The Bakery played host to the final showcase of the WAMi Festival on Friday, with The Wire magazine organising a showcase filled with some of Perth’s best emerging talent; all of whom happened to be launching something, be it a single, album or music video.
The Warning Birds kicked off proceedings to an already ample sized crowd. The band put on a confident and entertaining performance, made all the more impressive by their newcomer status, the band have only been around for a little while, but have created quite the commotion, with their single “Sally” winning the WAM Rock Song of the Year Award at the end of the last year. It was a set typified by a strong atmospheric sound, with some brilliant darting violin and a strong vocal performance.
Country rockers Ruby Boots were up next, and put on a rabble-rousing set, which prompted this reviewer to move onto the whisky. An impressive set that moved seamlessly from impassioned hoe down to slower more subdued numbers with relative ease and poise. Singer Bex Chilcott put in an impressive vocal performance, one that was more than adequately matched by the musicianship of her band, with at least one of them swapping between instruments on more than one occasion.
Emperors brought an added riotousness to the proceedings (as evidenced by the sudden arrival of a stern looking bouncer on stage), with a rocking guitar driven set. It had been a few years since I’d last seen Emperors play, and since then they’ve certainly grown in confidence and exposure; they’ve had quite a bit of airplay recently, and embarked on a national tour to launch their record Stay Frosty. And from this performance it’s pretty clear why, the band have become adept at crafting capsules of garage rock, that are both raw but also very listenable.
Split Seconds closed the evening’s proceedings with a near pitch perfect performance, which certainly cemented their position as one of Perth’s next big things. The band play with such easy confidence and style, that it’s easy to forget that they have yet to release an album. From the outset the band showed they certainly know how to craft a good pop song, as evidenced by latest single “Top Floor”. The band dropped plenty of new material into the set, with all signs pointing towards their upcoming album being a sure fire hit with audiences. An impressive and rousing performance from a band who are surely on the cusp of big things.
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