Well here's where it'll all gos down... the Album tour for Fingertips and Mountaintops. Darren and band are travelling to some remote places so if you live there or know someone who lives there (cousins, pen-pals, grandparents) please spread the word. Bree van Reyk (drums), Cory Gray (piano) and Mark Monnone (bass) will all be there to try to recreate the magic they dished out on the record. We're also over the moon to announce that the wonderful Katy Davidson of Dear Nora fame will be joining us on most of the shows as support act.
Literate pop songs are a hard sell these days. Thank goodness for DARREN HANLON, a man who can drop aubergine into a lyric and make it sound poetic. Tempering optimism with melancholy, Darrens songs detail the minutiae of the everyday while tackling themes altogether more grand: love and love gone wrong. Marked by an all-enveloping warmth and a wry wit, this is music which belongs to the canon of great Australian story-telling, alongside the music of Paul Kelly and The go-betweens The release of his third album Fingertips and Mountaintops late in 2006 saw Darren continue to garner strong reviews for both the record and his live shows, while songs like Happiness Is a Chemical (featuring Jesse Sandoval from The Shins on drums) and Elbow quickly became radio favourites. Darren is setting out across the country armed with this material and more with his long-term band and old friends, Bree van Reyk (drums), Simon Woolridge (bass) and Cory Grey (keyboards and trumpet).
In support of a new album, Pointing Ray Guns at Pagans, Darren Hanlon embarks on a 15 date nationwide tour across 6 states. With a full band in tow and an aural compendium of b-sides and rarities, expect live airings of fan favorites old and new. Filling the 'special guest' slot, Jeffrey Lewis, the anti-folk troubadour and comic book artist from New York City tours Australia for the first time.
THE LUCKSMITHS FAREWELL SHOW - WITH SPECIAL GUEST DARREN HANLON Underground pop battlers The Lucksmiths are serving notice. Yes, sadly, it's true. Times change, people move on, and like many of their songs redolent with ordinary minutiae The Lucksmiths have finally been conquered by everyday life. Formed in 1993, and having since transcended musical fashions and movements, the Melbourne band have long been seen as refreshingly unique amongst the musical landscape; their live shows, often hilariously haphazard, continue to captivate audiences at home and around the world, while they remain fond favourites of many who came across the band in their formative years. However, after sixteen lengthy years as purveyors of the well-crafted pop song, saddle-rash has finally set in, and sights are being set upon new horizons. The Lucksmiths leave behind a wondrous back catalogue of eight studio albums, three b-sides-and-rarities collections, and three mini-albums more than 170 songs in all. Don't miss the chance to say a final goodbye to the boys!
Darren Hanlon returns to The Troubadour for a habitual Christmas show, having just returned from a US tour and soon to disappear back over to record his 4th album. Not so much a seasonal extravaganza, this is more a chance to see him in striped back mode as his songs have a chance to breathe with just himself and his guitar sharing the stage. Support comes from Berlin based Caterina Barbieri aka Missincat, who visits Australia for the very first time.
