While legendary live music venue The Castle may no longer be with us, the memories and the scene that grew from it live on. RAQX is a one-night-only special that reunites some of the venue’s popular live acts as well as the weird and wonderful fringe community that made it their own.
The event will feature sets from the reformed Deadlock, Defect Notice and Matty Trash and the Horrorbles, burlesque performers Essie Foxglove and Darla Harland, and DJs Mith Von Voodoo and Laith Tyranny at Badlands Bar this Friday, September 15.
RAQX all started as the vision of ex-Castle regular Rachelina Santella, who thought a riotous night of music and dance was the only way to fittingly honour the memory of the venue.
“The idea came from me sitting back and asking myself, ‘what do I want for my birthday?’ The answer, was to have a kick-ass party filled with music, art, pure entertainment, fun, and share the experience with my friends and family.”
As a former member of Deadlock, getting the old band back together for the occasion was always going to be the place to start. “Getting the boys to agree to play this gig was extremely easy as they already volunteered before the gig was born,” she said. “We may have had our differences over the years and there is solid reason why we broke up, but the memory of playing together is branded into each of our hearts and we are all ecstatic to have the chance to play again.”
Defect Notice was another act Rachelina had in her sights. “They’re a mighty band who plays metal and doesn’t take themselves too seriously which you can’t help but love.” Now living in Melbourne, Rachelina was all the more keen to have Defect Notice on the bill after missing their reunion gig earlier this year with Chaos Divine.
Matty Trash and the Horrorbles were another personal favorite, she said. “Not only did I have a super man crush on the singer, I’ve always really respected their style, music and overall performance. They are brutal as well as theatrical and I am pretty sure, they are all zombies. I’m thinking though their drummer may have decomposed, so I asked the most honorable Rohan Jeffcoat to step up.”
The night will also feature burlesque performers Essie Foxglove and Darla Harland to “balance the brutality with the beauty of the female form.” DJs Mith Von Voodoo and Laith Tyranny have promised to turn it up to 11 on the night as well, bringing tunes of a “darker variety taking you into the depths of grunge and rock and roll, hitting you in the face with an industrial beat and enforcing a two-step shuffle.” And to cap it all off in style everyone has the chance to dance their way to a $100 prize in a Pulp Fiction dance-off.
“The Castle is a piece of Perth that is sorely missed,” Rachelina says. “It was a unique live venue owned and run by Wayne Smith that allowed Perth emerging bands to find their feet in front of an audience.There was where endless nights when I would head down to the Castle, stand in front and be blown away by the sheer talent and diversity up on that stage. Remember how they used to say there was something in the water in Perth WA? Well I like to think that river flowed from the Castle.”
“Another huge reason why I miss that place is that everyone was welcome at the Castle, whether you were a metal head, a goth, an indie rocker or a pop queen, the Castle’s doors were open to all.”
RAQX takes place at Badlands this Friday, September 15.
