| 2009 events | ||
| Cannibal Corpse in concert (Billboard) |
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Much better than expected – superb sound and high energy levels. Wow. |
| Chicago (Her Majesty's Theatre) |
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The classic knees-up show. Undemanding glitz and glamour. |
| State of Origin: Game #1 (Etihad Stadium) |
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Spent most of the game eating, boozing, talking, queuing. |
| Arj Barker Live (Town Hall) |
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Arj is always an entertaining comedian, but he's done better. |
| Various Comedy Festival Acts (Hi-Fi Bar) |
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Nothing hardcore, just spur of the moment choices. |
| Malevolent Creation in concert (Hi-Fi Bar) |
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Support acts were fun. Malevolent suffered horrible PA distortion. |
| Billy Elliot (Her Majesty's) |
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Excellent: lots of colour and movement. The accents were a bit hard to understand. |
| 2008 events | ||
| Carl Barron (Princess Theatre) |
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Second outing for me and Carl. Simple yet hilarious observational humour. |
| Cut Off Your Hands (Hi-Fi Bar) |
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NZ indie rock. Average support bands, but a strong (poorly named) headliner. |
| Young Writers Festival (Newcastle) |
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Another beaut day-trip mixing with underground publishers. |
| Bill Bailey Live (The Arts Centre) |
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Not quite Part Troll, but similar material with Aussie gags. I had a great time. |
| Kookaburra Musical Gala (Her Majesty's) |
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20 one-song performances ensured high shmalze levels. Good fun, though. |
| Tell Me on a Sunday (Her Majesty's) |
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Andrew Lloyd Webber sans Rice. Updated to feature mobile phones and speed dating. |
| Game On (ACMI) |
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Went with Code Monkey. Most games were playable, but overall it was lacking something. |
| Daniel Kitson (Comedy Festival) |
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A tour de force. Near non-stop motormouth standup comedy of a high standard. |
| Iron Maiden (Rod Laver Arena) |
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I'm not a fan, but this was a quality metal show. Great sound and an excellent vibe. |
| Beautiful People (The Artery) |
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Gay standup. Low budget and low brow...had some laughs, but the formula wears thin. |
| Spamalot (Her Majesty's) |
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An entertaining show if you like Python. Half of the material is from Holy Grail. |
| Amnesty Comedy Gala (Her Majesty's) |
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A solid night of three-minute standup comedy spots. |
| 2007 events | ||
| War of the World (Rod Laver Arena) |
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An incredible live performance of the album with visuals and some original cast members. |
| Brave Men Run in Family (Her Majesty's) |
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A one chair and three bulbs production. Kerry Armstrong was affecting. |
| Queen: It's a Kind of Magic (Her Majesty's) |
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This Queen covers band came across well in a theatre. No stage diving, sadly. |
| Guggenheim Exhibition (NGV) |
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Got to see some iconic minimalist pieces. Ultimately, there wasn't enough content, really. |
| Slayer Live (Vodafone Arena) |
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Support band were shit. Slayer shredded, although there were no utterly surprises. |
| Miss Saigon (Her Majesty's) |
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One of those signature musicals you have to see at least once. Good fun. |
| Open Air Cinema (Yarra River) |
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Sound concept, crap movie (Deja vu). It was bloody cold, too. |