Review: Basement Jaxx at Fremantle Prison

Basement Jaxx at Fremantle Prison
w/ Close Counters
Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Last week saw the long-awaited live return of dance music legends Basement Jaxx. While they did play in Sydney and Melbourne in 2019 with a full orchestra doing dramatic classical interpretations of their songs, it’s been over 15 years since Basement Jaxx toured Australia with their famed full live show (they played Good Vibrations festival at Claremont Showgrounds in 2010). It’s only generally been festivals that brought them over in the past—back in the days of yore, when festivals were massive with heaps of huge names on the bill. For the last 10 years they’ve been touring as a DJ duo, which is also great fun, as the boys are great selectors and party makers (Basement Jaxx was named after the formative Brixton club nights they ran), but as anyone who has seen them knows, their live show is a different beast entirely!

These days a live set for an electronic outfit can mean almost anything that’s not a straight-up DJ set, but Basement Jaxx put the LIVE into live performance. You get your money’s worth; they don’t mess around or do things by halves, and they blew up the rather dark and ominous setting of Fremantle Prison into a carnivalesque explosion of colour, light, sound and dancing, solidifying their reputation for live shows with a generous set of epic proportions that gave old-school fans just what they wanted. Despite having produced seven studio albums (the last was 2014’s Junto), the crowd were glad for this comeback show that they decided to focus mostly on their first three, much-loved and acclaimed albums.

The old prison was perhaps an odd choice of venue for such an act, and the stage didn’t seem large enough to accommodate their extravagant stage show, but nonetheless their faithful fanbase turned up and sold out the show in advance, because they know you don’t miss a Basement Jaxx live set when the circus rolls into town—and bless them (and everyone involved) for bringing it all the way to WA.

One of the most exciting and enduring acts to emerge from the London underground, Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe formed Basement Jaxx in the mid-90s explosion of electronic sounds and club music in the UK. It was a thriving, diverse scene that was a clash of cultures and styles, and their nights were one of the most eclectic melting pots, blending house, live vocals and drumming with funk, Latin, garage and ragga influences. After producing some of their first records, they eventually put together a live outfit that evolved into what we were lucky enough to witness in Freo last week.

Melbourne’s Close Counters scored the national support slot. The duo consisting of Allan McConnell and Finn Rees were a fine choice for support, with their modern fusion of house, soul, disco, jazz and breaks. The boys also feature various great vocalists on their songs, and live, they were joined by Annalisa Fernandez, whose powerful voice really lifted the songs and got the crowd involved. They have a nice smooth sound with laid-back soulful grooves and disco, enhanced by the live keyboards. Their 2021 single Something In My Drink brought the vibes with its bumping bassline, and they introduced a song off the new album I’ll Be There For You, a classic carefree disco anthem.

In the lead-up to Basement Jaxx‘s early 8pm start, the famous image of the white-furred gorilla from the cover of their classic 2001 album Rooty was cast upon the big screen at the back of the stage, watching over the crowd. The album cover was a stylised version of an actual photo of Snowflake—the world’s only known white gorilla, an albino who lived at the Barcelona Zoo from 1966 until 2003. Rooty, named after their regular club night in Brixton (that followed on from the Basement Jaxx nights), is arguably their greatest album and was heavily featured tonight. It’s an album that was a real mixture of sounds, styles and genres—something that back then wasn’t as common. In many ways Basement Jaxx were ahead of their time—helping to evolve electronic dance music performances to be more of a spectacle with singers and dancers bringing a lot of dynamic energy to the stage and a more organic feeling and human emotion to often cold, artificial and stark electronic music.

The crowd were by this point very intrigued to see how the unique-looking stage set was going to be used, with a large, wide ramp filling up most of the stage, going up from the floor at the front to a platform at the back, with a curious hole in the middle of the ramp. This ended up being where Felix and Simon were based, behind the decks and equipment, in the centre of it all—though you could only really see their torsos protruding up out of the hole—like they were at the control panel of a giant spaceship.

In a nice local acknowledgement, the sounds of a didgeridoo introduced the set before some dramatic classical music and sweeping strings kicked in. Then the thunderous drumming commenced, courtesy of the two live drummers/percussionists, beating up a frenzy all night, to the left and right of the ramp—only barely squeezing in. It was a shame we couldn’t really see them too well, but we certainly felt them all night. Felix first popped up out of the glowing hole in the smoke and lights, wearing a far-out shiny silver outfit with wrap-around shades, looking like he’d just come back from the future.

They were soon joined by Simon on guitar and a trumpet player at the front of the stage, before one of the amazing female vocalists appeared from the side at the top of the ramp, wearing an incredible big white dress and tiara, belting out the opening line of Good Luck: “Tell me, tell me! Is life just a playground?” to the rapture of the crowd, who sang along. And from that point it was on! Simon went and joined Felix behind the decks; the trumpet player stayed on, and it was straight into Bingo Bango—one of their first big hits from their 1999 debut, Remedy. It was clear they weren’t messing around, as they tore through the set, one big tune after another, reminding you how many great, diverse songs they’ve got and how impressive they are performed live.

The live stage set and many extravagant costumes had an Afrofuturist element to it—with audacious silver outfits, big, bold colours and quasi-religious robes and attire; it was all aboard the Basement Jaxx spaceship. There was a definite influence and reference to the heady, psychedelic, acid-influenced days of the 70s and George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic’s legendary Mothership live shows.

There’s a lot going on in Basement Jaxx music. Layered beats, sounds and intricacies that give it a fullness and chaotic edge that’s almost bursting at the seams, yet cohesively held together with deft production and well-defined songs. Accordingly, their live show is also slightly chaotic and unhinged, in the best sense.

Their maximalist, high-energy tunes and use of pop melodies, electronic noise and pitched-up vocals have influenced much in the years since they emerged, from the evolution of old skool rave, hip hop and garage into UKG, and could also be seen as a direct predecessor of hyper-pop.

There were some incredible dancers pulling off some amazing moves. At one point a woman in a long white cloak was doing crazy, acrobatic backflips across the stage. Not an easy thing to do, let alone in that outfit! Another dancer appeared, wrapped up tightly from head to toe in long strips of fabric, which then unfurled into a giant flower as she twirled across the stage. There were so many amazing outfits; it was a veritable technicolour explosion on stage.

The hits just kept coming with Red Alert, another big single from their debut and still one of their best tracks; with that catchy slap bass riff, it sounds as funky as the day it came out. Romeo was another highlight that also sounded great and had the crowd going off, with the two female vocalists killing it.

At times some songs seemed to lack volume and definition—whether it was the mixing or the acoustics of the surrounding prison walls, at times it made you wish they had managed to stage this monumental show on a bigger stage or in a more controlled indoor arena.

There was an interlude into some harder, instrumental techno beats, which then morphed into the epic classical piece Zadok The Priest by Handel, which featured some impressive dancing from a woman in a silver jumpsuit, doing controlled, aerobic, ballet-like moves. Felix then came out the front to sing the highly affected vocals of Rendez-Vu, the classic opening track off Remedy, and Live Saver, a big new track, was debuted, hinting at maybe a new album?

Never Say Never was one of the only tracks from Junto featured, with the dynamic vocal delivered by their amazing male vocalist/dancer. More bangers were dropped, with Oh My Gosh and Jus 1 Kiss inciting more dancing, with the latter featuring some impressive three-way vocals and some freaky animated lips on the big screen. Then the back screen lit up in black and white with the face of legendary punk rock goth godmother Siouxsie Sioux, signifying the start of her standout collab with the Jaxx, the rockin’ industrial sounds of Cish Cash from the album Kish Kash, with the coolly delivered vocal hook “You want it, you take it. You’re insatiable!”

There was an unexpected segue into a cover of Rosalia’s big orchestral tune Berghain from her new album, featuring Bjork and Yves Tumor, with the operatic singing of Rosalia’s part and Bjork’s part, both delivered by the same incredible vocalist.

They finished the set proper on their biggest tune, the eternal banger, Where’s Your Head At. Still just a massive track that hits hard, with its infectious jump-up energy. It’s a generation-defining tune, and the one that took them to the next level—it reached number 16 on the ARIA charts in 2001 and number 4 in the Hottest 100, with the memorable video featuring freaky monkeys with human faces running amok. Simon was back on guitar, and Felix on vocals up front, bouncing around the stage with the other male vocalist, passionately imploring, “Don’t let the walls cave in on you. You get what you give, that much is true.” They were slowly joined by everyone onstage for the finale, including a bunch dressed in gorilla costumes, jumping around, as is their trademark.

It was the last show of their Australian tour, so they went out with a bang. Felix got on the mic to deliver a message of love and hope and give big thanks to all the tour cast and crew and, of course, Simon, his partner in crime for 30 years—before one of their vocalists thanked Felix himself. There was much applause all round.

They finished with an encore of their classic party tune Take Me Back To Your House and their Latin-flavoured new collaboration featuring Martina Camargo, Bambina. As the stunned crowd slowly moved to head out, the sound of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody played over the speakers. It was a thrilling ride and a life-affirming concert. Basement Jaxx came and conquered, putting on a hell of a show and proving there’s still no one really like them.

ALFRED GORMAN

Photos by Stu McKay