JOHN BUTLER TRIO / Blue King Brown

Fremantle Arts Centre
Friday, August 27, 2010

Descending upon the Fremantle Arts Centre on Friday evening for the John Butler Trio’s first WA performance since returning from a whirlwind international tour, punters were dolloped a healthy side-serving of political activism to go with their hot chips and lukewarm beer.

THE MAN IN BLACK / Tex Perkins / Rachael Tidd / The Tennessee Four

Regal Theatre
Saturday, August 28, 2010

“Hello, I’m Tex Perkins,” the lean, black clad figure said wryly, before launching into a killer take on Walk The Line. The mannerisms, the vocal tics were spot on; even the acoustic guitar was held in Johnny Cash’s distinctive high-port position. It was a spot-on impersonation, and you could be forgiven for thinking that was how the night was going to progress, with Tex Perkins retaining the Cash persona for the duration of the show.

PARADES / Split Seconds / Seams

Amplifier Bar
Saturday, August 28, 2010

As any music lover will tell you, it doesn’t matter how well you can thrash or shred if it doesn’t sound good - luckily for the Saturday night crowd at Amplifier Bar, rarely did a section of Sydney art-rock quartet Parades’ set sound as if it wasn’t well thought-out and created with the intent to entertain.

TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN

Fight Club

Directed by Stuart Beattie
Starring Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Christopher Pang, Andrew Ryan, Deniz Akdeniz, Ashleigh Cummings, Phoebe Tonkin and Lincoln Lewis

Thousands of Australian teenagers have grown up reading John Marsden’s sensational Tomorrow When The War Began series, and after what seems like a very long wait, the film adaptation is finally here.

VAMPIRES SUCK

Dire Satire

Directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
Starring Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Christopher N. Riggi, Ken Jeong, Diedrich Bader

Any religious conviction you may or may not hold is sure to be shaken by the news that the bottom dwellers behind such cinematic excreta as Meet The Spartans and Epic Movie have unleashed another slapdash stab at parody, this time targeting the recent spate of vampire fiction in general, and the Twilight phenomenon in particular.

ZOLA JESUS

Stridulum EP

Sacred Bone Records/Midheaven

For an artist that has admittedly struggled with the limelight, Stridulum is a document that leaves Nika Roza Danilova – otherwise known as Zola Jesus– naked.

KATY PERRY

Teenage Dream

Capitol/EMI

The daughter of Christian pastors and former gospel singer, Katy Perry may have had a few false starts in her journey to becoming a recording artist but her persistence paid handsome dividends with her massively successful pop debut One Of The Boys.

EELS

Tomorrow Morning

E Works/Shock

Best known for chronicling personal tragedies with directness and tempered honesty, singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett tries something different on the third Eels album in less than two years: embracing joy.

THE BLACK CROWES

Croweology

Silver Arrow Records/Warner

The Black Crowes have sold over 30 million albums and claimed the title of ‘most rock’n’roll rock’n’roll band in the world’ along the way.

MILES AWAY

Endless Roads

Resist/Shock

There’s no two ways about it: Endless Roads, the third full-length from Perth’s Miles Away, has yet again set the benchmark at an international standard.