Live Review: Hyperfest

There's not an amazing list of things for underage teenagers to do in Perth city… Sure, they can go to the skate park, go to the beach, and throw their “out of control” parties, however, they always seem to miss out on the good gigs – touring artists usually opting for 18-plus shows. Enter: Hyperfest. Year after year they are looking out for the young'uns by throwing their annual all-ages event in Midland. Although the weather was less than ideal for the day with black rain clouds and constant drizzle, local lads Monuments didn't seem to mind, entertaining the early crowd with their pop-punk-rock sounds. Sound The Rescue; a five-piece rock outfit who could be likened to a local version of Evanescence, unfortunately had to stop a couple of tracks short as the guitarist somehow managed to dislocate his knee mid-song. In between acts an extremely un-funny lady called “Shazza” was on MC duties on the main stage, trying a little too hard to crack jokes whilst introducing the bands.

Perth spitter Marksman was the first dose of hip hop on the main stage, and managed to engage the crowd well and command their attention. As the day went on with solid performances by Beside Lights, and indie-electro kids Sun City, it was apparent that the crowd was happier to just sit on the grass and listen, rather than raging with their fists pumping in the air. Whether it was the weather or another factor was not clear; however the teens seemed a bit dull and lifeless to say the least. Grey Ghost put in the hard yards during his set to get the crowd on board, and largely did a fantastic job – freestyling, jumping on speaker stacks, and dropping triple-j faves like Space Ambassador. Heroes For Hire kicked the day up a notch with their own crowd favourites such as Bright Lights In Paradise and No Apology. Seth Sentry proved to be a big hit with the youngsters, coming out on stage firing his Nerf gun into the crowd with a string of “motherfuckers” and “shit yeah's”. Dropping a stack of tracks off his most recent album This Was Tomorrow such as My Scene and Float Away, it was The Waitress Song that really got the crowd screaming the most. Bluejuice were to follow, and kept the crowds energy levels high with popular tracks Broken Leg and Act Yr Age. And as Purple Sneakers DJs rounded out the under-age festival with their eclectic party jams, it seemed apparent that the change of venue to an outside stage for this year's Hyperfest was a poor choice due to the fickle weather somewhat dampening spirits.