Culture
Live reviews
★★★★½
Sydney live reviews
Basement Jaxx take fans on an explosively creative journey through joyful sonic textures
The pioneering British duo, and friends, paid proper homage to the original purveyors of their genre.
- by Kate Prendergast and Joyce Morgan
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Here’s to being taken on an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ at a St Kilda car park
Performed outdoors on Thursday night, this gig by The Streets is anything but a nostalgic wink.
- by Michael Dwyer, Sonia Nair, Tony Way and Cameron Woodhead
The floor is sticky, it smells bad, and a pint is $10. It’s perfect
Rain Dogs performed at The Tote in a gig that dripped with atmosphere and sweat.
- by Will Cox, Martin Boulton, Tony Way and Sonia Nair
Pulp just gave us the best one-two opening punch I’ve ever seen at a live show
Last night there was both a blood moon and Pulp’s return to Melbourne. I know which one I’ll remember better.
- by Will Cox
Hula-hooping and a nip slip: Grace Jones delivers chaos and fun at St Kilda gig
On an ominous, stormy night on St Kilda foreshore, Grace Jones makes a declaration that sounds a bit like a threat: “I’m gonna have some fun tonight.”
- by Nick Buckley
The posters are censored and that’s just the start of it in this intriguing play
Our reviewers give their verdict on all the latest shows around town.
- by John Shand, James Jennings, Joyce Morgan, Harriet Cunningham and Nadia Russell
A bit of Bad Bunny might just be what we all need right now
Our reviewers give their verdict on all the latest shows around town.
- by Peter McCallum, Rod Yates, John Shand, Kate Prendergast and Michael Ruffles
Ed Sheeran provides intimate one-man performance to a stadium of thousands
It’s an experience you don’t usually get at a concert, let alone a 2½-hour stadium show. Despite being the only person on-stage, Sheeran keeps everyone engaged.
- by Nell Geraets
How a man playing a frog was one of the best performances I’ve seen
In a festival that brings together a performance by Baker Boy and an adaptation of a Kafka classic, the standout work came as a surprise.
- by Elizabeth Flux
This is a red-letter event for any committed theatregoer worth their salt
Red Stitch is offering the vanishingly rare opportunity to see Ray Lawler’s Doll Trilogy, which gives deeper context to the beloved Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way, Jessica Nicholas and Marcus Teague
With a severed mannequin head and a high-energy gig, Kesha is taking control of her own story
The 38-year-old American singer-songwriter’s The Tits Out Tour feels like a reclamation of her identity and music.
- by Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Andrew Fuhrmann, Cameron Woodhead, Jessica Nicholas, Nadia Bailey and Marcus Teague