Monday night at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth saw Helmet put on one hell of a show in front of a sold out room as part of their trek across Australia. It was a long time coming after a few postponements but it finally arrived and we glad it did.
In typical Helmet fashion, there was no bullshit from the get-go with no support acts and little fanfare as they hit the stage just after 8pm and what we got was an hour and a half of classic Helmet going back to such early releases as Meantime and more. Straight to the point, the band kicked it off with a bang and early on we got Ironhead and Bad Mood which already got the crowd going. The room was absolutely packed to the brim with little room to move about so wherever you were, that was your place for the night.
The band sounded tight even after 30+ years of headbanging music, the sheer volume of their sound was turned up a few notches past 11 just to make sure we all heard it. Frontman Page Hamilton sounded as great as ever, saying only a few words in between songs and sharing a few stories along the way. It’s been a few years since Helmet put out new music and word has it they have been working on some new material but with regards to their setlist, it was mostly focused on the older stuff with a few later tracks thrown in for good measure. Noone complained about that, clearly judging by the demographic, there was a lot of old school Helmet fans in the audience tonight who all remember hearing classics like In The Meantime back in the early 90’s.
Speaking of, the encore indeed included that brilliant song that even after all these years, still sounds as powerful and fresh as ever before. Helmet busting that out live is a sight to see and one of the many highlights of the night. Solid set by a band that still sounds great after all these years.
Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography | Review by Andrew Massie
