Australian News 3/7

Road Rovers

French blues rockers Dimi Dero Inc will mark their first visit downunder with six club shows March 20-30.

Korn has added Biohazard, Chimaira, Throwdown and Bloodsimple to their five arena shows for KMW April 15-22.

Scorpion Entertainment International has booked Swedish melodic metal band Soilwork for five club dates May 13-18.

Neil Sedaka is returning with his band and State Symphony Orchestras for concerts in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney April 29 to May 11.

New Zealand dub-reggae outfit Salmonella Dub is coming downunder for a mix of college, festival and club shows March 13 to April 19.

Following their sold-out 2006 visit, Danish duo The Raveonettes will return mid-April for three club dates.

Aussies on the road: Iconic metal band Rose Tattoo will play Europe under the banner "Back With A Bang – The Super-Tour." It starts in Germany June 7 and takes in 20 shows, ending in Spain on July 12.

Sydney band Teenagersintokyo will play the U.K. and Europe throughout April/May after signing with U.K. label Back Yard Recordings.

 

Short Notes

Two Aussie acts return after triumphant moments abroad: Alt-folk singer Krista Polvere, who moved to New York last year and was discovered by Ryan Adams, will open for Ron Sexsmith on his March run downunder.

Rock band Pendulum, signed to William Morris Agency and Echo Location, is back for a national tour in April after their sellout U.K. tour at end of 2007.

Gold Coast DJ and promoter Ian Ross Stick was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine, ecstasy, steroids and $4,000 cash from drug sales.

Police raided his house last January and found 1,000 ecstasy pills, cocaine, various steroid-like drugs, $4,000 in $50 notes and drug paraphernalia.

The first 10 plaques of Brisbane’s rock and roll Walk Of Fame were put in place at the Brunswick St Mall February 28. The list included The Bee Gees, Savage Garden, Keith Urban, The Go-Betweens, The Saints, Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Custard, ‘70s band Railroad Gin and punk-ska band Blowhard. The Osmonds will visit one Australian city on their 50th anniversary world tour, playing the Burswood in Perth June 5.

Former Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett announced his first policy as new Arts Minister. It included setting up entertainment precincts in major cities where venues could operate without the fear of being closed due to complaints from residents; a business skills training project for music managers; developing export markets and supporting indigenous contemporary music.

As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa ended up bleeding after a bottle thrown from the audience at a Sydney club show struck his head.

The manager of the Sapphire Suite nightclub in Sydney’s Kings Cross ended up in the hospital after a shooting outside the club.

The 40th edition of the biannual Australasian Music Industry Directory, published March 1, marks its 20 years in the game.

Directory publisher Phil Tripp, then 37, suffered a massive heart attack and was technically dead for a few minutes while hospitalized. Stuck with the prospect of being bedridden for months, he worked on the first edition with a small computer and a single phone line. The directory brings in more than $1 million a year, with a full-time staff of six, and covers 70 categories. Delta Goodrem has signed with Mercury Records for the U.S.

"Thirteen Tonne Theory," singer/songwriter Mark Seymour’s book on his life with ‘80s rock band Hunters & Collectors, is due out late March.

After 20 years, one of Brisbane’s best-known live music venues, The Alley at Milton, will close its doors March 17. The building it occupies is to be demolished.