Killing Heidi ‘Wild Turkey 101 Best Australian Songs Tour’

Killing Heidi ‘Wild Turkey 101 Best Australian Songs Tour’ @ Ettamogah Hotel, Kellyville 28/08/2025

Why not 100 best Australian songs like Triple J’s hottest 100 Australian songs countdown? Because one-more song is always better! That’s the mindset of Aussie 2000’s favourite Killing Heidi, and they’re treating fans to something a bit different and special, for in celebration of the recent Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, the band are hitting the road for a tour, where fans will of course get to hear all their KH fave’s, including ‘Weir’ which was itself featured in the countdown, PLUS some covers also featured in the countdown. And what better settings for this true-blue Aussie tour, than at some intimate Aussie pub venues like Kellyville’s Ettamogah Hotel.

This will undoubtedly be a real treat for fans, me included!

Okie dokie then, it seems we’re all being given the bird on the way into the cordoned-off section for the show tonight. The bird in question of course, is a free Wild Turkey (which was honestly accounted for in the ticket sale price, but let’s not focus on that) which I guess is fitting seeing as Wild Turkey are presenting this tour. No, I wish I were getting paid to promote Wild Turkey. A free drink is always well received at a gig, especially at a pub venue like this, however the charitability doesn’t extend to diabetics, as there’re no diet/zero-sugar options for the “free” pre-mixed drink upon entry. Good thing I have a reviewer pass, not a paid ticket I guess.

First off, rather than the venues designated band room, to really hone-in the pub atmosphere, the stage/dance-floors have been set up in the venue proper, apparently so my companion tells me, which is really cool yes, but does make navigating around high-tables to get to the front barrier a bit tricky for accessibility purposes. All good though on my part, as my companion and the venue staff do well assisting me.

During the supporting artist, I ascertain that my position at the front barrier, which is only a metre if that, from the stage, is off to the right, as the light that is on the artist is to my ten-o’clock, awesome, I have my bearings now. Killing Heidi comes out to raucous applause, then opens with fan favourite ‘Mascara’. This song starts the performance off strong, both musically, with Ella cracking through the edgy chorus vocals brilliantly from the get-go, as well as the vibe around me in the audience. 

After ‘Mascara’ we’re treated to other fan fave’s ‘Calm Down’ my personal favourite, ‘I Am’, ‘Superman/Supergirl’ plus ‘Live Without It’ along with a couple of covers which I personally don’t recognize, but still sound great. 

Between these songs, Ella and Jesse chat casually to their audience in a way only possible in an intimate, laid back venue like this, it really is like going to your local pub to see a local band mixed with the treat of experiencing a show from a band you already know and love!

Is someone gonna tell that blind guy at the front, that he is facing/rocking out in the wrong direction? Nah, so much more entertaining to let him come to the realization himself! I do love asking artists in my interviews what the most hilarious, priceless What The Fu** moment of their career is, I reckon this would be up there for my hilarious priceless WTF moments if I were asked.

You see (unlike me), I was wondering why very foreign to all the other KH gigs I’ve experienced, it seemed as though the on-stage energy was lacking, as I wasn’t making out any movement in front of me, plus the audience to my left weren’t rocking out very enthusiastically. It’s only when I notice light to my two-oclock and think, “noooo, surely not!” as I try to focus on that light, do I detect movement coming from that area of the stage and realise “ohhhhhh….. For fu** sake”. Yes, very much like a normal KH set, the band are rocking out, getting the audience TO MY RIGHT, into the action. What the actual fu**? Turns out that it seems the stage has been split into two, with the support artist having played on the left half, and Killing Heidi on the right which I haven’t experienced prior. I mean, two stages side-by-side at festivals as to keep the continuity of the music throughout the day, with one band performing on one stage while the next sets up on the adjacent stage sure, but not one stage split into two, and there was still the typical 30 minute or so wait between support and headliner.

No matter, even though I’m really wishing there were zero-sugar pre-mixes upon entry right about now, I face the right way and rock out to the rest of the bands set, which features a cover of Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ which I thought Ella and the band pulled off really well! Plus INXS’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, which placed at #1 in the countdown and Killing Heidi’s banger of a hit, ‘Weir’.

The show actually only went for one hour, rather than the expected 90 minute set, but I’m quite happy with how it went personally, well, other than my WTF moment of course, for we got to hear all of the Killing Heidi hard-hitters, plus some covers wrapped-up nicely in a good length of time which to keep the energy level charged consistently! The only thing that could’ve made this better, maybe one or two more pub-anthem covers, maybe The Living End’s ‘Prisoner Of Society’ or John Farnham’s ‘Your The Voice’? But that’s neither here nor there, still a ripper of a gig!

Thank you to the wonderful staff at The Ettamogah Hotel, to Killing Heidi and to Wild Turkey for tonight! ….do I get a pay-cheque now?

The Cat Empire Live in Sydney 2025 | Concert Review & Highlights

HELLO HELLO!

Brendan The Blind Guy went along to party at The Cat Empire’s recent Sydney show for their Birds in Paradise album tour. Check out all the highlights here!

Ocean Alley @ The Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW Australia 18/04/2018 written by Brendan Lewis.

LETS GET OUR ART ON

Tonight, we go on a tour of the Ocean Alley musical art gallery! On display are pieces from the bands’ new captivating album of light and dark elements ‘Chiaroscuro’, which portrays the characteristics of the renaissance art technique itself. We will also be introduced pieces from the bands’ back-catalogue featuring fancy art terms I’m only still looking up on Google and am probably way too blind to guide you through….. Yet somehow you’re still taking this tour lead by me.

*Please gather around the ravishingly handsome blind guy and turn off all phones and bank account security, the tour will commence shortly*...

Ocean Alley start their exhibit off with ‘Corduroy’. This piece brings a spacey mystical essence at the start, creeping up to a bold and dramatic vibe, full of expressive emotion like a classic Van Gogh painting, with Bayden’s sharp brush-stroke vocal melodies. The mix of sound is comfortably even and well mixed, however the strong reverberation effect on Bayden’s vocals mixed with the audience around me’s inability to SHUT UP, makes it a strain to enjoy the vocals as intended.

Moving along, the next two pieces from Ocean Alley are ‘The Comedown’ followed by ‘Hold On’ separated by a quick chat from the band, to keep the audience focused and engaged. ‘The Comedown’ display’s an easy on the palate appeal, with a laid back texture with pure, rich clear vocals sitting perfectly in the mix like a pastel painting. This gets the audience around me singing along to every word as if this song were a classic, and despite the surprising lack of on-stage energy from the band as yet, especially after the colourful energetic hype left from the supporting artists before them plus the laid-back musical-vibe, the crowd are becoming quite rowdy and irritating. ‘Hold On’ accentuates the energy dramatically, with a nice blend of jazz piano splashes, with reggae bass lines and abstract drum beats differing throughout the song keeping things colourful all throughout the song. The addition of dual-layer vocals mixed beautifully together to form a unique colour, adds a nice tone to lift the choruses to the forefront of attention.

Moving along to the next section of musical paintings, we gaze upon the next four pieces from the band ‘Muddy Water’, ‘Knees’, ‘Stripes In My Mind’ and ‘Feel’. First up on the left with ‘Muddy Water’ the tone portrays a dark angsty grunge feeling, accompanied by sharp biting powerful vocals that snap up attention. The way the the well-mixed blend of sounds stand out and give off a bold dramatic aura, is classic of a Van Gogh masterpiece, and thus raises the excitement and positivity in the gallery tonight.

This next piece will likely bring you to your Knees, with it’s exquisite vocal hooks and smooth delicate, nostalgic musical touch in an uplifting major-key tone. The energy in the gallery/crowd for this song is lifted dramatically, with the crowd all pushing and getting quite rowdy, to the point of crowd surfers emerging over-head in the songs’ build up and thickening of layers near its’ end. The blend of blues swirling together to create a new element like the key elements of a water-painting, and makes me assume that this piece is in a way-too commonly used and stereotypically used C-major key. If so, this piece is far from stereotypical and common however, as it’s subtle yet distinct colours mixed together, powerful vocal hooks and all building up in dynamics, gives off a tactile element that you can feel within yourself like a Mosaic piece.

'Stripes In My Mind’ displays key characteristics of a classic Da Vinci piece, using layers of funk and Reggae with it’s alluring funky bass line and rhythm, plus rock with climactic edgy vocals and guitar riffs, to emulate a sense of unity between each element. The band raise their on-stage aesthetic energy (because we all know I’m all about the aesthetics), as they all move around the stage like brush strokes binding the elements together, and moving up close to the front of the stage, bringing the energy closer to the audience.

‘Stripes In My Mind’ finishes with a big bold build up to explode in a vast spectrum of rocking out colours from the band, which cleverly flows into ‘Feel’. This song with it’s anthemic essence with vocal hooks, mid-tempo intricate beats and lead singer Bayden moving around the stage in high-spirits gets the crowd highly charged and raising their arms in accordance to the new precedence of energy. This piece depicts the characteristics of Impressionism from the band throughout the set I feel, as it emphasises the accurate depiction of light in it’s ever-changing qualities and especially in pieces like this, brings the vocal qualities to the forefront of attention.

Oh would you look at the time and word count, we’re running out of time on this tour, so, for the rest of this set we are enticed and treated to pieces like the abstract ‘Yellow Mellow’, breaking away from traditional representations of reggae, rock, funk and blues and brings them all to a modern light. The Van Gogh qualities of ‘Overgrown’ with its’ bold and dynamic changing tempo’s from verses to choruses to portray emotion and thought. The normally bright pastel vibrancy of ‘Holiday’ which is renditioned as a guitar solo from lead singer Bayden, which makes it abstract as it breaks-away from the traditional representation of the piece. The ever-popular Da Vinci piece ‘Confidence’, displaying key layers of reggae, soul and rock to create a sense of unity and strength, especially with it’s strong dynamics building up in the bridge section. And finally, the vibrant and uplifting pastel funk/jazz-rock colours of ‘Flowers And Booz’, ending the tour on a high. All these songs though being classic of one style of painting to another, all share unique qualities of styles of varying sorts, and the energy from the band may have taken a bit of time to emerge, but we’ve definitely got there now!

…...Oh, you’re still here? The tour’s over, yep, no more…. Go home…. You want more? Oh, ok, I suppose there’s two more pieces that we could visit.

The band re-emerge onto the stage to a booming chorus of cheering fans, thank us once again, then give us two more palate cleansers, ‘Rage’ and ‘Happy/Sad’. ‘Rage’ gives a vintage rock essence, yet in a contemporary today-relevant light, with distinct impressionism, as it emphasises the light of the songs in its’ changing qualities. Finally, ‘Happy/Sad’ is a quintessential Chiaroscuro piece, in how it blends both light and dark elements together with both major and minor tone chords, both mellow and angsty feelings and both soft and sharp vocals. The diversity and extraordinary essence of the song is brought forth even more, with an explosion of confetti at the start of the first chorus, showering me and everyone around me in vibrant musical and literal colours… I did not see that coming in any way shape or form. The song may be quintessentially Chiaroscuro, but the energy and buzzing atmosphere around me is very much reflective of Van Gogh elements (bold and dynamic) which makes this a brilliant finish to this tour of musical art!

“What are your thoughts on this tour sir?” I rather enjoyed it, it started off a bit slow in it’s atmosphere, but when it built up it didn’t slow down or disappoint. I really enjoyed all the different art elements of the show, giving contrast and diversity to the set, and all flowing nicely and presented beautifully by the artists and their sound mixer! “Would you take this tour again and/or recommend it to others?” Most definitely! These guys are growing in popularity rapidly and rightly so, tickets are already hot property for these shows so I would definitely advise snapping up your own when you can, I know I will!