Love Freo

Ever since the loss of Kelp I’m rediscovering Xwray. It kind of looks like a beach bar… but missing the water and sunsets. Still I like the leafiness and it’s a nice spot on a sunny day to grab a bite to eat. Then darkness falls the lights come on and the atmosphere changes and it’s a great place to have a few drinks.

You used to be able to order drinks at the bar but now it’s a sit down-and-order kind of thing, probably due to WAs licensing laws. FYI smokers: the smoking area is pretty nice and close enough to the main area so you can still hear the live music that’s on most nights.

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I say cool a lot and I know I need more adjectives to describe stuff but… the coolest place has just (3 weeks ago) opened in Fremantle’s East End: The East End Bar and Lounge.

I went there on Saturday night and seriously the place is fab you have to go check it out. The decor is a cross between a gentleman’s smoking lounge and Moulin Rouge with a bit of Soho House thrown in. Chesterfields, Louis XV chairs, standard lamps, chandeliers, brocade fabric and three different types of flocked wall paper. A lot of care and detail has been put in to the surroundings.  Another thing I liked was that the place wasn’t completely gutted: many of the original features from the bars previous incarnation as a working man’s Irish pub are still there and it all fits together nicely. It’s a unique place not only for Fremantle but for Perth.

Left: Downstairs where the dance floor is. Right: Upstairs another lounge area.

Whatever about the decor, the drinks are great as well. A huge plus is that there’s table service so if you have a good spot lounging in a wing backed chair you can stay where you are. We moved around quite a bit and sat at the bar for a while. A barman with Russel Brand hair served up some good drinks, I had a whiskey sour and negroni and another fruity raspberry thing that I can’t remember the name of.

There’s a big dance floor and when we arrived, which was about 9.30pm, a seven piece band was playing. It managed to be nice and loud but you can still hold a conversation with the person next to you without screaming at each other. No doubt all the fabric draped everywhere helps the acoustics. There’s two large plasma screens mounted over the dance floor showing MTV, I’d rather see some Nouvelle Vague or trashy Russ Meyer screening, MTV doesn’t suit the tone of the place.

Currently it’s open on Friday and Saturday night and the dress code I’d say is more smart than casual; everyone seemed to have put a bit of effort in with their clothes.

The East End Bar and Lounge,
189 High Street,
Fremantle,
WA 6160.

Ph: (08) 9335 3331

Having plain forgotten to offer any sort of guide to things going on over the holiday weekend, I hope this little round-up of this weekend’s activities will be handy for some, although not for the Blonde, who has been hanging out in Ibiza with Pete Tong and Eric Prydz

Friday night, 18th September

• Mojo’s – Fisherman’s Style. Not so fishy, more of the reggae beats from the likes of DJ Sorted and DJ Deruki. You know the ones. From 8pm. Tickets $10 on the door.
• Moondyne Joe’s - This place has changed a bit and some of their acts are brilliant. Tonight, the Gerard Maunick Trio.
• Little Creatures Loft – Ghost Hotel and Wolves At The Door. From 8pm.
• Seaview Tavern – Indie and Old School Rock, featuring DJ Samuels. Every week from 8pm. Click here for the poster.
• Newport Hotel – FELIX & DEGRAAF DJs play some rock and poptastic beats. From 8pm. Free.
• Clancy’s Fish Pub – Funkerellos. From 9pm.
• Fly By Night - CANCELLED.  Uh oh, The Jamie T gig has been cancelled for ‘medical reasons’. Speedy recovery please.

Saturday night, 19th September

• Mojos’s – the Stems! The first of their farewell shows, supported by The Early Hours (hooray) and others. Tix in advance from Heatseeker, may be some on the door.
• Clancy’s Fish Pub – Sneaky Weasel Gang. Blues, funk, reggae and rock combo. Super.  And they’re from sunny Mandurah. From 9pm.
• Kulcha – Comme Un Accord. An acoustic duo from some tiny island near Canada, folky music, meant to be v good. Tix $25 on the door. From 8pm.
• Norfolk Basement – Boom Bap Pow! Trashy doo-wop-pop is their mission. Sounds marvellous to me. 8pm, probably $10.
• Metropolis – Hi NRG. Of course what else. Don’t forget your kebab afterwards.
• Moondyne Joe’s - Murdermouse Blues

So I’m going to call a few of these places and get some more info if possible. Adios

info@lovefreo.com

Cocktail is one of my favourite words. Because I’m a child at heart really.

Anyway, while I’ve been drinking overpriced imported beer elsewhere in Fremantle, Emily Tchan checked out the cocktails at the new lounge above Maya Indian Restaurant on Market Street.  She had this to say about it:

It is a very small, simply decorated candlelit bar. We were surprised to find out that the prices are extremely reasonable, compared to some of the inflated prices of Fremantle. The cocktails are fantastic, the (only) waiter is great (think there may have been a few return visitors for him). They also have bottled beer and a good wine list. I recommend trying the Goa Sunrise (not the full name, a mature sex on the beach) with fresh pineapple, truly to die for. Very exciting for Freo.

Thanks for sending that to us Emily. Exciting indeed, hopefully this will be start the start of the Fremantle cocktail revolution. BTW, their food is great too.

Maya,
75-77 Market St,
Fremantle,
WA 6160.

Phone: (08) 9335 2796‎

Cocktail lounge open Thursday to Sunday from 6pm.

Maya Indian Restaurant

Not always easy to find a neat summary of decent gigs going on at the weekend in Freo. So we’ll give it a stab.

Friday night, 18th September

• Mojo’s – DM3 headline Mojos Bar for a night of old school Power Pop. From 8pm. Tickets $15 on the door.
• Little Creatures Loft – One Tiger Down. Sounds like cool music. From 8pm. Ticket price unknown, possibly free.
• Seaview Tavern – Ben Francis Band. Independent singer/songwriter, might be worth checking out.  From 8.30pm. Free (I think).
• Kulcha – BRASILINTIME is a filmic map that connects the world of Rio de Janeiro to the South Bronx. 8pm.  $10 on the door.
• Newport Hotel – FELIX & DEGRAAF DJs play some rock and poptastic beats. From 8pm. Free
• Clancy’s Fish Pub – Dilip and the Davs. Just spoke to Clancy’s and this gig is on; should be great. From 9pm. You can eat fish too.
• Fly By Night - South West Souls’ four resident DJ’s will have you dancing your socks off all night with an across the board mix of Motown, Northern Soul & Modern Soul. 8pm $10.

Saturday night, 19th September

• Mojos’s – Roger That plus quite a few other people. From 8pm. $15 on the door.
• Kulcha – The Lazy Railway… a young man with an old soul of gold. 8pm. $15 on the door.
• Clancy’s – CBC Jazz Orchestra. That’s as much info as I have.
• Norfolk Basement -Those International Playboys of Pleasure return…..OATS SUPPLY with guests. 8pm, probably $10.
• Metropolis – Hurray for Metropolis. Join the young ‘uns for Lady Penelope while downing vodka red-bulls. Classy.

Let me know if I’ve missed something that shouldn’t be.

Open Piano Tuesday

We dropped into X-Wray this evening to test the mojitos and we weren’t disappointed. Limey, minty, sweet, alcoholic. Mixed with flair by the friendly bar-keep: X-Wray is cool. They have a piano equivalent of an open mic night on Tuesdays as well, so that was a bit of a bonus for us, he was great. Unfortunately my video clips (of mojitos and piano playing) won’t upload, so you’ll have to take my word for. But the pianist chap is doing a gig this weekend (well, pretty sure it’s the same guy). Go and check it out, and watch this space for more on X-Wray.

Upcoming gig at X-Wray

Xwray Café and Bar

13 Essex St,
Fremantle,
WA 6160.

Phone: 9430 9399

The weekend still far away Kristina Olsen is playing at the Kulcha on Wednesday night – recommended by a friend who has seen her live before. I’ll check it out, as I trust his opinion, haven’t been to the Kulcha for a while and really like the venue.

Some info from the Kulcha website: A superb multi-instrumentalist as well as an award-winning songwriter with a big bluesy voice, Kristina has audiences around the world coming back for more. Her mix of powerful songs range from sassy bottleneck blues to lilting ballads to swing jazz to raunch and roll. In 2008 she released her 11th recording, Quiet Blue. Her songs have been recorded by Eric Bibb, Fairport Convention, Mary Coughlan, Maddy Prior and Mollie O’Brien among others.

When? Wednesday, 24 June, 8pm

Where? First Floor, 13 South Terrace, Fremantle

Price? Tickets on the door $22, Presale $20, Member $18

We like independent music radio. Go RTRFM!

Saturday 27 June 2009 @ The Railway Hotel (7pm–1am ) and Mojos (8pm–1am)

Here some more info from the RTR website:

RTRFM’s Fremantle Winter Music Festival returns for ’09 and hits the port city on Saturday June 27. This year we are taking over Mojos Bar and The Railway Hotel in North Fremantle for a night full of rockin’ tunes and sweet beats sure to warm a wintry WA night.

We have assembled a bunch of great bands at The Railway Hotel including the beautiful dark folk rock of Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke, the groove laden rock of The Harlequin League, Perth indie rock legends Adam Said Galore, meaty riffmeisters The Scotch of St James, the post rock bliss of Apricot Rail and the proto goth folk of Stereoflower.

In addition to this we have a whole stack of great solo acts at the The Railway in the shape of Fremantle pop stalwart Steve Parkin, quirky folk songstress Gosia Basinska, RTRFM favourite Benedict Moleta, the soul drenched blues of Hayley Beth and the post modern guitarscapes of Andrew Weir.

On top of all that live action we have great pleasure in presenting a DJ line up par excellence at Mojo’s Bar for this year’s Fremantle Winter Music Festival.

Get your dancing shoes on for the multi award winning drum n bass producer/DJ Shock One, Tuesday Full Frequency techmeister Massiv Trav, Community beat freak Diger Rokwell, Down Undeground dub deviant Sibilance and the chest shaking sub sonic production of Ylem.

Plus in the beer garden at Mojos there is another whole stack of DJs including Perth’s first sister of soul Mama Cass, the battle for Sousides supremacy between Claude Mono and Graceberg Slim, Black and Blue legend Paul Gamblin, Sunday Morning’s stalwart Lorraine Clifford, and El Ritmo groover Jade Nobbs.

Playing Times
Railway Main Stage
12.15 – 12.55am – Felicity Groom And The Black Black Smoke
11.15 – 11.55pm – Harlequin League
10.15 – 10.55pm – Adam Said Galore
9.15 – 9.55pm – The Scotch Of St James
8.20pm – 8.55pm – Apricot Rail
7.30 – 8pm – Stereoflower

Railway Solo Stage
11.55 – 12.15 – Steve Parkin
10.55 – 11.15 – Gosia Basinska
9.55 – 10.15 – Benedict Moleta
8.55 – 9.15 – Hayley Beth
8-8.20 – Andrew Weir

Mojos Main Stage
12pm – Shock One
11pm – Massiv Trav
10pm – Diger Rokwell
9pm – Sibilance Vs Ylem
8pm – Sibilance Vs Ylem

Beer Garden
Midnight – Mama Cass
11pm – Claude Mono Vs Graceberg
10pm – Paul Gamblin
9pm – Lorraine Clifford
8pm – Jade Nobbs

Presale tickets will be available this week. Subscribers can buy them for $15 here at RTRFM Events or at the offices of RTRFM on Beaufort St, Mt Lawley.

General Admission Tickets can be bought from Mills Record Bar and 78 Records for $20 plus booking fee and at Planet Video, online at RTRFM Events and the offices of RTRFM for $20. There will be limited door sales for more on the night.

It’s been a while since we last visited the Loft (not to be mistaken for the ‘old’ Loft fondly remembered by the ‘older’ Perth people), as we still haven’t really forgiven the owners for ditching the cocktails. No idea why that’s been done. It was quite an experience watching the Canadian bar virtuoso creating the most tasty and unique cocktails which could compete with great bars around the world. Alright – cocktails are gone, but the space is still one of the best in the West. Love sitting in the sun on the big balconies, love the view over the fishing boat harbour, love the space, the winged chairs, the long table, the friendly staff… On Sunday there was a band playing. In the beginning we found it a bit loud and we moved outside as we wanted to talk, but the later the day it seemed to be blending in nicely. The Pale Ale went down well, so did the wine and the lentil dish our friend ordered was very tasty. We’ll be back.

This is in the ladies toilets at X-wray. I pondered it for a while. Would a bar/restaurant really plug in its freezer in the toilet? The cable goes off up towards the roof to somewhere unknown so maybe it really is the freezer.

Turn Off and Die

Xwray Café and Bar

13 Essex St, Fremantle, WA 6160.