Rod Yates

Sydney

Writer and Media Commentator at Freelance

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Articles

An unmissable chance to see two acting greats on stage together

1 week ago | watoday.com.au | John Shand |Rod Yates |Peter McCallum

By John Shand, Rod Yates and Peter McCallumSaveNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeTHEATRETHE SPARE ROOMBelvoir St Theatre, June 12Until July 13Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★½As improbable as this seems when we gaze out upon a broken world, or scrutinise our own chaotic lives, living is the easy part. Dying is the trick: not the last breath itself, but the lead-up, once mortality grips you, and asks whether you fight or accept. Want to unlock unlimited news?
An unmissable chance to see two acting greats on stage together

1 week ago | brisbanetimes.com.au | John Shand |Rod Yates |Peter McCallum

By John Shand, Rod Yates and Peter McCallum June 16, 2025 — 3.25pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. THEATRETHE SPARE ROOMBelvoir St Theatre, June 12Until July 13Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★½As improbable as this seems when we gaze out upon a broken world, or scrutinise our own chaotic lives, living is the easy part.
She was told women weren’t funny. Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French showed her otherwise

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates May 29, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. When British stand-up comedian Jen Brister brings her latest show, Reactive, to Australia, she will perform in almost entirely sold-out rooms. Rewind to 1998, and the scenario was a little different.
American composer Bear McCreary to tour Australia to showcase TV, album work

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates May 28, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Award-winning film and TV composer Bear McCreary was a baby when his mother started taking him to the movies. Now 46, he cackles with joy as he mulls her “inappropriate” choices. “I’m two and she took me to Gandhi, The Natural, The Empire Strikes Back. I’m so small that when I sit on the seat it folds up so my feet hit my face.”A pause.
Vivid Live: A triumphant orchestral excursion with Sigur Ros and the SSO

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates May 24, 2025 — 2.16pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. VIVID LIVESIGUR ROSOpera House Concert Hall, May 23. Also May 24 and 25. Reviewed by ROD YATES★★★★Before starting this tour, Icelandic three-piece Sigur Ros were at pains to point out these shows would be more than just a traditional group performance with the backing of an orchestra.
How Ben Schwartz went from taking out the trash to being a comedy superstar

Mar 24, 2025 | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates March 25, 2025 — 2.16pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Ben Schwartz had the kind of on-the-job training most comedians could only dream of. As an intern at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), the improv and sketch comedy theatre and training school co-founded by Amy Poehler in 1996, he was tasked with menial chores such as taking out the garbage in exchange for free classes.
Fast, furious and finished: Legendary rock band farewells fans

Jan 29, 2025 | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates January 30, 2025 — 9.26am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Ask Shihad frontman Jon Toogood to describe the feeling onstage when the NewZealand band play live and his eyes widen. “It’s like riding a f---ing dragon,” starts the 53-year-old, his long hair swaying enthusiastically around his face. “It’s like jumping out of an aeroplane.
Wild, talented and loud – is this the most Aussie band ever?

Dec 17, 2024 | smh.com.au | Rod Yates

By Rod Yates December 18, 2024 — 5.30am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. In The Most Australian Band Ever!, Jonathan Sequeira’s new documentary about Sydney punk legends the Hard-Ons, bassist Ray Ahn reflects on the group’s early days while students at Punchbowl Boys’ High School.
The Angels: a meteoric rise and tragic fall littered with chaos, controversy and death

Jan 22, 2024 | loudersound.com | Rod Yates

Aussie Legends The Angels are currently on their 50 Years In The Making tour, celebrating an often fractious half century in which their biggest songs have become much-loved Aussie standards. In 2014 Classic Rock spoke with three of the band's most famous members to get their story: brothers Rick and John Brewster, who remain with The Angels until this day, and much-loved former singer Doc Neeson, who died just a month after the interview.
In the early 80s Australia's biggest and most dangerous band, The Angels, had the world at their feet. But their meteoric rise and tragic fall is a tale littered with chaos, controversy and death

Jan 22, 2024 | yahoo.com | Rod Yates

Aussie Legends The Angels are currently on their 50 Years In The Making tour, celebrating an often fractious half century in which their biggest songs have become much-loved Aussie standards. In 2014 Classic Rock spoke with three of the band's most famous members to get their story: brothers Rick and John Brewster, who remain with The Angels until this day, and much-loved former singer Doc Neeson, who died just a month after the interview.