(10cc in 1979. Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
There is a crazy number of tours that we think you guys will be interested in coming up in May. Here are our top picks!
Squeeze
We knew them as UK Squeeze back in the day, but they were always really just Squeeze, and May sees them out here for the first time since 1980, with a close to original line-up featuring both Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook up front. “Cool For Cats” was the biggest hit obviously, but we’ll always love “Another Nail in my Heart’.
Check Squeeze tour details here.
Dr. Feelgood
They might no longer feature any original members, but they’re still at it because their late great singer Lee Brilleaux said he wanted the band to continue after he was gone. Dr. Feelgood were the original hard-driving R&B band on the London scene in the mid-70s and their influence has been acknowledged by Paul Weller and the Clash amongst others.
Check Dr. Feelgood tour details here.
The Whitlams
A lot of Australian bands from the ‘80s and ‘90s are back doing the rounds; the Whitlams are one that may not actually have gone away fully in the first place. They were never the most fashionable of bands so one suspects their success may well have been built on something more substantial and we can expect to see them around for a long time yet.
Check The Whitlams tour details here.
The Mavis’s
They may have seemed like a flash in the pan to some, but those wonderfully plastic popsters the Mavis’s were inner-city indie darlings in Melbourne for years before they hit it big with the irresistible “Cry“. Here’s hoping that they get a great turnout when they celebrate 20 years of Pink Pills with a handful of shows.
Check Mavis’s tour details here.
Augie March
On the back of their sixth album Bootkins – the second since they came back in 2014 – Victorian indie favourites Augie March aren’t celebrating any anniversaries or anything; they’re back together properly. Hopefully they’ll forgive us for playing you their 2006 hit “One Crowded Hour” here.
Check Augie March tour details here.
Cosmic Psychos
Aussie yob punks the Psychos also have a new album, Loudmouth Soup. These guys never really went away, although they did seem to be playing strictly to old fans until the doco Blokes You Can Trust came along and gave them a thriving new audience.
Check Cosmic Psychos tour details here.
10cc
One of the biggest English bands of the ‘70s, and a band that went through a number of distinct phases will return for a national tour next month. Upfront is the legendary songwriter and co-founder Graham Gouldman who wrote some classic hits in the ‘60s for the likes of the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits and Yardbirds. "The current band is as near as you’re ever going to get to hearing the perfect 10cc,” says Gouldman. “Hit after hit after hit. It’s relentless. We show no mercy!”
Check 10cc tour details here.
PP Arnold
A star of the same London scene in which 10CC’s Graham Gouldman made his name, PP Arnold had her biggest hit with the original version of the Cat Steven’s song ”The First Cut Is The Deepest” and is also known for her work with the Small Faces, Barry Gibb and more recently Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller. She’s been here twice as Roger Water’s featured vocalist, but her own first Australian shows will see her backed by an all-star Aussie band centered around Tim, Andy and Rusty from You Am I. It’s going to be a rocking show.
Check PP Arnold tour details here.
Archie Roach & Tiddas
With Gurrurumul notably topping the charts last week with his posthumous album, it’s worth also remembering some of the influential artists that blazed the trail for Indigenous musicians, and they don’t come much more influential than these two, who are touring nationally on the back of the release of Archie’s lost Dancing with My Spirit album, produced by Jen Anderson in 1994.
Check Archie Roach & Tiddas tour details here.
Diesel
Barnsey’s old mate is still doing the rounds and still a popular draw. He’s been out there on his so 30 Year Thang anniversary tour since late last year and continues through May. Not sure if he’ll be doing this one from the hit Tall Cool Ones album he made with great Melbourne blues singer and harmonica player Chris Wilson (under the name Wilson Diesel) but it’s a ripper.
Check Diesel tour details here.
Sepultura
Perhaps the most influential metal band of the ‘90s, Brazil’s Sepultura remain hugely popular and follow up their sell-out 2014 visit with another tour down under on the back of their most acclaimed album in years, Machine Messiah.
Check out Sepultura tour details here.
LA Guns
Formed by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns in 1983, L.A. Guns never quite kicked on like Axl’s next band, but 6.5 million record sales is nothing to sneeze at, and with Tracii and their classic line-up’s lead singer Phil Lewis still on board, they can still kick up a storm.
Check LA Guns tour details here.
Painters & Dockers
Ok, so not a tour but a one-off show called Back to the Corner for lucky Melbournians. Featuring the legendary X and the Celibate Rifles as well as the Dockers, the night will be an ‘80s pub fest with guitars galore and no doubt an ocean of beer drunk.
Check Back to the Corner details here.
Led Zeppelin Experience with Jason Bonham
Yes, he’s the son of Led Zeppelin’s drummer, but don’t forget that Jason was himself Led Zeppelin’s drummer when they played at London's O2 arena in 2007. And by all reports, his Led Zeppelin Experience is as close as we’re going to get to the real thing again. Check out Jason with his dad’s old mates here.
Check Zeppelin Experience with Jason Bonham tour details here.
The Iron Maidens
Yes, they’re a tribute act, but they’re endorsed by the real thing and have 1.3 Facebook followers. They’re also a bunch of shit-hot players (previous lead guitarist Nina Strauss is now in Alice Cooper’s band) who obviously LOVE what they’re doing. And their lead singer calls herself Bruce Chickinsin!
Check Iron Maidens tour details here.