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2012 has been an interesting year for international tours around Australia, with more than a handful of eagerly anticipated acts (read George Michael - admit it, you were gutted too), unfortunately cancelling their tours and a few festival dramas thrown into the mix. Thankfully, those that did make it to our shores more than made up for the cancellations. Without further ado, here are the top twelve international tours of 2012 as voted by the AU Review contributors.
12. Sigur Ros
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Bringing the night to an end were Sigur Ros, playing a stunning and entirely mesmerising set. As an Icelandic ensemble that creates glorious otherworldly post-rock music, Sigur Ros are like no other act. Arranging an array of instrumentals including strings and brass around the soaring, emotional vocals of Jónsi Birgisson, the entire set was spine-tinglingly beautiful. Playing along to beautiful visuals on the screens behind them, stand-out numbers were ‘Svefn-g-englar’ from their second album Ágætis byrjun, and ‘Hoppipolla’, a heart-warming track from Takk… The set closed with ‘Untitled No. 8’ (otherwise known as ‘Popplagio’), an extensive piece that slowly escalates into a brilliantly strong level of intensity. - Lucy Inglis (photo by Johnny Au from Harvest Festival)
Read our past coverage of Sigur Ros.
11. Coldplay
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Whether you love them, or used to love them and now hate them to look hip, Coldplay put on a show that any music lover would shower with praise. While it was far from a perfect night - with a set-list that would disappoint most hanging out for something like ‘Politik’ or ‘Amsterdam’ – the reigning kings of pop-rock gave us much more than our money’s worth. - Chris Singh (Photo by Nathan Atkins)
Read our past coverage of Coldplay.
10. Mike Patton's Mondo Cane
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By the end of the night, most of the audience is on their feet. It’s a testament to Patton’s commitment to giving a quality performance regardless of difficulty and an undying desire to create a back catalogue that includes some of the most disparate albums you’re ever likely to find in one man’s resume. There’s no one else like him and the tag of genius never more fitting. - Ben Hosking (photo by Johnny Au from Harvest Festival in Sydney)
Read our past coverage of Mike Patton.
9. Miike Snow
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Each and every song received a massive ovation from the crowd, but the most energy throughout the night was seen with ‘Paddling Out’ and closer ‘Animal,’ both causing a wide-spread jump-fest sing-a-long.
Miike Snow can be rest assured that they put on one of the best Splendour sideshows in town, with an amazing live show and a large stock of fan-favourites it’s near impossible to not enjoy yourself at one of their concerts. - Chris Singh (photo by Gwendolyn Lee)
Read our past coverage of Miike Snow.
8. Death Cab For Cutie
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The band work so well together as a bunch of live musicians, with banter and jokes with the audience really enhancing the warm atmosphere shared between band and crowd. They didn't seem to weary and as the set came to an end with an awesome rendition of ‘The Sound of Settling’, the crowd seemed to be absolutely blown away. With a three song encore to follow, Death Cab For Cutie played such a large set of tunes that it was hard to limit the amount of musical highlights. I wasn’t expecting to be at such a large and musically epic show, especially on a Monday night, but it was a great experience to be a part of. - Sose Fuamoli (photo by Kerrie Geier)
Read our past coverage of Death Cab For Cutie.
7. Prince
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He pulls out moves that are like a cross between Jagger and Michael Jackson. He also grooves like the latter, reaches the high notes like a camp Little Richard, is a soul man like James Brown and can play the kind of inspired electric guitar solos that Hendrix did so well. And that’s not to discount his own personal ecstatic, electric and eccentric personality. While influenced by others, he really is like no other, an untouchable living legend and tour de force. - Natalie Salvo
Read our past coverage of Prince.
6. Beck
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On top of his beautifully melancholy folk from Seachange and country-esque numbers, Beck has a great quantity of playful upbeat funk-pop tracks that had the whole audience dancing. On top of the cheerful pop songs ‘Think I’m In Love’ and ‘Girl’, we were treated to the more experimental numbers including ‘Qué Onda Guero’ and ‘E-Pro’. Bring in the spectacular light show and the surprise appearance of Black Angels member Rishi Dhir to play an extraordinary sitar solo for ‘Loser’, and Beck had delivered a wonderfully varied and exciting set. - Lucy Inglis
Read our past coverage of Beck.
5. PJ Harvey
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PJ Harvey is one of my favourite artists and playing at State Theatre she was everything I had imagined she'd be. - Callan Lawrence
Read our past coverage of PJ Harvey.
4. Alexisonfire
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One of the lucky few to catch the Alexisonfire farewell tour, Jason Strange described the bands final show as a ’good to get a chance to say goodbye to one of the most popular hardcore acts of the last ten years. A great vibe, fun show and it didn't feel sad when it was over’. (Photo by Perri Cassie)
Read our past coverage of Alexisonfire.
3. Kanye West
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Grandeur done to perfection. - Daniel Paproth
Read our past coverage of Kanye West.
2. Bon Iver
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I'm not usually a big crier, especially not at live shows. Bon Iver made me cry three separate times, from memory. Justin Vernon and his full band of stellar musicians had the task of recreating some amazing majestic music for a live setting and, taking on Adelaide's Thebby, there was a chance for it to just fail. It didn't though - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that their show would be the best one I've seen at the Thebarton Theatre, audio-wise and production-wise.
Each instrument had defining moments and for the most part, the audience seemed to be joined in one, big awestruck conglomeration. Seeing ‘Holocene’, ‘Perth’ and ‘Skinny Love’ performed live had the waterworks turned on for sure...I mean, what? I poked myself in the eye accidentally. Whatever. - Sose Fuamoli (photo by Erin Smith)
Read our past coverage of Bon Iver.
1. Radiohead
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Really, is any other band going to top Radiohead? It's not just about their music - think about the troubles with tickets way back in February and the anticipation of an Australian tour, their first in eight years. The two nights in November at the Entertainment Centre were like entering heaven for a few hours. An experience I will never, ever forget. - Justine McNamara
Radiohead blew my mind. They played for the best part of three hours at Brisbane and Sydney. I was at both, delving into their entire catalogue. They're music bordered the incredible, striding post-rock, electro, rhythm and bass and free-jazz genres. The stage production was the most visually stimulating thing I've ever seen. - Callan Lawrence (photo by Pete Dovgan)
Read our past coverage of Radiohead.
CHECK OUT OUR FAVOURITE LOCAL TOURS OF 2012 - HERE.
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