LIVE WIRE – Sydney Live Music Guide Thurs 24th

Thursday 24^th has 80s glam rock gods Iron Maiden bring their Final Frontier World Tour to the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Haymarket, sure to be a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. Solo vocal acrobat Mr. Percival is bringing his loop pedals to Raval in Surry Hills on Friday the 5^th with a one off collaboration with friends and fellow vocalists The Little Stevies. Melbourne-based electro hip hop rockers Symbols launch their new EP with Sydney’s Alien Zoo on Saturday 26^th at Spectrum on Oxford St – a cosy venue with great sight lines. Aussie rock legends and all around rat-bags Mental As Anything are back in action on Sunday 27^th at Manly Fisho’s, sure to be a fun night in Sydney’s North with this classic band. Also on Sunday, this year’s Soundwave Festival barrels into town with Iron Maiden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Slayer, Primus, Slash, Social Distortion, The Gaslight Anthem and Rob Zombie making up just a fraction of the massive line-up ready to tear down Sydney Showground. By complete contrast, quirky folk/blues singer Lanie Lane features for this week’s Sunday Nice Up at the Beach Rd Hotel in Bondi on the same night, and will be quite nice. Very nice, in fact. Tuesday the 1^st finds U.S. singer Shelley Short back in Australia and playing at Raval, upstairs from The Mac, where she will be supported by Gold Coats, who is more commonly known as Steph Hughes from the Triple J presenter team. Sydney bassist and Australian Idol backing band member Mark Costa features with his band at The Basement in Circular Quay on Wednesday 2^nd, where he launches his Textures album. Virna Sanzone and Sam Keevers support. Still at The Basement, Australian folk heart-throb Lior is there on Thursday the 3^rd, where he continues his Lior by Request tour. Those looking to join in this year’s Mardi Gras celebrations can do so at the Mardi Gras Beach Party on Friday the 4^th at The Swiss Grand Hotel on Bondi Beach – sure to be loose. Friday also opens up big a weekend of good Australian hip hop, with Melbourne’s Illy taking the stage at Oxford Art Factory in Paddington, with producer extraordinare M-Phazes in support. Novocastrians can enjoy Ozi Batla at their local Cambrige Hotel, before he brings the An Evening with Ozi Batla show to Tone in Surry Hills the following night, Saturday 5^th. Also on Saturday, U.S.A.’s Larry Tee and Anil Chawla headline a big night of DJs at Chinese Laundry in Darling Harbour below The Slipp Inn. Sydney’s Horrorshow are at The Basment on Sunday 6^th – an unlikely venue, but one that will make for a killer intimate set from this super-talented duo. There they are joined by friends Spit Syndicate and Joyride.