CASS MCCOMBS

Perth Festival Gardens
Monday, February 20, 2012

Over the last few years California-born singer-songwriter Cass McCombs has built a good-size following by holding back: his voice is a well-worn croak; his folky arrangements are unabashedly old-fashioned; his songs usually build toward nothing stronger than a shrug. And on Monday night he filled up the Perth Festival Gardens: not only with the usual self-effacing indie rockers, but also with some more vociferous fans (proof, perhaps, that his appeal extends beyond the indie subculture). One concertgoer was even overheard loudly describing McCombs as “phenomenal!”

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

Perth Festival Gardens
Saturday, February 18, 2012

From those humble days in Bellingham, even the members of Death Cab For Cutie would never have expected that they would one day be regarded as one of the most consistent live bands going around. The band clearly take their live show seriously as they recreate their records with ease from their alcohol free stage where they ensure that as a punter, you always know what you are going to get.

ST JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Perth Cultural Centre

SCOTT KELLY

John Baizley
The Civic Hotel
Saturday, February 4, 2012

BIG DAY OUT

Sunday, February 5, 2012
McCallum Park

TOMÀS FORD

Simo Soo / Boys Boys Boys! / Injured Ninja / Felicity Groom & Diger Rockwell / Rachael Dease / The Gizzards / Byron Bard / Zack Adams
Amplifier
Friday, January 27, 2012

One thing about Tomàs Ford: he does nothing by half measures. For any other local artist, the use of the word “spectacular” in the show title would be a throwaway boast; Ford sees it as a personal challenge from himself to himself.
The line-up was excitingly eclectic - although, let’s face it, heavier on the old electro-pop than anything else - with a mix of music, spoken word and comedy. The outdoor stage, operating under the moniker The Beer Garden Cabaret, was home to the quieter acts of the night. Comedian Zack Adams kept his mike time short and snappy, as did comedy-poet Byron Bard, whose stentorian delivery drew appreciative laughs from the crowd.

ROGER WATERS

Burswood Dome
Friday, January 27, 2012

Five years after he dazzled whatever Perth Oval was called at the time with his Dark Side Of The Moon show, Pink Floyd mastermind Roger Waters returned to our shores with an even bigger proposition, The Wall.
In a rare feat, Burswood Dome looked amazing upon entry as hundreds of large cardboard bricks filled the massive space to create a wall, the basis of one of the largest stage shows this city has ever seen. To say the show started with a bang would be a major understatement, but somehow it would also be literally correct. The silver haired black-clad rocker brought it on from the start. In The Flesh? ended with its own Australia Day Skyworks display after a small plane crash landed on the wall to create a flurry of explosions.

RAMMING RAUCOUS SOUNDZ

HEAVYWEIGHT SOUNDZ

ANDY C/ MC GQ/ Camo & Krooked/ DJ Fierce
Metro City
Wednesday, January 25, 2012

WHITEST BOY ALIVE

Sets On The Beach Vol 5

Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre
Sunday, January 23, 2012.

Every week that goes by seems to bring a fresh story from the music press about a festival on the rocks. No doubt there is truth to the stories, especially at the top level, but when promoters get it right – and let’s get it straight, the promoters of the sold-out Sets On The Beach Festival did get it right – then all the hassles and bull-crap one has to go through at an outdoor festival melt away into irrelevance.
You couldn’t argue with the setting, for a start. What a nice afternoon for it! The Freo Doctor was whipping in from Rotto; the sun was hiding just behind the clouds, ready to drop onto the horizon; and the deep blue sea was heaving in weird synchronicity with the towering whacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men either side of the refreshingly small main stage.
Whitest Boy Alive could not have asked for a better timed set. Against a fucking magnificent sunset this band of understated Norwegian indie-dance-rock crossover weirdos played the crowd like a genius.
Mostly shoeless and partially shirtless, the punters rose and fell almost on cue -- lulled into a false sense of security then skewed sidewise once or twice… just enough to keep ‘em on edge before dropping back into groove like nothing happened.
As the sky turned crimson and the production lights crept into action, one increasingly admired the sublime nature of it all - and just when one’s mind began to wander, singer/guitarist Erlend Øye came out of his reserved little shell and got the crowd clapping… before dropping 2006’s Burning, at just the right moment, to a truly pumped reception.
And so on. Seriously, everything about this was so well done - emphatic proof that the big guys might be struggling, but the niche market dances on.
_BEN WATSON

THEE OH SEES

The Growl / The Painkillers / Frozen Ocean

The Bakery
Friday, January 20, 2012

Unfortunately the popularising of tonight’s band’s name has come in recent years not from the post punk garage they perpetuate, but from an unhealthy obsession with rich white kids and their problems. The good news is that the Californians on this line-up are just the antidote to MTV and reality TV we appreciate around here.
Early in the evening, a decent-sized early crowd saw Frozen Ocean deliver punk guitar and drums coupled with left field rock jams straight from lounge room to stage, with improvisation mostly hitting the mark.
The Painkillers followed, showcasing their legitimately blues infused lo-fi ramblings. Rather hypnotic sound issues coming through in waves added rather than took from the early part of the set, which included shout outs to Perth’s (least) favourite train stations in Bayswater and Midland.
Fronted by a voice that could strip rust off an exhaust pipe, tonight’s performance from The Growl proved pretty awesome. Their fuzzed out, percussion heavy modern blues, encompassed riffs reminiscent of stoner legends followed by melody and jazz infused breakdowns.
As the clock struck 12, Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer and his band of misfits emerged to twin drummers making a heavy sound. Musical meanderings early in the set merged into delta blues inspired jams for the bass/guitar/12-string swapping band members. Adventurous and decadent mixing made for a lush exposition of their genre defying sound. The talented outfit partied through tracks from across their prolific career, but most of the slices were plucked from their 2011 releases Carrion Crawler/The Dream, showing off their array of cool guitars and their take on psychedelic rhythms in tracks like I Was Denied and Born Slime.
The full Bakery remained thoroughly entertained all night with an excellent line-up of bands – well done to the promoters – though the main event was only as good as their supports.

_DANIEL PARKINSON