LIVE: LOOKOUT FESTIVAL – 15 March 2025, Perth

LIVE: LOOKOUT FESTIVAL – 15 March 2025, Perth
Jet, Grinspoon, The Veronicas, Spiderbait, Jebediah & Magic Dirt – Whitford Nodes Park, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

We’re standing in the middle of a suburban beachside park on an early autumn day after having to trudge over a kilometer and a half from the designated dropoff zone to the box office (police were patrolling the streets to ensure nobody stopped closer) so we’re not in the best frame of mind to start, and with a relentless hot sun in our eyes and sea breeze making its presence felt on the slowly building crowd, people are getting antsy.

Thankfully Magic Dirt rocks their opening set of Lookout’s celebration of Aussie indie 90’s rock with a set which is, in a word, sensational: a feedback-drenched riff-forwards hyper-melodic stormtroop that sees this none-more-cult band resolutely marching to the beat of their own drum as always, and winning fans because of it.

Oh, to be half as cool as Adalita. Channelling Chrissie Hynde and Kim Gordon, she’s effortlessly iconic – never more so than when she mistakenly thinks she sees late bandmate Dean Turner’s daughter in the crowd and effuses adoringly about the girl in question and the girl she mistakenly thought was her. It’s a sad, uplifting and endearing moment and Adalita is noticeably touched, insisting everyone raise a glass to Turner. Nobody needed to be asked twice.

That doesn’t overshadow her rock cred at all. “We’ve had some of the most debauched, fucked up times in WA,” she laughs shortly afterwards.

Dirty Jeans is a favourite and gets the crowd singing enthusiastically, Competition Girl is always a pleasure to hear, new track Happiness instantly addictive, Plastic Loveless Letters magnificent, before I Was Cruel is an extended lesson in guitar abuse and intensity, ending an exemplary set in apocalyptic style.

Jebediah are next up and the local favourites are similarly incendiary, kicking off with Military Strongmen and the caustic self-loathing of Animal (“I’m insufferable when I’m in heat”) before more recent favourites She’s Like A Comet and Motivation. “Our most popular song” Leaving home receives the expected response, the crowd jumping, singing and punching the air as one.

It’s wonderfully encouraging to see kids singing every lyric to songs which were released before they were even born, and Harpoon, Fall Down, Jerks of Attention and Teflon all get the same treatment. Magic.

Spiderbait rise to the occasion with a suitably fun and eclectic set, opening with Straight Through The Sun and Outta My Head, and really hitting their stride with two sung by bass player Janet, Hot Water & Milk and the classic Fucken Awesome.

Drummer/singer Kram stretches the hoedown boogie Old Man Sam out for some enthusiastic singalongs, starting with a chant of “It’s YOU and ME and THEM and US!” before commanding “it’s time to get rowdy” and riling the crowd up in the best possible way as he flails around the drumkit like Animal from Dr Teeth & The Electric Mayhem. Now there’s a drum battle I’d like to see.

Kram introduces the first of three very special female guests – Janet on drums for the perfectly nihilistic Buy Me A Pony, before what was arguably the highlight of the entire day: Adalita joining Janet of lead vocals and Vanessa Thornton guesting on bass for a brilliant rip n’ tear through Motorhead’s Ace Of Spades, then Calypso and Black Betty end the set on a roaring high note.

If there’s one act which stands out like a sore thumb on this lineup, it’s pop duo The Veronicas. Twin sisters Lisa & Jessica Origliasso have little in common with the rest of the bands here, all of whom did the hard yards in pubs to get here, rather than being pampered and produced in fancy studios. Still, their Avril Lavigne-esque pop-plus-guitars approach is enjoyable enough without being too engaging or distracting, and interest and energy levels dial back up for the final two acts.

Grinspoon are on fire after a thorough Australian tour in recent months, and their set is incendiary from Unknown Pretenders, DC X 3 and Just Ace through Hard Act to Follow, No Reason into Ready 1 and a closing barrage of Chemical Heart, Champion and More Than You Are. Anyone not singing and loving it may as well be deported for being unAustralian.

Similarly, Jet stick to their strengths, opening with Last Chance and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, but it’s not until after ballad Look What You’ve Done that they really hit their stride with AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top showing how well they can rock out. Are You Gonna Be My Girl and Rollover D.J. get the sunburnt crowd screaming along, before Get Me Outta Here, a raucous Cold Hard Bitch and Rip It Up finish it off.

A few infrastructure issues aside, Lookout was a great day out, harkening back to the good old days when a festival didn’t need six stages. Next time we’ll remember the sunscreen and a hat, though.

Magic Dirt

Ice
Pace It
Dirty Jeans
???? “make time to be”
Competition Girl
Happiness
Plastic Loveless Letters
I Was Cruel

Jebediah

Military Strongmen
Animal
She’s Like a Comet
Motivation
Leaving Home
Harpoon
Fall Down
Jerks of Attention
Teflon

Spiderbait

Straight Through the Sun
Outta My Head
Shazam!
Chest Hair
Hot Water & Milk
Fucken Awesome
Old Man Sam
Buy Me a Pony
Ace of Spades
Calypso
Black Betty

The Veronicas

Take Me on the Floor
When It All Falls Apart
Everything I’m Not
Detox
Hook Me Up
You Ruin Me
This Is How It Feels
In My Blood
Jungle
Here to Dance
4ever
Untouched

Grinspoon

Unknown Pretenders
DC X 3
Just Ace
Rock Show
Lost Control
Never Say Never
Nasty
Hard Act to Follow
No Reason
(ILYSM)
Better Off Alone
Ready 1
The Only One
1000 Miles
Chemical Heart
Champion
More Than You Are

Jet

Last Chance
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
She’s a Genius
Get What You Need
Black Hearts (On Fire)
Hurry Hurry
Seventeen
Look What You’ve Done
Bring It On Back
It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)
Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Rollover D.J.
Get Me Outta Here
Cold Hard Bitch
Rip It Up

Category: Live Reviews