. Duran Duran featured a lot off the "Rio" album. After opening with cuts from "Red Carpet Massacre", they launched into "Hungry Like The Wolf" - and Simon sang every word.
Song highlights for me were "Wild Boys" with it's stunning energy, "A View To A Kill" - the audience just erupted into dance!, I particuarly loved the fact they played the rockier remix of "Sunrise", which was actually released as a dance remix. To hear an actual rock-based track through the mostly pop-dance show, was really refreshing and the lighting during this song was spectacular. They also did the same with "White Lines", and showed that they could not only make it rock, but proved to me that Duran Duran are true disposable pop heroes who looked, and sounded great! "Come Undone" was broken down nicely, and was a lot funkier. Actually, I'm going to put this down now.. funk is going to come to revival in pop music soon. I can feel it bubbling under.
Could it get better? Well, the next bit depends on who you talk to. Duran Duran then took a quick break while the techs set up four keyboards at front centre stage. They returned and launched into an electronica medley. They took to their machines as instruments, and belted out live 'rave' remixes of "I Don't Want Your Love", "Skin Trade" and a couple of other unfamiliar but completely progressive and awe-inspiring cuts that left me both bouncing, and very impressed. I'd heard that Auckland didn't "get it" but looking around, Sydney "got it". Perhaps this is where they are taking the next album?
Congrats to Duran Duran for breaking things up - coz they have a lot of hits in the baske, and this was better than just hearing each song one after the other. They finished the show with the encore "Girls On Film", and Simon duly introduced each band member. He also said 'fuck' more than once, and Nick Rhodes impressed by nailing the original samples, with the synth arpeggios to "Save A Prayer" and "Planet Earth". "Falling Down" was just beautiful (again, the lighting was fantastic during this song), but "Ordinary World" fell a bit flat. We sang "Notorious" so Simon didn't, as well as the 'na-na's' on "The Reflex" in which we again exploded into dance!
Simon also took to a front-rower's Australian flag and draped it, waved it, and probably stole it actually. It never went back to the audience (unless the person was invited to the afterparty? nah.) He also mentioned that Duran Duran played the same stage at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, back in 1984. Not 1994, 1984! Holy ground for many that night.
They were great. They were fun and they showed that Duran Duran was a progressive unit - albeit older - still looking forward instead of retrospectively. I'm being generous, as we were sitting in a bad audio pocket in the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and did not experience much from the bass player. I recommend you seat or stand yourself directly in front of the band, if you plan on seeing them to eliminate the sound issue we had. That said, the rest of the audio mix was fairly consistent. Duran Duran featured a lot off the "Rio" album. After opening with cuts from "Red Carpet Massacre", they launched into "Hungry Like The Wolf" - and Simon sang every word.
 |
| Duran Duran live in Sydney |
Song highlights for me were "Wild Boys" with it's stunning energy, "A View To A Kill" - the audience just erupted into dance!, I particuarly loved the fact they played the rockier remix of "Sunrise", which was actually released as a dance remix. To hear an actual rock-based track through the mostly pop-dance show, was really refreshing and the lighting during this song was spectacular. They also did the same with "White Lines", and showed that they could not only make it rock, but proved to me that Duran Duran are true disposable pop heroes who looked, and sounded great! "Come Undone" was broken down nicely, and was a lot funkier. Actually, I'm going to put this down now.. funk is going to come to revival in pop music soon. I can feel it bubbling under.
Could it get better? Well, the next bit depends on who you talk to. Duran Duran then took a quick break while the techs set up four keyboards at front centre stage. They returned and launched into an electronica medley. They took to their machines as instruments, and belted out live 'rave' remixes of "I Don't Want Your Love", "Skin Trade" and a couple of other unfamiliar but completely progressive and awe-inspiring cuts that left me both bouncing, and very impressed. I'd heard that Auckland didn't "get it" but looking around, Sydney "got it". Perhaps this is where they are taking the next album?
Congrats to Duran Duran for breaking things up - coz they have a lot of hits in the baske, and this was better than just hearing each song one after the other. They finished the show with the encore "Girls On Film", and Simon duly introduced each band member. He also said 'fuck' more than once, and Nick Rhodes impressed by nailing the original samples, with the synth arpeggios to "Save A Prayer" and "Planet Earth". "Falling Down" was just beautiful (again, the lighting was fantastic during this song), but "Ordinary World" fell a bit flat. We sang "Notorious" so Simon didn't, as well as the 'na-na's' on "The Reflex" in which we again exploded into dance!
Simon also took to a front-rower's Australian flag and draped it, waved it, and probably stole it actually. It never went back to the audience (unless the person was invited to the afterparty? nah.) He also mentioned that Duran Duran played the same stage at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, back in 1984. Not 1994, 1984! Holy ground for many that night.
May 28, 2007
Hawkeye hits again
Hi Blog world...
So where the bloody hell are ya?
Sydney mate!
I got an email about this new website - Linka - which is now another industry double entendre (see Linker). Anyway, you post your favourite weblink, and then you tell your friends, who vote for the link, so more people can read the link, and you'll be popular for a nanosecond.
Hawkeye spotted the ghastly logo fluff-up (below). On the positive side, I got a response (AND it was fixed) within 4 minutes - at 11:30 on a Sunday night?!?!? Hmmmm.
Enjoy the music - see the imeem player on the right. Come back soon, coz I will be putting a swag of stuff on there for you to listen to, should you be that way pleasured ;)
Linka - launch logo
Linka - they just fixed it, ahem yes.
So where the bloody hell are ya?
Sydney mate!
I got an email about this new website - Linka - which is now another industry double entendre (see Linker). Anyway, you post your favourite weblink, and then you tell your friends, who vote for the link, so more people can read the link, and you'll be popular for a nanosecond.Hawkeye spotted the ghastly logo fluff-up (below). On the positive side, I got a response (AND it was fixed) within 4 minutes - at 11:30 on a Sunday night?!?!? Hmmmm.
Enjoy the music - see the imeem player on the right. Come back soon, coz I will be putting a swag of stuff on there for you to listen to, should you be that way pleasured ;)
Linka - launch logo 
Linka - they just fixed it, ahem yes.April 11, 2007
Ozzies love the beach
After taking a look at the weather forecast for Sydney yesterday, and comparing it with Auckland, you gotta realise that the weather plays a massive part in HOW we respectively live.
Our dress attire is reflected:
Kiwi's in April are donning skivvies and turtlenecks, while Australians are still skipping to the beach in a skirt.
Our lunches differ:
If it's sunny in Auckland, for example, it might be too windy to eat on the deck at a cafe, so we tend to stay indoors (or at work). Sydneysiders might catch the bus to Bondi, and perhaps taking a 20 minute dip in the water before changing and organising a business meeting on the bus trip back.
Our after hours social activities differ:
In Auckland, in April, on a "good day" like today, at best we might head to a neighbours place, or friends or family for a spring BBQ with wine, in a last ditch effort to claim something of the tailwinds of summer. In Sydney, in April, every day is a good day. You'll visit every relative over the month, eat fabulous food and drink a plentiful amount of good wines. You could easily visit Manly a few times by ferry as well, even scoring a tan!!
One good thing has happened here in Auckland this month - we are now partly even with Australian holiday-pay entitlement. 4 weeks a year - FINALLY! Yessss! *clenches fist to air*
<-- oh yeah, this sign was put up to warn Australians of a possible Tsunami affecting the area... whoops!
Our dress attire is reflected:Kiwi's in April are donning skivvies and turtlenecks, while Australians are still skipping to the beach in a skirt.
Our lunches differ:
If it's sunny in Auckland, for example, it might be too windy to eat on the deck at a cafe, so we tend to stay indoors (or at work). Sydneysiders might catch the bus to Bondi, and perhaps taking a 20 minute dip in the water before changing and organising a business meeting on the bus trip back.
Our after hours social activities differ:
In Auckland, in April, on a "good day" like today, at best we might head to a neighbours place, or friends or family for a spring BBQ with wine, in a last ditch effort to claim something of the tailwinds of summer. In Sydney, in April, every day is a good day. You'll visit every relative over the month, eat fabulous food and drink a plentiful amount of good wines. You could easily visit Manly a few times by ferry as well, even scoring a tan!!
One good thing has happened here in Auckland this month - we are now partly even with Australian holiday-pay entitlement. 4 weeks a year - FINALLY! Yessss! *clenches fist to air*<-- oh yeah, this sign was put up to warn Australians of a possible Tsunami affecting the area... whoops!
March 21, 2007
Awesome!
As discussed in my upgrades post, here are a few pictures I wanted to share :)
If it's been a while since you climbed Mt Maunganui - this from Jan 2007
click for a bigger image
Back in Feb, I got the heads up over in Sydney, of these two fine shows that were on their way to NZ
The Strand in Sydney was just beautifully presented for Valentines Day this year!
No, U2 did not "peak" in the 80's, they peaked in 2006.
If it's been a while since you climbed Mt Maunganui - this from Jan 2007click for a bigger image
Back in Feb, I got the heads up over in Sydney, of these two fine shows that were on their way to NZ
The Strand in Sydney was just beautifully presented for Valentines Day this year!
No, U2 did not "peak" in the 80's, they peaked in 2006.
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