Puff 'n Stuff

Perth songstress Felicity Groom will be performing solo and supporting fellow sandgroper Bob Evans when he plays at Fowler's Live on Wed 26 Nov, the very day this edition goes to print.

The folks organising the Summer Slaughter tour are calling it "the most extreme tour of the year", and though it's only a couple of months into 2009, it'll sure take some beating. Four international acts join forces for the first Australian shows in Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, Aborted and The Faceless, while Australian death metal tyrants The Red Shore provide a little homegrown carnage. It's probably lucky that Fowler's is closing down, because after Sun 15 Mar, there might not be much left.

The Beards are keeping busy during December, as is their wont, with shows at the Jetty Bar on Sat 6 Dec and Rhino Room (with Jackson Firebird and comic Bob Franklin) on Fri 12 Dec, but their real focus is the "very big show" at The Gov on Fri 9 Jan to officially launch the first-ever Australian team in The World Beard & Moustache Championships, The Australian Bush Rangers, as they prepare to head overseas to represent our country.

New club night Syke has been going great guns over at Producers every Friday, and pop rockers Ellington will try to keep it on a roll when they appear there on Fri 12 Dec. Before that, though, No Way Out and Ever Ready play on Fri 28 nov.

This whole Pink business is beginning to get out of control. Following in the path of last year's neverending tour, she just keeps on adding more dates for next year's jaunt with Adelaide now getting a fourth Entertainment Centre show on Tue 4 Aug. Take that, Andre Rieu.

Taking place in Bonython Park on Sun 28 Dec, Summer Break has a line-up covering indie, DnB, house, electro, hip-hop and trance, with some of the highlights being Public Enemy (who've hinted they will perform their classic 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back' in its entirety to celebrate its 20th anniversary), Midnight Juggernauts, Utah Saints, Adam Freeland and Van She.

WOMADelaide's not to be left behind the raft of festivals announcing their line-ups, and once again there are some very enticing performers taking part from Fri 6 to Sun 8 Mar. Hopefully a little rain will keep it from becoming a dust bowl next year, but there'll be no way to stop the dancing when Afrobeat rules Botanic Park as Fela Kuti's former drummer, the masterful Tony Allen appears, as does the great man's son, Seun Kuti with his band Egypt 80. Among the other highlights are Natacha Atlas, Geoffrey 'Gurrumul' Yunupingu, Dengue Fever's psychotic Cambodian pop, The Bedouin Jerry Can Band, guitar wunderkind Kaki King and the 'Diva Of The Desert', Dimi Mint Abba as well as all the usual site artists and installations.

Well, they didn't die before they got old. And with their first Adelaide appearance in 40 years, they didn't exactly keep their vow never to return to Australia, either. What Puff can tell you about The Who, though, is that they're coming to town on Thurs 26 Mar with Zac Starkey on drums, with support from Counting Crows and Dallas Crane.

When he supported Whitley on his Australian tour earlier this year, a brief bout of illness unfortunately meant that Howie Day missed out on the Adelaide show, but with his very own headline tour of the country underway now, there's no way he can skip it this time. Supporting the confessional singer/ songwriter when he plays at Jive on Sat 29 Nov are Sophie Koh and Vorn Doolette.

Speaking of Whitley, he'll be making his own way around the country next year, with a show set to take place at Jive on Fri 23 Nov, and Puff could prattle on about his pretty pop for some time, but then there'd be less space for his equally pretty face.

Canadian Alt-pop troubadour Hawksley Workman just can't get enough of Australia, and fortunately there are enough fans here to make this touring business worth his while. In case he gets homesick, though, he's bringing along a few familiar faces in the form of fellow canucks Jill & Matthew Barber. Save the hockey hair and beaver jokes for Jive on Fri 9 Jan.

On Sat 6 Dec, the Jolly Miller, home of Adelaide's cheapest schnitzel, gives itself over to The Summer Of Swill, cramming seven sweaty guitar rock bands into the venue for the ridiculous price of $7. Filling the beer garden with noise will be Raw Spud, Onedogonebone, The Slim Balls, Skagnetti, The Toss, Cock and Kamikaze.

Remember 90s Adelaide band Reckoning? What's that, speak up? Do you remember 90s Adelaide band Reckoning? My, but you ARE getting on a little, aren't you! Well gramps, sprinkle fairy-dust on your bald spot and get down to The Grace Emily Hotel, on Thurs 4 Dec for a not-quite-Reckoning-reunion. The onetime singer of the band, Seamus, will be over from Melbourne launching his CD 'Dogs May Bark', and will be joined by Peter Owen (he's the drummer) to bash out a few acoustic faves for old times' sake. Then Brillig (featuring ex-Reckoning guitarist Matt Swayne), will grace the Emily's stage with tunes from their latest release, 'Jack Davey'.

Talented singer-songwriter Sam Hawksley has been backing and supporting some of Australia's biggest names for a while now, collaborating and performing regularly with Don Walker, Shane Nicholson, The Flood, Karl Broadie and Felicity Urquhart amongst many others, as well as playing lead guitar for Adam Brand (with whom he's just been nominated for the CMAA Song Of The Year Award), but he steps into the spotlight on his own from time to time, and that's exactly what he'll do when he supports The Badloves on Thurs 27 and Fri 28 Nov at the Norwood Hotel.

It's been almost as long a wait for fans of Jeff Beck, but the guitar legend is also returning next year for a show at Thebarton Theatre on Sun 25 Jan.

The Little Stevies are a great little band from Melbourne, and though it's taken them a while to get around to recording their first album (out next year) it's just about ready so they'll be having one last outing before it's out, launching the Sunshower single with their harmony-accented dreampop at The Grace Emily on Wed 3 Dec.

A band of an entirely different sort are Reptiles, a cold-blooded monster that crawled out of some primeval Australian swamp to play dirty punk rock. Their latest EP, 'Smell My Skin', is out now and they're launching it at Jive on Thurs 4 Dec.

Perth hardcore kids Something More are bringing their tight live show to Enigma Bar on Sat 13 Dec when they support Gorilla Biscuits along with Stolen Youth and Infection.

Not enough Kid Confucius for you? How about former guitarist Ray Mann's band, the Ray Man Three (also featring current KC drummer Bart Denaro), who are selecting the four emerging guitarists to play at the Rolling Stone Live gig at the Jim beam Wah Bar as part of the Adelaide International Guitar Festival on Tue 2 Dec.

Tom West & The Art Therapists fuse ideas of folk and pop in their energetic, if somewhat chaotic, performances and Sat 6 Dec at the Jade Monkey would be no different, except that it's also the launch of their new EP, with The Warsaw Flowers and Nick Bastiras offering both moral and musical support.

The Mountain Goats have made good on their promise to reschedule the run of shows they had to cancel earlier in the year, and now those new dates are just about upon us. Coming to Fowler's Live on Sun 7 Dec, the touring three piece will be supported by Baseball.

A Kid Confucius live show is a bit of an event, what with the rocking and the rolling and the funk soul brothers, and they're bringing the dirty horns, distorted vocals and all out garage soul to Rocket on Sat 13 Dec, so if you don't have your moves ready, better get to practicing.

If you've been hearing small-scale wailing and gnashing of teeth lately, it may be due to the fact that Avalon Drive are no more, having disbanded in the middle of their current tour due to the dreaded irreconcilable differences (which the press release underlined). All dates are, unsurprisingly cancelled.

If you head to the Exeter on Sun 30 Nov, be prepared for an extravaganza of songwriting Adelaideans. Among the aptly named Adelaide Acoustic Allstars lending their talents with 10 minute sets are Aphelion, Brenton Manser, Brillig Duo, Buggins, Courtney Robb, Dylan Woolcock, Guillaume Soloacoustic, J-Wah, Lord Stompy, Mary Webb, Nobu, Paul Stubbings, Ria Loof, Simon Peter and Soursob Bob. It all starts at 8pm, and because it's the way they do things at The Exeter, it's entirely free.

It doesn't seem that long ago that he played here, but Josh Pyke will be back again soon enough. Apparently, the last tour was for his single, The Lighthouse Song, and this is the real album tour, but if you liked one it's a fair bet that you'll like the other. It's still a while off as the gig, supported by Cloud Control and Jackson Mclaren, isn't until Thurs 5 Mar at the Gov.

Chances are you've heard by now, but if perchance you've spent the last week under some kind of rock or residing in a cave it's probably worth noting that Kings Of Leon are going to be making their way to Adelaide next year, playing a welcome outdoor concert at memorial Drive on Wed 11 Mar.

Ronnie Taheny and the Outhouse Orchestra will play one farewell show before their European Tour, supported by The Profs, at the Arts Theatre on Thurs 4 Dec.... The Waifs play at The Gov on Sun 8 Feb with Jez Mead and Mama Kin... Jose Gonzalez at his best can be bewitching, and the introspective Swede will be casting his spell at the Gov on Fri 13 Feb.

Melbournian busker turned singer/ songwriter Dom Cooley has just released his debut album 'This Can Only End One Way', and it would seem that the outcome he had in mind when he came up with that title was a launch at the Grace Emily on Tue 2 Dec alongside support acts Raven, Jaya and The Three Of Us.

Puff's well aware that not everyone works quite as hard as he does, and that uni students in particular seem to get a pretty good deal, but fortunately they like to throw a big old party as well. It's no surprise then that the Adelaide Unibar is marking the end of exams by getting The Galvatrons, Art Vs Science, Traps, The Touch and Transmission DJs to help them celebrate in rather large fashion on Fri 27 Nov.

So, the Big Day Out's announced its internationals acts and one name continues to loom large over the entire bill, that of Mr Neil Young. With no sideshows, Wayville Showgrounds on Fri 30 Jan is the only place to catch him in SA, and he'll be playing a 90 minute set from 8:30 pm.

Seven-piece ensemble The Barons Of Tang have been dubbed "gypsy deathcore" and in case you're wondering that reflects a crazy mash up of Eastern European, Latin, rockabilly and tango sounds filtered through hard hitting guitar riffs, double kick blast beats and massive horn arrangements. If you're of an experimental attitude, you probably won't forget their show at The Cranker on Sat 29 Nov in a hurry.

After playing with his band, The Absolute Monster Getntlemen, at the Fringe this year, New Orleans blues pianist Jon Cleary is going to give it a shot on his own at the Norwood Hotel, hitting town on Sat 3 Jan.

They might not be the kind of act you'd expect to catch at Rocket Bar, but Zephyr Quartet like to do things a bit differently, and they'll be performing a range of pieces written especially for them by a diverse mix of local and interstate artists on Fri 12 Dec.

Since reforming, The Angels have been pretty busy rekindling memories, and it's fair to guess that there'll be more than a few people happy to do exactly that when they play at Thebby on Fri 28 Nov supported by Rose Tattoo.

Jess Cornelius aka Teeth And Tongue has just got her debut album out and is launching it rather soon. Puff can't better the description of "a rough around the edges Cat Power mixed with Siouxie Sioux," so won't even try. It's enough to merely let you know that it all takes place at The Exeter (the one on Rundle St) on Sat 13 Dec.

It's going to be a long, hot festival of summers, and first up is Stereosonic. Huge international acts like Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk, Booka Shade and Infected Mushroom will be joined by plenty of local talent from the likes of Sneaky Sound System, Ajax and Kaz James and the whole thing takes place in Bonython Park on Sat 29 Nov.

Everyone will have their own favourites: will yours be St. Jerome's Laneway, who have managed to put together a line up that is simply incredible? With the likes of Stereolab, Jay Reatard, Girl Talk, Architecture In Helsinki, The Hold Steady, Four Tet, Cut Off Your Hands, The Drones. No Age, Pivot, Mountains In The Sky and Port O'Brien in the first line-up alone, tickets aren't going to last for too long. Now Puff just needs to invent a time machine to make sure there are no tough decisions to make. It's what Stereolab would do.

Moonlight Cinema returns once again to Botanic Park on Thursday 27 November. As usual, there'll be a mix of classics and new offerings at the outdoor cinema all the way through to February, with a few early selections including 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' on Fri 28 Nov, 'Persepolis' on Thurs 4 Dec, Grease on Tue 9, 'In Bruges' on Fri 12 and 'Tropic Thunder' on Sat 13 Dec. It's nice to see a few musical selections as well, like 'The Commitments' on Thurs 18 Dec and 'Shine A Light' on Sun 21 Dec.

Get Out of The House!