Live Review: RTRFM's Radiothon Laucnh Party Perth

RTRFM’s major fundraiser Radiothon returns once again to help keep the station running, and Friday evening was the perfect opportunity to witness some of Perth’s best talent, with the Opening Party spread across four venues in Northbridge.

After much anticipation, Ya Ya’s launched into liveliness with a huge performance by recent Big Splash winners Hideous Sun Demon. It was pretty easy to recognise how the group walked away with that ten grand cheque, as the quartet produced a slew of theatrical punk-rock tunes, highlighted especially by frontman Vin Buchanan-Simpson’s beastly charisma and melodramatic vocal delivery. Despite being one of the opening bands, they certainly put on one of the best performances of the evening.

Next up at Ya Ya’s were Loners, who continued to heat up the venue with some wonderfully established rock riffs, all the while consistently thanking the audience for spending their time watching the band and creating plenty of on-stage banter that kept everyone on their toes. The relatively new group have an enjoyable mix in their catalogue already, ranging from the sombre to the real upbeat, and as such, they’re showing plenty of promise.

Over to The Bakery and Davey Craddock & The Spectators had the unenviable task of injecting some indie-folk class into the busy Friday night. Luckily Craddock has that cool James Taylor/Bob Dylan vibe that enamours everyone. To a small but building crowd, who were already putting the “party” into the Radiothon party, Craddock and band supplied smooth, relaxed indie country. Ruby St was a highlight, with a slick cover of I Shall Be Released being the capstone. Rainy Day Women kicked off their performance to a surprisingly modest crowd. What the collective audience lacked in numbers though, the band made up for in energy, enticing those watching with their infectious blend of warm, indie rock. The group showcased a bunch of new tracks for the first time during the set, and given the response from the audience, which continued to build as time went on, Rainy Day Women’s debut album should be an absolute corker. Dashing back over to Ya Ya’s, Dream Rimmy had all but packed out the venue. The group, who were grand finalists in the Big Splash comp, and feature members from a bunch of other Perth bands, have their formula down pat and captivated the room with their shoegazey psych-pop sound. Ali Flintoff was absolutely superb on lead vocals, while every other band member contributed with gorgeous harmonies. The group are fast rising with the ranks of the crop of new bands and with an EP due for release very soon, they’re definitely, definitely worth getting excited about.

Flyrite was its usual foggy and mysterious self, playing host to the late-night end of the Radiothon stick. Luckily, Slumberjack had everyone on their feet by the time of arrival. Blasting through a number of heavy trap and bass numbers, the duo maintained a cool edge and weightiness that kept their set busy. The duo is also not shy of filling their set with drops, the hits coming one after the other. While Kid Tsunami provided plenty of entertainment at The Bird with his DJ set through the evening, Marksman Lloyd did us the honour of playing out the night with some insanely infectious hip hop work. While the crowd dwindled away as the night grew later, those who had made the effort to stick around were given an absolute treat. He mixed things up by inviting friends to perform with him on stage at various points and consequently each song felt fresh and exciting. Local favourites Hamjam closed out the night at Ya Ya’s with their ever-popular blend of garage rock, their loose, wild guitar-driven sounds bouncing out the door and down the street, while Sable, who was obviously a big drawcard, looked more than ready to get into it by the time he got behind the decks at Flyrite shortly after midnight. His set was a perfect wrap-up of Radiothon – crisp, refreshing and jumpy – containing all the energy this launch party desired, and let it go all at the right moments. It’s a telling state of affairs when so many talented musicians readily share their time on a Friday night to express their gratitude to a thing like RTR. Friday night was a success; here’s to another year of RTR filling the airwaves with the good stuff