This day next week, the focus of Nialler9 will be shifting to the the land of Antipodeans in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes, myself and Aoife will be making a ten day visit to Australia for blogging purposes courtesy of the kind people at Tourism Australia as part of their Visiting Opinion Leaders program!
We will be visiting Melbourne from the 12th-16th of June and then Perth from the 16th to the 20th of June and blogging on the way. We’ve got a whole host of things lined up:
- Gigs, gigs and more gigs with the likes of Deerhunter, Tucker B’s, a couple of almost un-Googleable bands Beaches, Songs and hopefully as many other bands and DJs based in Western Australia and Victoria as we can.
- We’ll be meeting up with people from independent radio stations like Triple R, RTRFM, industry bodies like West Australian Music Industry Association and Victoria Rocks, Aussie music bloggers, venue managers, youth music organisations and hopefully, a member of a cool alternative Australian band.
- A visit to the Nick Cave Exhibition.
- A Harley Davidson ride around Melbourne.
- A private screening of Something in the Water – a documentary about the Perth music scene.
- Record shopping. Obviously.
- General sightseeing in Melbourne and Perth like the Botanic Gardens and an Indigenous Heritage Tour.
Of course as Aoife is travelling too, our trip will have a foodie slant so expect things on I Can Has Cook like:
- A Foodie’s Dream tour.
- A vintage shopping trip in a 1960s Fiat. Awesome.
- We’ll be eating in some pretty sweet restaurants so you can ogle at the food before it hits our bellies. Places like 1907 and the Tjanabi Indigenous Restaurant.
- A Bar Secrets Tour.
It’s gonna be AMAZING. So if you’ve any suggestions for bands, venues, bars, touristy things, Aussie music blogs and scenes to check out do pop them in the comments. For example, I’d love to find out more about this Grrilla Step/ Krumping dance craze that DJ Dexter seems is involved in…
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Hey Niall, have you come across Armen Firman? They’re a Melbourne-based indie band (review of their debut EP here: http://obscuresound.com/?p=2934). I will confess to being related to a couple of guys in the band, so somewhat biased… – also seriously jealous of your upcoming trip down under 🙂
that sounds awesome. super jealous!
In Melbourne, Queen Victoria Markets are wonderful for food, they had night markets there for a while, not sure if they still run now. In Perth they have night markets with live music, not bad. Couple decent record stores in Melb centre and St Kilda, a short tram ride away. Chapel Street is cool for cafes and restaurants. Be sure and pick up a copy of VICE Magazine, free in most record stores. Other than that, have fun, Melbourne is a wonderful city, I lived at Little Collins Street there for 5 months- very sad to leave..
Lucky sod! Sounds like an amazing trip. While you’re in Melbourne keep an eye out for The Parking Lot Experiements, a sound bunch who like to get involved in all sorts of impromtu gig behaviour: http://www.myspace.com/theparkinglotexperiments
That Nick Cave exhibit looks deadly!
Great, thanks guys!
Setting up some drinks with bloggers at the moment. We’ve a really full intinerary for the 10 days so squeezing sleep and blogging into it will be a task. A task i’m willing to accept.
Just hope I don’t get jetlagged at Deerhunter on the first night and fall asleep on the dancefloor!
grab a listen in to Triple J before going, as well as Triple R. Its a BIG station, but the heart of a pirate.
very nice indeed, Melbourne is a fantastic city. I’d really recommend getting to a gig in the Esplanade Hotel in St. Kilda, very atmospheric and when I was in Melbourne had a few tiny-then/big-ish now Aussie bands like the Presets and Midnight Juggernauts playing for a few quid. I’d second the Triple J recommendation too, fantastic experimental music slot on a Sunday evening, I still check it out time to time online. There’s a very good small indie store on Brunswick St (on the left side on the way out of town, can’t remember the name) that stock quality Aussie indie stuff too, some gems to be had. yis lucky divils yis.
niall did u blog about nick caves script for superman returns?
that cave thing sounds like a serious buzz. get some pics son
C
can i come too, i’ll take pictures of you enjoying the winter that’s hotter than an irish summer
some place in melbourne with mannequins hanging from the ceiling!! can’t for the life of me remember the name of it but will get back to you.
Awww, congrats.
Oh and it was my bro who went to melbourne. I should be so lucky.
Sent you a message about these guys yesterday, but thought I’d give you a link to their stuff and a list of gigs. They’re playing most nights int he next week or so around Australia so maybe you’ll catch them. They’re doing one of the gigs with New Buffalo who is pretty cool and is signed to Arts & Crafts.
http://www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast