One-hundred word reviews – Rising, from Melbourne’s The Go Set

The Go Set’s fourth full-length recording, Rising, is everything you would want in a Celtic inspired union anthem album – but with subtly more. Bagpipes, sea-swept chorus, rail-roads, men chained and exported, here we go, here we go. The album takes colonial history and places it firmly within the modern context. The Roaring Forties evokes the stigma of Australia’s painful response to boat-people. Armentieres re-works the bawdy World War I "Mademoiselle from Armentières" into a love song, as the girl with jet black hair swallows streets that once ran liquid with mustard gas. As they say, all hell has been unleashed.

One-hundred word reviews – The Barons of Tang, the Phoenix, 17/1/2008 – Melbourne Gypsy Hardcore

The Barons of Tang - Plague on Wheels Tour. Tuba on the floor, shirts off, death metal punk Gypsy – why not Romani? – Hardcore; the Phoenix. Dance, dance, dance, the crowd was up for the Barons of Tang from the outset and in a set too short for everyone they frolicked us through their sweaty musical array before passing the top hat around the crowd - University holidays equal no pay at the Phoenix. The Double-Bass player was declared: “good enough to do me for a week.” Then it ended. Unfortunately I missed the Super Best Friends, I was chasing Vampires.

One-hundred word reviews – The Wiskeydicks, Woodford - where were you?

Canadian visitors to Woodford, The Whiskeydicks played a storm over three nights, turning on acoustic folk Irish-Canadian punk for the small devoted following turning out for them. Playing two short set-lists on 30 and 31 December, they had a grand finale of 45 minutes to close the festival at Bazaar. Highlights included a rendition of "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" along with their song “The Godfather”, the Cello-player leaped through NoFX inspired hoops – fun – fancy hats held prominence, and the Middle of the Year Girls danced the crowd into a frenzy of jigs and jumping – very hot, hot, hot...