Puff'n'Stuff

Tours galore have been announced in the past couple weeks, so Puff suggests you gear up (and open your wallets), as it's going to be a cracker second half of the year.

To kick off the proceedings, James Cruickshank, usually found lurking behind a keyboard for such seminal bands as The Cruel Sea, now swaggers out of the dimly lit corners of the stage into the spotlight for an intimate solo showcase of his new album 'Hello Human'. He'll be at the Grace Emily Hotel on Wed 8 Aug.

If you missed out on seeing the lovely Missy Higgins in May... never fear, as she's back this November. Yes, Missy Higgins has announced her 'For One Night Only' national tour, which will see her and her band trek around the country with strictly one show only in each place. You Am I frontman, Tim Rogers, who will by then have his new solo album 'The Luxury Of Hysteria' (out late Sept) under his belt, will open proceedings. Punters will see the Entertainment Centre in 'Intimate Theatre Mode', something Puff is interested to see, when Missy rocks into town Fri 7 Dec, which seems a bit too close to Christmas, if you get Puff's drift. Where has the year gone?

After beginning the year with a bang as the must-see band on the Big Day Out, Muse are returning for their biggest Australian tour. With them for the ride is their full-scale stage production - said to be an epic show of lights, colossal screens, projections, antennas, balloons, and, naturally, giant space chambers. Hmmmm, what the? Anyway, their international performances are already infamous for grand scale and sheer entertainment value - you know where Puff will be on Wed 14 Nov. Yep, they're at the Entertainment Centre. Tickets go on sale Thurs 16 Aug and Puff is sure it won't take long for them to be snapped up!

And Puff is sure many have been waiting for this to be announced as soon as they released their new album 'Minutes To Midnight'... yes, Linkin Park are touring our country this October, playing the Entertainment Centre in Adelaide on Tues 16. New single 'Bleed It Out' will be in stores 1 Sept in the lead-up to the tour. Of Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog fame, Chris Cornell is to be the special guest to open the show. PICCI

Byron Bay's masters of metalcore, Parkway Drive will release their new album, 'Horizons', on 6 Oct and will be hitting the road on their first national tour since last November. Once again produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist and renowned metal producer Adam Dutkiewicz (Underoath, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Unearth), 'Horizons' is sure to awaken the inner beast with an enthralling avalanche of sound from breakneck precise guitar riffs and palpitating blast beats to haunting demonic vocals. Currently leaving trails of bruised bodies in their wake as they cross the US on the Van's Warped Tour, Parkway Drive will christen their new album this October, playing Thurs 18 at The Gov with The Warriors (USA), Her Nightmare and No Apologies.

Also in tour news... Said to be the world's most popular female folk rock duo, and they probably are, the ever-popular Indigo Girls are to tour Australia, playing Thebby on Wed 31 Oct... Old Man River will play the Up! Festival alongside Michael Franti and Ben Lee Sun 16 September at Thebby... The legendary Motorhead bring their 'Kiss Of Death' tour to Australia, with bad boys Rose Tattoo as support, and are set to rock Thebby on Sat 13 Oct... And to top all tour news, a rather gigantic tour is heading our way, appropriately named Gigantour, hitting Thebby Mon 12 Nov. With the likes of Megadeth, Static X, Devildriver and Lacuna Coil on the bill, this news is sure to please a lot of fans out there.

With their shimmering new EP 'Blue On Blue' in hand, band of the moment Cut Off Your Hands bring their slamming, melodic pop rock back to the Australian shores. Also spruiking their own raucous self-titled EP, Sydney upstarts Teenagersintokyo are onboard for support. Buckle up for a racing tour of bombastic beach boy harmonies and soaring melody, especially when they hit Adelaide on Fri 7 Sept at Rocket Bar.

Good news for those hip-hops acts looking to enter the Hilltop Hoods Initiative - this year the amount you can be awarded has been upped from $3,000 to $5,000, mainly due to the amount of CDs the 'Hoods sold in the past year or so. Who said things don't turn full circle, eh? The initiative aims to help emerging SA hip-hop artists to manufacture, market and distribute an original CD, and includes mentorship sessions with Hilltop Hoods Co-manager PJ Murton. You can grab an application form from Arts SA, 110 Hindley Street, or from www.arts.sa.gov.au Applications close Fri 24 Aug so you better get crackin'. Good on the 'Hoods for continuing to support the local scene.

More local stuff... The National Campus Band Competition is rolling into town again for another year, so be sure to go along and support the local bands giving it a go at one of the heats or finals - Adelaide Uni Heats at Adelaide Uni Bar 14, 15, 16 Aug and Final 24 Aug; Uni SA Heat at Jade Monkey 10 Aug; Flinders Uni Heat at Flinders Tavern 31 Aug; Gilles Plain TAFE Heats at Northern Sound System 21 & 22 Aug and Final at The Gov 6 Sept. The SA State Final is at Flinders Tavern 14 Sept. A couple of dB Magazine's very own scribes will be on some of the judging panels, so come along and say hi!

And something for a good cause - JAZZ & JAMM - a tribute to Ritsuko will be at The Gov on Sun 12 August, in honour of Ritsuko - probably most recognised as co-founder of popular band etypejazz - who lost her brave battle against cancer in May. During the last difficult months of her life, Ritsuko received the support of a benevolent organisation called Support Act Limited (SAL), who provide small pockets of financial support to Australian musicians in hardship due to debilitating health issues. All profits from ticket sales to this event will go to SAL as per Ritsuko's wish, so go along and support a great cause in memory of a wonderful woman.

After launching their single '17 Deaths' in Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne and playing Splendour In The Grass over the weekend, the newly named Lost Valentinos (they were once called simply The Valentinos - Puff wonders why all of a sudden they are lost?) the band is making its way to Adelaide to play Fowler's Live on Fri 10 Aug. News flash: Starky will no longer be appearing at this show, but will be replaced by Sydney phemonenas teenagersintokyo. They join Fire! Santa Rosa Fire! and Lady Strangelove as supports for a one night musical extravaganza. Looking forward to this one!

For lovers of dark electro, check out Psyche in concert on Sat 18 Aug at Lizard Lounge. An enduring legend of independent electronic pop music, Psyche have been creating beats for over 20 years, ranging from cold harsh industrial, through to warm synthpop, dancefloor minimal, dark wave and beyond. Support act Horrahedd are coming out of the shadows for the show - four gigs in the last six years means this is truly a rare occurrence. DJs will be spinning dark electro until late, so it's sure to be a long and satisfying evening.

Fi Claus (formerly from pretty Briz/Melb indie duo Gorgeous) is about to introduce her beautiful new alt pop-rock treasure to Australia. You've probably heard her debut single Come Home, which she is touring on this August. Fi was born in Melbourne, spent a few years in Sydney before being mostly raised in Brisbane with occasional visits to her grandfather in Adelaide, another six months in Sydney, back in Melbourne for three years until early 2006 when she moved to Brisbane to record her new self-titled act. Like her life, Fi has placed the Adelaide zone of her tour in the middle, to be right in the pop-rocking swing of things for her show at the Grace Emily Hotel Thurs 16 Aug with Dave Rogers as her very special guest. Should be a good one, Puff thinks.

Bringing their rock/metal/hip-hop stylings to A-Town is Brisbane's Bolus, playing songs off their latest album 'Sonic Schematics', as well as others for your listening pleasure. They've already shaken up festival stages for Rocket and Vans Warped Tour and decimated venues in their home state and now they're heading our way - to the Crown & Anchor to be exact - on Fri 17 Aug. Hekyl and Grubenstyle are kindly supporting. And get this, entry is free! So you've got no excuses!

Postponing is the new black. In the couple of weeks that have seen Klaxons, New Young Pony Club and Damien Rice cancel shows, we've got another one to add to the list. Jamie T and The Pacemakers are rescheduling their tour to October, with the Adelaide show now Thurs 4 Oct at The Gov, as he's been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and must jet off to the UK to attend the ceremony (the same 'excuse' New Young Pony Club gave).

And, if you go along to Fowler's on Wed 8 Aug expecting to see the Long Blondes, you might find a huge disappointment awaiting you (and most likely an empty venue) as the show has been cancelled. Apparently the band has to leave early for recording commitments - pssh, how rude! But they are kindly refunding all tickets, including booking fees, at VenueTix or at the Da Costa Arcade outlet in the city. Let's hope they'll be back soon, ay?

In environmental news, a big pat on the back to The Falls Festival who have been awarded The Banksia People's Choice Award at this year's Banksia Environmental Award. They now have 'The Greenest Festival In Australia' to their name, which they're obviously pretty chuffed about! And keeping in line with their concern for the environment, this year they're teeming up with Greening Australian and GreenTix to ensure that a tree will be planted with each ticket sold. Hmm... Puff wonders if you then can legitimately claim your Falls Festival ticket as a tax deductible donation??

Why not gather the mates together for a road trip and head to Whyalla for the weekend? There's even more reason to with the launch of 'Live At The Buff', a series of refreshingly different regular live music events in Whyalla with real music, real ale and, you guessed it, no pokies. The next gig is Fri 17 Aug at Buff Hall, 14 Viscount Slim Ave, Whyalla Norrie, where you can enjoy the likes of Sweet Baby James and Rob Eyers with Dave Blight.

And in local news... It's metal night at Enigma on Sat 11 Aug with newcomers to the scene Grievance playing their first ever show alongside local acts Splyne, Forget All This and Oilseed... The Satellites invite you to join them for cocktails, music and silly dancin' - they're joining forces with the talented and gangster stylings of Lucky Seven for one hot night of sinister swing and raucous rockabilly, the place being The Gov on Fri 17 Aug... And at the Gov the Fri before, that being 10 Aug, you can enjoy the sixth instalment of the 'Best Of Local Anaesthetic' series with Jackson Firebird (direct from Mildura), the evil The Hoodoo Voodoo Dolls, The Species and Bakewell Street... Local artist Emily Smart and her band The Clever Girls will unite with indie newcomers The Warsaw Flowers for two shows - Sat 11 Aug at the Wheatsheaf Hotel and Sat 18 Aug at the Singing Gallery, McLaren Vale... And sort-of-locals Pretty Boy Crossover launch their new album 'A Different Handwriting' with their first gig in Adelaide in over two years on Thurs 9 Aug at Jade Monkey (for the uninitiated, Pretty Boy Crossover are Jason Sweeney and Cailan Burns, two music obsessives who met in Adelaide in 1998, now based back in Melbourne) with special appearances by Tristan Louth-Robins and Belittle League.

The West End Music Festival will be launched next week, releasing a program of various music genres at various west end venues from September 13 - 16. Encompassing jazz, country, classical, cabaret, pop, rock, punk, metal, dance, skate (did they miss anything?), the Adelaide West End Association is inviting you to re-discover the West - check their website after August 14 for the full program. You can find them at www.adelaidewestend.com.au

So with all this good stuff going on, you've got no excuse not to

Get out of the house!