Stereosonic Vs Soundwave - Mega Concerts, Mega Headliners, Mega Awesomeness!

Sydney loves Music. Music is everywhere, and even music artists love Sydney. Many of the big names in music history from different genres have already played in Sydney. Millions of viewers have joined to make their concerts more memorable, which makes the artist to come back and perform again! But here we are not talking about one artist, or one genre. Here we are talking about two different mega events of Sydney, and three different secret crowds of Sydney to rsvp these events, Stereosonic & Soundwave.

• Stereosonic :

The name is not new to the electronic music lovers of Sydney. Stereosonic is one of the biggest Electro-Music events in the whole world. And this year it is again returning to Sydney, But with 2 day festival for the first time! Every known name of the electronic world, will be playing at one huge event.

The Line Up Goes : David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Acid Jacks, Afrojack, Alesso, Aly & Fila B2B John O’Callaghan, Andrew Rayel, Andy C Axwell, Bingo Players, Boys Noize, BrEaCh, Bryan Kearney, B U R N S, Cajmere, Claude VonStroke, Clockwork, Destructo, DJ Falcon, Djedtronic, Doctor P, Dog Blood, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Empire of the Sun, Feenixpawl, Ferry Corsten, Flight Facilities, Fritz Kalkbrenner, Gareth Emery, Generik, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Hot Natured, Hot Since 82, Infinity Ink, Jamie Jones, Jochen Miller, Justin Martin, Kaz James, Krewella, Labrinth, Late Nite Tuff Guy, Lee Foss, Lemaitre, M4SONIC, Maceo Plex, MaRLo, Mat Zo, Matrix & Futurebound, Nero, Nick Thayer, Nicky Romero, Noisia & Foreign Beggars, R.L Grime, Robert DeLong, Sebastian Ingrosso, ShockOne, Showtek, Solarstone, Solomun, Stafford Brothers, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, The Bloody Beetroots, TJR, Tommie Sunshine, Tommy Trash, Tritonal, ƱZ, W&W, What So Not, Will Sparks, Zedd!!!

• Soundwave :

Soundwave is an annual music festival held in Sydney, and it is not new to all the metalheads, and rock music fans all over Sydney. It's main feature is to cover a wholesome amount of International as well as Australian music acts from various genres such as Rock, Metal, Punk and its Sub-Genres. The festival is run and promoted by Soundwave Touring, who also run Harvest Festival and promote tours for bands and musicians each year. This year's line-up is discussed as the best line-up ever!!

The Line Up Goes : Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Rob Zombie, Placebo, Korn, Trivium, DevilDriver, Biffy Clyro, Asking Alexandria, Alkaline Trio, Five Finger Death Punch, Testament, Letlive, Gwar, Mushroomhead, Pulled Apart By Horses, Bowling For Soup, Skindred, Amon Amarth, Whitechapel, The Story So Far, Ill Nino, Walking Papers, Your Demise, Real Friends, Aveneged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, Megadeath, AFI, Alterbridge, Down, Newsted, Rocket From The Crypt, Clutch, Baroness, August Burns Red, The Black Dahila Murder, Finch, Nancy Vandal, Trash Talk, Volbeat, Terror, Tessaract, 10 Years, Hardcore Superstar, Coliseum, Our Last Night, Heaven's Basement!!!

You may be a party goer, and a lover for electro, dubstep, garage, r&b fan, and go to the Stereosonic Festival, Or you may be a headbanging hardcore metal, punk, goth, rock fan and go to the Soundwave Festival, you are in treat of lifetime in both cases. Personally I listen to both of the genres and follow most of the artists in both the festivals. So, I can tell how excited you are to see these lineups, because I could not believe such great artists could share a stage at once!! 

Both of the events are the events of lifetime! I am going on both, and will write a review for both in the coming blogs! Don't Miss This! Be There or Be Square! 

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For more info on Stereosonic : http://stereosonic.com.au/           .\/,,

For more info on Soundwave : http://soundwavefestival.com/      \,,/.


Written By : Ujzwol

Beach Days @ Boat Harbour

It’s Sunday on the long weekend, a hot 31 degrees and my friends have planned a beach day at Boat Harbour. We take a few cars, all 4WD’s so we can drive onto the beach and park in front of the water.  We are just driving onto the beach when the car suddenly stops and we realise that we are bogged. Even though my friend has a 4WD we still manage to get stuck in the sand, which is embarrassing but thankfully it is not long before we can continue. There are so many 4WD’s lined up along the beach, I have never seen such a site. It is quite strange because this is my first time to Boat Harbour and I have not seen anything like it before. We choose our spot on the beach. While waiting for our other friends to show up we start to set up and enjoy the sunshine. The water looks so inviting, a turquoise blue/green and I can’t wait to jump in.

Boat Harbour is located on the north-eastern side of Kurnell (near Cronulla) in Sydney. It is not a free

beach. Those wishing to drive up have to pay a $25 entry fee, though this does not really sting you if you have 2 or more people to share the fee. There are instructions as you drive in along the sand driveway advising only 4WD’s on the beach. Non-4WD’s must park in the car park and walk down, which is definitely not as much fun.
There are no food shops nearby to grab a bite so best be prepared if you’re looking at spending the day and pack lunches, snacks and beverages. The beach itself used to be renowned for being Sydney’s most polluted beach, but today there are no signs I can see of pollution. The water is as blue as I have ever seen in Sydney. I can see why so many families go to Boat Harbour and hang out for the day, it is secluded and they are able to drive right up to wear they want to make camp for the day which means no lugging of all their stuff. You can also bring your pets along, the beach is dog friendly. It also is great for just going with a group of friends. You can bring your dog along, your speakers and play music, get your games on, or just laze around and enjoy each other’s company. I would have to say after visiting Boat Harbour, it is now my favourite beach in Sydney. All I need now is a 4WD!

Written by Kea for Sydney Urban Life

China Town fusion

Located near the entrance to the uber popular 'Patties Markets'/Haymarket sits a small stretch of shops dubbed as China Town. China town is just a short (down hill) walk from central station and sits just above the also popular Darling Harbor. China Town is somewhat famous for it's traditional bilingual sign posts.

Adorning either entrance is a majestic, bright red 'traditional' Chinese archway. It certainly stands out. 

Arches.... Arches everywhere

Walking along the stretch of shops is really a thrill. Every where you go you are being lightly heckled by menu carrying waiters and waitresses tempting you to sit down and sample one of their many Asian delights. The food of course is amazing. Towards the north most end of the arcade is a Chinese cream puff booth. I say booth because it is really just that: a tiny window in a wall where with an impossibly small kitchen behind it. The lines for these cream puff and custard tarts are infamously long but are well worth the wait!

Occasionally, but especially so on Chinese festivals the stretch of shops will be overly decorated and hold celebrations to mark, for example, the 'Year of the Snake'. During this time it's not uncommon to see the traditional Chinese Dragon show, during which a large Dragon like costume is manned by about 6 or so men and woman giving the impression that he large Dragon is hovering along the street. After all to see and do while at China Town you most likely wondering where the best place to eat is! The answer: Golden Harbor Restaurant , of course! This always busy, always popular restaurant specializes in Yum Cha (which is small, traditional Chinese dishes, like dumplings and pork buns). If you do decide to waltz down to China town make sure you pop in and visit, it's well worth it!

The signage for the tempting GHR 

So returning to our question of 'What is Urban Life in Sydney', the answer seems easily evident. Multicultural is one word which springs to mind: the street decorations, the character of the shops and what they sell certainly is modeled after an authentic Chinese strip of shops. Sydney is not just about bland office buildings and endless bodies of gleaming water, it's about cultural flare and being proud to show it.

Post by Will

The poker scene - It's everywhere

 Pubs, clubs, and the casino. The venues that hold poker tournaments and sit and go's in Sydney. It seems that every one of these gambling venues has held some sort of poker game over the last 8 years. When did it get so popular? Who's playing and where?

Joe Hachem winning the World Series 2005

In 2005 when Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker, taking home a cool 7.5 million, Australia went through something called the poker boom! Suddenly everyone thought they could be a professional poker player and started hunting down those pubs and clubs that were hosting games and tournaments in hope to win even a fraction of what Aussie poker icon Joe Hachem won in 2005. The scene only grew and soon every club and pub were jumping to host poker games and tournaments to bring in the patrons to their venues and in hopes they would spend lots of money on drinks and pokies in the process. The Star City Casino also saw a rise in people on the poker tables and soon had to accommodate for all the new amateurs wanting a piece of the action.

Personally, I was 17 (2005) when I began playing poker in a club venue (I had my ways haha) and I still play in mostly club venues around Sydney today. There are many companies out there who run the poker scene but I prefer APL as I have found it to be the most professional. There are heaps of free rolls, tournaments you do not have to pay for because the venue puts up a prize pool, which is usually not bad considering it's free. APL will then offer tickets for the final table into a regional game that is run once a month. If in the month you make many final tables and you get heaps of tickets, you can use up to 10 to get more chips on your stack in the regional. This is great because you want to be rewarded for your wins. APL also run some other huge tournaments that you either have to qualify for or can buy in for some, where if you win, you will be seeing yourself to the World Series of Poker in Vegas baby on team APL! There are also some great cash prizes on offer. Though the way they let you qualify for some of the big tournaments is really in favour of those who can play 7 nights a week, which is not that many people, though you would be surprised. Another good thing about APL is that they are a huge advocate of charity games. There are many tournaments run throughout the year which raise money for charity. You will usually see celebs at these games and get a chance to talk to them and knock them out!

APL Play For A Cure 2012 Tournament

 What do I like about poker? I love the game and how risky or not you can be. Some people develop poker tactics but for me I like to see who I am playing with and try to adapt to play the best I can against the rest of the table.
What are the pros and cons of playing in this scene? The pros could be that you meet a lot of great people, many of whom you will see again and again at each poker game, as poker is a society. Or you could win some good tickets or cash which is what everyone wants. The cons though can be very heavy. As most games are held in huge gambling venues, there is a risk that you could develop a gambling problem as I have seen many times. This depends on the person though. Many people I play with would only occasionally gamble or not at all. There is a real divide between the people who do and the ones who don't.

For me, well I have been playing 8 years now and still going strong when I can find the time. Sometimes the pros can out-weigh the cons as poker really is a society and it is hard to get out once you’re in as most people playing the game don't do much else with their spare time.
If you want to find out where you can play a game, head to the APL website – www.playapl.com/.

APL Main Event

This post was written by Kea for Sydney Urban Life

Best time of day- Coffee time !!

Best time of day- Coffee time !!

For 99% percent of the population ( I have never seen the 1%) the first thing in our minds is how soon can we get coffee in to our mouths. The next logical question is where from. For those confined to the powder stuff i truly send my condolences, for the rest of us i present to you the top coffee establishments in our city of Sydney.

Coffee Brothers 

Post by Thamer

Sydney Urban Life!

This image was borrowed from 600daysofsydney.com

Sydney is Australia's most diverse city. We have great nightlife, beautiful beaches, and are very multicultural. Not to mention we are home to two of the most iconic structures in the world; The Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. With all of this going on, somehow the majority of people still seem to stay down to earth and easy going as is expected of the Australian culture.


In future posts, we will highlight what life in Sydney is about. The people, the places, the Urban Life! 

Sydney city is chaotic, loud and noisy, but it can also be peaceful, if you can find the right spot.

Watch this space!

Post by Kea