Live Review: Beaufort Street Festival

With the weather finally warming up for summer, it was time for the annual Beaufort Street Festival, a day filled with local music, art, food, fashion, community fun, dogs and more. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the cultural hub on Saturday to hear all kinds of excellent local musical talent, their nostrils filled with incredible culinary aromas, their eyes with artistic and crafty delights to behold and purchase.

Early on in the day saw The Brow hitting up the City of Stirling Stage, following on from the nearby wrestling competition. Joining the older, greying lady dancing and singing along front and centre were two of the more notably dresses wrestlers – both in tight lycra onesies, one green with “It’s Teabag Time” written across the back, and the other in a black, white and pink zebra-striped, tasselled number. This was just the beginning of the interesting characters to be found sprawled across the festival that day. Dr Fear’s quick-lipped rapping and frontman Nic Owen’s brilliant energy drew a crowd befitting their status as one of Perth’s most entertaining live acts.

Meanwhile, at the Flying Scotsman stage on Grosvenor Road, SpaceManAntics were gearing the crowds up for the afternoon with their brand of psychedelic surf/ garage rock. Reverb and Univibe vibrato abounding, the ‘Antics acquainted themselves nicely with the hordes of progressively-more-lubricated punters with extended instrumental jams and way-back-in-the-mix vocal segments. A green-haired onlooker made good use of a hula-hoop as he danced along.

Chilled electro-indie artist Anna O took to the Astor Stage showing off her debut EP with style. New track, Symphony had a great beat to it, and her well-controlled vocals were a testament to her ability. Then, as the Silver Hills were about to start, the crowd was treated to a flash mob dancing to Dixie one-step music. The Hills took to the stage shortly thereafter with a sunny disposition and whimsical, ethereal harmonic foundations. With catchy riffs, solid grooves and intriguing melodies, the set was the perfect accompaniment to the glorious weather during the festival.

Up at the north end once more, the Amani Consort brought a formidable degree of educated musical experience to the festivities with their tight-knit, incredibly communicated and tasteful take on soul and RnB. Well-mixed, highly polished and very impressive, the Amani Consort featured excellent solos, brilliant vocals and a wicked backbeat.

Similar in style to former Perthites Karnivool (mixed with a little bit of Foals), Lanark tore up the James Squire Stage with their hefty instrumentals. Following Lanark, Tired Lion seemed to have a fire in the belly, fresh off a well-deserved record label signing, and the fire was burning hot. Loud, raucous and deliciously grungy, Tired Lion delivered blow after powerful blow, not finishing before drummer Ethan Darnell treated everyone to a bare chest.

The City of Vincent Community Stage hosted several family-friendly events throughout the day, notably the RSPCA dog show. Entrants of all shapes, sizes and drool levels graced the stage, with prizes for best dressed, well trained and more.

Stepping out in an interesting ensemble – fluoro pink and green frilly jacket, checked legs and grey sparkly shoes – Joni in the Moon absolutely blasted her audience with brilliant, soaring vocals, skilled harmonies and clever songwriting. Translating very well from recording to live, Joni’s performance was one of the highlights of the festival.
Koi Child, the supergroup combination of two favourite Perth bands did marvellously considering their struggles onstage. The seven-piece lo-fi live hip hop collective, whose name is derived from Kashikoi and Child’s Play, experienced multiple power-outages on their front line, leaving just bass and drums to keep playing. The crowd could still hear the horns, naturally, however MC Shannon Cruz Patterson was often cut off halfway through his verses, which made for a difficult performance. It was great to see however that a completely un-phased Patterson took the whole thing in his stride, hilariously leading the crowd in a “Dave Chappelle as Lil’ Jon” call and response (those who have seen the skit will know exactly how it sounded). Why? Because.

Hordes of local artist talent congregated in the stARTup area, displaying, promoting and selling their works. With so many artists all crammed together, it was hard to know where to look when surrounded with such talent. Further in, The Laneway Project meant that the local graffiti culture was able to find some appreciation amongst the ever-too-quick dismissal of this form of art, and later in the night two teams went head-to-head with Secret Walls, a 90-minute session of creativity up on the Food Stage.

The High Learys showed everyone a good time outside the Flying Scotsman as the sun went down, tearing through a classic set of Mersey beat-influenced songs that saw the punters dancing and having a great time. A special mention too for keyboardist Michael Nutt, who was absent at their gig the night before, due to a wisdom teeth operation. Devoted, Nutt pushed on to play an excellent set.

Closing up the night at the Astor Stage, local blues outfit Old Blood showcased to a raucous crowd just how diverse the blues really is. With burning, screaming and face-melting guitar solos from Edo Ekic, the band shuffled, pounded and hurricaned through a set of screaming vocals, tasty licks and wicked grooves. Vocalist Tony Papa-Adams sounded almost too much like a Chicago native as he wailed through heartfelt stories and reiterations, taking on the personae of everymen, bus drivers and crack-heads alike as he spun his tales.

A fusion of world cuisines, food stalls with dishes from all corners of the globe littered the streets (in more ways than one), giving punters such choice that choosing proved damned near impossible. Another successful Beaufort Street Festival drew to a close almost too early in the night, as people flocked onto social media asking if they could kick on later into the wee hours of the morning.