defamer australia competitions

Melbourne Fringe Festival: Would You Like To See Die Roten Punkte?

2:39PM Jess McGuire | Screw the White Stripes! German brother and sister duo Astrid and Otto Rot from Die Roten Punkte are one of my favourite musical couples. A lot of this is due to the fact that they sent me a badge back in 2005 which says “I’m in a band!” and I still wear it to this day. But also, their last album was both hilarious and rockin’ – so I’m very excited to learn they’re playing during the Melbourne Fringe Festival! Berliner’s Otto and Astrid Rot are back in town to celebrate the local release of their acclaimed “Super Musikant” CD – a ten-track high-energy feast of rock, studded with rich veins of roll. The Teutonic twosome are hungry to back up the hype by ripping through a brace of their sparkling pop-punk anthems live. From “Rock n’ ‘Roll Monster” to “Ich Bin Nicht Ein Roboter (I Am A Lion)” to the chilling “The 4:15 To Spandau Will Not Run Today”, the Best Band In The World are in rare form and they want to push their rock in you. What are you waiting for? Rock Bang! As I said, they’re touring in October for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. I asked them for some bloody good reasons Defamer Australia readers should bother handing over money to watch them do their “thang”, and here are their answers. More »

Would You Like To Go And See Little Red?

9:19AM Jess McGuire | They’ve been touted as one of the best new bands in the country. Triple J made their debut record a Feature Album on the station, and literally billions of Dido fans (if you don’t get that reference by now, there’s no hope for you around these parts) have been converted to their “doo-wop punk” stylings at their live shows. They’re Little Red, and they’re playing this Saturday night in Melbourne! The last two gigs at The Corner in Richmond have been sell outs. I went last Friday night, and along with making some great strides when it comes to my alcoholism, I also thoroughly enjoyed the evening, danced a lot, and had a ball. After the show, there was an interesting moment when a few of us began talking about Queer As Folk and one unnamed member of the band asked me – theoretically, of course – which members of Little Red I thought would be the sort to get bummed, and which members would be the type to do the bumming. Then everything went a bit gay for a while, which I blame on the Brian Kinney factor (that dude was enough to turn anyone – straight man, woman, and child – into an amyl sniffing homosexual). Then we all looked around awkwardly and resumed drinking. ANYWAY. If you live in Melbourne and would like to go to the last show at The Corner for Little Red, shoot an email to tips AT defamer.com.au and give me a good reason as to why I should let you have a double pass. I have three of the motherchuckers to give away, so you’re certainly in with a chance. Hell, even suggest a YouTube Clip Of The Day if you really want to win me over, but no matter what, get emailing! Little Red are AWESOME live and it’ll be a killer evening out. More »