Sick Puppies play show at Higher Ground
Noel Berthiaume Entertainment Writer
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Entertainment
Higher Ground is probably one of my favorite places to go. It's a local venue that showcases a variety of live music. If anyone decent ever goes through Vermont they usually hit Higher Ground. I don't really know what it is about that place that I love. It might be the eight-hour sidewalk extravaganzas my friends and I throw when we want to be first inside (which would be always.) But, Higher Ground is small, I don't think they have air-conditioning (if they do it never works), it's standing room only, and you can pretty much expect to be either kicked in the head by a crowd surfer, or sweated on by some random stranger, or the lead singer (Sometimes both).
One of my favorite bands is playing there on Saturday. Sick Puppies all started when Aussies Shimon Moore and Emma Anzai accidentally double-booked the music room at their high school. Neither of them felt like leaving, apparently an argument ensued, and they wound up playing together realizing they shared interests in bands. Together they began writing their own material later deciding they needed a full time drummer, Emma switched to bass, Shim to guitar, and Sick Puppies was born. Their first EP The Dog's Breakfast (God, I'd love a copy of that) was released in 1999. In 2000, they were in Triple J Unearthed (as far as I know it's like the Australian version of South by Southwest) where their song Nothing Really Matters kicked ass and helped them get a record deal. They toured around Australia sprinkling talent and collecting awesomeness as they went. A studio album called Welcome To The Real World was eventually released, all the while continuing to build on a fan base that was about to explode. In 2005, they decided that they needed to be in the music capital of the world. Shim and Emma moved to L.A. (their former drummer stayed behind) went on Craig's List, and found Mark Goodwin (the current drummer), again securing a record deal they released Dressed Up As Life, thus becoming the Sick Puppies I know and love. But what really gave them a kick-start was their music video for the single "All The Same". How many bands actually film and create their own music video? You might know it as "The Free Hugs Campaign". The video depicts a man named Juan Mann walking around the local Sydney mall with a handwritten sign offering "Free Hugs". It's story of the simple act of reaching out to strangers on the street, and the battle when mall cops later banned him. It generated a whopping 43 million hits when Shim posted it on YouTube. Since then they've come out with their most recent album Tri-Polar while they bounce between touring the U.S. and Australia.
One of my favorite bands is playing there on Saturday. Sick Puppies all started when Aussies Shimon Moore and Emma Anzai accidentally double-booked the music room at their high school. Neither of them felt like leaving, apparently an argument ensued, and they wound up playing together realizing they shared interests in bands. Together they began writing their own material later deciding they needed a full time drummer, Emma switched to bass, Shim to guitar, and Sick Puppies was born. Their first EP The Dog's Breakfast (God, I'd love a copy of that) was released in 1999. In 2000, they were in Triple J Unearthed (as far as I know it's like the Australian version of South by Southwest) where their song Nothing Really Matters kicked ass and helped them get a record deal. They toured around Australia sprinkling talent and collecting awesomeness as they went. A studio album called Welcome To The Real World was eventually released, all the while continuing to build on a fan base that was about to explode. In 2005, they decided that they needed to be in the music capital of the world. Shim and Emma moved to L.A. (their former drummer stayed behind) went on Craig's List, and found Mark Goodwin (the current drummer), again securing a record deal they released Dressed Up As Life, thus becoming the Sick Puppies I know and love. But what really gave them a kick-start was their music video for the single "All The Same". How many bands actually film and create their own music video? You might know it as "The Free Hugs Campaign". The video depicts a man named Juan Mann walking around the local Sydney mall with a handwritten sign offering "Free Hugs". It's story of the simple act of reaching out to strangers on the street, and the battle when mall cops later banned him. It generated a whopping 43 million hits when Shim posted it on YouTube. Since then they've come out with their most recent album Tri-Polar while they bounce between touring the U.S. and Australia.
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