Review: Balu Brigada at Freo.Social
Balu Brigada at Freo.Social
w/ Cowboy Malfoy
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Not even the worst storm Perth has seen in recent times could stop a night filled with adrenaline and rock that very nearly blew the roof off Freo.Social. Balu Brigada, the four-piece indie-rock band helmed by brothers Henry and Pierre Beasley, are New Zealand’s answer to The Strokes—if they grew up around sheep and loved disco.
Opener Cowboy Malfoy, with his chill melodic marimba of tracks, set a scene of bliss in a stark contrast to the raging tempest outside. Head Start felt like you’d been swept away on a desert island, drinking out of coconuts as he crooned about love. How I’d Kill sounded like Michael Bublé on island time. It was an interestingly theatrical way to warm up a crowd.
After a brief interlude, the lights flashed and the real thunder began as Balu Brigada stepped out onto the stage with enough energy to activate a lulling crowd into a frantic frenzy, strutting effortlessly into The Portal. Their first headline show in Perth was off to a great start, especially when the hits kept coming. Cult favourite Sideways upped the ante with explosive guitars warping around baffling animal noises (complimentary). The band followed up with more heat with Designer, a highlight from 2023’s Find A Way EP, with its hip-hop lo-fi bedroom blend.
The phone lights went up for The Question, another tranquil lo-fi melody that crescendoed into a smooth guitar solo that glided around the venue like a sonic jet plane. “Give it up for my brother on guitar,” said one Beasley boy in response to the other’s erratic and incredible solo. “Should we call you Fremantle or should we call you Perth?” they pondered as booing ensued from either side against the other, eventually settling on the larger area of Perth.
There’s a very “laddy” energy to the band, where they bring you into their garage-core antics with boyish charm. It’s a world that felt alive on stage despite the sparse theatrics of the performance, all resting heavily on the heavyweight hitters themselves with their boisterous and bombastic hooks. The old-school bedroom banger 2 Good led into What Do We Ever Really Know, a driving riff maintained by Jacob Stockman’s drumbeats and taken to another level entirely by the interlaid guitars.
The lighting left a lot to be desired, however, as the boys were either bathed in pitch black or seizure-inducing strobe lights, with the show becoming more of an audio experience rather than a visual one. The energy from the brothers was enough to pull you into their orbit, however. Harper Finn on keys brought his own swagger to get your fist pumping in the air in time to the pulsing hits from the likes of the triple-heavy combo of the UK grunge-dipped 4:24, a rambunctiously rocking cover of Oblivion by Grimes, and the interstellar Moon Man. Each song received lashings of chants, screams, and applause when it was over. “You guys are fucking loud,” the boys responded in awe of the pipes Perth had to offer.
“You guys mind if we play a sad song?” What a tearjerker it was, as the slow sway of Isolation settled the crowd into swirling, sombre puddles with its psychedelic pull. The spacey Birthday Interlude gave the band a small breather to wish anyone coincidentally born on this fortuitous day a happy birthday. That breather was needed, as next up was the megahit Backseat, with its edgy groove that pulled you into its electronic atmosphere. All hands went up on its chorus. All bodies bounced up and down on the bridge like a sea of sweat pulsing to the infectious drumbeat.
Punters were treated to the unreleased track, Bedhead, an indie banger about trading sleep for the dream, which was a little too apt, as apparently the boys didn’t get a lot of sleep the previous night. It went down like the sweet dessert it was, with its rich, smooth caramel melody against the chocolaty bitterness of the vocal rasps. Definitely one to listen out for.
White Flag Boy and the infamous monster of a hit So Cold finished the set off magnificently, firing on all cylinders right to the end as sound waves clashed into what can only be described as a FIFA-friendly soundtrack. There wasn’t a moment when you were left staring at your phone or catching a yawn. The set flowed like melodic butter, with enough quips and charming banter thrown in to find yourself rooting for the lads for their first time playing a show in Perth. The vocals were so lush and pristine you got lost in the words until that driving rhythm snapped you back in and left you begging for more.
“Have you still got some dance in you?” they teased, returning unexpectedly to a still unquenched pack of hyenas before throwing themselves full force into the psychedelic rock of Find A Way. The track built up to a heavenly rapture of a closing instrumental, and as the stage lights finally proved they were working, it was as though the four men were ascending into heaven to be with the rock gods.
SAM MEAD
Photos by Sam Mead
