Boy Girl @ Badlands
w/ Giant Dwarf, Will Stoker and the Embers and Scatterback
Saturday, April 3, 2021
Far too often, a national tour means a tour of the East Coast only and any time someone from overseas comes to visit and asks for advice on where to visit, the immediate answer is down south or up north. Then the whole world turned upside down and Perth became the place to be – the lucky state where we can still see live music every night of the week.
We are also extremely lucky with the calibre of bands that we have over here in the West and Saturday night at Badlands was one of those nights where things came together just perfectly.
Scatterback was first to take the stage. While they are relatively new to the Perth scene, these guys seriously know how to put on a brilliant show and are always entertaining to see. The joy on their faces as they play is truly infectious and makes you smile along with them. This is one band to watch out for as these guys have the potential to do great things.
One of Perth’s staples, Will Stoker and the Embers, who have been around for a long time now were next up and if you haven’t seen these guys play, you’ve clearly been hiding under a rock for the last 14 years and you really need to get out more and see them play. They are a class act and frontman Will Stoker is an absolute powerhouse of energy. He barely stands still on stage and is a pleasure to watch. There is not much to say about these guys that hasn’t been said before. They are absolute professionals who kill it every time.
The night took a slight detour with Giant Dwarf whose sound is more on the darker, heavier side than the first two acts. Again, these guys always put on a great show and have definitely earned their place on stage. If you love your psychedelic, stoner rock, then you will definitely love these guys.
Whispers about Boy Girl had been flying around the week before the show and how good they are. Of course, this reviewer has seen many, many bands and can be a tad sceptical when she hears things like that. Sure – they may be good but they’d have to be pretty bloody special to really impress.
You can usually pick within the first thirty seconds whether you at the very least, like a band’s sound and you certainly know by the end of the first song. With Boy Girl, most people in the room were absolutely blown away within the first minute and, by the time their set had finished, they had picked up many more fans.
Their live performance is something else and the songs had an underlying electricity to them – something that can’t be described but something that every music lover understands and feels right down to the very core. This is definitely one band that this reviewer will be checking out again and again and you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t do the same.
It’s bands like these that keep the Perth scene alive and kicking and you can’t help but feel excited about the future. It’s an unknown future in a changed landscape but at least here in Perth, we still have the music running through our veins.
KAREN LOWE
Photos by Karen Lowe
