Live Review: Leederville Carnival

Leederville Carnival took place on Sunday, this year extending out across multiple closed-off streets, which were packed with food and market stalls containing everything from fashion to groceries, beer gardens, carnival rides, multiple art displays, outdoor music stages and DJ booths.

The West Australian Stage kicked things off in the open Newcastle Street at the stroke of noon, with Dubarray enticing early punters from the get-go. The performance rounded off a massive national tour for the band, and they made the most of their momentum with some catchy funk beats.

Kitchen People kicked things off at the YMCA HQ stage, bringing the venue to life with some intense, riff-heavy rock. Bassist Vin Buchanan-Simpson was at his weird and wonderful best, while lead singer and guitarist Jake Suriano was in top form with his powerful rock vocals. Late Night Hysterics didn’t draw much of a crowd, but their lulling dream-pop beats went down an absolute treat.

Back over at the West Australian stage, Wisdom2th DJ’d and danced his way through an entertaining the set, working the collective audience into a groove. Upstairs in the Leederville Hotel proved a great place to cool down and relax, with performers taking to the stage at Babushka for a number of purely acoustic sets. There were some interesting and enjoyable covers across a number of performances, including Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone, Bouncing Souls’ Sing Along Forever and Carley Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe.

The Brow were a huge hit with the kids, the experienced hip hop/funk/jazz hybrid wrapping the audience around their collective finger at the West Australian stage and busting out classics such as Kaboom and Two Fires. 44th Sunset performed as a duo at the HQ stage – Nik Thompson was solid on vocals while guitarist Jack Charles provided vital backup. Older tracks Cages and Caesar were the most warmly welcomed, but all up, it was an enjoyable show.

Pat Chow’s performance was a favourite and a highlight of the day – they fitted the venue perfectly and rocked it out like legends. Their track “made especially for Christmas” was the best thing heard all day, while their “song that sounds a bit like a carnival” contained some of the best guitar riffs this writer has heard in a long time. The night wound down with a thank you speech from Leederville’s mayor and a fab fireworks display out in the street thanks to the City Of Vincent. A supposed 80,000 people attended across the day, and given that level of success, everyone will rightly be hoping the carnival makes a return next year.