Live Review: Tired Lion + FOAM + Hip Priest – Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth (06.02.16)

The streets of Northbridge were packed on Saturday night with people soaking up the colour of the Perth Fringe Festival, so it was great to see a crowd still come out in force for local grunge rockers Tired Lion. Bringing out their usual bravado, it was a great night for the always excitable Jack Rabbit Slim’s punters.

Since it’s establishment last year, I’ve always made the effort to get to Slims’ at doors open for the first band and I’ve yet to regret that decision; Hip Priest are my new faves. An honestly good set full of their self described “deli meat pop”, their brand of indie rock was fun and addictive. Each song had its own twist and the guys were super energetic and characteristic, bringing the crowd out of the shadows and onto the floor without having to ask. Their quirky lyricism really nailed it for me, introducing their first track as, “This is a song about a Pokemon I lost”, before carrying through a set full of original catchy tunes.

Live music veterans FOAM quickly followed, a little heavier, grungier, and more majestically maned. It was easy to catch their Nirvana influence with the drawn out guitar riffs mixed in with that spoken word vibe bringing out that old school deep rock sound that had the front row punters kicking their little hearts out. The crowd needed little encouragement to initiate the mosh once the guitarist from Hip Priest had his way with the dance floor. Thanking everyone for getting them out of the house they announced their latest plans saying, “We’re gonna record an album on Monday, yeah, the whole thing.”

Tired Lion hit the stage with slight kerfuffle, asking the crowd if they remembered a show called Around The Twist, before encouraging a venue wide sing along of the theme tune as a sort of DIY entrance track. The band went on to create a super casual set without pulling any of the energy, complete with jokingly argumentative banter complaining when they asked for song requests that they meant one of theirs, laughing,“Are we just a cover band now?”, adding “I knew they were a better band”, as they ran into their Like A Version of “Saramona Says” from Violent Soho to much applause.

There were some new tracks scattered throughout the set as well as songs from their All We Didn’t Know and Figurine EPs, as well as a splash of debauchery with lead singer Sophie getting the crowd to cheer for which of the boys jocks they wanted to see, saying she wanted to do something strange for the show whether it was a shoey, getting someone to throw their bra on stage or flashing bassist Nick‘s butt. Sophie really was the conductor for the night, calling the shots while ruling with her stellar vocals that remind me of the rockier side of Little Birdy. Closing out with favourites “I Don’t Think You Like Me” and “Figurine”, it was a solid night of Perth goodness.

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