LIVE: THE SUPERJESUS – Fremantle | Walyalup, 19 June 2026

LIVE: THE SUPERJESUS – Fremantle | Walyalup, 19 June 2026
With Beks and The After
Freo Social, Fremantle, Western Australia
Reviewed by Scarrrlet Black
Photography by Pete Gardner

A Birthday Celebration for a Classic.

What I knew as the ‘Fly By Night’ venue is now Freo Social and to my delight, still hosts some of the most incredible talent from the local, national, and international music scene.

From the moment of stepping into the venue, there was an air of anticipation for what the evening was to bring. Punters were in early, eager to claim their spot as close as they could get to these talented humans, who were about to hit the stage.

From across the ditch, The After were an incendiary start to the evening, hitting the stage hard with legendary promoter, creative force and artist, Andrew Featherstone on bass, Bruce Madden tickling the keys, Gareth Scott belting the skins and the extremely multi-talented lead vocalist / guitarist / trumpeter, Ruby Fraser.

Aside from the most spectacular shiny pink reptilian lace-up flared trousers sported by Ruby, what struck me at once was the maturity of the vocals and cohesion of their sound. This is a band who know what to do and how to do it with maximum impact.

Reverberating through your body with ‘Goes Around’, ‘Getting Better’, ‘Only One’, you cannot help but be impressed with the skill, energy and delight that emanates from each member as they perform.

Little did I know that that I was to be blown away by the down and dirty cover of Kylie Minogue’s, ‘Can’t Get you Out of my Head’ which left you in no doubt of what EXACTLY what Ruby was thinking about when singing it and why they have a YouTube recording named the ‘Dark Rock Version’. This unexpected cover gives the listener the same ripples of anticipation experienced in the back seat of a car long ago.

Blasting into ‘Work it Out’, laid bare Ruby’s talent for fast nimble finger work on her Gibson (minds above the waistline peeps) and kept the frenzy level high before taking it down a notch and bringing a laid-back vibe which saw Ruby swap out the guitar, allowing Ingrid of Ingrid & the Ministers to take up the guitar mantle. Ruby showcased her skill with the trumpet whilst donning the mandatory black shades for an incredible bluesy feel and maybe even a touch of ‘Janis’ vibes.

After explaining their New Zealand origins and the obligatory sheep joke, the set was finished with ‘I Don’t Know Why’, giving Gareth or ‘Gazza’ his moment to shine in the spotlight, reminiscent of the late John Bonham – big call I know, but IYKYK. If this group are in your vicinity do not miss them as they are on their way and have an exceptional combination of talent which brought out the best of each member. It was at this time I overheard a punter say, “Lita Ford made it to Freo Social.” Quite the compliment I would say.

I was unsure what to expect next and the easily six-foot tall glamazon known as Beks hit the stage resembling a dangerous fembot, resplendent in her hot pink body stocking, spiked corset, and matching rocket studded crotch. Their inclusion in the lineup was a touch of brilliance on the behalf of Superjesus front woman, Sarah McLeod.

A native of Bundaberg with an incredible vocabulary and sense of humour to match, Beks was complimented by the addition of Kara Jayne (KJ) on bass and Rachel Trainor on drums. A complete departure from the The After, bringing electronica and hyper femme vibes, you could see the crowd doing their best to work out what was going on. In an unexpected twist, another woman arrived on stage absolutely killing it on guitar and adding another part of this truly formidable combination. The ‘blow in’ was the one, the only Sarah McLeod, who utterly rocked out and led Beks to issue the command of “Turn this shit up!” Fortuitously, it turns out, this was also the name of the first song.

After that brief cameo, Beks introduced herself and her band and gave a bit of background on how she came to be where she was now. According to Beks, it’s because she gives good head! I would venture to say, it was her musical talent but never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn. The lyrics are strong and insightful, along with the social and political commentary in between and it’s one of the best examples of a pairing of two genres since Run DMC and Aerosmith collaborated.

Filling in the audience on her travels to L.A. and what was expected of her if she chose to ‘make it in that town’, she turned her back on Hollywood and made the statement of ‘F**k all you C***s that supported and participated in the Epstein files.’ Songs such as ‘I knew a Girl’, ‘Nice Try’, ‘Next Big Thing and ‘Dangerous’ were winning the crowd, slowly but surely. I mean this in-your-face act was definitely not what they expected but strangely found themselves intrigued, then little by little they were captivated and found, possibly to their horror, they were enjoying quite a diversion of what they’d expected to see.

Beks, in addition to being able to perform with three-foot hair, heeled boots and a plastic torture device restricting her breathing, is also an accomplished guitar player and brought the explanation behind the next song, while yes……as you would expect, playing a hot pink guitar.

Exposing the softer side, Beks explained that she lost her father to cancer last year and the song, ‘A Love Like This’ was for all in the crowd who had lost their loved ones. This gave the crowd an opportunity to see the human behind the ‘get up’ and undoubtedly won the last of the hold outs to appreciate diversity in performances of ‘It’s Only Love’ with ‘Butter’ to ‘even out the sweet with the salty’ before ‘Who Are you Kidding’ and the fantastic ‘Melodrama.’

Throughout the set you get to see the remarkable aptitude, dedication, and solid work ethic that all three quite different women bring to the party. KJ clearly has a remarkable aptitude with the bass guitar and brings a dark rock energy which compliments the explosive force and precision of Rachel on drums. The combined eclectic, down to earth and visual overload works incredibly well. Even the hardest of ‘heavier side of music fans’ acquiesced in the end and that’s a sign of the dedication to find the people in the crowd who aren’t with you initially but by the time you’re finished, you have made them get off.

It was time. The seatbelt sign illuminated, the tray tables stowed, smoking extinguished and the seats brought into an upright position as we were ready to take off.

It has been 25 years since The Superjesus released Jet Age and they certainly threw an incredible birthday bash for this album. Appearing on stage in black PVC trousers complete with a pilot’s jacket, shirt and cap, lead singer Sarah McLeod promised to play the whole album in the entirety (with a few surprises), to give it the recognition of longevity and influence it so richly deserved.

The barrier in front of the band started to heave as the crowd pushed forward and absolutely revelled in their favourites, whether they be newly discovered or reminiscent of their younger days.

‘Over to you’ ‘Gravity’ ‘Enough to Know’ kicked off before Sarah spoke about the experience of making this second album and having the importance of space between the sound explained to them. Whilst naturally inclined to be on the heavier side of music like so many of that time, it was during the making of this album that they understood that the volume doesn’t always have to be turned up to 11 (Yep, look it up if I’ve lost you here.)

Recorded in the Piermont Studios, Jet Age was in their opinion quite a visual album. Very true when you think back to singing along in your head and having images of ‘Secret Agent Man’ and ‘Everybody Calls’ in your mind’s eye.

Explaining that at the earlier VIP sound check, one of the couples had met and bonded over this album, which then begged the question of asking who had sex to any of these songs, resulting with the band becoming slightly moist and needing ‘Holy Water’ to bring the temperature down.

Introducing Stu Rudd on bass, Cam Blokland guitar, Ben Todd on drums and the appropriation of The After keyboardist, Bruce Madden, it was apparent that Sarah was clearly in her element and would not have looked out of place with a riding crop, although there may have been some questions asked as to why a ‘pilot’ would’ve been wielding such an item. Vocals and maturity in the sound have enriched over time and made The Superjesus one of the most iconic Australian bands of the 1990’s and still enjoyed today.

Despite telling the audience who kept calling out for ‘Down Again’, that it was like celebrating another child’s birthday whilst already at a birthday party, The SJ relinquished much to the punters delight and rewarded them for their staying power with the final song of the evening that had even the most stagnant of music goer up on their feet and leaping around in the crowd like they were 19 again. The song I’m referring to was a cover of Billy Idol’s ‘Dancing With Myself’ and it was an unexpected and exceptional delight. This concert was a highlight of the year thus far with their energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to engage with the fans. So much so that Sarah was rewarded with a much prized ‘Lemmy’ T-shirt from one of the punters who was overjoyed they had played the cover as their last song and had been the one bouncing, rocking out and fist pumping amongst the young folk.

Let’s hope this is not the last call for this exceptional band, and they continue to produce their unique and beloved sounds. The seatbelt sign has been switched off but take care opening the overhead compartments as some items may have been shaken loose.

 

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries