First Australian show for 2008 and first in 10 months

• Thurs Feb 21st Toff Of The Town (Curtin House, Swanston Street Melbourne) - with special guests The Sand Pebbles and Wellyn
  
  Black Cab play their first show for almost a year at the splendid and intimate Toff on Thursday February 21st. 2007 was a great year for the Cab, touring second album ‘Jesus East’ to great reviews in Europe and releasing a remix EP, 'Surrender'. The Cab are now working on their third album and will debut a bunch of new works on the night. Very special guests will be the sublime Sand Pebbles who are gearing up to release their third album ‘Ceduna’ in early 2008, plus Wellyn who are also set to release their remarkable debut album, ‘An Intimate Universe’ in 2008. First 100 payers through the door get a free copy of Black Cab’s ‘Surrender’ EP. Tickets on sale from Metropolis Bookstore, Missing Link, Polyester Records (City & Fitzroy) and the Corner Box Office - phone: 9427 9198 or buy online here

May 2007 European Tour

• Wed May 16 VERA Groningen, Netherlands
• Thurs May 17 Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Fri May 18 Karrera Club @ Mudd Club Berlin Germany
• Sat May 19 Ekko Utrecht, Netherlands
• Wed May 23 Das Bett, Frankfurt Germany
• Thurs May 24 Argekultur, Salzburg Austria
• Fri May 25 A-Wien Flex, Vienna Austria
• Sat May 26 East Club, Bischofswerda Germany
• Sun May 27 Swamp Room Festival @ Bei Chez Heinz (10pm), Hannover, Germany

Recent live recordings

• Hearts On Fire live (recorded at Prince Of Wales Hotel St Kilda, December 2006)
• Surrender live (recorded at Prince Of Wales Hotel St Kilda, December 2006)
• Summer Of Love (recorded at Revolver, Melbourne November 2004)
• Angels Arrive (recorded at Revolver, Melbourne November 2004)
• Good Drugs (recorded at Revolver, Melbourne November 2004)
• Loose (recorded at Revolver, Melbourne November 2004)

Live Reviews:

The Spanish Club, BLACK CAB + Sub Audible Hum, The Sun Blindness. MC Sam Cutler 04/11/06

I totally miss the first act The Sun Blindness and arrived just in time to catch the beginning of Sub Audible Hum, Already the Spanish Club is rather packed (I later found out the gig was sold out). Sub Audible Hum are currently creating a lot of buzz with their second record 'It's time for Spring, On Came The Snow'. This has been lead by second single All For The Caspian, with Triple J absolutely flogging the track. Tonight even the crappy Spanish Club sound couldn't restrict the intensity of Blood In The Ointment, Fire Out At Sea and the utter catchiness of Sugarcoat.

After a lengthy interval it was as if I blinked and the entire crowd has aged 20 years, but at the same time were totally OK with it. It felt like the gig had turned into a secret meeting of some sort. Legendary ex-road manager of the Rolling Stones, Sam Cutler (pictured below, smoking on stage with the band) took the stage giving a rather stoner but beautiful introduction to the headliners. For those of you that don't know, Black Cab consists of singer Andrew Coates and guitarist James Lee, along with a number of well known Australian musicians including Richard Andrew (of Registered Nurse and Princess 1.5). 'Altamont Diary', and particularly new LP 'Jesus East', have fans of the old school in a frenzy. I have to admit I've had limited exposure to the band, but after set open Hearts On Fire I could see why Sam Cutler claimed Black Cab reminded him of "what it's like to be free". It was semi comforting knowing that (sound restrictions) could not stop Black Cab's heady brew of raw guitars, pulsing '70's style drums and awesome electronic/industrial treatments from putting smiles on the packed Spanish Club crowd.

Jesus East and Underground Star followed, with the latter being particularly awesome. Tracks off the first album such as It's OK and Angels Arrive were played with refreshing conviction. This may sound rather naïve but it was inspiring to see the oldies alive with passion, as if nothing else mattered. Like Oprah says, the labor that is everyday life makes too many of us forget what truly matters. Ahem. Anyway, set highlight was definitely Valiant, with Sam's rambling spoken word manifesting into an epic (about a cop story relating to his days touring with Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead).

At the conclusion of the set, I blinked and everything was back to normal. The crowd dispersed before I could ask randoms if they felt the same. All in all, the band made the most of what could have been a rather compromising situation (volume restrictions that is). The old-school, brooding '70's acid rock soundscapes that is Black Cab should be experienced some time soon, preferably not at The Spanish Club.

The Espy Hotel St Kilda, melbourne australia + Sand Pebbles 10/9/05

St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel is riddled with rock'n'roll history - something that's mentioned regularly whenever some greedy developer suggests either bulldozing the pub itself, or putting an enormous plywood strength high density apartment block next to the dear ol' Espy. Unfortunately the Espy is a bloody long way from my house - a solid 45 minutes on public transport - and the tyranny of distance tends to dissuade me from venturing there on a regular basis.

But Saturday night was an occasion sufficiently notable to drag us across town. I'm not sure if The Sand Pebbles or Black Cab have played in any other Australian capital city - both have an enigmatic quality about them (particularly Black Cab), yet each are brilliant for similar and different reasons.

Black Cab came on after the clock metaphorically struck midnight (in fact, it was way after midnight, but I was almost scared to ask anyone the time - as I contemplated my duties the next morning). Tonight saw Ash Naylor (recently cropped) on guitar, and the absolutely brilliant Richard Andrew on drums (any band that has Andrew is worthy of seeing - just for his drumming alone). Despite the suggestion that they'd done their last performance of their Altamont Diary concept album (if you ever see this album, buy it - they don't come much better than this), tonight's set featured much of the album. Black Cab is about creating a transfixing mood - if you ever needed a soundtrack to the tension between optimism, tragedy and despair that is - or was - the Death of the American Dream in the late 1960s (epitomised by Altamont) it's Black Cab. Some have compared them (favourably) to Primal Scream, and that's a very fair call. Tonight we get some Altamont Diary songs, and some new songs – all of which are just as engaging.

Like so many great bands, Black Cab put on a performance, not a selection of songs. This is indulgence as a virtue - no solos as such, but everybody featuring. The singer hold the microphone stand, Jim Morrison-like, only deciding to open his mouth when the need arises - yet he's never superfluous, part of the broader aesthetic of the show. The set finishes with a cover – I think it was The Grateful Dead's New Speedway Boogie, but I'm happy to be corrected – and we are all left perfectly content.

Finally we dare to look at the time 2.45am. Ouch. I do some quick sums and realise I'll have a maximum of 5 hours (but more like 4) sleep before I'll have to be up making breakfast for my children - but I'm used to that now (one day someone will start a FL thread about mixing responsible parenting with live rock'n'roll moments). But absolutely nothing could detract from the enjoyment of this gig. Quality, unsurpassable quality.

Ding Dong Lounge melbourne australia 31st july 2004

Due to the current media climate over saturated with mediocre copyist crap it is with surprise that i find myself excited about tonight's gig from Aussies Black Cab, a band unashamed about the influence of the 1960's, free love, the grateful dead and other such heavy trips (man) on their music. But there are differences between Black Cab and antipodean revivalist peers such as the Datsuns and Jet that suggest tonight could be an interesting one. Firstly, the core of the band is formed from veteran members of Melbourne's electronic and rock scene. Secondly, by their appearance it is clear there is not a stylist in sight. Thirdly, their latest offering 'Altamont Diary' is a concept album based on events surrounding the notorious free-concert organized by the rolling stones in '69 and documented in the film 'Gimme Shelter'. Penny-pinching organizers Mick and Keef thought they could make an extra bob-or-two by hiring local hell's angels as security. The shit turned sour when these scallywag bouncers started to duff-up all the soft headed hippies, leading tragically to the death of a young black man. As Keef tactfully reminisced: "people were just askin' for it. All those nude fat people, just askin for it. They had those victim faces." Nice.

Now concept albums are notoriously dangerous territory, yet from the beginning Black Cab manage to create a sound that is both sincere and unpretentious and evokes the atmosphere of the time without making any obvious jumps or clichés. Opening track aptly titled 'Summer of Love' kicks off with a throbbing bassline and classic, driving-rock drumbeat. The feeling of optimism builds with atmospheric blips and bleeps from the laptop and waves of layered guitar drooling from the fucked up, vintage valve amps. While obviously toying with the trippy aesthetics of Pink Floyd & co, their sound has a contemporary edge and a pulsing, dancelike quality akin to death in vegas and primal scream. Lead singer Andrew Coates' reverb-swathed, mantra-like vocals complete the mix and i am swept away in an opiatic dream of love and euphoria. Close my eyes and i'm there, man, only the bands 'tween song request for 'a little more keyboard on the foldback' bringing me back to earth.

The happy trip continues for the first four tracks until an interlude of dark electro soundscapes begins, subtly representing the point in time when the Angel's arrived and started bashing-in hippy heads. Other instruments meld back into the sound but this time the riffs are heavier and the ambience altogether less ephemeral. Coates' vocals, which began like a lamenting Jim Morrison now sound closer to a pained Trent Reznor. The tension in the gig is somewhat broken by a particularly weak number sung by the guitarist (why?) But gets back on track for an epic climax, ending with the monstrous 15-minute guitar psychedelia of 'A Killing'.

Black Cab have defied skeptics tonight both by showing that original material can be plumbed from the past without being superficial or copyist, and also by showing that concept albums can be sincere rather than wanky. A very impressive achievement from a band so separated from the time and place that has inspired them.

Rob Roy Hotel, fitzroy melbourne August 5th (with Sand Pebbles)

With all the recent success of bands like Grandaddy, The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and The Dandy Warhols, it's not surprising to see Australian audiences jump onto the magic bus of their own psychedelic underground heroes in Black Cab and The Sand Pebbles. Both are first class rock outfits, benefiting from maturity and experience and purpose. Pilots with a firm destination in mind. But both bands were appreciably surprised to discover that tonight's show had sold out well in advance, leaving many of their friends moping around the entrance forlornly.

There was a real buzz about this show and possibly it helped inspire extraordinary performances from both bands. Charging through their debut release, Altamont Diary, a psychedelic rock concept album (the audacity! In 2004!) of the tragic Rolling Stones Altamont concert, Black Cab were suitably unhurried and yet strikingly intense. Swelling, lulling and occasionally erupting like the event they were exploring, Black Cab soaked us with their fire hose of pyschedelic sounds. At their most frenetic, with Andrew Coates' vocals saturated in distortion and drummer Richard Andrew taking to his drums like a man possessed, Black Cab were an awesome experience.

Rob Roy Hotel, fitzroy melbourne August 5th (with Sand Pebbles)

What better way to inaugurate the siren's call to new shimmering psychotropic pastures than Black Cab Altamont soundtrack? They included a Jerry Garcia cover and alluded to the black gospel vocals in 'Sympathy For the Devil' with their sinister little whoo hoos. But it was especially with the powerful assault of their two odes to the Hells' Angels that this band did a convincing job of conveying, or reinterpreting, the menace of psychedelia, the glowering Charlie Manson face beneath the yellow cartoon sunbeams. Their drummer is a bona fide, certifiable freak, and watching his fevered head jerk from side to side against the background footage of the infamous festival, made me realize that whatever happened back then, there was real madness right here and now.

Revolver Upstairs Hotel prahran melbourne November 27th (with the most excellent Sand Pebbles)

Black Cab came on stage to a visual backdrop of Gimme Shelter, signalling the beginning of the Altamont Diary soundtrack. Gimme Shelter itself is a tragic tale of hate superceding love; Black Cab manage to take the black moment of Altamont and extract from it every last drop of intelligent pop. A punter (who I'd not met before Saturday night) muttered something about a (musical) resemblance to Tears for Fears early in the set, which was such a left-field call that I struggled to shake it for the rest of the night. Apart from Richard Andrew's possibly foppish haircut, there wasn't much 80s synth pop you could pin on Black Cab. But there was plenty of Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen intensity, and the vocal posturing blended Chris Wilson, Jim Morrison and Ian Curtis. As a special bonus we got a brutal cover of the Stooges' classic 'Loose', before the band finished with a frantic, frenetic assault that allowed Richard Andrew to demonstrate just why he's been described as the Keith Moon of North Fitzroy. Shortly after the gig a punter suggested gratuitously that the band's back-to-the-audience illustrated its artistic arrogance and contempt for the crowd. Quite the contrary, the band's enigmatic stage demeanour merely demonstrates the dominance of substance over form.