Review: Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos at East Perth Power Station
Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos at East Perth Power Station
w/ Maatakitj
Friday, February 28, 2025
Much has been made of Peter Garrett’s satirical jibe about dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave. Much less has been spoken about the context and the show itself.
And that’s to the detriment of the conversation, because censorship in art should be taken seriously, whatever our Premier thinks (mid-election cycle, no less).
In fact, it was an incredibly feel-good evening. Opener Maatakitj set the tone singing in his native Noongar tongue (his name translates to ‘legs like spears’). Joined onstage by luminaries in their own right, including Della Rae Morrison and enthusiastic former Perth Festival director Iain Grandage, it was Maatakitj’s charismatic wife, Kylie Bracknell, who truly won the crowd over.
“Maatakitj speaks in Noongar and sings in Noongar, and he won’t make any money doing that,” she noted in support of her husband’s passion, as he told stories of Karkain the brown hawk, dragonflies or the honey possum. They entertained as well as educated, with powerful covers of Uncle Kev Carmody and Warumpi Band (hearing “Stand up and be counted” sung passionately at a Peter Garrett gig is always going to win the crowd over).
Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos were certainly in fine form last Friday. Garrett fired up at familiar targets like Woodside for their appalling climate record and urged us to dance like we were dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave in response to her support for Trump and Musk getting back into the White House. It’s a sentiment most sane Australians agree with.
“We’re way past mincing words… these people mean harm,” he said passionately.
If Garrett tells an inconvenient truth and laces it with black comedy to get the point across, at least he’s being heard. Clearly impressed by Perth Fest’s new Power Station (“post-industrial, I like it,” he commented), we were treated to tracks new and old, solo and Midnight Oil. And we got some great deep cuts early.
Feeding Frenzy from 1993 Oils classic Earth and Sun and Moon opened the show, but it was Section 5 (Bus to Bondi) that kicked off his signature dancing, with a wild dance-off during guitarist Martin Rotsey’s solo. Lifted from 1979 post-punk landmark Head Injuries, a good time was being had on stage and off just five tracks in.
Latest album The True North’s title tack was nice respite in the form of a very 80s-sounding synth ballad, while 1981’s Lucky Country came with an electric monologue, Garrett ranting rousingly, “With clowns who love the kings and power and the mutant media babes/ Wanking on dreams and fashions and toilet paper flowers.”
The real fun was saved for the end. Hey Archetype was preceded by the aforementioned “These people mean harm” speech, before the wonderful arrangement of Beds Are Burning he’s been playing the past couple of tours and Blue Sky Mine took the night to the next level (as did a finale one-two of Don’t Wanna Be the One and We Resist in the encore).
“Push myself so hard it hurts/ Push myself to overdrive,” sings Garrett on recent standout Human Playground. He’s spent his life fighting the good fight, you didn’t think he was about to stop now, did you?
HARVEY RAE
Photos by Mark Francesca
