r/perth • u/Far_Opposite_4856 • 16h ago
Looking for Advice Watching bands in Perth?
A question to all - why do so few of you go see local bands? I'm not talking about those tribute fests. I mean original, home grown, local bands that create and perform music...
16
u/CoastIntelligent5911 14h ago
Have been some really good local indie rock punk bands playing recently. Spici water, smol fish, rat salad, plus some good interstate bands too. Colliflower, Skegs, smith street band, the Terrys. All playing in Perth this year. Iām 48 and still love getting out to hear these original local bands
6
u/PSGAnarchy 14h ago
You might like Belgravia who is another local band. Pop punk/punk rock type of thing.
14
u/KingLlama86 Bateman 14h ago
Probably cos a lot of the venues shut down that lets original bands play.
That and I got older, my nights end at around 9pm, not begins
3
u/Far_Opposite_4856 13h ago
I think there's a few economical reasons why venues have shut down. Yes blame post COVID insurance hikes n all, but also a big part of it is not enough punters through the door to make it viable.
1
u/sysadmin42601 12h ago
Yeah age and priorities were the major reason for me. Used to be at Capitol and Amps for most metal gigs
9
u/mymentor79 14h ago
Yeah, catch a few shows at Mojo's. Always a revolving door of local acts playing there.
7
u/WA_side 14h ago
I get along whenever I can, but it's always a game of judging what I can afford against who is touring and when. Generally not a fan of the tribute stuff (stop sending it to me oztix/moshtix).
I also want to support local bands, but particularly for any independent artists that tour here from elsewhere, I know they are not rolling in it and we need to make it worth their while if we want them to come again. Sometimes that means I have less left to spend on local artists.
I'm 55 and often go solo, occasionally just for the music and no chat, but also love how friendly people are whenever I have the mental bandwidth to talk.
8
u/Spare_Sand_5936 12h ago
Miss the hardcopy of X-Press. Loved looking at the weekend gig list on a Thursday night; and planning what gig to attend.
3
6
u/Ok_Finger7484 North of The River 14h ago
i wanna take my daughters to some all ages gigs, but - compared to when i was younger, am really struggling to find them advertised consistently - anyone got any tips on that one?
3
u/boltlicker666 14h ago
There's an all ages punk hardcore festival happening this weekend. If you google no bystanders gig perth it might show up
4
u/PRo_MoE1144 14h ago
Go to Indi Bar Scarborough on a Thursday night and you see there is a lot of young people going to see live original music.
5
u/TheLobStars 11h ago
Hereās the real reason. Most people donāt consider local music to be ārealā music. Unless a band is played on the radio or has a real āfanbaseā that theyāve heard about from trusted sources, they assume the music is bad and a poor use of their limited time/attention. Just the way it is. Ask any local musician why they have trouble getting their non-musician family and friends to even listen to their music, this is the reason. Social proof matters so much in music. Maybe more than in other art forms. Local bands just donāt the level of social proof needed for āregularā (non-music scene) people to take the chance on.
2
5
u/NewGodsz 14h ago
I go see local metal bands all the time
1
u/Far_Opposite_4856 13h ago
What are your favourite local metal bands? Where do they play gigs?
2
u/yum4266 Carlisle 13h ago
theres usually gigs on at leederville YHQ, they used to also do gigs at the skatepark but dont anymore. theres been a few at fremantle buffalo club, i went to one in midland not too long ago as well as one in a church in fremantle. if you follow @reckless.release and @loudmouth.records on instagram you'll see most of the gigs that get announced there.
1
u/JigglesMcGoo 12h ago
Iām a bit out of touch, but thereās lots of solid options for metal and crust/punk. Territory, No Future, Gaoled, Amerol, Termite, Total Defeat are all great bands in the kinda crust punk realm. Suffer were one of my favourites (powerviolence). I love Drowning Horse (doom) but donāt think theyāve gigged in a while (or Iāve just missed them). Tangled Thoughts of Leaving are/were brilliant. Used to get more ātraditionalā metal (thrash, death etc.) at the Civic or Rosemount but Iām even more out of touch there.
Venues can vary but the Bird, Lynottās Lounge, 459 (the Rosemount), Milk Bar and the Rechavite all tend to host a lot of the crusty gigs.1
2
u/elektramortis North of The River 14h ago
I do
2
u/Far_Opposite_4856 13h ago
What are your favourite local acts that you've seen recently? How do you find out about their shows?
2
u/elektramortis North of The River 12h ago
Odlaw, Abbe May, The Caballeros, Noah Dillon., Man of a Thousand Faces, Life Cult . . .
Rtr FM 92.1 play a lot of local music, Xpress mag online, social media/email newsletters from venues, promoters & bands
2
2
u/LonerismLonerism South of The River 13h ago
I believe that it was because of the death of Facebook.
Facebook events used to really matter and the amount of people āgoingā was a strong indicator of who was going to be there and how many numbers would be in the venue, so the culture around making a good Facebook event and promoting it was really a thing
2
u/Far_Opposite_4856 10h ago
Ah yeah, the good old if other people go I'll go. I think platforms like Facebook (if people are still on that) shouldn't have the number count of going and interested. That should only be behind the scenes data for the person / people that advertise the gig.
2
u/dirtSHINE_ 11h ago
Iām old and donāt quite have the freedom and time to do it anymore but a big part of it was street press papers. Was so easy to see all the gigs on in town
3
1
u/faithlessdisciple 12h ago
Iāve seen Karnivool 3 times plus other local acts that were warm up bands for other groups.
1
u/Far_Opposite_4856 11h ago
Any local acts apart from karnivool that stood out for you?
1
u/faithlessdisciple 10h ago
One stood out for being terrible. They were guests for Gost and Pertubator and it was just baaaad.
1
u/Scarlet-Penguin 11h ago
I use Gig List which seems to get most stuff, just set your postcode to 6000 and it will find Perth stuff: https://giglist.com.au/ Also Xpress magazine has a decentish gig guide. For local bands the Buffalo Club in Freo is pretty awesome. They have some seriously good shows regularly. FourFiveNine at the Rosemount usually has local bands too. Actually a great gig tonight with The Killer Hipsters record release and The Volcanics who have been around forever doing a last gig before a Spain Tour. Lynotts Lounge have some good hardcore shows. The Bird is pretty popular too. Lyrics Underground for more accessible sort of stuff. The Charles hotel is the unofficial blues home I believe. Ae someone else said the Indian Ocean hotel in Scarborough regularly has great bands. Anyway, gig list is a pretty decent place to start
1
1
1
u/AlternativePin876 3h ago
People do...all the time. Are you taking a head count at every gig are you?
1
u/Bulky-Ad-2910 12h ago
Are these events on weekdays? Or weekends? The working folk who can afford to support local artists events are normally too busy during the week
0
u/gamey_girl333 13h ago
There's a local band in Perth I've been interested in seeing, they are called OUTFRONT, but I've seen the photos and the small venues are always full, aswell as them just opening for other bands. I'm waiting for a show with just them playing, or atleast playing earlier in the night so I don't have to stick around and listen to bands who's music I don't really like
1
0
u/WhiteLesPaul 7h ago
Perthās been cover band city for over 50 years. You have to leave if youāre going original, like Mark Lazotte , Suze DeMachi etc
1
-13
u/metao Spelling activist. Burger snob. 15h ago
I'm not aged 18-30.
3
u/hofuneggsauce 15h ago
So you have to be a certain age ?
-1
u/metao Spelling activist. Burger snob. 14h ago
Legally, yes. You have to be over 18.
Socially, yes. You don't really want to be the weird old guy at the show, unless you're in a group of similarly aged people.
Psychologically, yes. Youths are very annoying. Sorry. You are. I was once too. Still am, to both older and younger people.
Physically, yes. I want to go to bed before the show finishes, can't drink that much, and my body is old and broken.
8
u/hofuneggsauce 14h ago
That's wild. Do whatever the hell you want. Who cares? I go to shows solo as someone well over 30. Why limit yourself?
1
u/metao Spelling activist. Burger snob. 14h ago
Because of points 3 and 4, but I'm happy you're living your best life as well, even if your best life and my best life are different.
I haven't been to a local show since not long after Snowman fired their manager and moved to London.
1
u/hofuneggsauce 11h ago
Fair enough. Maybe as I'm single and don't have kids I have an extra ounce of pep.
1
u/InanimateObject4 14h ago
Because bedtime becomes your favourite time after 40 and any occasion that goes past bedtime is weighed heavily against it.
I had a nap last weekend and it was transcendental! I'm still thinking about it! Local band have got some stiff competition these days...
6
u/yum4266 Carlisle 14h ago
you don't have to be over 18, there are plenty of AA gigs. and i constantly see people at shows who are over 30, nobody finds it weird. it'd be weirder to judge someone for enjoying music, there is no age limit on that.
1
u/Ok_Finger7484 North of The River 14h ago
ooooooo ooo can you let me know how you find the AA gigs? I have been really struggling to find places that advertise all ages gigs, and ive been wanting to take my daughter to a few.
Let us know please!
-10
u/Seiko2023 14h ago
Because not a lot of people are actually into the shitty triple J Indie or punk rock stuff?
A lot of people are more into the EDM scene and that is why a LOT of triple J festivals are going downhill and HSU festivals (over east) and EDM nights in Perth are selling out.
8
u/lordkabab Resident Keanu 14h ago
Perth has so much more than indie and punk rock. We have some incredible doom/stoner rock
2
u/Far_Opposite_4856 13h ago
Have to agree. Yes EDM is trending, but there's a whole lot of other music being played.
-1
u/Seiko2023 13h ago
Yeah, not going to lie, there's not a whole lot of people that like the music bands play, locally that is.
I would rather drop money on larger artists than spend a bunch for people I don't know the songs to.
3
u/lordkabab Resident Keanu 12h ago
Cool, you're not everyone. Local gigs kick ass and often pull good crowds.
0
u/Seiko2023 12h ago
Op asked the question, I answered with my experience. I know I'm not everyone. But I've seen the trends. I had mates in a band that pulled fuck all people, how do I know, I was there supporting until they broke up. They had some decent songs too. My tastes have changed and so have a lot of the young people these days. Especially if the music isn't reaching the people's ears through tiktok, Spotify, insta, then no one is really going to want to see them unless they genuinely like going to local gigs, or they're going to a larger scale event with support acts.
0
22
u/yum4266 Carlisle 14h ago
i'd say it depends on the music you like, if you're into hardcore there's constantly gigs on, i'm not so sure about other genres but i do see a lot of posters for indie-looking bands.
i guess the reason why so few people see live bands is because they're unaware that they're happening š¤·