About four months ago I decided that I’d go to a festival for New Year’s. Traditionally I don’t lot for New Year s, preferring to stay at home, drink and watch the fireworks from my backyard. When the rumours of Girl Talk, Gogol Bordello and Jose Gonzalez came up (amongst others), I stuck my name in the ballet and figured if I got an offer I’d take it, otherwise I’d just go to one of the other shows (Pyramid Rock and the Hip-Hop Showcase at the Corner Hotel were my two picks, in that order). Sure enough, I got the option to buy on the first day and took it up instantly.

So I worked out what I needed for camping supplies and saw the line-up announcements. No Gogol but the rest of the picks weren’t that bad – The Go! Team, Busdriver, Lior, The Herd, and a bunch of others that I’d hope I would discover. But as things got closer I wussed out and booked myself a nice hotel room just off the main street. While I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t write another entry until I finished my America trip report, I don’t want to put writing this off forever – so here we go, Day 1, even if it is Day 0.

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Heya folks (and spam bots),

So it’s been about five months or so from my last entry. It’s not like I haven’t been wanting to write but time has really gotten in the way. Here’s a bit of a summary of what has gone on since I returned:

• I went to a bunch of gigs from Yellowcard to Tegan and Sara.
• I played a few live poker tournaments and ran really well hot in one for a nice big stack of money..
• I left my job of eighteen months to start a new one only this week.
• I created a couple of fictional universes which the public will hopefully be exposed to sometime in ‘08.
• I watched a whole lot of television and listened to a huge amount of music.

But I haven’t been writing on here! So over the next week or so I’ll be finishing up my Stateside journal and writing about what I have done in the last six months, before returning for LIST-O-MANIA ‘08 (possibly with a name change) as I look at my favourite television episodes, write about artists I discovered and maybe even fill you in on a very special project which will be coming sooner then I realised. All in all, interesting times ahead.

So with that - back to our featured presentation.

The Falls Festival is a New Year’s Eve music festival, held annually in Marion Bay, Tasmania and Lorne, Victoria Australia since 1993. It lasts three days, from December 29 to January 1 each year. The headline acts play mostly over two evenings, December 30 and December 31. Both festivals run simultaneously and swapping line-ups over different days. Due to the length of the event, people bring a tent and camp out at the event; both locations have nearby beaches. Many artists playing at the Falls Festival are traditionally of the blues & roots genre, however it is not exclusively of this style, with rock, hip hop and electronic style acts also playing.

The announced performers as of August 15 include:

• Kings of Leon
• Groove Armada
• Paul Kelly
• Midnight Juggernauts
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• The Waifs
• Gotye
• Built to Spill
• Jos? Gonz?lez
• The Go! Team
• Blackalicious
• The Mess Hall
• Girl Talk
• Kev Carmody
• Whiskey Go Go’s
• Neville Staples from The Specials

Canadian twins, Tegan and Sara return to Australia in December 2007 to tour and support the release of The Con, their follow up album to the hugely successful 2004 album So Jealous - named one of the 50 best albums of 2004 by Rolling Stone magazine.

Co-produced by Christopher Walla with Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, the record was cut in Portland, Oregon at Walla’s Alberta Court studio. Having taken a break after the success and non-stop touring behind So Jealous, Tegan and Sara spent months apart while continuing to write and record songs that would eventually make the cut on The Con. Using their self-produced home recordings as the template for the final recording process with Walla, they collaborated with Death Cab’s Jason McGerr on drums along with AFI’s Hunter Burgan and The Rentals’ Matt Sharp, both on bass.

Tegan and Sara will take their show on the road in Australia this December with some special guests to be announced.