MAN ABOUT TOWN

It's been a very mixed start to the year, musically. I've seen some fantastic gigs so far - The Meanies , The Drones , Spiderbait , Camera Obscura and The Decemberists - but sadly several of those gigs only came about because Victoria's liquor licensing laws now penalise as 'high risk' any venue trading until 3am, regardless of whether its patrons have a history of violence or not. Thus, last week long-running Melbourne live music venue The Tote was forced to close its doors - going out with one hell of a bang - because running the pub was no longer viable in light of the increased liquor licensing and security costs which came with its farcical 'high risk' status. I've been drinking at The Tote since 1990, and not once in 20 years have I ever seen a fight there. I have, however, seen some truly kick-arse bands; several of whom performed at The Tote last Monday, its closing night . The Meanies played a brilliant, blinding set that made me feel 15 y...

Oh dear. I've been, not exactly avoiding blogging lately, but it does feel a bit like work sometimes, given that I spend half my days sitting in front of the computer writing about arts-related subjects. So, consider this a catch-up post to cover some of what I've been doing and thinking about since the start of the new year. Hopefully I'll post more regularly in the coming months. I certainly don't intend to kill this blog off - it's too much fun, especially when I read back on what I was doing a few years ago (A can of coke and a line of speed for breakfast? Really? What was I thinking?). Anyway, here's a brief update on what I've been seeing, contemplating and doing in the first few weeks of this year. I caught a preview of The Road , the new film by Australian director John Hillcoat, a couple of weeks ago, and was very impressed. There's a full review over at Arts Hub , so allow me to quote myself for a moment: 'A scene in which the Man is poised...