LIVE: SPIDERBAIT, THE MEANIES, THE GNOMES, BLUSH – PERTH | BOORLOO, 11 July 2026

LIVE: SPIDERBAIT, THE MEANIES, THE GNOMES, BLUSH – PERTH | BOORLOO, 11 July 2026
THE ICE CREAM FACTORY, Northbridge / Boorloo
Review by Scarrrrlet Black
Photography by Pete Gardner

What A Wicked Web

Well, I am almost embarrassed to admit that this writer has never been to the Ice Cream Factory and, after tonight, I must ask myself, ‘Why did I take so long?’

Lured in with a promise of 90’s Aussie alternative nostalgia with The Meanies and Spiderbait, this ‘fly’ (I know – bad Jeff Goldblum pun), was delighted by the completely fresh feel of the entirety of the line up and became entangled in their respective webs.

Blush

In the lead up for this gig, I had been seeing several posts on the socials from the headliner themselves putting out the call for local bands to put themselves forward as a support act. I was extremely interested to hear who secured the much sought after opener. I was not disappointed.

‘Blush’, while labelled as ‘girl grunge band’, are an ensemble of three talented women, Skye Sam – vocals and guitarist, Holly Martin – bassist, Gianna Lawrence – drums, and what I thought initially was a ‘token bloke,’ Austin Bloomfield on guitarist. They proved the label wrong as Blush certainly delivered one hell of a rock performance.

Barely off their ‘training wheels’ they burst into the Perth local music scene mid 2024 with their debut single, ‘Watch You Bleed’ and have skyrocketed from there.

Being interested in how each band member defines their personality, not only through the talent and choice of instrument but also fascinating to see the self-expression through up cycled and reclaimed fashion, including the number of badges on Skye’s glittery black top, matching the micro mini with the obligatory torn tights, safety pins and Dr Marten, Dr Marten boots (apologies to Alexie Sayle).

Opening with ‘My Mind’ then ‘Ride of Die,’ you started to get a feel for this young band. Followed up with Monologue and a small break for bassist Martin to acknowledge the land on which they performed was stolen and ‘always was, always will be’ the land of the Whadjuk Noongar which drew applause from the crowd.

The new hit ‘Embarrassed 4 You’ was a clear winner, and the set was rounded out by asking an audience member would they feel safer with a man or a bear? Fortuitously, the crowd member chose the bear, thankfully, as the last offering of the night from Blush, was ‘The Bear.’ The feminine vocals contrast with the hard-hitting honest lyrics and clearly struck a chord with the crowd, who gave Blush their enthusiasm from the beginning. An achievement for the first support of the night.

The Gnomes

Having heard The Gnomes described as ‘Australian garage-rock’ and ‘power pop’, the unusual combination of styles was intriguing, and the writer was eager to see what exactly a mix of those genres meant.

Kicking around since 2023, the band formerly known as ‘Gnome’ (which happened to be the name of a Belgium post metal / rock band), the four piece band from Frankston in Victoria have embraced the name change and brought with it a slightly harder edge to the music which matched the energy pouring from the crowd.

Jay Millar, Ned Capp, Olly Katsianis and Ethan Robins felt and sounded musically tight. A favourable comparison to The Easybeats and The Kinks is an easy one to draw but this band deserves more than ‘sounds like’ and certainly proved they can stand alone with their sound. They are fast, strangely melodic and have their synchronised guitarist jumps perfectly timed.

An unmistakable Aussie accent is prominent in the vocals and is one of the draw cards for me. A little bit like Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, they are not afraid of the punters hearing their accent represented. Unlike some bands who prefer to hide the iconic Aussie drawl, and although I am not going to be putting Australian flags on my car anytime soon, I appreciated their authenticity.

Songs like Death Sentence, Rock ‘N’ Roll Blues and Magic Man filled with the intensity of driving guitars riffs and energy fuelled drums and had the crowd starting to swell and pulsate in return, giving back as good as they got.

The interesting and quirky fact about The Gnomes is, they have travelled around the world but had never been to Perth. Good thing that changed tonight fellas and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

The Meanies

Let’s talk about staying power (My eyes are up here, people!). These guys are part of some special memories for those on the alt rock scene at that time, harking back to an era of the now defunct Big Day Out festivals.

This band were heavy hitters in the local gig scene and supported some big international bands of the time like Nirvana, The Lemonheads, Pearl Jam and Bad Brains.

‘Link Meanie’ on vocals and guitar, ‘Jaws Meanie’ on lead guitar, ‘Wally Meanie’ with guitar, vocals and bass and ‘Ringo Meanie’ on drums, the 2026 Meanies stepped out to an excited audience and showed exactly why they are still performing.

They may be older (as are we all) but I believe like most aspects, a maturity comes with time and experience. These guys blew up the stage and had the crowd beginning to whip themselves into a frenzy. Chaos ensued. Shirtless men in the audience, Link hitting the floor a number of times with his obligatory ‘plumbers crack’ on show and to the amusement of those with the bird’s eye view, missed the glass he was trying to fill at ground level and giving the floor a well-deserved drink, were some of the enjoyable antics in between playing a set of 17 songs in a compressed period of time.

I dare say they may have a few new (and dare I say older) fans, who enjoyed themselves immensely and will be searching for a good physio and anti-inflammatory gel to ease off the agony long-forgotten head banging muscles.

As the Meanies left the stage, dripping in sweat and satisfaction may I suggest a whole lot of hydralyte to combat such an annoying side effect of expending so much energy at once, with minimal water intake and a nice lay down for the Sunday afternoon, they again proved they are a stalwart of this music scene, which in some form or another is an ever-changing landscape.

Spiderbait

When I first heard Spiderbait were celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album, ‘Ivy and the Big Apples’, I was the first to try and get this gig. Even had the opportunity to review for this publication not been granted, I would have gone regardless.

Spiderbait stepped out to an incredible wave of anticipation flooding from all and sundry at the extremely full venue of and eclectic mix of punters with no qualms about showing their appreciation for seeing such an incredible band, who have in no way lost any edge and instead have just simply improved with time.

Listening to this album, I found myself quite entranced by the fact that while the faces of the band had gotten a touch older, the vocals and the speed of the performance showed the band had no signs of slowing down. Close your eyes and you’re back at whatever venue or party you were at when you first heard these guys and for some of the punters, this would mean they would have to recall when they heard it first but likely from a parent or an older acquaintance.

Legendary bassist and vocals, Janet English, guitarist Damian ‘Whitt’ Whitty and who could forget, vocalist and drummer, ‘Kram’ (Mark Maher to his Mum), had a nostalgic look on their faces as they launched into the first song from the album and proceeded to play it from beginning to end, with a few surprises thrown in.

The barriers were straining and the security was busy as the crowd surfing, clothing throwing, wine bottle swinging audience simply let loose, the crowd surging to be closer to the sound of their youth. Tomorrow is absolutely gonna be one of those days where you need to keep those muscles warm and moving or I dare say, work on Monday is going to be more painful than usual.

As expected, Kram’s drum kit was the feature for the set and of course you need it for so many of their belting hits.

To be a part of this and watch new fans discover what was and continues to be, quite an influential and iconic Australian band, was definitely more reward than I had expected, and I can say with certainty, the minute ‘Black Betty’ started, the audience blew the f**king roof off the venue with the intensity of their love and pride of this 1933 classic, being reworked from Ram Jam’s 1977 classic, to this gritty punchy anthem.

As I made my way out, there was some unusual noises coming from the audience. Now whether that that the creaking of the bones or the squeaking of the leather from both old and new Dr Marten boots, either way I was so freaking pumped to have been lucky enough to partake of this spectacle.

There are certainly times when I wish I could recall more of those bands that I saw in my youth but had no appreciation for just how skilled they were or how inebriated I was.

I for one, felt so lucky to have a second chance to be entangled in such a beautifully woven web of imaginary Shibari and I strongly recommend that if you haven’t seen them, make the time now or you will absolutely regret it.

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries