'Everything Is Getting Canned': Old Mervs To Bring Festival Vibes To Headline Gigs

It’s already been a huge year for WA indie-rock duo Old Mervs; scoring spot 47 on triple j’s Hottest 100, a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2024 Rolling Stone Awards, and now in the midst of a Trans-Tasman tour.

The How The Fark Are Ya? Tour kicked off in New Zealand (Aotearoa), with shows reaching capacity in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. After a stop at Snowmachine Festival in Queenstown, the Kojonup-raised duo touched back down in Australia last weekend for two shows in Melbourne (Naarm), and will be back in their home state this weekend with their biggest headline show of their career at the Fremantle Arts Centre.

While good mates and fellow WA band Fool Nelson have been the main support, the tour has seen local artists from each city help open the show, with the line-up for Saturday’s Fremantle (Walyalup) show the most stacked to date.

Fool Nelson will be in good company, with Ra Ra Viper, Ullah, and Hey So Hungry scheduled to help kick off the sold-out show. Fremantle’s show is one of many that has seen incredible demand for the duo, with an additional show just added in Sydney (Warrane) to assist in satiating fans’ appetites.

Old Mervs’ David House and Henry Carrington-Jones say they were “hoping rather than expecting” this level of excitement around the tour, and are “looking forward to bashing out” their new singles What You’ve Lost and Forget It.

“We’re bloody excited, to say the least! It feels like it has been a long time coming since we’ve had a crack at some solid shows back-to-back. It’s just cool nowadays that shows are bigger and there’s more people coming down and getting involved. It’s fair to say we’re keen to jump back on the tour bus and play some shows!”

Old Mervs summed up their approach to live performance perfectly, musing that their shows are about having “a heap of fun, with a room of great people”.

On their sold-out Fremantle show, the duo says they wanted to put on an event akin to a festival, “especially now that everything is getting canned”. With a slate of high-profile festivals cancelled across Australia over the last year, Old Mervs is taking this show as an opportunity to celebrate the still “great scene in Perth”.

With a line-up featuring exclusive WA talent, and the historic gothic Fremantle Arts Centre a “childhood dream place to play”, this Saturday’s show is certainly one to get around for music fans in Perth.

“We feel we’ve been able to do what we’re doing because of people of all ages in Perth coming to shows and supporting us from the early days. It just feels good to have them come down to our biggest-ever show and celebrate with us.” 

And if there’s one thing Old Mervs love, it’s their fans. “They’re a pretty surreal experience, to be frank! Gee whiz they’re loud. The first all-ages show we played, genuinely shocked us with the energy and loudness.”

Reflecting on the year that’s been, they say the track Sweetheart landing at #47 on the latest triple j Hottest 100 has “helped getting a few eyes peeled and people on board, which definitely helps with festivals and shows.”

Adding, “It was really cool to have that land where it did, we had no idea really, and we were super happy with it. It was a good thing to have a bit more of our stuff playing on the radio.” 

On what’s next for the duo, they’re “just ticking along”, and ticking more items off the bucket list. Remaining elusive, they can only reveal that there is “more music on the horizon”.

Well, we are certainly looking out to that horizon with anticipation.

Old Mervs are currently on their How The Fark Are Ya? Tour across New Zealand and Australia. Tickets are limited for remaining shows.

Saturday 14 September - ‘Live At Freo Arts Centre’, Fremantle

Thursday 19 September - The Triffid, Brisbane

Friday 20 September - The Triffid, Brisband

Saturday 21 September - Metro Theatre, Sydney

Sunday 22 September - Metro Theatre, Sydney

Thursday 26 September - Altar, Hobart

Friday 27 September - The Gov, Adelaide