Blog — Page 228 of 281

Grinspoon

Enmore Theatre

Sydney

July 7, 2017

Grinspoon emerged in 1995 from sleepy Lismore in New South Wales and with the juvenile delinquents behind the operation harbouring a weak spot for sticky icky, they named themselves after an Associate Professor advocating the medicinal use of marijuana.

The following two decades would see Grinspoon ascend and establish itself as a platinum selling, (inter-)nationally acclaimed act and staple of Australian rock’n roll inventory.

2017 sees the band reconvene for a victory lap to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their debut album with the Guide to Better Living tour, performing the songs of their debut album in its entirety alongside a selection of the goodies from their other emissions.

It comes with the territory of playing albums front to back that there are tracks that have never been incarnated in a live environment, which is part of the appeal for the audience and offers a bit of a welcome challenge for the musicians.

Instead of an exercise of indulging in nostalgia, Grinspoon did not merely attempt to reenact their youthful past glories but delivered a set that captured the teenage angst aspect that Guide To Better Living was essentially driven by and infused it with the more refined aspects of their later sound, which resulted in a much grittier, punchier and rawer delivery than what they have become known for following their debut’s release.

The sold out audience, which populated the age bracket from young teenagers to faithful fans who would have been older in 1995 than their debut album is now, celebrated it and lapped it up with enthusiasm.

Both the first half of the show with songs of a heavier caliber like "Pressure Tested 1984" and classic-rock inspired ones like "Repeat" and "Don’t Go Away" were especially enthusiastically received, as well as the second half of the set, visually marked by Phil Jamieson’s flamboyant costume change, which was comprised of the crowd pleasers from their later albums and showcased the more nuanced, mature side of a band that has honed its songwriting skills and range of offerings, which has found them being heralded by a wider mainstream audience.

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Photos by KAVV

Good Food and Drink Show

Sydney, Australia

June 24, 2017

The Good Food and Drink show is all about familiarise it’s audience with emerging trends in the hospitality industry before and behind the scenes, running the gamut from high to low brow and everything in between.

Samples are product Federer by hundreds of national and international reps of restaurants, chefs and producers, offering to enter a dialogue and find out more about their respective crafts and giving hands-on demonstrations on how to replicate their creations at home.Master and wine tasting classes round out what is on offer at the Drinks end of the spectrum.

Chefs performing at the Good Food Theatre included the Dublin born chef and restaurateur Colin Fassnidge, who recently returned to the Australian TV program My Kitchen Rules as a guest judge. Known for his nose to tail cooking philosophy, the outspoken Irishman firmly believes the secret to cooking a great dish is planning and “having a bit of love for the food”.

Miguel Maestre has worked for many years in various kitchens around the world, before settling down in Sydney, where he has developed a talent for incorporating Spanish ingredients and cooking styles into his Australian menus.

George Calombaris is one of Australia’s top chefs. Although born and bred in Melbourne, his Greek heritage was central in his upbringing with its rich and varied cuisine, which would later become his trademark. On stage he presented food that comprised a hybrid of classical haute cuisine and experimental, molecular gastronomy with modern twists to traditional Greek cuisine that have put this restaurant on the global map.

Luke Nguyen, local food celebrity in the realms of authoring and Running his own TV shows, was given a platform to share his love for Vietnamese fare in his trademark approachable manner.

The free wine tasting classes at the Riedel Drinks Lab, in conjunction with Spiegelau offered up to four sessions a day, where one could learn more about wine while sampling a range of varieties from different regions across Australia. The tasting classes were complemented by a range of masterclasses, e.g. one on champagne, one on serving cocktails and beer.

In essence, the Good Food and Drink Show is a three-day indulgence bender that sees culinary lovers come out in full force for food and wine tastings, brand discoveries and foodie experiences.

The newly opened International Convention Centre in Sydney proved to be a suitable venue that worked well for a grand-scale event of this nature, bringing together passionate foodies with passionate producers - and it is a once-a-year opportunity to experiment, indulge and have a foodie adventure.

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Photos by KAVV

Open Frame: Room 40 Festival

Carriageworks

Sydney

June 30. 2017

Carriageworks, Sydney’s largest and one of its more eclective multi-arts centres, is stoically following its ambitious mission which is informed by a commitment to reflect social and cultural diversity by presenting the 2017 incarnation of Open Frame: Room40.

Being a biannual experimental music festival, curated by composer and artist Lawrence English, it features a geschmâcklerisches line-up of artists operating at the edge of contemporary sound practice, with emergent voices in electronic music such as Elysia Crampton, Sarah Davachi and Klara Lewis colliding head on with artists such as Xiu Xiu and Alessandro Cortini who are responsible for a take on music that is aesthetically more on the provocative end of the spectrum.

Your humble narrator saw the second night of the two-day festival, which included Swedish musician, Klara Lewis, known as a sculptor of dreamlike sounds rich in texture, which finds an aesthetic charge in the mundane – be it the hum of a fridge or distant laughter – and results in experimental sounds that on the surface might sound comforting, yet upon closer inspection show a distressing quality skirting the edge of the familiar.

Lewis does not overly rely on repeating loops but prefers a fluid, stream-of-consciousness open framework, with distant, swooning, watery climaxes drowned out by muffled drones and unintelligible voices while percussion taps ominously down below, creating a mélange that is strangely blissful and unnerving at the same time.

Sarah Davachi’s work belongs to a tradition of deep, shimmering drone music reminiscent of the likes of Kevin Drumm, and Marian Zazeela. 

What appears to be simple on the surface with not a whole lot happening in terms of melodic or rhythmic arrangements, her emissions work on a more subtle level combining long held tones and microtonal variations with a wealth of overtones, harmonics, and ghostly pulses produced by the friction between them.

What does not sound overly engaging and rather static on paper, unfolded its expressiveness in a live environment with Davachi’s carefully orchestrated tidal acoustic and electronic arrangements that sneak in, weaving themselves in and out of your head and taking you on a journey with the imperative being to keep moving and embracing disorientation.

Nine Inch Nails collaborator, Alessandro Cortini’s meditatively cohesive audio-visual work Avanti, was presented with cinematic fluidity, acquainting music with memory, i.e. (re-)living memory through sound. Using his family’s vintage Super 8 films, shot by his grandfather as an accompaniment to his music, Avanti created a dynamic self-portrait refracted by memory and the melancholy of remembrance.

A nostalgic requiem with fuzzy synths and melancholic drone textures against the backdrop of childhood memories that unfolds a very distinctive, emotive, poignant and melancholic narrative that was permeated with a sense of loss in combination with the sound eventually culminated in reaching a cathartic conclusion.

Carriageworks proved again to be an ideal venue that offered ample space for an eclectic evening with experimental and at times deliberately challenging sounds.

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Photos from Carriageworks

Boy George

Café del Mar

Sydney, AU

June 12, 2017

Despite the focus being on his recent stint as a judge on one of those castings shows down under, Boy George is still universally recognised from his time as the androgynous lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award winning pop band Culture Club, whose soulful vocal delivery adorned hit songs such as “Do you really want to hurt me” and “Karma Chameleon” having entered the canon of 1980s evergreens. And rightly so.

What might not be on everyone’s radar is that in the 1990s, aside from other musical and non-musical endeavours, he pursued what he started in the 70ies and reinvented himself and embarked on a second career as a notable DJ, touring extensively across the globe.

With a background in house and what later on became known as acid house and informed by the groovy beats heralding from Chicago down to techno in the 1990s, Boy George has never not been active, no matter what rollercoaster rides his career was exposed to.

Being a producer, his collbatations and emissions include such labels like  Ministry of Sound, Sony, GU Music, Virgin, Polystar, Universal, Subliminal, EMI and artists as s diverse as Erick Morillo, Deep Dish, Afrika Bambaataa, Groove Armada and Faithless.

George descended upon Sydney waterfront’s Café del Mar’s rooftop terrace with a DJ set to provide the soundtrack to an illuminated Darling Harbour as part of Sydney’s Vivid Festival.

Warmed up since midday by a line-up of acts, e.g. Kate Monroe, Beth Yen, Mark Dynamix, Rodd Riches (ft Arrnott Olssen), Binary Live and Charlie & Jo., an enthusiastic audiences welcomed the man of the hour and celebrated his set geared towards cool, credible house tracks infused with quite a bit of esoteric flavour.

Boy George spinning the decks added yet another colourful façade to the smorgasbord of music performances, panels, art installations and more that make the three-week-long light, music and ideas festival that makes Vivid the event Sydneysiders look forward to all year.

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Photos by KAVV

Fantastic Food and Drink and Naturally Good Shows

ICC Exhibition Centre

Sydney, AU

June 4-5

Premium. Gourmet. Handcrafted. Delicious. Unique. Extraordinary. Fantastic – a few adjectives and superlatives that came your way did you choose to familiarize with the The Fantastic Food and Drink Show, which is a new trade event for the booming specialty food business. Innovative food and beverage producers were to showcase their newest creations along with food artisans, purveyors, importers and entrepreneurs to bring craft and passion to the foods you sell. Co-located with the Naturally Good Expo at the new venue – the International Convention Centre in Sydney –the show blended fresh ideas, the latest trends and new distribution channels with two days of focused buying, selling and education.

More and more Australian farmers are creating their own premium and local brands, and they want to supply direct to retailers and chefs. Taste the Farm, a component of the FFD& NG shows, was a unique opportunity for you to meet these farmers and source premium meat, dairy and other farm-fresh produce. The dedicated area was packed full of up-and-coming artisan producers brimming with passion and entrepreneurial flair.

The Fantastic Taste Awards honored the best in specialty food and drink products. The Awards recognised the innovators and game-changers in their respective categories, and provided exposure to thousands of food buyers from supermarkets, specialty retailers, foodservice, distributors, and the press.

Olives of the World was The Olive Experience – an opportunity to learn while sampling a wide variety of olive oils and table olives. It showcased what Australia and the far-flung corners of the world have to offer and guided through what one needs to know about olive oil – from production, through regions, varieties, and types to the final use at your family dinner table.

Merely a few meters away, The Specialty Chocolate Showcase gathered the local and international chocolate producers in one place for the visitors to sample gourmet and handmade chocolates, tru?es and confectionery products.

A smellier adventure offered itself with The Specialty Cheese Providers area of the show that connected you directly with specialty cheesemakers and suppliers of local and international specialty cheese.

In terms of craft beers, artisan handcrafted spirits and specialty wine new varieties such as gluten-free beer or organic wine were proffered at the Craft Beverage Alley, which connected you with craft brewers, distillers and merchants.

The Naturally Good Expo, the biggest trade show in the Southern Hemisphere for Everything Healthy, was held simultaneously and seamlessly fused with the Fantastic Food and Drink Show to showcase everything from packaged foods, ingredients and beverages to natural beauty and living, vitamins and supplements – and for your humble narrator products and suppliers I never knew existed.

As questioning the use of harsh ingredients in conventional cosmetics and beauty products is on the rise, this expo offered ample opportunity to see what the established brands and start-ups have on offer in natural and organic beauty products – from organic skincare and non-toxic cosmetics to shampoos, soaps, lotions and other natural toiletries via supplements, herbal remedies and essential oils to eco household and sustainable living products, Naturally Good Expo had it covered when it came to products that are natural, organic, cruelty-free, and that will improve the health of your hide while contributing to a safer environment.

Some standout exhibitors that we came across were:

Gelatin Australia is the result of two Aussie brothers.  

Their Peptipro Super Greens combines Peptipro Collagen with a daily dose of Organic Australian produced greens, young leaves and cold pressed, not juiced to retain full nutrient spectrum and greens that are known to be alkalizing, nutrient dense and loaded with vitamins and minerals. John Joseph rejoice!

Let’s have a look at coffee and roasters that love what they do and are bit more than just finding and roasting beans, but bringing people great coffee experiences and see coffee as a part of culture.

Since 2002 DC has been committed to roasting specialty coffee. Based in Melbourne, they have incorporated a decidingly artistic edge when it comes to packaging their products and the narratives that underlie them.

A future feature on them shall shed lights on their range.

Let’s go healthy, shall we?

MetaBuz product developer John Charlick touts his product as a tasty tumeric herbal chai tea, made from quality herbs and manufactured in Western Australia. Cinnamon, turmeric, fennel, black pepper, kelp, stevia and vanilla are combined for a mélange that is much tastier than the sum of the individual ingredients – or turmeric by itself - would suggest.

The MetaBuz Ingredients Include: Kelp – Kelps are large brown seaweed grown in underwater forests. Kelp is used extensively in traditional Japanese cuisine. Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) is made from the underground stem of a member of the ginger family. It has a distinctly earthy, slightly bitter, slightly hot, peppery flavour and a mustard smell. Cinnamon – The unique flavour of cinnamon derives from an aromatic essential oil being 0.5-1% of its weight. Cinnamon is used in sweet and savory foods. It imparts a delicate aromatic smell to MetaBuz .Fennel – Fennel seed is an aromatic, anise flavoured spice. It also imparts a delicate aromatic smell to MetaBuz. Black Pepper – Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is the powder from the peppercorn. It is used as a spice and seasoning. Only a trace is added to MetaBuz. Vanilla – Vanilla adds a unique complex flavour to MetaBuz. It is native to Mexico and derives from the bean or seed of the vanilla flower. Stevia – Stevia comes from the leaf of the sunflower family native to America. As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia tastes great without the calories of sugar.

More into skincare?

An interesting new brand we came about is Native Man:

An all-natural, organic and accessible skin-and-shave care line formulated expressly for the physiology of men.

Melbourne-based pharmacists created native Man Anderson and Andrew, two clinical-cosmetic alchemists who sought men’s skin care that not only delivered smooth, clarified and freshly shaven skin but also leaves ample room in the wallet. Their products are organic and natural without any needless substances.

Wash and Shave is a lightly foaming formula meant to cleanse skin while acting as a shave gel. Peppermint oil delivers a cooling burst while drawing out breakout-causing gunk and oil out of pores. Vitamin C-rich Kakadu Plum boosts detoxification of skin, while Green Tea and Ginger extracts suffuse skin with antioxidant and age-defying benefits.

This clear gel transforms into a lightweight low-foaming texture once you apply it and its scent is reminiscent of mandarin and sandalwood.

Native Man’s Moisturizer and after-shave uses Kakadu Plum to strike against free radicals and Lemon Myrtle to help tighten pores.

What is nice about Native Man’s products is that they are lightweight and satisfying to touch while quickly being absorbed.

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Photos by KAVV