SCISSOR SISTERS SELL OUT ONLY SHOW

Ladies, gentlemen & others, grab your sequins, your feather boa’s, those leather pants and dancing shoes and disco balls - the Scissor Sisters are coming back to Sydney!

The edgy, sexy, supremely tuneful commotion that is the Scissor Sisters will be taking over the Big Top, Luna Park for a very special ONE AND ONLY Sydney show.

For any of those that missed the uncommonly brilliant live shows when the Sisters were here for Good Vibrations, you’re in for a treat. Touring here as headliners at Splendour in the Grass, the group are promoting their forthcoming second album, due for release in September of this year.

Take some rollicking guitar riffs, throbbing synths and a bunch of wicked lyrics, with touches of vintage Bowie, Roxy Music and Elton John, throw in some burlesque theatre, glam rock, drag queens and rock opera and you’re getting close to being in the right neighbourhood. Impeccable style and a suckerpunch of a live show – cutting edge has never sounded more irresistibly decadent.

Breaking out of New York in 2003/2004 and making a worldwide splash with their debut album, Scissor Sisters have injected a well needed dose of fun and frisson back into pop music, at times sounding like they’re partying hard on cheap champagne, at others making music both beautiful and surprising wistful – an ideal soundtrack for the morning after!

When tickets went on sale, they sold out in a matter of two hours. No other shows have yet to be pencilled in, let alone confirmed.

Dates:
Wednesday 26 July - Big Top Luna Park, Sydney

SHADOW SHADED BY MOS DEF

Hip hop master DJ Shadow returns to Australia in July for a stunning set of shows to highlight his upcoming new album, The Outsider, due for a late July release.

10 years ago, Josh Davis, aka DJ Shadow, dropped a bomb on the music world in the form of Entroducing - following that up with 2002’s most innovative album The Private Press – which confirmed his position as one of the world’s most progressive producer/DJ’s.

In 2002 DJ Shadow not only sold out every show on his all too brief visit to Australia - including 3 nights at Melbourne’s Forum – but he brought down the house each night to a thunderous, rabid and rapturous response. Armed with 3 video screens, a couple of decks, cd players, sampler and laptop, Shadow produced a rocking show that not only displaying his formidable mixing, scratching & tweaking skills, but also his love of music.

As well as the ground-breaking beats and innovative video for which he’s renowned, Shadow’s live set will feature vocalist/MC’s, Lateef The Truth Speaker and Chris James. Joining Shadow in Sydney and Melbourne for what will be the block-rocking hip-hop double bill of the year is pioneering consciousness rapper/actor, Mos Def.

One of hip-hop’s most promising newcomers in the late 90’s, Mos Def has continued to expand his reach. After establishing himself as an actor, Mos Def extended his artistic horizons by turning to rap music. He began by affiliating himself with the local New York hip-hp scene, appearing on tracks by such esteemed groups as De La Soul and da Bush Babees.

In 1998 Mos Def collaborated with Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek to release Black Star which shook up the hip-hop community and became one of the most discussed rap albums of its time. Drawing on the socially conscious, thoughtful rap music to celebrate Afrocentricity rather than gangsta-ism, Mos Def became championed as a genuinely important MC in an age of gangstas and angry thugs. A year later he backed it up with his first solo effort, Black On Both Sides, again garnering further attention and praise.

In the early 2000’s, he returned to acting, appearing in several films including the critically acclaimed Monster’s Ball. He began working on the ‘Black Jack Johnson’ project with several iconic black musicians – keyboardist Bernie Worrel (Parliament/Funkadelic), guitarist Dr Know (Bad Brains), drummer Will Calhoun (Living Colour) and bassist Doug Wimbish (Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Living Colour), culminating in the 2004 release of his 2 nd solo album, The New Danger.

Dates:
Saturday July 22 - Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay
Sunday July 23 - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tuesday July 25 - The Palace, Melbourne
Monday July 31 - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide*
Wednesday August 2 - Metro City, Perth*
*DJ Shadow only