The Penultimate show of Series 1 of the Red Hot Summer Tour rolled into W.A. this weekend on a hot, hot autumn day that saw temperatures in the beautiful Swan Valley hitting 36 degrees. There was an early fight for the shade as the crowds filed in with chairs and picnic baskets to get ready for a big day. The sell-out date already had a great crowd in place before openers Bachelor Girl had played a note. Over the years the Red Hot Summer Tour has treated music fans in all States to the best of local and International acts and this first edition for the Summer put together a perfect bill of all Australian talent, selling out before a note was sounded.
Bachelor Girl started off the day launching into a set of non stop Pop hits with a lot more guitar in the mix than I remembered. Tania Doko and James Roche formed Bachelor Girl in 1992, and the duo became one of the most loved Australian acts of the 90s and early 2000s, enjoying Australian and international success. Today despite the heat you can hear the whole crowd almost word for word singing back their songs and even though there’s a long day ahead ‘Buses and Trains’ has them dancing front of stage!
It’s clear that each of the bands today has brought their own legion of fans as early as Ella and Jesse Hooper take the stage and those at the front of the barrier are relieved by a group sporting Killing Heidi tour shirts of various vintages. One of the big bands of the early 2000’s Killing Heidi were the Punky poppy angsty heroes their generation and created some wonderful melodies though ‘No Love songs’ Ella tells us from the crowd before announcing that with Reflector celebrating 25 years a tour will shortly be announced. It’s a tight set brimming with all the hits and more and completely unmissable and Ella as usual is on top of her game and as playful and cheeky as ever with the crowd even if the temperature continues to soar.
Baby Animals perhaps hit the stage at the hottest part of the day and Suze plays it safe, stands back and sports an Akubra to keep the sun at bay. It’s a red hot welcome to Perth and Suze acknowledges her roots and the weather as they launch into a set full of all the huge hits along with some newer fare . So of course we get ‘Rush You’, ‘Early Warning’, ‘Painless’ and ‘One Word’ but we also get an inspired version of Hendrix’ fire. Ricki Rae on drums seems unflappable in the heat as Suze reminds us that after all it’s not the ‘Cold blue winter tour’ and Davis Leslie looks every inch the axe wielding magician that he is with far longer locks that last time we saw him. I’ve seen Baby Animals may times over the years and they always put on a great show but even in the blazing sun there’s no stopping them this year.
Hometown heroes Eskimo Joe who we’ve seen many times over the years are as tight and fired up as I’ve ever seen them today. They seem completely up for it, and burst onto the stage with far more energy than you’d expect for the blazing sun. It’s a no nonsense set packed to the gills with hits from their 6 albums and they even manage to squeeze in a ‘new one’ the single ‘The First Time’ that hits all the right nostalgic notes. Today might actually the best I’ve ever seen them and the set is flawless. The crowd roars their approval.
Wolfmother is a band that sees even more of the crowd venturing out of the shade for. Led by the incomparable Andrew Stockdale they almost single-handedly brough real hard rock back into the mainstream. Getting a little nostalgic Andrew recalls that it was Perth that first played them on mainstream radio before launching into ‘Mind’s Eye’. It’s a sizzling set that take me right back to eagerly anticipating each single release and all of the big hitters are present and correct. The psychedelic rock and huge riffs of songs like ‘Joker and the Thief’, ‘Woman’ and ‘White Unicorn’, all hit the spot. The set ends with a young lady called Lizzy being pulled from the crowd and looking cool in her pink cowboy hat she dons the bass for closer ‘Joker and the Thief’ and despite a few bum notes (note to Lizzy – don’t grimace when you do and most won’t notice) she makes a great fist of it. It’s a great set as the sun starts its decent and takes the temperature with it.
I first saw Noiseworks way back in 2010 at the Stone Music Festival in Sydney, never having seen them in their glory days but on tonight’s performance I reckon that you’d be hard pushed to have heard them sounding better. Jon Stevens is one of the very few vocalists whose voices have got better with age and tonight he sounds as good as I’ve ever heard him. With real rock anthems ‘No Lies’, ‘Take Me Back’, ‘Hot Chilli Woman’, ‘Touch’, and countless others they have the crowd in the palm of their hands from the off, and Jon just beams out over the sellout crowd. It’s wonderful to see a real band hit their stride and with players like Steve Balbi, Tim Henwood, who is scorching on guitar and Kev Nicol on drums it’s a force to be reckoned with. And as Jon beats his hand against his heart you can tell by the crowd’s raised arms and drink and voices that this is a band that so many have ingrained in their hearts.
Bringing out Andrew from Wolfmother to encore on a version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Rock and Roll’ is just the cherry on the top of the best cake you’ve ever had.
Icehouse, for me at least, has to be the band that most defines the sound of Australia in the 80’s and early 90’s. There’s just something so evocative about their sonic soundscapes that paints a real picture of this beautiful land. Cutting edge one moment, pure Pop bliss the next, it’s always a wonder to behold them weave their songs into almost living pictures and the chords float out into the evening sky.
Formed by Iva Davies, the band’s frontman and creative force, Icehouse have a spectacular body of work – 28 Platinum albums, eight Top 10 albums, over thirty Top 40 singles. It’s an incredible achievement and you can feel the real love in the air especially when they open the floodgates for ‘Great Southern Land’, an anthem if ever I heard it. Perth’s sell out crowd loves Icehouse and Icehouse loves then back. And as we close the show in the cool of the evening its clear that Rock and Roll is alive and well in the West.
Face to Face Touring hit Perth music fans wish list squarely on the head with this line up. Roll on Series 2.
Many, many thanks to the Menard PR, the bands, and Face to Face Touring for making this happen.
ICEHOUSE GALLERY
NOISEWORKS GALLERY
ESKIMO JOE, WOLFMOTHER, BABY ANIMALS, BACHELOR GIRL GALLERY
