X-MAS CHARITY ROCKFEST

 

FEATURING: RAGDOLL

 

WITH DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR, STILLWATER GIANTS, WIZARD SLEEVE

CORONAL SKY, ASTROPIG and AZTECH SUNS

 

THE ROSEMOUNT, PERTH. 17TH DECEMBER 2011

 

 

 

 

The end of the year 2011’s Charity Xmas Rock Fest at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth was an awesome night with a host of local talent on display and all the bands donating there fee’s to charity (nice one guy’s!)

 

 

A big mention has to go out to Matt from Delusions of Grandeur for organising the whole event and also to the sponsors, including the Rockpit, who donated raffle prizes that helped raise an amazing amount of money for The Salvos’ Christmas appeal.   

 

 

As we always say at The Rockpit, there is an awful lot of talent in Perth’s Rock Scene at the moment and for a mere $10, tonight was a chance to see a diverse line-up of bands that should all be heading in the right direction in 2012.

 

 

Aztech Suns

 

 

 

 

First to hit the stage were the Aztech Suns and what a great start to the night! These guys really know how to have a good time and this was a much more mature performance from when I saw them previously. The opening song ‘Angel In A Leather Jacket’ is their best by far, but the rest of the newer songs not on the EP delivered the goods too. If these guys continue to improve at this pace, I’m sure they will soon have a good local fan base to build upon.

 

 

You can catch them next down at The Fly Trap (Fly by Night’s other room) on 30th December for their ‘bad taste’ pre New Year’s Eve ‘No Resolutions’ show at which tonight’s headliners Ragdoll also perform at, along with another must see band: Julius Lutero Trio.

 

 

 Set list

 

Angel In A Leather Jacket

Wicked Women

Don’t Let Go

Call The Doctor

Let Me  Down

Superstar

Into The Night

 

 

 

AstroPig

 

 

 

 

Astropig certainly got into the Xmas spirit (and easily had the best festive hats of the night) with their space age rock, it’s hard not to like them, they just really enjoy what they do and have fun and it lights up the crowd. It’s cool the way that they all keep changing instruments after each song like a mad merry go round. The highlight of the night for me, was the song ‘Bon Jovi’s got nice hair’ lyrically this is so funny and a real crowd pleaser, great fun! Singer Jase Le Schelle ’s other band The Corner is well worth checking out too if you like a dose of pop-punk mayhem.

 

 

Set List

 

Broken Windows

Vodka

Drugs

Amma

Sunja Kush

Animal

Bon Jovi

Beach c

 

 

Coronal Sky

 

 

 

 

 This three piece band were the heaviest band of the night, with there ‘punchy’ punk sound. What surprised me though was their lack lustre performance. They didn’t start to get going until the third song, which started off slow, but then burst into life and turned out to be their best track of the night.

 

 

Altogether, in my opinion, this was an average performance that could have been much more expressive as you could tell they had the songs. The crowd though seemed to like it and the merch stand saw them shift a good few copies of their EP which is always a good sign of a discerning audience.

 

 

Wizard Sleeve

 

 

 

 

This was the first time that I had seen this band and did not know what to expect, but I must say, I was very impressed with their performance. This was ‘stoner’ rock played to a very high level.  Each track in the six song set was diverse and different but was all brought together by their energetic performance and their front man’s inimitable style. These guys are definitely worth catching live if you get the chance.

 

 

The tune that stood out most of all was ‘Dunes Of Neptune’, an epic tune with both guitars sounding fresh and loud, the vocals were powerful and clear and it was definitely one of the main highlights of the night. I’m sure we will be following these guys in 2012 without a doubt!!

 

 

Set List

 

Aligator

Mannequin

Fungus

Dunes Of Neptune

Wagon Fire

Alien Hand Syndrome

 

 

Delusions Of Grandeur

 

 

 

 

Delusions was the party band of the night by far! With their upbeat punky pop sound they went down a storm with the crowd. This was a great show from start to finish that left everyone on a high for the rest of the night. These guys not only performed great on stage but also added their great work to organising the whole Rock Fest that evening. Well Done!!

 

 

Still Water Giants

 

 

 

 

For me, this was the disappointment of the night. With their ‘Indi’ rock style of music, it just seemed a little lightweight on this bill and in my opinion I think that could be why the crowd started to drift away before the headline act came on. It wasn’t the bands performance, because it sounded solid, but I don’t think this was the necessarily tonight’s crowd’s kind of music.  

 

 

Ragdoll

 

 

 

 

Last up were headlines Ragdoll. Due to a slight over-run, they had to make do with a shortened set, robbing the crowd of their now trademark cover-song closer; but by god do they know how to rock. I can honestly say these guys are one of the best rock bands in Perth.

 

 

As usual, Ragdoll put on an awesome show, with vocalist / bassist Ryan on top form and Leon shredding a mean lead guitar. Cam finally managed to put aside his shock that the lead guitarist from Still Water Giants had stood on his bass drum “ooops!” (his kit was donated for all the bands to use for the night). Thankfully there was no harm done, and it did actually look very impressive! As usual Cam kept his perfect beat.

 

 

The song ‘Foot To The Floor’ always go down well with the crowd, and ‘The Feeling’ was another crowd-pleaser.  They also impressed the crowd when they belted out the great cover of Robin Grower’s ’Fool and Me.’ As for things to come: the band added a new song for the night called ‘Here Today’, a more complex, heavier number, which I know will be very popular in the very near future.

 

 

 

 

If you get chance over the holidays Ragdoll are playing on 30th December at The Fly Trap, Fremantle and if tonight’s show is anything to go by, you will be in for a fantastic night in an impressive venue. 2012 could be one hell of a year for this band:  you have been warned!

 

 

All in all, it was a fantastic night had by all! I’d like to thank all the bands who participated and raised a lot of dollars for charity. I can see there will be big things happening for them all in 2012, and hope to see them perform again in the near future!.. Well done to all who contributed. 

 

 

　

By Paul Hadlington

Images by Mark Diggins