Perth Music

Perth-based alternative pop band Chelsea Lights are pleased to announce the release of their debut single Nine Lives.

Recorded at Distillery Sound by Brandon Davids and mastered by James Hewgill, Nine Lives is an ambitious slice of melodic alternative pop. Continuing the rich tradition of melodic melancholy that stretches back from The Cure and Go-Betweens through to Death Cab For Cutie and REM, the song is a carefree midnight waltz home through the streets.

Backed by the sweeping ballad Cedar Breaks, the single is now available as a free download at www.chelsealights.com, with an EP to follow later in the year.

Lou Rhodes, the remarkable songwriter and unmistakable voice of UK group Lamb concludes her Beloved One national Australian tour at the Fly By Night Club on April 15th. The Beloved One Tour sees Rhodes performing an intimate live show on her debut tour of Australia as a solo artist. Lou is joined by Stephen Junior on guitar and Emre Ramazanoglu on drums/percussion.The Perth date is April 15th at the Fly By Night Club.

Perth’s own alt country balladeer, PETE STONE is set to perform on the final stop of Lou’s Australian tour. Pete’s third album Golden Frontier has been called a standout classic with a clear and expansive sound like the West Australian sky that sees Pete channelling a late 60s Elvis crossed with Nick Drake. With these kinds of accolades it’s not surprising that Pete has performed with international stars Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case and Jason Ringenberg and Australian performers Ed Kuepper, Rob Snarski, The Kill Devil Hills, Kasey Chambers, Brendan Gallagher, David Bridie and Katie Steele. The Sydney Morning Herald describes him as ‘…a man ahead of his time.’

The Beloved One tour follows closely on Lou’s visit to the SXSW Music Conference in Austin Texas in March where she performed showcases and undertook a busy schedule ahead of the US release of Beloved One. Lou returns to the US later in the year for an extensive tour.

Lou will be performing songs from her critically acclaimed solo debut Beloved One, but being a prolific writer, Lou has been writing and preparing new songs, some of which she’ll possibly perform in Australia. Two new songs can be found on Tremble, the first single from Beloved One. Tremble is a tingling mix of childlike wonder, innocence and the magic of experiencing new romance.

Day 2 of The West Coast Blues N Roots Festival saw a massive crowd descend upon Fremantle Esplanade Reserve. It was quite easy to spot the people that had only bought a Sunday ticket and looked fresh and ready for a full day of great music and the people that had bought the weekend ticket and were still recovering from the previous day. It was also quite nice to see the grounds looking so clean even after Day 1 of the Festival. This was most probably because of the great Green Money incentive that was introduced on the weekend where anybody could fill up a bag with crushed cans and water bottles and get $5 to spend at the festival.

Up on the Big Top Stage early in the day was Ben Kweller who had to be moved from playing on Saturday due to some complications with flights. The New York pop-rocker mentioned how much he likes Western Australia and seemed quite genuine which comes across quite easily on stage. Songs were played from albums Sha Sha, On My Way and Ben Kweller.

Fremantle locals The Waifs had a large crowd at the Harbour Stage and seemed really happy to be playing in their home town. Old favourites London Still, Fisherman’s Daughter and Lighthouse were all played as well as songs off their new yet to be released album. To prove how much they felt at home they even brought their small children on stage with them to sing along to a few tunes.

Not many people moved far from the stage as it was getting set up for Missy Higgins and she did not disappoint. Missy mentioned that she had spent some time in northern WA getting inspired and seemed as appreciative as the crowd was of her. Playing a bunch of songs off The Sound Of White and new songs the young songstress connected with the crowd in a way that not many acts before her had done. Unlike previous shows where Missy had played all piano/keyboard parts, this show saw an extra keyboard come on stage to help out. This made many of her songs sound great but with nothing to do with her hands at times, Missy seemed a little bit awkward singing and dancing.

The air of excitement was electric as the crowds built to see John Mayer who was next on stage. Just listening to the crowd talking, one could hear all the girls chatting about how much they love Mayer and all the guys wondering where his girlfriend Jessica Simpson was. Mayer played a variety of songs including No Such Thing, Your Body Is A Wonderland, Why Georgia, Clarity, Split Screen Sadness and Waiting On the World To Change. The only thing that distracts me when Mayer sings is the way his face distorts but the crowd didn’t seem to mind and everybody thoroughly enjoyed his set.

Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals were next up and with a 2 hour set the crowd were ready for marathon of great songs. Harper’s latest album Both Sides Of The Gun has 2 discs, 1 of rockier songs and 1 of bluesy songs so he has the repertoire to fit into this Festival perfectly. My Own Two Hands opened the set and Diamonds On The Inside, Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing and Better Way were all played. Harper tours Australia quite a bit and his music does have a connection with crowds here so for many this was the perfect end to the day or the weekend.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Bo Diddley played at the same time as Ben Harper on the Big top Stage and crowds for Diddley grew as his set went on. He has been called one of the most influential men in musical history and has been playing music for 52 years so for much of the crowd this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Diddley had a charm and influence over the crowd that no other band or artist had over the entire weekend but he also had some of the sharpest wit. What other American musician can come to Australia and say “If you want your woman to treat you right - you gotta get her some Vegemite” and get the crowd quoting it for days to come?

Thanks to Noodlez for the photos.

It was a perfect day for Day one of Fremantle’s West Coast Blues n Roots Festival and the friendly atmosphere of the day was infectious. Walking in the gates, the variety of attendees was quite noticeable with young music fans, older hippies and entire families strolling in side by side. And although the Saturday wasn’t quite sold out as the Sunday was, all of Fremantle seemed to buzzing.

After getting acquainted with the grounds setup, the stages, the food stalls and most importantly the bars the first band I got to see were The Vasco Era who were playing on the Big Top Stage. Apart from their breakthrough hit Kingswood which most of the crowd recognized from Triple J, a big highlight of their set was their Elvis cover Can’t Help Falling In Love With You. These guys are real stars and have a huge amount of potential, it won’t be long before The Vasco Era are near the top of the bill for festivals like this.

Local son Bob Evans was up on the Harbour Stage not long after, playing songs from his debut album and his ARIA Award winning second album ‘Suburban Songbook’. With plenty of room in front of the Harbour Stage fans were able to either come up close to the stage to listen or just sit back on the grass and enjoy the ambience. Bob Evans now seems completely comfortable with the Roots label his music has been called and it will be interesting to see if some of his slower stuff creeps into the next Jebediah album.

One of the best performances of the day was on the Harbour Stage shortly after with UK rockers Gomez. Playing a lot of their hits, Gomez were a huge crowd favourite and they even played a second smaller set to a select few on the Sunday. It was about this of the day that the Freo doctor started to effect some of the sounds coming from the Harbour Stage but Gomez rocked out enough to entertain the crowd.

Xavier Rudd took a little while to set up next mainly due to the fact that he had a thousand instruments that needed to be strapped in for him to play. A bunch of new songs were introduced to the crowd and enjoyed by all and his performance alone might persuade a few to buy his next album. The didgeridoo is an instrument that isn’t seen enough in music festivals and it was definitely a sight to be seen today.

The Cat Empire are a band that could play music festivals only and still be as big as they are now. They have such a feel-good, move-your-body type of music that crowds listening to them don’t even seem to realize that they all dancing as one. Songs were played from most of their albums and all their hits were pumping through the Freo air.

The man that used to busk not too far from Fremantle Esplanade Reserve was on next and boy was he a happy man. Not only was John Butler celebrating his 32nd birthday but his new album Grand National had just reached the number 1 spot on the ARIA charts. Highlights were crowd favourite Zebra and latest single Funky Tonight as well as a bunch of songs of the new album.

The band that were up next did seem quite out of place being included in a Blues and Roots festival but Wolfmother definitely did not seem out of place rocking out on a stage covered in smoke and lights. The Grammy Award winners ripped through a set that included all the radio and crowd favourites ‘Woman’, ‘Joker & The Thief’, ‘Dimension’, ‘White Unicorn’ and a new song that many have been waiting a while to hear. It had been a long day of great music for many people in the crowd and Wolfmother were the perfect way to end Day 1 of The West Coast Blues N Roots Festival.

Thanks to Noodlez for the photos.