LIVE: VOICE OF BACEPROT with MAYATRIX & THE PSYCHICS – Perth, 28 Oct 2024

Shane | 29 October 2024 | Reply

LIVE: VOICE OF BACEPROT with MAYATRIX & THE PSYCHICS – Perth, 28 Oct 2024
The Rosemount Hotel, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Mayatrix & The Psychics – led by magical pixie Moana – deliver a support set equivalent to an electric shock, their combination of gothic hard rock and Kate Bush-leaning theatrics an unexpected thrill on a warm Monday night. Moana is obviously a born rockstar and her band have it together, songs such as Elixir and epic set closer Temple evoking fantasy imagery and enrapturing the growing crowd who were left suitably impressed and cheering for more.

A trio of young Indonesian hijab-wearing Muslim woman playing fierce heavy metal were about the last people we thought we’d be watching play on a Monday night, but here we are – and loving it.

With powerful praises sung by the likes of Tom Morello, Slash, Flea, Vernon Reid and others, Voice of Baceprot have been carving themselves a niche, even recently becoming the first Indonesian band to play Glastonbury.

It’s easy to see why – they make an incredibly noisy, meaty sound for a trio, they’re in your face, hard and heavy, and if all that wasn’t enough, these three young women are such dynamic performers and entertainers, clearly at ease on stage, that they’re impossible not to get behind.

Frontwoman/guitarist Marsya proves herself a bit of a comedian as she introduces her bandmates Siti (drums) and Widi (bass), give a callout for Indonesian Youth Pledge Day, drop We Will Rock You amongst their raucous originals (Freedom For Life, [NOT] Public Property), and have the crowd on side from start to finish with their authenticity and skillful musical barrage.

We’re tempted to make some comparison to Ladyparts – the Muslim punk band at the centre of the TV show We Are Ladyparts – but this trio are all metal, sitting somewhere around the Anthrax/Rage Against The Machine scale of heaviness.

Insistent calls for one more were successful, with Voice Of Baceprot proving more than capable of giving anyone a run for their money. Larger stages and world domination beckon, and I daresay it won’t be long until we’ll be reminiscing about seeing them in these intimate surroundings on an otherwise quiet Monday night.