Review: Ocean Alley at Esplanade Park
Ocean Alley at Esplanade Park
w/ Skegss, Ruby Fields, smol fish, Birdland
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Fremantle was in for a sun-kissed treat on Saturday as some of Aussie rock’s biggest hitters descended into town. As one of Australia’s biggest and most beloved rock bands, Ocean Alley alone would have carried this event handily, but attendees had the fortune of a bill that included four other stellar groups.
Commendations can first go to the event’s organisation, which made the most out of the always-pleasant Esplanade surrounds. By facing the stage towards the iconic Freo Ferris wheel, the crowd was in the park’s comfy natural shade for the majority of the event, while the Norfolk pines in the middle of the grounds provided good coverage for punters making their way to and from the drink and food stations. When combined with copious serving bar space (plus a cosy pop-up urban winery) and a myriad of food truck offerings, the event was festival-scale and did a great job of serving a sold-out crowd without ever feeling too crowded or hectic.
The event had a family-friendly vibe with many younger fans present. It was good to see such early fandom for a set of Australian acts that could be standing alongside past musical giants in some years’ time. The youngsters did more than just listen, however; they also played as part of the revelatory Birdland. These three local lads have been on a fast rise over the last year while barely scraping 17 years of age. And yet their sound was fully formed and easily held sway with the acts to follow, taking cues from Ocean Alley themselves as well as smoother pop sounds akin to Rex Orange County. The harmonies were on point, and the guitar work had a pleasantly laid-back, at times muted and jazzy feel that felt much more mature than their years. No Trouble and Middle Ground were highlights and point to a strong path forward—this supremely talented young trio is one to watch.
Up next were smol fish. The group are Perth mainstays at this point with a rock-solid back catalogue of songs that pair heart-on-sleeve (and often tongue-in-cheek) lyricism against playful and catchy pop hooks. Their recent single Get Over It opened with some distinctive hard-hitting rock chords over wandering synth and its undeniably hooky chorus. It was on their most overtly pop numbers that the band shone brightest, as on the lullaby-esque riffs and soaring synths of Grapes and the big, crashing shoegaze-y chords and folk-tinged vocal refrain of If Only.
Against the Celtic melodies of Dropkick Murphy’s I’m Shipping Up to Boston came Ruby Fields. Ruby is a talented singer-songwriter, but the material had a strong band dynamic as Ruby’s introspective and warm tunes were given a shot of adrenaline on stage. P Plates was garage punk delivered with gusto, while the highlight, 92 Purebred, was a tune whose driving rhythm had some great pace. Ruby was effortlessly authentic on stage, and her vocals were stellar. The quieter side of her oeuvre shone with Tacklebox, while the introspective Dinosaurs and her upcoming single Muscle made for a strong closing two-piece.
Skegss are a household name at this point, so it was a pleasure to see them front the stage before the main act. Ever the three-piece, they needed little more to generate their trademark surf punk racket. Looking fresh from the beach and decked out in casual wear, perhaps frontman Ben Reed’s Texaco hat was an ode to a different kind of mining state than Texas, given the Byron Bay originals found themselves in WA. They opened with the skittering rhythms of Slayer and didn’t let up from there. This was joyous and no-frills crowd-rousing stuff backed by dearly beloved songs. The crowd were singing along to the classic songcraft of High Beaming and likewise for the euphoric Valhalla. So Excited provided a charming mid-tempo break, as did the beautiful singalong Under the Thunder. Things closed with an old favourite in Up in the Clouds, one more classic slice of punky Australiana that had the crowd hanging on its every word.
The crowd swelled as the sun set, and Ocean Alley came on to a warm reception. Although similarly laid-back and beloved as the acts that came before them, they are cut from a somewhat different cloth. While keeping the psychedelic and reggae influences that defined them early on, the band’s tightness, smooth harmonies, and blues-inflected slide guitar tones owe a lot to some of the best soft rock of the 70s. Against Skegss’ lean three-piece, Ocean Alley had seven members, alongside two backing vocalists on occasion and a saxophonist. This was a more expansive production, and the spacious sound could be felt from the opening, country-inflected guitar riffing of the recent single Tangerine. Come Back Down is a personal favourite, and its powerful reverbed guitar was captured well on the stage alongside some very fluid bass work. Life In Love was one of several songs that owed its rhythm to Dire Straits, and it did Mark Knopfler proud (see also—Down the Line further down the set). It featured an excellent bluesy solo and the first showcase for guitarist Andy Goodwin, whose playing (often with a slide) was consistently tasteful. The fact that he looked like actor Glen Powell only added to the majesty of proceedings as his golden locks cinematically blew back in the breeze.
Tombstone was another early highlight as frontman Baden Donegal, braids poking out from under his trademark cap, strutted his stuff about the stage. His stage presence throughout was commanding and effortlessly cool, while he was also relatively spare on stage banter, as he let the songs speak for him. Ain’t No Use is a recent single from their much-recommended LP Love Balloon, which saw a refreshingly large number of cuts represented and fitting in easily amongst the classics. The backing lights hit a warm, lava-lampy hue against old classic Mellow Yellow, which got the crowd really riled up. Partner in Crime was an honest-to-goodness blues rock power ballad, which saw keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith lay down some serious organ chords throughout. As the track closed out with a huge sax solo, the audience’s reaction proved that a bit of yacht rock extravagance will never grow old. The vibes continued onto another Dire Straits tip-off in Thru Everything, with the expanded percussion once again adding an additional layer of sheen to this very fine recent cut.
The rest of the set spoke to Ocean Alley’s breadth as a band. There was the relatively heavy, foreboding and blues-inflected Lemonworld. Left of the Dealer was a delightful genre departure for the group, an ode to CCR from their latest album which came alive on stage. Confidence, as their outsized hit, saw Donegal strutting his stuff once again over that relentlessly funky wah-wah rhythm, but its place in the tracklist highlighted the range of the band’s repertoire, as they had more than a few tracks left to go. The percussion and smooth vocals on Baby Come Back were stellar, and On My Knees was arguably the show’s highlight as the band’s biggest ballad. The three-piece encore was all new material. The pretty First Blush and the cheery Love Balloon lit up the crowd before things lit up literally as fireworks were released into the Freo sky, and the band closed out with the sunny yet introspective vibes of Drenched. It was a finish heavily representative of the band’s ethos—this was joyous and laidback music, but with a hint of melancholy. It certainly spoke to many, as the hundreds of smiling faces at the end of the gig attested.
MATIJA ZIVKOVIC
Photos by Mikaela James
