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Wire 8 The Canberra Times January 7, 2010 WORD ON THE STREET compiled by DAVID CURRY Lara Cox in TheDinner Party – a ‘dangerous film’. Happy New Year So here we are, a brand new year, with the noughties (or naughties, if you were having a good time) behind us. OK, technically the end of the decade is the end of 2010, but it’s just not as neat, is it? Just as 1999 wasn’t the end of the millennium. But can you imagine Prince singing, ‘Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2000’? It would be like singing, ‘Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1985’ – although, come to think of it, that would be a good line for this year’s Australia Day concert. But generally speaking, it just doesn’t work. Seven days into the year, how manyNew Year’s resolutions have you broken? I’ve yet to actually act on – ‘‘action’’, in public service speak – any of mine. Amongmy resolutions were to watch less TV, remember all my family’s birthdays, and stopmaking resolutions I can’t stick to. Having alreadymissedmy niece’s birthday, I’m not in good shape. Most importantly, andmost relevantly, I’ve resolved to catch more livemusic in 2010, because this year is gonna rock. You heard it here first at Fly. Deadly Dinner One film to watch out for this year will be The Dinner Party, expected to premier at Dendy’s inMarch. Filmed in Canberra over about three weeks in 2006, The Dinner Party is partly inspired by the true-life tale of Anu Singh, an ANU student who administered a fatal dose of heroin to her boyfriend, Joe Cinque, after drugging himwith Rohypnol. It’s produced by Canberra actor Brendan Sloane, best known (but maybe not for long) as ‘the MagnetMart’ man for his long-running association with the business, and directed andwritten by ScottMurden. Among the actors are Lara Cox (Heartbreak High) and Ben Seton. The film has been creating a buzz since its premier at the Dungog Film Festival inMay. It edged out almost 20,000 other films to be accepted into London’s Raindance Film Festival, where it was nominated for best debut feature. I was lucky enough to be shown some scenes on a laptop in 2007, and based onwhat I saw I reckon it’s going to be a corker. Expect black humour, top-notch acting, and a darkly compelling story. And it’s a Canberra film – one of ours, folks! Making waves Sydney band The Jezabels have been successfully assaulting US College radio. Last week their new EP, She’s So Hard, was the #3most added track, behind only The Arctic Monkeys and ThemCrooked Vultures, and debuted at #113 in the overall Top 200 chart. They’ve nowmoved beyond college radio, making inroads into the alternative speciality commercial networks. The Jezabels came in at #10 on the FMQB singles chart with the EP’s lead trackHurt Me, tying with Julian Casablancas, Tegan and Sara and surrounded by some distinguished company. Burning Canberra Brisbane Band Burning Brooklyn (nice alliteration, huh?) are playing The Basement tomorrow night as part of their Where the Heart Stops tour. Formed in October 2008, Burning Brooklyn have been described by one reviewer as “one of the best unsigned Australian alternative-rock bands”. Their debut single,Half Past Easy, got regular airplay on Triple J’s Short Fast Loud, and the EP,Where the Heart Stops, has featured on the J’s Home andHosed, and even dented TripleM Sydney. The band has shared the stage with international acts like Haste the Day (USA), Blessed by a BrokenHeart (CAN) and Fear Before (USA). Influences include Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin and Saosin. Expect something resembling ‘‘the guts of great rockmusic with catchy melodies’’. Roots Fusion Melbourne-based songstress Katt Beames and her new band The SoulaR Sky will play The Front in Lynehamnext Wednesday night. The gig will see the launch of their debut album, Elixir, touted as ‘‘solid singin’ grooves, crisp rootsy guitar, laced with vocals thatmove from being smooth and sweet as honey in one moment – and powerful, rich and smoky in the next.’’ After releasing her first EP early 2008 and touring solo throughout Europe and Canada, the 23-year-old Beames, currently based inMelbourne town, has spent the last 12 months studying jazz and recording her first full-length studio album. Katt andmembers of the SoulaR Sky have played national festivals such as Port Fairy Folk Festival and the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival. Qbn to float LiquidFest 2010 will be a chance to hear music in either your boardies or your budgie smugglers – or your bikini, of course. Billed as Queanbeyan’s music event of the year, LiquidFest 2010 will be held at the Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre on January 30. Held annually, the pool party andmusic festival will feature Queanbeyan bands Corporate Takedown, No Assumption and rap/hip-hop group YBD (Young, Black &Deadly), alongside others from Sydney – including Steady the Fall, Avarin, Friend Or Enemy, Urban Prophetz Recordz Crew, andmore. LiquidFest an all-ages event and alcohol free. The day kicks off at noon with a talent competition, followed by a BMX competition at 3. The action thenmoves to the pool for a night ofmusic. The event is organised by the Queanbeyan Youth Council and Axis Youth Centre in partnership with the Indent/MusicNSW grant program. Arc Cinema TheNational Film and Sound Archive continues its run of classic films at the Arc Cinema, the state-of-the-art cinema within the original 1930s Art Deco building. Tonight you can roll up and catch a newly restored print ofMalcolm, in which tram-fixatedMalcolm (Colin Friels), ex-con Frank (JohnHargreaves) and his nothing-but-spunk girlfriend Judith (Lindy Davies) become themost effective bank robbing gang since The Kellys.Malcolm will be on at the outdoor cinema on Saturday night. As a tribute to actor ‘Bud’ Tingwell, the Arc Cinemawill screenMoneyMovers on Saturday night. Air Guitar All the excitement of air guitar and funny faces is coming back to Canberra. That’s right, the search is on once again for ‘‘the greatest guitarist in Australia who never played’’. The 2010 Australian Air Guitar Champs qualifying rounds and state and territory finals begin in March at venues throughout the nation, including the ‘berra. It’s time to start cranking up the Hendrix and practising the ‘‘hot chip’’ and ‘‘passing the brick’’ faces. Watch this space. Orbital descend For the first time since 1992, Orbital, the legendary stars of techno-tinged electronica, return to Australia. Orbital has joined the PlaygroundWeekender 2010 line-up, which also includes Lupe Fiasco, The Polyphonic Spree, The Cribs, Brian JonestownMassacre, Jamie Lidell Pivot, The Bees. Formed in 1989 and influenced by punk rock and early electro, Orbital’s legendary status was cemented with a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival. Hardand fast andsuccessful Big crowds: Gallows played to 20,000 fans at Reading. By Shailla Van Raad Stephen Carter sounds so close-by when on the phone, although he is actually thousands of kilometres away. Carter and his hard-core punk band, Gallows, are ready to embark on yet another adrenaline-inducing world tour. He is calling from the small industrial town Barrow-in- Furness, in the eastern UK. ‘‘We just started out our UK tour.We didn’t even know this place [Barrow] existed. It was one of the best shows on the entire tour though, so far; the kids went off on it. They enjoyed watching the band andwe enjoyed playing. We fed off their energy.’’ Gallows hail from the small town ofWatford, Hertfordshire, England, and consists of brothers Stephen (guitar) and Frank Carter (vocals), Laurent Barnard (guitar), Stuart Gili-Ross (bass) and Lee Barratt (drums). The group is the first hardcore punk- band in the world to be signed withWarner Brothers Records on a $31 million albumdeal. This financial freedomhas given the boys an independence to express themselvesmusically as they never had before. ‘‘It has been very strange,’’ Carter says, ‘‘It’s beenwonderful what amillion pounds has done for us.We’ve been touring the world for three years now, and it’s definitely helped bring our sound out – I never thought we’d get this big in the UK. ‘‘We have been headlining at the Reading Festival – playing to a crowd of 15 to 20,000 kids in a night. It was f---ing crazy. It’s hard to see what came before Gallows forme. I don’t think about it anymore. The second I came into Gallows, I remember everything from then on.’’ Their extremely successful album,Orchestra ofWolves, hit the airwaves in 2007 and now, only two years later, their second highly anticipated album,Grey Britain, was released. Carter describes what the album represents for the band, ‘‘Grey Britain is amore personal album than Orchestra ofWolves. The album is about everything – it’s about the recession, the state of the government, about the youth of today. It’s an album that is inspired by the wrongs and rights of the country, what our country has to offer and themass problems that it is encountering.’’ Carter attributes Gallows spasmodic and high-octane performances to ‘‘trying to be as honest as we possibly can – we’re not a typical band of 2009.We don’t write crunk like ‘my girlfriend’s an idiot’.Wewant to write and playmusic with as much passion and honesty as we can.’’ Despite their sometimes violent dubbed stage act, the Carter brothers are just big softies at heart. They try to separate their on-stage antics that deal with complex social topics from their home and family life. ‘‘Performing in Gallows ismy ultimate release of everything. Performing is such an aggressive adrenaline rush. Afterwards it’s like the calm after the storm – all I want to do is seemy friends and girlfriend. I love sitting inmy bedroomwithmy girlfriend and playing Xbox. Themost rock and roll thing I’ve done is tattoo rock and roll onmy knuckles. I don’t drink or smoke.My brother, Frank is the same.’’ Having toured the world three times in the short four years of their illustriousmusical career, Gallows will be playing at The Soundwave Festival in Brisbane, Sydney,Melbourne and Perth throughout February andMarch in 2010, to the delight of their punk-rocker fans. Carter excitedly explains that the band is looking forward to exploring Australia. ‘‘Last timewe played in Australia in 2007we didn’t get to see the country.We just saw the venue and the hotel – that was about it.’’ This time the band plans to see a lotmore. Gallows Where andwhen: The Soundwave festival in Sydney, February 21, 2010. They also play at Luna Park Big Topwith AFI on February 23.
