So f**king Rock

Tim Minchin @ the Sydney Opera House

This is late and I am sorry, but the university takes priority and I am a lazy git.

Comedian, actor, singer-songwriter and all rounder rock and roll star extraordinaire Tim Minchin, was recently in the country, playing at the Melbourne comedy festival and at the Sydney Opera House, bringing us his fantastic award winning cabaret/stand-up/concert show So Rock.

It was the last show in a run of thirteen, it was Sunday 5pm, an audience filled with slightly obsessed teenage Minchin fans, couples, families, pensioners, and to my surprise and slight concern, children; not to mention my own good self. There was Tim’s inappropriate humoured but well crafted set of songs, his black piano, and then there was me and the whole audience laughing our arses off. I cannot praise this show highly enough and then some. The songs are thoughtful, laughter cramp inducing, and with titles such as Perineum Millennium- The Inbetween Years, and If You Open Your Mind To Much Your Brain Will Fall Out(Take My Wife) and Some People Have It Worse Than I that references his excitement at watching a Jerry Springer entitled Midgets, Midgets Midgets and which never fails to give me the old fashioned giggles; it was really too bad if you went to the toilet, to miss any second of So Rock is to literally miss out.

It is a real shame that the opportunities in Australia are severely limiting not just for comedians and singer/songwriters like Tim Minchin, but most for people within the business of creating, such as bands, actors, and all kinds of writers. Tim has recently moved to the UK and he has no plans to return to Australia in the immediate future, but he is currently on tour over there, and has plans on writing a sitcom.

The album So Rock, a live recording and a live recording of his follow up show in similar fashion Darkside are available from his shop online, as are some FREE Mp3s and some bloody funny clips of his work especially this one of my OTT favourites Canvas Bags .

The verdict from the man himself:

 

Architecture in Helsinki @ The Metro

Arriving late to The Metro due to a family birthday dinner (It was Japanese food, and I’m not missing that for anything) I unfortunately missed the opening act Soft Tigers, who from what songs I’ve heard and enjoyed, are another up and coming electro-clash-rock-catchy-pop-songs outfit that seem to be slowly taking over the Sydney music market or maybe just some scene-based circles.

So, onto Muscles (woo!) the unsigned but label courting man of the moment, who I have seen and danced to plenty a times before, but this time in a much bigger venue, with a much bigger (read- younger) crowd, and with much louder bass-lines. It appeared to me that everyone under 21 seemed to really get into his music while everyone else was content to stand still with the occasional bop. Be prepared to see about the place Muscles merchandising, his modular sponsored ‘ICE CREAM IS GOING TO SAVE THE DAY’ t-shirts was a quick sell out, among those Ksubi wearing underager’s, with a precedent for squealing.

Then I went to the bar where the queue was so long, it successfully filled the gap between Muscles and that sell out band that we’d all come to see, Indie and Ksubi, young and old; Architecture in Helsinki.

With bongos and whistle-blowing AIH played to their swapping multi-instrumental, enthusiastically pop and energised hearts content, the crowd singing along, and lapping it up, I seem to remember that one of their most popular songs ‘It’5’ went down particularly well. Much to everyone’s delight, the band have appeared to really come together and into their own, putting on a much more concise show then what was expected. The end of show stage invasion, and final new song ‘Heart it Races’, seemed to be the perfect way to both end the evening and welcome AIH home, if only for a little while.

Thumbs Up to: Architecture in Helsinki, the band was happy, the hardcore fans were happy, the occasional fans were happy, and so it seemed was everyone else that fell in between.

(Note: I don’t have setlists for the gigs I go to, unless I snag one. I have the memory of a goldfish, literally in one ear and out the other. I mean I have enough trouble remembering people’s names, so I highly doubt, I’ll ever be able to remember setlists on the night in question.)

half nelson

Half Nelson is a wonderfully human indie film about change, that stays with you to the end and right out the cinema doors. Without ever being one of those contrived “indie-quirk-quirk films”, about a burgeoning friendship of sorts between a drug addled teacher and his student; without being one of those “feelgood-goal inspiring-insipid Hollywood- teacher- inspires his- student films”. Dan, the teacher is well extremely played by Ryan Gosling (who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance here) is a history teacher trying to enthuse and encourage his students to think outside the education system, and struggles to separate his job from his life and drug habit. They bleed into each other when one of his students, Drey played beautifully by Shareeka Epps, catches him getting high in the toilets after school. The characters in this film are well written and human. The camera work is mostly hand held, and framed too close at times, and that ends up restricting just how much we the audience are being let in.

The music for this film is made of lots great songs, but the instrumental standout of the film is done by that ever listenable band that provide the soundtrack for many real lives; Broken Social Scene.

Half Nelson is screening in some cinemas nationally, or if you have an all region DVD player you can just buy the film from amazon.

TWO Thumbs Up to: Half Nelson for being the kind of film that breaks your heart in slow motion.

(EDIT: sorry about the crapness of this review, the words aren’t quite coming tonight.)

Words, words, and more words.

Bleh, I’ ve been lazy haven’t written anything for a bit. I’ve been busy, writing. Always writing, I know I want to be a writer but sometimes I get so sick of words and syntax. Especially since I’ve been extra busy with uni and comedy stuff.

Coming soon, I’ll be reviewing Half Nelson, Architecture in Helsinki, and Life on Mars.

soon as I make time, promise.