LIVE: YUNGBLUD – Perth, 20 Jan 2026

LIVE: YUNGBLUD – Perth, 20 Jan 2026
The Ice Cream Factory, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by Linda Dunjey

It’s the hottest ticket in Australia right now for the pop and rock outcasts: the lowlifes, the loners, the fleabags – and just the plain curious: Dom Harrison – Yungblud – riding a hype tsunami ever since his career-divergent turn at the Black Sabbath Back To the Beginning concert, has become global front page news, perhaps the finest example of a pop singer gone rock n’ roll in recent memory.

But don’t for a moment think this is cotton candy hype – all sugar and no bite. The boy can sing his lungs out and he has great melodic tunes with catchy choruses just as addictive as peak Def Leppard or the like.

First, though, openers Dune Rats, whose laid-back stoner humour and songs full of immediate hooks do well to keep the attention of the ADHD-strong teens, prowling cougars and craggy old rockers. Theirs is a bouncy set, culminating in a rough n’ ready cover of The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again (complete with obligatory crowd involvement) and their own Bullshit.

The crowd is a mixture of young and old, straight-laced and the more exotically-attired, and closer to a 50-50 spread of male and female – far more so than the usual bloke-heavy gigs we attend. For all, there is a ‘safe space’ vibe, with no agro spotted – in fact the only aggressively uncomfortable factor was the weather.

It’s a scorcher of a night in Perth – at least two punters collapsed from the heat (and/or excitement) before the Rats had even finished, and paramedics would be kept busy all night. But if we thought it was sweaty during the support act, that seemed like a cool breeze by comparison when the main man got underway.

When Harrison hit the stage after an intro tape of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, it was like a lightning bolt hit the venue. The energy the 28-year-old brings with him is palpable and makes it difficult to take your eyes off him. What I could do with that much self-confidence!

Ten-minute opener Hello Heaven, Hello features confetti cannons and a fully in your face rock show – anyone thinking Yungblud is ‘just’ a pop singer can admit they were wrong right here, right now. There’s no backing tapes noticeable, no autotune, just a five-piece band, a string quartet and an amazingly powerful singer delivering one of the best rock shows we’ve seen in a very long time.

Lovesick Lullaby is a favourite, pyro flames raising the temperature even more, while My Only Angel – his recent near-country collab with Aerosmith – has the masses singing along. Being a born flirt Harrison can’t help himself but tease wanting to stay in Perth forever: “does anyone want to kidnap me?” he says with a cheeky grin, offering his crossed wrists to the crowd, many of whom are practically drooling at the thought. When he inserts his microphone into the waist of his leather trews one woman nearby loudly proclaims, “I wish I was that microphone!” The screams were near-deafening, a level of hysteria rarely seen these days.

“This is rock n’ roll – and rock n’ roll is about love” he declares over the extended mournful piano intro to Black Sabbath’s Changes, and when a spontaneous chant of “Ozzy” – his mentor – strikes up, he’s visibly moved. “Look to your left and to your right. Say hello – even if they’re total strangers – and shout I FUCKING LOVE YOU to them!” A career in politics awaits once the rock n’ roll thing fizzles out: we could do with some more global good vibes!

When Changes finally gets going it’s immense and greatly pleases the old rockers who ‘discovered’ Yungblud through the Sabbath concert.

The next three songs – Fire, Monday Murder, Ice Cream Man – are okay but not his strongest efforts and take the foot off the gas a little, before the closing triptych of Loner, Ghosts and the mighty Zombie, bring the Ice Cream Factory back to the boil, complete with roaring singalongs. Originally written for his alcoholic grandmother, the latter’s meaning expanded with the Florence Pugh-starring music video featuring her as an angelic nurse, and we can’t hear it now without thinking about all of those who give so much of themselves in their daily lives – nurses, teachers, carers and more. It’s enough to move grown men to tears and a helluva way to finish an epic, mesmerising show.

Setlist:
Hello Heaven, Hello
The Funeral
Idols Pt. I
Lovesick Lullaby
My Only Angel
Fleabag
Lowlife
Changes
Fire
Monday Murder
Ice cream man
Loner
Ghosts
Zombie

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries