Townsville Youth Helpin' out Haiti

Words by Nic Horton

Photos by Anna-Marie Harding

Last weekend, the Aitkenvale PCYC opened its doors for like-minded punters in aid of the Haiti disaster. With a bill of local talent almost as long as your arm, the night was bound to be an entertaining one.

With some really fresh home-grown produce as well as seasoned local favourites, the night went quite smoothly. The crowd numbers were a surprise, really, considering the extensive advertising, and I was surprised more people didn't turn out to support the cause, and check out the local talent on offer.

However, the night introduced me to electronic duo The Popli Kids, who really blew me out of the water with their synth-infused experimental electronica.

Unknowingly I was standing outside the doors catching a few breaths of fresh air when I could hear what I thought was 'interval' music, which turned out to be The Popli Kids. The young duo were something like disco tech infused with synth pop mixed with art rock with a twist of dance. What I heard of their set, I liked.

There were also a few funk-inspired performances, including 20 Ounces from Freedom, which awakened my liking for ska with a few covers, a few old-school sing-a-longs and several original pieces.

Local favourites, and almost mantel-pieced rockers Shiftlock delivered new material as well as some not-so-new, which abstracted the ska and synth-disco that had shared the same stage in the name of charity. It was in no way bad, I think it more emphasized the diversity of the local music scene, which is always refreshing. And anyway, the whole night was more about everyone coming together for a noteworthy cause; the music was just a flamboyant bonus!

The Short List brought a fresh course to the table, with the headliners tearing through an energetic set in a somewhat tame atmosphere. Frontman Daniel Chigwidden has a sharp yet pleasing voice that screamed of Yves Klein Blue undertones.

All in all, I felt the night could have been better received by the community, but the performances and organisation was rather excellent. Kudos to those who turned out and supported the Haiti disaster.

The Potbelleez - VIP Social Pics

As promised, SMAC Magazine took you to The Potbelleez VIP Meet 'n' Greet party at the Consortium on the weekend. This is who we saw...

Photos by Lucy Prior

The Potbelleez - Trouble Trouble?

Words and Photos by Lucy Prior

The last time The Potbelleez performed in Townsville, they got a rap over their mixing knuckles for "letting loose with a series of expletives at the Dunlop 400" V8s concert. So, potentially, this time around it was a matter of testing the sound waves for both the band and their Townsville fans.

This time the venue was the Consortium. A good start. Potentially a more suitable venue than the supposed family environment of the V8s gig.

First vibe, the place was jammed. Although not a huge frequenter to the club, it was without a doubt the most people packed in there to date. Townsville, it seemed, was ready to see The Potbelleez mix it up again.

Venturing upstairs to get a better view, VIP guests were lining the stairs and the balcony with an increased sense of expectation. Fans got in the mood, focusing on the stage and the ever-reassuring mixing decks of The Potbelleez, as the smoke cleared and the sound waves began to crash over the crowd.

All the favourites were pumped out amongst catchy club beats, which just seemed so at home in the Consortium. Trouble Trouble, Junkyard, Hold On, Are You With Me?...

So, was Townsville with them? They finished their set with Don't Hold Back. Some fans perhaps thought, if anything, The Potbelleez did hold back just a little - the dance beats they love so much just not being loud enough. But, overall, there was a sweet satisfaction at the end of the night for the band, the fans, and the club.

Perhaps it was the familiar smell of the Consortium's smoke machine as opposed to the alien smell of burning rubber at the V8s, but whatever the reason, The Potbelleez definitely owned the Consortium this Easter.

Red Cross Benefit Set to Rock Townsville

Words by Anna-Marie Harding

A benefit concert will be held this Saturday, 10 April, at the Aitkenvale PCYC. The event will host many local, and even some out-of-town bands, in an effort to raise money to help the victims of the recent earthquake tragedy in Haiti.

Some of the bands set to play include: The Short List, Shiftlock, Ghosts Over Japan, Joshboycott, 20 Ounces From Freedom, The Popli Kids, Al Goregasm, Jobstopper, Two Steps From Home, Why Wait and Exiled On Armstrong.

The concert offers music for a wide range of musical tastes, with genres ranging from punk and indie rock to electronic, and is set to kick off at 4pm and run well into the night.

Tickets are $10 and will be available for purchase at the door.

The event is strictly alcohol-free and there will be food and non-alcoholic drinks available inside.

All proceeds of the event will go to the Red Cross Foundation's efforts in helping the victims in Haiti, as well as an extra 20% of The Short List's merchandise sales that will be donated to the cause.

This is a one-night only event and is set to raise some money for a worthwhile cause while offering high-class entertainment at a low cost - something no Townsville music-lover or humanitarian should risk missing!

Adrenalin Girls Get Hearts Racing in North Queensland

Adrenalin Australia is a select group of hand-picked professional dancers who perform as both a contemporary cabaret show and as podium dancers.Based on the Gold Coast, North Queensland and Sydney, the Adrenalin girls set pulses racing across the country as they perform live, tour internationally and guest star everywhere from film clips and music festivals to prestigious corporate events and parties to some of Australia's top televised sporting events.

The Adrenalin team is the creation of Candice Wedd. In 2006, Candice had the enviable task of auditioning and selecting a stunning group of talented young ladies to perform their high-energy, head-turning and sometimes cheeky dance routines in venues throughout Australia and overseas.

Past stars of Adrenalin Australia include former Zoo Weekly Beach Babe Brooke Evers, and Dirty Pretty Jewels performer Mary Luangkhtoh.

Due to the overwhelming success of the southern Adrenalin babes, Adrenalin Australia have branched out to assemble a second group in Townsville, North Queensland, which is managed locally by Zoo Weekly Beach Babe finalist Jessica-Lee Robertson.

The girls have received the support of sponsors Australian Sports Nutrition, Lush FM, Urban Glamour, Podium Hair & Beauty and Urban Miss-Makeup as well as an ever-growing fan base throughout North Queensland.

The girls have performed blistering shows at The Watermark's French-themed New Years Eve party and the Heritage Bar's 1920s-style birthday bash, and can be seen alongside Miss Anita Service every Saturday night at the Sovereign Hotel as part of the colourful 'iDrag 2.0' show.

While their Gold Coast sisters will be performing at Jamfest in Brisbane later this month alongside Akon, Kelly Rowland, Pitbull and more, the NQ Adrenalin Girls are gearing up to launch their new burlesque show, featuring a collaboration with Australian Idol's Kim Cooper.

As always, SMAC Magazine will keep you posted with the details, so stay tuned!

Local Girls "Whip It" - Towns Villains Roller Derby League

Towns Villains Roller Derby League (TVRD) is a non-profit league run by the skaters for the skaters and promotes "sport over spectacle".

TVRD is the brand-new roller derby league in Townsville, North Queensland, competing in the Flat Track Roller Derby League of Australia.

The girls are now recruiting for female players, referees and volunteers (male or female), but all participants MUST be over the age of 18.

The TVRD girls train at Willows on Wheels in Condon Sundays 5pm - 7pm, Tuesdays 7.30pm - 9.30pm and Thursdays 8pm - 10pm - all potential 'fresh meat' and referees are encouraged to attend the Thursday training session first.

The rules of the game are available in PDF format at the Women's Flat Track Derby Association website at www.wftda.com/rules, and local insurance info can be found at www.skateaustralia.org.au.

As the TVRD league is non-profit, TVRD has entered in the Hahn Super Dry Taste for Sport Competition. Click on the following link to vote: www.tasteforsport.com.au/profile/&process=vote&teamid=525.

The girls will also be holding some 'non-derby' events and fundraisers in coming months, so mark the following on your calendar:

• 24 April - Townsville Mumpreneurs Expo - showcasing women of Townsville at Castle Hill PCYC from 1pm - 5pm. Sausage sizzle, fashion parades, demos by Zumba and Rock'n'Roll Club, live entertainment by Luke West (Idol top 50 finalist).
• 5 June - Rock'n'Roll Night - Willows on Wheels.

Stay tuned to SMAC Magazine for more info on the Towns Villains Roller Derby League - we will introduce you personally to the team very soon!

Fitness: The Monday to Friday Athlete

Words by Leon Price

You've been hitting the gym hard all week, you haven't missed a session, kept to your diet, had your protein shakes and given yourself a pat on the back for all of your dedication. Now it's Friday night, you're feeling confident, and as a reward you want to hit the town, have a few drinks and show off that body you've just worked so hard for.

Now, how many people can relate to this? I'm not going to waffle on about the chronic diseases and other ramifications alcohol can have on our health, because we already know about that. This is about the effects that alcohol can have on your body and training whether you binge just a little or a lot.

Firstly, you need to be aware of how energy dense alcohol is, so for an easy comparison, look at this:

Nutrient Energy Density per Gram

Fat 9 kcal / 37 kilojoules

Carbohydrate 4 kcal / 16 kilojoules

Protein 4 kcal / 17 kilojoules

Alcohol 7 kcal / 29 kilojoules

The body must burn up whatever energy it is incapable of storing. The body has an unlimited ability to store fat, a moderate amount of carbs and a small amount of protein. As alcohol is essentially a low-grade poison, the body has no ability nor desire to store it. Once alcohol is consumed it becomes the body's immediate priority to burn that energy source off. Consequently, this means any additional calories you consume whilst alcohol is still in your system (like that midnight pizza slice and 3am kebab) will tend to be stored as fat while the body concentrates on burning off the energy from the alcohol first.

In addition to this extra calorie storage, consuming alcohol in binge-like proportions also suppresses the release of growth hormones (the hormone that sends the signal to our muscles to repair and grow) for up to three days! So after a massive weekend on the tiles you can kiss any muscle growth or development goodbye until around Thursday, at least.

Now, I'm not saying don't drink, but just be aware of precisely how much those few wind-down drinks actually do affect your body and your training. But because there are a lot of us out there that like to let our hair down on a weekend, here are a few quick hints to help you minimize the weekend damage:

• Avoid eating while drinking - consume an easily-digested (liquid) protein-based meal beforehand.
• Do weights or resistance training before you start drinking - this will spike your metabolism well into the night.
• Hit the dance floor hard to help burn off those extra alcoholic calories.
• Don't mistake your thirst (dehydration) for hunger - drink water instead. And no, your stomach doesn't need "re-lining".

Metallica Tearing Through Australia in November

After many a controversial and riot-fueled tours off green and gold shores with their latest album Death Magnetic, Metallica dropped hints during a press conference in the Colombian capital of Bogotoa that an Australian and New Zealand tour is looking pretty shifty later in the year, around November. Although management are yet to confirm for certain, it seems as though we could be seeing the rock legends hitting some Aussie soil for the first time since their last visit six years ago in 2004. Metallica are currently still touring the Death Magnetic album, and have been since its release in September 2008. Whichever way, fans and ticket outlets alike are bracing themselves for an enslaughter of some super rock stardom.

Skate4Cancer Australia: Melbourne to be Wild

Jamie's Blog, 31/3/2010 6:03:42AM

Like any good team, whether in sports, business, or any endeavour requiring teamwork, the line-up changes. Melbourne seems to be that point in the skate where some veterans are taking their leave and some rookies are coming in to take their place. James Borg and Mike Mendes are spending their last hours as members of the S4C Australia team in Melbourne. This might seem odd to you at home, but in fact, it's perfectly normal. In actuality, there is only one man who has been able to endure a skate from start to finish, and that man is Rob Dyer. As sad as it is to see these fine gentlemen go, Melbourne has been a wonderful place for us all to enjoy our last few days together.

We once again arrived to sweet smiles and a roof over our heads, as the very kind Vanessa, Brandon and friends hosted the dirty, tired and hungry S4C team. Even with a stuffed nose, Vanessa could tell it had been some time since we had showered. It goes without saying we occupied her shower for a good two hours. Once we were clean, we started the search for a new driver. The kind community of people who had welcomed us in Melbourne reached out to their friends and family to see if we could find someone to drive the van to Adelaide, becoming the newest member of the team. As you can imagine, the nature of road life and complicated logistics make this a difficult task.

But instead of stressing, we decided to make the most of our time in Melbourne, and set out to enjoy all the city had to offer. Lush Productions, a distributor for brands such as Circa here in Australia, threw a very nice Barbeque for us at a local skate park. There was some serious skating going down, as well as some serious eating. The bbq was hot and the food was great, and before we knew it the setting sun was telling us it was time to close-up shop, much to everyone's dismay. Many thanks to the folks from Lush and Circa for throwing such a sweet party.

Just when it felt like we were starting to lay roots, a call came in and a new driver had been found. Samn Gibbs Jones will be joining the team, and if all goes according to schedule we should be hitting the road Friday. Once we were five, now we are three. The van just got a whole lot more spacious.

As wonderful a city as Melbourne has been to us, it's time to hit the road and get back to the task at hand; skating the entirety of Australia. The outback awaits, and if we're going to be ready for it, we need to get back into road shape. Thanks to everyone and everything that made our stay in Melbourne so pleasant, it will serve as good fodder for nice dreams once we are out hitting the asphalt again.

To read more of Skate4Cancer's blog, view more amazing photos or check out their wicked videos, visit Skate4Cancer. SMAC Magazine would like to thank Rob, Daniel, Jamie and the team for letting us share their amazing journey with you. Stay tuned for more updates and an exclusive chat with Rob Dyer soon!

Splendour Shhh....

The dates and location for this year’s Splendour in the Grass have been announced, with much speculation still circulating over who is set to perform.
This year’s festival will be held at Woodfordia, the home of the annual Woodford Folk Festival, about 73kms north of Brisbane, from July 30 to August 1. That’s right – THREE days of musical goodness, for the first time in Splendour history.
The festival site has moved this year because the organisers have been working toward establishing a permanent sustainable venue to stage the festival for the last couple of years. They have a site in mind, but the 660-acre allotment is undergoing the red tape process with the NSW Department of Planning for a permanent cultural event venue and won’t be ready for this year’s festival.
And, of course, the show must go on!
The first announcement of artists isn’t due until mid-late April, but already there is a lot of speculation surrounding who MIGHT be on the bill. Some of the names being bandied about in various online forums and media include: Radiohead, The Strokes, Hot Chip, Vampire Weekend, OkGo, Mumford & Sons, The Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins and LCD Soundsystem… Guess we’ll have to wait for the official announcement before we get too excited!
SMAC Magazine will keep you up to date with all the latest Splendour news, so stay tuned for more info soon!

British India

words by Nic Horton

Just weeks out from the release of their highly anticipated third album, British India are not all “fucking bells and whistles” as frontman Declan Melia explains. Following a hectic schedule of touring, festival slots, and piecing together new material, the finished product is almost complete, and ready to launch.

Avalanche, due out April 30th, is a step up from previous albums, its “simple and dynamic, and immediately engaging” according to Declan. This album, compared to previous releases, is definitely the band achieving a more heightened product, “we kind of went it in all natural, we laid down our songs,” “it was really relaxed compared to the first two albums, no one was taking anything too seriously and I think the record is kind of better from that.” When it comes down to the crunch on lathering the finishing touches on new material, “you can definitely do too much you know, you’ve got to be careful, because you don’t want to put fucking bells and whistles on it because it’d come out mature and coarse.” The band stroke inspiration from the likes of Neil Young, Blur and Graham Cox on the forthcoming album, with ideas coming from all over the place and eventually coming together, resonating in a sound that’s British India “just adding one year – that’s what we sound like.” Declan entices us with a taste of what is to come, “some of the tracks have my own vocal intro that pretty much just happened accidentally, and we went with it,” “but just with any album, there’s probably going to be one song you hate, and the other nine you love.” Once the new album hits stores and airwaves nationally on April 30th, coincidentally Declan’s birthday, it’ll be all champagne and hip-hop themed parties for the band, “celebrating how anyone would,” before trekking across regional Australia on the Groovin The Moo bandwagon alongside a star-studded line up including Silverchair, Vampire Weekend, Grinspoon and Spoon. British India will play as part of the 2010 Groovin The Moo festival in Townsville on May 2nd. Tickets are still available, but are going like hot cakes, so don’t miss out!

New Tame Impala Single

West Australia sun-rockers Tame Impala have posted their brand new single, Solitude is Bliss, onto the band's Myspace page this morning, . Work on their new album, Innerspeaker, is now complete, with a release date still to be confirmed. Be sure to head over and check out the new single tho!

www.myspace.com/tameimpala

Strokes Tour Confirmed

News emerged this morning of Australian tour dates for art rockers the Strokes. Whilst the band has been in the studio working on their fourth album, Julian Casablancas dropped a few subtle hints during an interview with the Triple J breakfast crew only weeks ago, speculating that a mid-year tour from the Strokes could be in the works. Dates were confirmed this morning with the band hitting Australian shores in late July, tickets go on sale April 12.

Tour dates;

Thursday July 29th – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Friday July 30th – Festival Hall, Melbourne

Could a possible Splendour In The Grass headline spot be within the works also? Keep an eye on this space for further updates!

Skate4Cancer Australia: Life on the Shoulder

Jamie's Blog, 24/03/2010 5:49:59AM

The "Road" is a cliché. Kerouac and McCarthy have overshadowed absolutely any chance of writing about life on the move in any meaningful or reflective sense, not to mention titling it.

But all that aside, life on the road is an interesting thing. Often exhausted at the end of a long hot day, we make our beds wherever the van happens to park. No five star hotels here, but then again, when you're as tired as we usually are, especially Rob, a pillow is more than enough. In fact, from the perspective of road life, a pillow starts to feel like a five star hotel all on its own. We go to bed early and we wake up early. The sun is the overruling Dictator in our world. The sun, and the sun alone, decides when we move and when we rest. Cooking is always interesting, and we are always keeping an eye on the health factors involved in what we're eating. The 'health' aspect becomes even more difficult when you consider we are working with a portable gas stove and... well just a portable gas stove. But we all do what we can to make sure our bodies are getting what they need to keep on keepin' on.

Coming across a shower is none too often, which is why we were oh-so-elated when James, the driver of our lovely van, hooked us up with a place to stay while we passed through Albury. This town sits right on the edge of the interstate border between New South Wales and Victoria, and Troy, the kind soul who invited us into his home, was situated right on the edge of our border between slightly dirty and absolutely disgusting. I think we actually used his shower for 2 hours straight, one team member after the other. Without fail, each member came down to exclaim, "Best shower of my entire life!" I could tell Troy didn't quite fathom why we were so grateful just to have a shower, but I was ready to kiss this man's feet. Life on the road can really change your perspective on things.

To fill our downtime, sometimes we watch movies, sometimes we sit around and chat, and sometimes we all just vibe out with our headphones and favourite music. The New BEAT spends a great deal of it's time preparing this blog and all the components included in it, which is none too easy from the back of the van. But we manage, because when we look at Rob, pushing as hard as he does living out of the back of a van, it keeps us all in check.

All in all, life on the road is a special experience, especially when you're on a mission as worthy as the one we're on. And I know, these little tidbits may seem secondary to all of you sitting at home, but it's the world that surrounds the skates, and if we're to understand how important what we're doing is, it's important to understand how exactly we're doing it.

To read more of Skate4Cancer's blog, view more amazing photos or check out their wicked videos, visit Skate4Cancer. SMAC Magazine would like to thank Rob, Daniel, Jamie and the team for letting us share their amazing journey with you. Stay tuned for more updates and an exclusive chat with Rob Dyer soon!

Skate4Cancer Australia: The View From Here

Jamie's Blog, 17/03/2010 12:05:43AM

Sometimes, while I'm sitting in the van, waiting for Rob to arrive, I see a beautiful shot out the window or door. I know I should get up, unzip the camera bag and start rolling. It's what I'm here for. But sometimes, it's so hot, I barely have the energy to read my book let alone shoot some footage. Australia is a friggin' hot place, and we haven't even hit the outback yet.

The way it works, for those of us not skating, is that we drop Rob off at his last stop point, drive ahead 10, 15, or 20 kms depending on the varying conditions (roads, traffic, weather, rest stops) and wait for Rob to arrive. It's during this waiting period that the heat can set in. And so can a serious case of feeling sorry for myself. But then, just as I'm starting to get really frustrated, Rob skates up to the van and rips open one of its sliding doors. Sweaty, tired, and with a huge smile on his face, he'll make some comment like, "wow, it's super hot today hey guys?" All of a sudden I don't feel so sorry for myself. All of a sudden I'm looking at that camera bag and thinking I have it pretty easy. All of a sudden, I'm feeling inspired again.

I think, on some level, this is what Rob does to all of us. It's easy to forget when he's out on the road and you're in the van, or watching the videos, or reading this blog, just how crazy what he is doing is. For example, just the other day Rob skated from dusk 'til just past dawn in order to crush 100km in one day. But when you really think about, truly imagine every pump, climbing over every hill, hoping the van is just around that next corner with some fresh water waiting, the challenges we all face in our day to day lives don't seem so bad. In fact, what he is doing has the power to inspire people who aren't facing day to day challenges, like people who are fighting terrible diseases like cancer, to find some strength inside of themselves to over come their own obstacles. Rob isn't just raising awareness; he is raising spirits, hope and strength.

I'm lucky to be here with Rob, watching him do what he does, and I'm happy to have an opportunity to help all of you get an inside glimpse into the intricasies of his journey. If even the slightest sense of the difficulty and wonder in what he is accomplishing comes across in these photos, videos, and blogs, then we have done our little part in helping this great cause called Skate4Cancer.

To read more of Skate4Cancer's blog, view more amazing photos or check out their wicked videos, visit Skate4Cancer. SMAC Magazine would like to thank Rob, Daniel, Jamie and the team for letting us share their amazing journey with you. Stay tuned for more updates and an exclusive chat with Rob Dyer soon!

Get into SMAC...

SMAC Magazine (Sport.Music.Art.Culture.) is a new lifestyle magazine for the iGeneration (15-35s).
Currently only available online, SMAC has massive plans for expansion, including a bigger, better online presence (think FasterLouder) and hard copy format on newsagency shelves (think RUSSH/yen/jmag).
In order to achieve this, SMAC is building from the ground up. We need regular content thick and fast to update our site with every Monday and Thursday and we need a kick-ass team of contributors in order to do so!
We’re looking for iGen’ers (15-35s) to cover absolutely everything sport, music, art and culture – this also includes IT, gaming, trends, fashion, fitness, nutrition, health, budgeting, nightlife, school life, business, young entrepreneurs… you name it!
At this stage, we can’t afford to pay. But our contributors WILL receive perks like VIP tickets to music festivals, free gig tickets and other free stuff, meet and greets… basically whatever we can get you! Once we’re up and running with actual money coming in, our top volunteer contributors will be considered first for paid positions.
So if you’re aged between 15 and 35, enjoy writing or photography and keen to get into the media or just share your passion with the world, send us an email at smacmagazine@hotmail.com and attention it to Jade or Nic.
Tell all of your friends to visit www.smacmagazine.com to check out the current site! Don’t forget to look us up on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Short Stack's New Black

Our favourite pop-rock trio, Short Stack, is back in the north this week as part of their Stack is the New Black tour. SMAC Magazine brought you the action when the boys breezed through late last month for some pre-tour hype, so we thought we'd head along and check out the gig at the Townsville Civic Theatre on Saturday night.

The theatre was packed to the rafters (literally, there weren't any seats left) with... girls. Ranging in age from 6 to 26, averaging mid-late teens, with the odd brother, boyfriend, or bemused-looking father thrown in for effect, the entire theatre was packed with oestrogen.

So naturally, when the support band Flicks emerged onto the stage, the words, "squee!" and, "phwoar!" were emitted from various crowd members in appreciation of the four young lads from Brisbane.

The band, formerly known as 52 Flicks, ripped through an energetic set of preppy pop punk tunes with fun electronic riffs and annoyingly catchy (and funny) songs, including 4am, Morning Glory (yes, it is about the obvious) and new single Haley [sic] (an ode to Paramore's Hayley Williams). The highlight, however, was definitely the Flicks-flavoured cover of Owl City's hit Fireflies - which you can check out on YouTube - prompting a hearty singalong from the crowd, a mini-moshpit from the first five rows, and a fitting lead-up to the headliners...

Short Stack may not have been performing for as long as some bands doing the rounds at the moment, but boy do they put on a good show.

Their set isn't too flashy (a couple of inflatable dinosaurs here, a gigantic Short Stack skull logo there), their lighting suggests "rock show" with a little "we might've pinched a few strip lights off the Savage Garden boys but they're well over" thrown in and it almost looked like bassist Andy Clemmensen was recycling Bradie's shirt from the press tour, costume-wise.

There was a moment of unadulterated panic for some audience members (myself and bemused dad behind me, for starters) when guitarist/vocalist Shaun Diviney noticed the empty seats left by the front rows, who were now glued to the front of the stage, and invited fans in the back rows to "come down and fill these empty seats!"

Cue a tidal wave of excited hormonal girls running down towards the stage via the theatre seats, essentially doubling the capacity of the front half of the theatre. A number of fans who were standing went to sit in their seats only to find fans from the back rows actually standing on them!

Despite giving the ushers, security and some of us audience members a mild heart attack, Shaun put on a fantastic show as the flamboyant and lively rock star.

The band wooed fans with a tight and comprehensive set, including The Back of My Head, One Step Closer, Princess and latest single Sweet December, however it was drummer Bradie Webb's blistering drum solo with video-game sound effects that was a personal highlight of the entire show.

Going out on a high, and not to leave fans disappointed, the boys finished with an encore of their smash hits Shimmy A Go Go and Sway Sway Baby, inciting a crowd sing-a-long so loud that Shaun could not be heard singing either chorus.

Stack is the New Black, and Short Stack is definitely in fashion if the Townsville show was anything to go by. SMAC Magazine wishes the boys all the best for the rest of their tour, and would like to encourage all of the Andy fans out there to visit the CLEO web site and vote for Andy in CLEO's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors 2010 competition - good luck Andy!

Words by Jade Kennedy

Skate4Cancer Australia

Ask an artist how they see the world and they'll describe colours and textures you never would have noticed. Ask a photographer and they'll wax lyrical about light and contrast for hours. Talk to a skater, and you'll soon see that their world is one giant skatepark, full of stairs and rails and twisting, curving highways and footpaths.

Rob Dyer is a skater. After losing both grandmothers, his mother and his best friend to cancer in mere months, Rob's world was turned upside-down... but his view of it never changed.

In July 2004, 20 year old Rob Dyer completed an 8,000km skate from LA California to his hometown of Newmarket Canada to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. This was the first of many Skate4Cancer achievements.

Rob Dyer and the Skate4Cancer team are currently making their way across Australia, after skating the length New Zealand over the summer months. The guys arrived in Sydney last month and will be skating across our beautiful countryside until mid-2010.

We think Rob is currently skating a remote outback highway... We just hope he hasn't seen Wolf Creek!

SMAC Magazine will be touching base with Rob and the S4C team regularly while they're Down Under and will bring you more of the S4C story along with interviews and pics very soon, so stay tuned!

Words by Jade Kennedy

Josh Pyke Aboard New Aussie Supergroup

So it seems that the cream of the crop just got better with the supergroup phenomena now sweeping across the Australian music scene. News this week of The Basement Birds emerged featuring Kev Mitchell (Bob Evans), Josh Pyke, Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe) and Perth based musician Steve Parkin. This musical prodigy base themselves on the legendary folk rock supergroup, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Word has it that the band have been working in the studio and their first single is expected sometime in April with a tour in the following months.

Words by Nic Horton

The Potbelleez LIVE

Aussie dance music darlings The Potbelleez have been holed up writing and recording new tracks for their much-anticipated second album in recent months.

All has been quiet from the guys who brought us such hits as Don't Hold Back, Are You With Me and Trouble Trouble... but Jonny Sonic, Dave Goode, Ilan Kidron and Blue MC have teamed up with multiple ARIA-winning producer Paul Mac for a killer collaboration on their latest release, set to be in stores mid-year.

The platinum-selling Potbelleez have completed seven tracks co-written and produced by Mac in his legendary Newtown studio.

The Potbelleez will be hitting clubs across the nation in the lead-up to their album release, and will fly into Townsville for one very hot night at The Consortium on Sunday 4 April from 9.00pm.

Tickets are $26 + booking fee for General Admission or $49 + booking fee for a VIP Meet 'n' Greet Party and are available from the venue by phoning 07 4724 5122.

Sorry guys, this gig is over 18s only.

Stay tuned - SMAC Magazine will be bringing you an exclusive interview with the band as well as some HOT giveaways and social snaps from the VIP meet 'n' greet party - see you there!