Poet Candy Royalle rocks the main stage at Fair Day, with her 3 piece band.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Candy for a little while now. She is a fantastic performer onstage, and delivers such impactful pieces, all created from the heart, that you can’t help but sit/stand/lie there and just go “wow…!” If she’s in your neck of the woods, and even if you don’t particularly like poetry (or you think you don’t), just trust me – you need to see and listen to her words.

Fair Day – Victoria Park, Camperdown.

A tiny chihuahua (with a tie!) sits on top of his owners shoulders but doesn’t want to watch the entertainment onstage. The dog ended up being its own attraction, with several people stopping to pet it.

More Fair Day pics to come tomorrow!

The Drums – Metro Theatre, Sydney.

Shot for LowToneMedia

New York band The Drums were in the country for Laneway Festival. Their sideshow was originally at the Enmore, but was moved to the Metro at last noticed – and it was definitely the right move. The crowd was entirely packed in, right up to the back bar. Being an all-ages gig helped with crowd numbers too.

Lead singer Jonathan Pierce (above), shortly after this image was taken, threw his jacket to the crowd of squealing girls (and a few boys). Ridiculously tight skinny jeans on every guy. Floral patterns on 99% of the girls. And the fad for horrible patterned shirts with the top button literally done up on the guys neck is apparently a big thing now. Ah hipsters…

Pretty fun band, with the sound lilting from Beatles-esque pop to occasionally more brooding tones. Not really my cup of tea. But fun if you’re the hippest of the hipsters.

Portugal. The Man – Metro Theatre, Sydney.

Shot for LowToneMedia -  see there for more photos.

Had been waiting almost a year to see these guys from Portland via Alaska play and FINALLY they arrived! As a sideshow to their East Coast appearance in the 2012 Laneway Festival, they put on a great show at the Metro. Speaking to John briefly before the show, he noted his voice was “wrecked” (and that he never stresses!) but once onstage, he sounded quite alright, if a little soft in volume. This could have also been due to the somewhat bass/drum/keyboard heavy mix, with all three vocal mics a little muddy. They played all their “hits” and then broke out into some older songs for the encore, not before describing the Australian visit as absolutely incredible.

All they have to do now is leave, write another fantastic album like “In The Mountain, In The Cloud”, and then get themselves back here ASAP. A very, very good night out.

Midnight. Oxford St, Sydney. A Raincoat Suit in the style of a Hazmat Suit. In hospital scrubs green. Complete with duffel bag.

Megan Washington (aka Washington!) performs her “Insomnia” collection of music and art, created whilst in New York. This piece is only being performed here (Sydney), New York, Paris and London. That’s it. Once in each city.

Her vocals are always fantastic, and the orchestration, stage production and visuals worked so well. A very moving and honest piece, even with the 20 mins or so I was allowed in to shoot, I could feel it all quite strongly. Just wish I had been able to see from the other side, as most of the art and installations were on the side of the stage I couldn’t see from my access point.

Regardless, if it was being recorded, when/if it is released, it’s definitely worth finding.

Images shot for LowToneMedia - more images can be found there.

A little slice of the 2011 Cookery Challenge at TAFE NSW, Ultimo Campus.

If I recall right, what you see there is an Orange and Mint with hidden Raspberries (?) dessert, and some deluxe Tempura Prawns.

Damn, now I’m hungry…

Questionable Content creator and generally awesome dude, Mr Jeph Jacques.

He was on holiday to New Zealand and very generously decided to pop over to Australia for a few days. This impromptu portrait was shot whilst about 200 very nerdy people met up in Hyde Park in the City, for a Q&A session, and to get a few sketches done by the man himself.

For those that are readers of his fine comic, here’s what he sketched for me:

(That’s Yelling Bird declaring he Hates Bread whilst en route to divebomb the Toaster. It is now hanging with pride on my kitchen wall…)

Abandoned Dunlop Slazenger Factory in Alexandria, NSW.

A well known haven for graffiti artists, the factory buildings are in varying states of decay. The top floor of one of the buildings is definitely intact, and is carpeted with empty spray paint tins. The other building is literally rotting, the ceiling falling down in several places, limiting access.

There is still evidence of the workforce that thrived in the factory, scattered about the place. Slazenger shoes still are found in corners, and some have been turned into works of art, hung from window frames; tennis racquets sans strings are commonplace. The “Golf Ball Report” image shows some of the other office evidence – it was near one of the three cabinets still full of reports and documents from the late 70′s/early 80′s detailing tests of their products.

Simultaneously amazing to walk through and also very creepy to see such industry simply forgotten. I wore my Dunlop volleys today whilst there, and it felt a little bit right…

Manning Bar, Sydney University.