Review: Morcheeba at East Perth Power Station
Morcheeba at East Perth Power Station
w/ People Taking Photos
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Perth Festival is well and truly back and in the thick of it, with the industrial technicolour wonderland of East Perth Power Station the place to be this month, hosting a string of big international and local musical acts, as well as free performances, food trucks, bars and deluxe outdoor summer vibes by the river. And Saturday night saw the biggest name of the festival season perform, with British trip-hop legends Morcheeba in town for the start of their Australian tour. It was a shame they didn’t bring UNKLE Sounds/James Lavelle, who supported them on the East Coast, but we’re still fortunate they came west again. Having last visited us a couple years ago, it’s evident their dedicated fans are still out there, with the show selling out well in advance. It was mostly a cool, chill, older crowd who could remember buying their 90s albums on CD, but it was great to see some newer, younger fans in the mix.
Formed around 30 years ago in the mid-90s by brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey, who recruited the amazing vocalist and frontwoman Skye Edwards. They were a band that epitomised the cool London after-party chill-out vibe in the 90s and beyond. With a fusion of organic and electronic sounds, complemented by Edwards’ distinct, silky smooth and soulful vocals, they featured on many downtempo and lounge vibes compilation albums. They’re even respected enough artists to have collaborated with David Byrne and produced soundtrack music for Steven Soderbergh.
Edwards went solo for a period in the 2000s, releasing a couple of albums, and the brothers continued Morcheeba with some other guest vocalists before she returned in 2010 and went on to release more albums with Ross after Paul left the band. Last year, the core duo released their eleventh album, Escape the Chaos, and it’s a return to form with that classic Morcheeba sound. They’re a prolific band with a legacy that runs deep, and it was a privilege to have them back in Perth, bringing their beautiful, lush vibes to the Festival for all the lovers on Valentine’s Day.
Morcheeba have also always had psychedelic rock influences in their sound, so it was a good choice to have People Taking Photos as their support for the evening. A band that started as a side project for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets guitarist Luke Parish, they’re a boundary-pushing, genre-fusing group who are not as heavy as the Crumpets but blend alternative psych rock sounds with lo-fi beats and hip hop vibes—enhanced in large part by the involvement of dynamic vocalist and MC Nelson Mondlane of Superego and POW! Negro fame.
What started as a side project is now a fully-fledged six-piece band in its own right. A prolific outfit, they’ve already released four albums. They featured their latest album, Dialectics, from 2025, including the great track Cicada that features a percussive groove with rolling bass, echoey keyboards and fuzzy guitar. The song breaks to half-tempo midway through, taking it’s time with sunny, shimmering harmonics, warm retro production and Parish’s gentle winding vocals, complete with the distant clacking sound of cicadas. It’s classic WA psych-inflected rock in the same vein as early Tame Impala.
PTP are a great jam band with a full sound and some dubbed-out deep rhythms. Parish explained that they just finished a new EP and introduced a new track that featured saxophone. He said there was no way they could do it live without the sax, so they brought out their sax man, who brought the vibes! The colourful kaleidoscopic visuals really enhanced the atmosphere, and the band gave respect to the amazing lighting guy and everyone behind the scenes who makes this festival such an amazing world-class event.
Next they introduced the first song they ever put out, Adventure Shit, which sees Parish and Mondlane sparring on vocals, over driving bass and winding guitar riffs. They create a colourful palette of textured sound, and their laid-back vibes are easy to get drawn into. People Taking Photos are really coming into their own and are a local band to watch.
But everyone was here for Morcheeba, and it wasn’t long before the stage lit up, dark reds washed the stage as smoke wafted through. The four-piece band took their places and began gently laying into the slow groove of Trigger Hippy—straight into the classics with the first big single from their 1996 debut, Who Can You Trust? Then, slowly emerging from the darkness, centre-stage, Skye Edwards gracefully appeared, inciting cheers from the crowd. Dressed fashionably in a short flowing, stringy dress (which she made herself – Skye’s known for making her own outfits), and a chunky brimmed, straw hat, that hid her somewhat from the light. She took the mic, and captured the crowd from the first delivery of the line “Tune in, drop out of love, pull the trigger.”
It was immediately evident that Skye’s voice is incredible live. Smoky, sultry, honeyed vocals, with a really great band backing her—a solid rhythm section, swirling synths and vintage keyboards, and Godfrey shredding lush melodies over the top. The dubby Friction from their big 1998 breakthrough album Big Calm was next, and she got a bit of a crowd callback thing going on, reggae style.
Godfrey thanked the crowd and said how much they appreciated getting the opportunity to come to our fair city and commented on the amazing venue and how it reminded him of the Terminator, with its metal, industrial edge.
Then they played the first song of their new album from last year, Call for Love—a catchy tune with a big chorus. And surprisingly early into the set they pulled out their biggest song, the ever-majestic comedown classic, The Sea from Big Calm.
Another great new track was We Live and Die, with a more upbeat sound. Such a groove. The band are so tight and sound brilliant live. Part of the Process, another big tune off Big Calm followed, before a great cover of Dawn Penn’s 1994 reggae standard You Don’t Love Me (No No No).
Another one of their classics, Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day from 2000’s Fragments of Freedom, saw Skye get a lucky woman up from the crowd to come dance on stage with her, even getting her to sing the chorus. Despite the obvious nerves, the woman did well to get into the groove, no doubt giving her a special night to remember.
Blindfold from Big Calm is undoubtedly one of their greatest songs and got the crowd moving, building towards the end of the set, before they finished strongly with the awesome jam Blaze Away from the 2018 album of the same name—the original featured the legendary Roots Manuva. There was some great dancing going on all night, with the crowd fully immersed in the rhythms.
They left the stage to rapturous applause, and amusing chants of “more-cheeba!” only to soon return to even bigger cheers. All smiles, the band reassumed their positions, launching into the laidback, more ambient Col, from their debut way back in ’96. It’s a brooding, enigmatic track that normally features orchestral flourishes, but this version of it with the band was magical and conjured a real mood.
Skye was now sans hat, her hair up in braids with a sparkly headband. She thanked the whole band individually and said how much they were impressed by the venue and enjoyed playing there. Godfrey then thanked the “amazing and very sexy” Skye—the roars of approval proved much of the crowd concurred. She really is the iconic figurehead of the group, and exudes effortless charm and charisma, as well as being incredibly stylish and a wonderful dancer, not to mention That Voice!
They took us out for the night with Bleeding Out, a huge track from the new album that builds up to an epic wall of keyboards, stomping rhythms and swirling guitars. A track that shows their continued evolution, it leans hard into a heavier rock, shoegaze sound, reminiscent of early The Verve or The Stone Roses. Skye left the stage early to allow the amazing band to finish on the huge, extended instrumental outro, with the musical maestro Godfrey stepping forward to deliver an impressive solo—some wah-wah guitar, psychedelic vibes and rock star theatrics, even playing with his teeth at one point!
A really enjoyable concert experience. Morcheeba are a mood. It’s great to have them back and in fine form. Hopefully we continue to hear more Morcheeba!
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by Sam Mead
