It’s been over 2 months since live music – and we mean REAL live music – has been seen not just in Australia but in the world but that all changed this past weekend as it all came rushing back to give us what we had all been missing. Mark the date, June 6th 2020 as that’s when it all started and we were there to capture it all!
While a couple of venues in Perth were heralding the return of live music in their own ways, the best of local rock music cut the proverbial ceremonial tape at the newly revamped The Baltimore, also known as The Sixty30 up in Merriwa situated in the upper northern suburbs of Perth. It’s a bit of a trek for those living further south of the river but well worth the trip not just for the chance to catch live music again but to also check out the new shindigs on offer at The Baltimore. It’s a great venue with a nice setup and any band looking for a different venue and area to play in Perth should take note as it’s going to be the place to help spread music outside of the usual centre of town.
While it ultimately wasn’t going to matter too much on who was playing as the idea of live music has been the talk of the town for some time, luckily the lineup tonight was the perfect one to bring all it back to some sort of sense of normalcy. Electric State ultimately made it all happen so big thanks to those guys for taking the initiative to start the ball rolling and while they planked themselves in the middle of the lineup, what surrounded them was a feast of solid rock acts that included Kobashi, Applebite – The Beggars On Acid and Command A Panda. For those not familiar with them, you’re missing out!
Command A Panda had the honour of being the first band on and quite possibly one of, if not the first band in the world to help bring live music back to the fold. A fantastic set of energetic, fun filled rock that at times had a bit of bluesy tinges mixed in was displayed on the new stage that now extended out a little further into the floor area, giving more space for bands to move around. Command A Panda are in a position however to not require a lot of space being that they are a two piece but with just a guitar and drums being used, it’s amazing how full their sound actually is. Having caught their show a few times in the past, this may have been one of the better performances seen yet but what a way to start the night!
Applebite – The Beggars On Acid are a staple of the Perth music scene and in fact, The Rockpit have been flying their flag for years given their gold standard of grungy rock. The grooves were belted out in punk rock fashion, throwing the finger to authority and simply rocking out, the crowd were into it and things were starting to settle into a familiar pattern of forgetting everything going on outside of the room and being in there with the music. At times the band would sink into a bit of stoner rock, trippy passages that certainly reminded you of bands such as Kyuss as the band went full tilt to give the crowd further reason why live music can never be replaced.
Electric State were on heavy duty tonight being the instigators for tonight’s event so the pressure was on to deliver on their end and boy did they ever! Early on frontman Rob Viney was all over the tables and bar rallying the crowd and getting in their faces and making them part of the show, which he has done many times before. But tonight it was needed to remind people what they had been missing for so long, that the live experience, being in the faces of people cannot be replicated through any means of live streaming and such. The band overall killed it and finished it all off with a blazing rendition of Nirvana’s “Breed”, the cherry on top of the whole performance.
Kobashi were the surprise of the night and given my personal unfamiliarity with the band, they won me over as a new fan. Blending tight performances in the vein of old school heavy metal and grungy melodic rock, the band were a force to be reckoned with on stage. Frontman Ji Deeg gave a stellar performance on vocals, giving us a bit of Dio range with peaks and valleys that were quite mesmerizing to watch and listen to. The riffs, the beat, the sound, they had it all and won us with the crowd over.
A fantastic way to cap the night off that featured 4 great bands all coming together to bring back live music which we all sorely needed. A few little hiccups along the way including the boys in blue giving us a look over to make sure we were doing things right socially as well as the nerves and pressure of going back to what we had so been so used to for a long time were all handled brilliantly so there’s pride to be felt that it went over well. Can the appreciation of live music be sustained in the coming months and hopefully years? Only the punters can answer that and the best way to do that is to be at the show and support the bands, hopefully this is the first of many more to come.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Caris Morcombe at Electric Shot
Kobashi
Electric State
Applebite – The Beggars On Acid
Command A Panda
