I was lucky enough to find a company called Payam Data Recovery. They have just opened here in Brisbane but you can also find them in Sydney and Melbourne. I was also lucky to be charged a very reasonable amount to recover my lost data.

It took them 24 hours to find the problem for free and let me know how to proceed with recovery. I provided them a new external hard drive, a 1T Western Digital My Book and they copied over all my recovered data. So far so good and most of it seems to be there, the only issue was with my iMac’s Time Machine.

The most traumatic part of all of this was that my iMac became full and I decided to copy ALL of my 2009 data onto the external drive and removed it from the iMac completely. 3 days later the external failed and took my Time Machine with it, so I thought it was all gone to digital heaven. I’ve now learned my lesson to make multiple back ups and to now put my most valued data onto archival DVD [this is also not guarenteed, so make sure to check your DVDs and re-burn them after a few years]

Parkway Drive were supported by 3 bands Word Up!, Confessions and They also had a first support band but I can not find their name for the life of me.

I did manage to catch their set, here a few photos.

I got caught up outside and missed Word Up!’s whole set I was checking out the line up outside, the security were rather tight and needed to loosen up a touch.

I got back inside in time to catch Confession tearing the place apart

This kid in the middle was losing his shit

All the kids were there for Parkway Drive and Parkway Drive were there for the kids. These guys love what they do and smile the whole time.

Apparently the Sunshine Coast is a very sleepy town with sleepy bands. Enter Parkway Drive and the town goes crazy slamming the gig in the headlines and predicting a riot, way to scare the families into not letting their kids go to the show.

Check out the rest on my Flickr Account

It’s difficult not to be won over by Pink’s scrappy charm – part Pat Benatar, part Stevie Nicks, part bulldog – but there is more to her than this. A hugely talented and generous performer, her show is ridiculous in its scale, and, with its many costume changes and acoustic interludes, it’s honestly some of the most astonishing shit I’ve ever seen on stage.

Over the course of two and a bit hours, Pink will be groped by a series of disembodied hands while writhing on a couch during a breathy cover of I Touch Myself; she will instigate an elaborately-choreographed pillow fight in time to the snarling So What?, and swing, upside down, 20 feet in the air, while belting out recent single Sober.

Get The Party Started is given a Vegas makeover, Just Like A Pill and Don’t Let Me Get Me inspire mass hysteria around the central catwalk, Funhouse becomes a slinky circus nightmare, while closer Glitter In The Air gets a spectacularly literal interpretation. Before her Australian tour is over, Pink will have performed 56 shows in the country – I, for one, definitely wanna go again.

Words by Alasdair Duncan for Rave Magazine

Photos by Kylie Keene for Rave Magazine

She too is dressed in black, her diminutive presence allowing her vocals to take centre stage in what is a surprisingly intimate show given that ticket demand could have filled a much larger venue.

I Could Say sees the band lit in full multicolour splendour and is musically one of the set’s stronger tracks despite the bass overpowering throughout.

By track three Lily’s jaw dropping introduction is firmly in the rear view mirror and the set veers into the weird slow-motion Zorba terrain of Never Gonna Happen, heightened by the primary colour light show plodding across huge L – I – L -Y letters on the back screen.

Lily’s vocals and her band’s musicianship are spot on tonight – and I suspect they always are, but for this reviewer it’s the strength of her songs that span the gamut of great all the way down to cringeworthy.

Mid set highlights include Oh My God from Mark Ronson’s Versions album, Chinese, 22 and LDN segueing into an awesome Back To The Start.

More forgettable moments are the, ahem, politically charged Fuck You , a semi-acoustic He Wasn’t There and Him – which isn’t bad, just drab.

The dinky carousel cheese and lowbrow theme of Not Fair nearly does my head in, but it bothers the crowd none. It seems appreciation throughout the set increases with the crudeness of Lily’s lyrics.

Who’d Have Known is dedicated to “all the new couples who still like each other” and is the closest thing to a Zippo moment (no mention of Lily’s ‘prop’ cigarette) in the age of nonsmoking venues.

Lily fans certainly get bang for their buck tonight as she plays the hits from album number one and the entirety of number two over the course of the evening. No prizes for guessing the encore as we predictably wait for Smile – with a bangin’ drum n bass / dub breakdown and Lily on handheld Kaoss pad – and lead single The Fear from sophomore effort It’s Not Me, It’s You.

SET LIST

Everyone’s At It
I Could Say
Never Gonna Happen
Oh My God
Him
Who’d Have Known
LDN
Back To The Start
He Wasn’t There
Chinese
22
Not Fair
Fuck You
Smile
The Fear
Womanizer

Words by misscrystle for Fasterlouder.com.au

Photos by Kylie Keene for Fasterlouder.com.au

They seldom hit the notes, they clearly despised each-other, their stage show was nowhere near as inventive as Gaga’s, and the whole thing kinda gave me flashbacks to that episode of Sex & The City where Samantha is attacked by the angry transvestites (for any straight men who don’t happen to get that pop culture reference – it’s a bad thing).

Words by Alasdair Duncan for Rave Magazine

Photos by Kylie Keene for Rave Magazine

Gaga’s act is glossy, loud, and hilariously high concept, with pummelling electro beats and super slick ‘80s-referencing synths, but she has the panache as a performer to pull it off. Opening with the slinky Paparazzi, she works her delirious way through Lovegame and Just Dance, delivering cryptic speeches about pop art and the nature of fame.

The wackiest is definitely saved for last – rocking a dress made entirely of plastic bubbles, Gaga sits at a clear piano as she belts out an angry and sorta frightening cabaret version of her hit Poker Face. 10 minutes, a number of interludes and an outfit change later, the familiar synth intro starts playing, the backup dancers emerge, and everyone goes nuts. I’m just gonna say it – Gaga is awesome, already a super talented performer, and by the time her second album comes around, she oughta be unstoppable.

Words by Alasdair Duncan for Rave Magazine

Photos by Kylie Keene for Rave Magazine

I’ve shot so many bands: Howard Jones, The Waifs, The All-American Rejects, Hey Monday, Fall Out Boy, Amanda Palmer, Mogwai, The Stills, Kings of Leon, Counting Crows, The Who, Kean, The Greats, Little Birdy, Oh Mercy, Lady GaGa, Pussycat Dolls and Lily Allen.

I’ve also shot a bunch of festivals: Sunset Sounds, Soundwave, Big O, V Festival and the Victorian Fire & Flood Benifit concert in Brisbane.

I will upload some photos from the most recent shows I’ve shot but probably not ALL. You can however see most of them on my Flickr photostream if you’re really curious!

His band he introduces as The Flying C**ts of Chaos are in a uniform of matching black top hats. He walks to the piano and plays the song of the album’s namesake. It is a solemn tune which throws the audience, as it is more melancholy rock than the expected alternative metal. Nevertheless, it strikes a chord with the crowd, with Tankian’s unique voice bringing unexplainable feeling, without lameness, to the song.

After the piano solo, the rest of the band pick up their instruments and finish the song together. The next few tunes are hard and fast with strong messages. Tankian regularly waves his top hat, bows down to the floor and lightly air guitars during the set. It is not strenuous exercise. His stage presence seems more like an eccentric rabbi, or the Mad Hatter in Alice and Wonderland- occasionally contentedly smiling to himself, or doing a jig. Most of the songs from his album are played- the crowd favourites being Lie Lie Lie (which generates a loud singalong), Sky is Over and Baby.

Tankian’s banter with the crowd and introductions to half his songs are very political. He shares his opinions about religion, institutions and American presidents freely. This is in stark contrast to the other half of the tunes performed, which are highly playful in nature. For example, to the fast-paced Money, he adds ABBA’s Money Money Money lyrics making a wacky mash-up. He also does a cover of The Beatles’ Girl, which has him laughing to himself, until he picks up the pace, turning the easy-listening song into his own hardcore version.

He finishes the set with Beethoven’s C**t, only to follow it up with an encore starting with a David Bowie Space Oddity cover. The very last song of the night begins with a speech by Tankian. He says, ‘I will not make my decision until I see action from President Obama.’ After which, he launches into Unthinking Majority. It is a good song to finish on. But, although System of a Down fans are satisfied, I cannot help but stare at the look of confusion on some audience member’s faces. More than one person remarks, ‘Well, that’s not what I expected.’ I guess you can’t please everyone.

Tankian is an interesting solo artist with a different sound that manages to bewilder some people. But despite this, I can’t help feeling the main act was upstaged by the support. With my expert snooping skills I found one punter that could sum up the night quite succinctly: ‘Lesson: if you want to look good, don’t put Patton on the bill before you.’

Words by aib33 for Fasterlouder

Photos by Kylie Keene for Fasterlouder

There’s energy, excitement and a big show, but there’s real musical substance as well.

Keys showed it’s still possible to cross to a mainstream audience on talent rather than celebrity.

The crowd, mostly women, were on their feet from the opening notes of Go Ahead, delivered as a big-band R&B blast that leaves the recorded version for dead.

By the time the song was over she’d moved to the side of the stage to play a tasty synthesiser solo, showing she’s a fine musician as well as a powerful singer and entertainer.

Early hit You Don’t Know My Name is a nod to feelgood 60s soul with backing singers Whitney Keaton and Amanda Brown looking and sounding as if they had just stepped out of some Motown time warp.

By the time Keys had delivered the tremendous Teenage Love Affair and the supertight funk of Heartburn no one was left in any doubt that Keys has a long career ahead.

Recession or not, when you can make people feel this good, you will always have a sizeable audience.

While some might worry about the future of soul music in the age of manufactured, glossy pop, Keys showed its great tradition is in safe hands with her.

Words by Noel Mengel of Courier Mail

Photos by Kylie Keene for Rave Magazine

Promoting her second album Curiouser, created with pop partner, guitarist/songwriter Keir Nuttall while on holiday in Laos, just the fact the Mekong Delta reminded her of unashamedly, experimental pop with some Cyndi Lauper, Queen and Devo thrown in, proves just how unique and creative her music is. Her latest track, I like you better when you’re not around, is a swing enhanced break up ballad, which has all the angst of a done me wrong song, but with none of the bitterness and anger – making it all that more appealing.

The highlight of the evening was Little Adam from her first album, Little Eve, which is either a letter written from the perspective of God to Adam (as in Adam and Eve) or a song about masturbation, she hasn’t really decided. Most of her songs have a comical feel to them, including her miscounting the intro, telling stories and encouraging audience participation. Occasionally slipping into a guitar interlude, something she hadn’t done in ten years, die hard fans were thrilled to glimpse this rare moment. Miller-Heidke is a dynamic performer who promises the world and tonight she delivers once again.

Words by Wooly of Fasterlouder

Photos by Kylie Keene for Rave Magazine