Here’s who Head Of State have been tuning into over the past eight years.
For many Novocastrians, spending the night swaying between the sticky, smoke-filled rooms at The Cambridge, sipping on a $2.50 mixed drink, in between sets was a rite of passage. The shows were rowdy, the expenses were minimal, and you could catch some promising local acts with big ambitions tearing the place apart. Head Of State were one of those bands, and they’re coming back for one night only this Saturday, rekindling the old flame and slapping punters with top quality indie-rock, with a side of nostalgia.
Before putting the band to bed back in 2011, Head Of State racked up a couple of hundred shows, including supports with Spoon, The Drones, Airbourne, The Sleepy Jackson, Wolf & Cub, Shihad and more of the day. So you can rest assured they know how to put on a show worthy. But why now? “Because we miss each other, and the feeling of playing live… plus Ty (Brennock) and Tim (Marriott) got pretty pissed in the beer-garden of the Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood one night and decided the time was right,” the band says.
Sounds about right. Be sure to get yourself along on Saturday and party like it’s 2005 all over again (FB event here). And, for now, check out Head Of State’s favourite Newy acts according to bassist Ty:
Hey Lady!
Two equal pieces of fire, Jess and Steph, are Hey Lady!, one of the most exciting things to happen in Newcastle’s scene in the last decade. Always draw a crowd for their impassioned live show, they mean it. They are rock – hooky… hooks, bellyache drums, eyes-closed vocals. Jess and Steph should be the biggest thing in alt-rock in Australia.
PALS
Newy’s own little Violent Soho secret. These guys are brutal in their delivery, don’t give a fuck what you think, but seem friendly at the same time. If the stage was a sporting field, these guys would be making a campaign for the finals… professional, committed, in-shape. Load, arse-kicking, and totally worth catching live!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BVE6SLGlHA
Demi Mitchell
Demi plays songs not unlike the gems we find by accident on a Tarantino soundtrack. It’s Sunday morning music as much as it is drunky Saturday night music. Country, kinda. Pop, kinda. Sexy and dark and earnest, in spades. Demi’s lyrics are relatable-as-hell, familiar, comfortable and dreamy whilst not always conjuring up the best of your memories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBrSllq7Ih4
Ahlia Williams
This 21-year-old has lived three lives, I swear! The maturity she has come to in music and styling is beyond her years, old-fashioned and ahead of it’s time at the same time. Confident, brazen, sexy, bluesy, she’s fuckin’ cool! Her voice is creative, very deliberate in how she delivers, and has just the right amount of cigarettes and whiskey. The songs are world-class and I’m positive we/Newy will lose her to the world soon enough.
Raave Tapes.
Best self-described… “Three fun Novocastrians making fun music that you can hug your fun friends to. You could even hug your boring friends too. The boring ones need the most hugs.” Raave Tapes are “lighting up the airwaves” with their new single “Dancing Because I’m Sad” and “stabs” from earlier this year, they combine disco and punk music. The funnest band around, so good live that it made me wanna call the guys and put on a show again, and worthy of the coolness and praise they are current receiving.
Their sound is MASSIVE for the three of them. Lindsay’s voice meets Joab’s perfectly. And Lewis tries his best to keep them locked in and under control. Imagine strobe lights, dark purple, and a futuristic movie featuring what they think a future punk band will sound like… then you have Raave Tapes. The real deal.
