Cover Image: Festival‑goers relax on the lawn outside East Perth Power Station as projections light up the building during Perth Festival. Photo by Jess Wyld.

It’s fair to say the introduction of East Perth Power Station to Perth Festival has been a huge win.

Now in its second year, the Power Station is an industrial TARDIS of sorts down on the waterfront, that’s been described as everything from the longest food hall in the southern hemisphere to WA’s greatest ever venue. Is it good to have it back? You betcha.

From the moment we entered Friday night for the sold-out Max Cooper show, the atmosphere was positively buzzing. Before even getting to the ticketed main stage, there was a sea of punters dining at food trucks and taking in the free Casa Musica stage overlooking the river, where Gold Coast post-punks Selve had kicked off proceedings.

Cooper’s live show is already legendary in electronic music circles, but when coupled with the inner sanctum’s main stage wall, towering over the venue’s industrial insides, we could have been at an outdoor club in Berlin. 

I call it a TARDIS because the whole experience felt like stepping into another world or dimension. Larger than life, Cooper’s spectacle certainly trips the light fantastic. With a semi-transparent gauze screen in front of him, it brings the already incredible visuals behind him forward to create a 3D effect.

Whilst we’ve seen acts including Sigur Ros, Tool and Flying Lotus use similar set ups in the past, none of these quite had the same effect as Cooper’s opulent display. Due to the video component, immersive is a word oft-associated with the London-based producer’s blend of IDM and electronica. But euphoric perhaps describes it even better, and the two-hour journey from minimal (Cabdeleda from last year’s 8 Billion Realities EP) all the way to squelchy acid on a remix of Josh Wink’s 1995 banger Higher State of Consciousness, was rarely short on ecstatic joy. 

In between were deviations into garage (Alix Perex & TMAN’s Under Pressure and Cooper’s own Vertebrae) and proggy release (Four Tone Reflections, Trancecatcher’s dreamy Nord Pole). The encore section was epic enough in its own right but could’ve gone on an extra half hour, bringing some banging techno to the fore before finishing more ambiently with Cooper’s On Being in the eventual finale.

It’s hard to overstate just how spectacular and elevating his combination of intelligent dance music was alongside such breathtaking visuals of everything from circuit boards to mapped town houses to abstract organisms to outer space. It truly brought this opening night to life, and it’s fair to say Max Cooper will be hard to beat for act of the festival.

If there was a slight it was the bar queues early which brought us somewhat back to earth but there were no such problems on the nights that followed. We were late arriving on Saturday after taking time out to see the landmark three-hour theatre centrepiece of this year’s fest, LACRIMA at Heath Ledger Theatre. Read our full review here: Threads of Power: Fashion’s Underbelly in Lacrima – Seesawmag

Local crew at Syber brought a more youthful element to that night’s performance at the Power Station, like a scene within a scene. Utilising the space much differently to Cooper, yet equally as effectively, the DJ booth was placed in front of the stage creating an in-the-round performance space.

Musically the mash-up combination of EDM, trap house and hip hop vibes from big local names including Baby J and Tye Turner didn’t translate quite as groundbreakingly as Cooper’s flawless electronic productions, but it was a great way to expose the venue to a younger generation of fans. Mixes of ISOxo & Knock2’s 4EVR and will.i.am and Britney Spears’ Scream & Shout certainly had the rave amping till close. Free Britney!

It took until Sunday for some rock and roll to enter the mainstage area as Bleak Squad and Ursula took over, but it was well and truly worth the wait. In a case of supergroup central, the headliners oozed cool, particularly co-vocalists Adalita and Mick Harvey. For a new outfit with just one record from late last year, they had no problem holding our attention.

A local supergroup themselves, Ursula are getting recognition in their own right through the dual lead vox and grunge-inspired songs of Robbie Rumble and Ashby Ranson. With some sweet Smashing Pumpkins-esque shreds from Rumble and enough excellent tunes across a slew of singles and 2022 album Brains, Waste, Heart for a setlist of all killer, no filler, this was one of their biggest and best shows yet.

Also starring out on the Casa Musica stage were Irish folk act Beoga, all the way from County Kerry, who absolutely owned the Sunday sesh as kids of all ages jigged to their traditional tunes. As well as sampling some of WA’s burgeoning food truck scene, it’s always a joy to see young folks enjoying Perth Fest’s offerings from an early age, in what is quite the family setting.

But it was Bleak Squad’s night. Unafraid to lead with some of their best tunes, Safe as Houses and Everything Must Change emerged as early highlights. The former saw Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner revealed as the night’s main shredder, a slightly different role to his day band, where he plays second fiddle, so to speak, to Warren Ellis.

Former Bad Seed Mick Harvey, meanwhile, moved between instruments all night. Often holding down bass, at other times he took up drums for Blue Skies and swapped with Art of Fighting drummer Marty Brown on keys, back and forth.

“It’s a positive song,” Adalita assured us of World Go to Hell in good humour, and despite the obvious chemistry among band members, she was the main focal point all night. She just has that presence. Not that Harvey didn’t hold his own, and on his Ghost of the Bad Humour Man the whole band came together for a full post-rock extravaganza that nearly won the night.

Getting through the entire album including first single Lost My Head during the main set, an encore never seemed like a sure thing. Little did we know we’d get a cover of Magic Dirt’s Summer High (an appropriate choice given Harvey’s old bandmate Roland S. Howard sang on the original). Finishing the night with latest non-album single Black & White suggested that a bunch of old hands they may be, but Bleak Squad are looking forward. And for the rest of us, that’s a good thing.

With three big weekends still to come and plenty of free entry entertainment to enjoy, if the opener was anything to go by you won’t want to miss the magic of the Power Station in 2026. Our top picks at the main stage include indie-R&B acts Sudan Archives and Nilüfer Yanya, or for more of an art-rock spectacle check out Black Country, New Road.

East Perth Power Station runs until this Sunday, 1 March 2026 as part of Perth Festival. Tickets from Perth Festival – East Perth Power Station