They were the great Adelaide hope of the 1990s indie-rock explosion, and their music is still adored to this day – so why weren’t they huge?
In the early 90s music scene there was no doubt in everyone’s mind which band was going to be the next big…

Whatever happened to The Mandelbrot Set?

Pandemics and recessions are when people need to feel the government has their back, rather than its hand in the till.
So anyway, there’s been a massive reshuffle of the Marshall government’s ministry and—no wait, come back this is worth it, I…

The public already has a deep distrust of politics, and our current crop are only making it worse

The release of a draft report from the Electoral District Boundaries Commission means South Australia is getting a pre-election shake up! Andrew P Street walks you through all the excitement, mystery and intrigue of putting lines on a map.
So, what’s…

Playmander to fairness clause: South Australia’s latest electoral redistribution explained

With a local scene just easing out of COVID-19 hibernation, the new general manager of Music SA arrives in the role at a heck of a time.
When The Adelaide Review asks Roberts how she’s finding her new gig, she pauses before diplomatically answering,…

Kim Roberts might just be the hero South Australian music needs right now

South Australia finds itself once again cut off from the tantalising wonders of the east coast. So let’s just spend the day in our pyjamas, literally and metaphorically, and get weird.
As Victoria’s situation continues to deteriorate into a state of…

Cut off from our cool neighbours, South Australia may as well embrace cultural cabin fever

The long overdue release of the Palace Letters make one thing clear: Australia needs to become a republic if it wants to save itself from political traitors seeking to undermine our democracy.
Let’s jump straight to the end: thanks to the release of…

God, lose the Queen

As Adelaide edges back to something resembling its pre-COVID self, is anyone else getting the feeling the stage is actually set for some dystopian fiction?
2020 has already been pummelled with grim jokes about being “the darkest timeline”, the idea…

Post-COVID Adelaide is like a low budget episode of Black Mirror

Download the government’s COVIDsafe app if you want, but promise you’ll think twice before licking that bus stop.
There are many things that could be done to make the COVIDSafe app more useful for Australians concerned about protecting the health of…

Security theatre or digital snake oil? Why the COVIDSafe app is no protective spell

COVID-19 has put South Australia at a crossroads, and it’s time to decide whether we want a return to greatness or to die an unmourned death
Back in April, Deloitte Access Economics released a report on the state-level impacts of various shut downs…

To return to the pre-crisis status quo would be a missed opportunity for South Australia

With the world seeming uncertain and scary, here’s one thing to be sure about: we need to be kind to one another, even from a (social) distance.
When each of my sons were born, I welcomed them to their home planet by tearfully reciting a quote from…

We've got to be kind

Yesterday, the State Theatre Company confirmed its season of Jonathan Biggins’ The Gospel According to Paul has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. But with this story already in the bag, we suspect some readers might appreciate any excuse…

A one-man journey through the barbs, one-liners and neoliberal legacy of Paul Keating

Adelaide’s festival season is drawing to a close, making way for our annual cultural whiplash as the city returns to normal. Surely there’s a better way to manage our ‘Festival State’ calendar?
We’re almost at the end of that most glorious time of…

Has Adelaide's great festival season illusion started to lose its magic?

There are several things about The New Pornographers which are worth noting. One is that they’re easily the greatest harmony-drenched Canadian pop-rock supergroup on the planet, which sounds like jokey faint praise until you remember that Canada is…

Festival Review: The New Pornographers at The Workshop

The even noisier offshoot of modern Australian rock legends The Drones provides the score to a Coen Brothers classic, in a Fringe show that provokes a very specific request from writer Andrew P Street.
This is a review written for only one person,…

No Country For Old Men

The bona fide gospel legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples is on her way back to South Australia for WOMADelaide 2020, and we’d better have some lemonade ready.
Mavis Staples is 80 years old.
An artists’ age is generally not germane to a…

Mavis Staples: A change is gonna come

From Scott Morrison to embattled state MP Sam Duluk, when it comes to taking responsibility, some politicians and public figures find sorry to be the hardest word.
South Australian parliament has been roiling after Liberal MP Sam Duluk dropped in on…

When is a public apology not an apology?

This barnstorming homecoming gig from Cold Chisel and Paul Kelly felt like the end of a beloved era, in more ways than one.
On the first cool day in weeks of bushfire horror there was something genuinely surreal about the pop-up festival site on the…

Review: Cold Chisel at Glenelg Beach

Recent efforts to drum up opposition to the Hutt Street Centre are a timely reminder that the city is not, in fact, a gated community.
Chances are you’re familiar with the Streisand Effect: the realtime karmic smackdown in which the act of attempting…

Hutt Street Centre opposition is a troubling new form of NIMBYism

Cold Chisel are getting the band back together for one big summertime lap of the continent – with a South Australian homecoming for good measure.
Brace yourself, friends, for the upcoming Glenelg Beach concert in the new year may well be the very…

Will this be Cold Chisel's last stand in Adelaide?

With a career-spanning show featuring cuts from Rattlesnakes to new album Guesswork, Lloyd Cole offers a moment to reflect on how his songbook, and fanbase, are holding up several decades in.
Lloyd Cole has a lot of songs. Like, a lot of songs.
And…