Live Review: RTRFM Winter Music Festival

Winter had very much arrived in Fremantle; however there was no better way to officially usher in the season then with RTRFM's Fremantle Winter Music Festival 2016. Set across five venues on a chilly night, punters had to brave arctic-like treks (minus the tundra) and perilously stumble to witness their favourite bands warm them up with some toasty tunes.

Michael Savage ushered in the festival at the Swan Lounge, although it was quite a squeeze to find the stage due to the narrow set-up of the venue. With some impromptu twister tactics Savage could be seen to provide onlookers in the Swan Lounge with sweet, vintage serenades articulately spiced up with the oddly gratifying guitar solo. Savage's lyrics were as colourful and interesting as the punter who danced in front with the garishly pink floral leggings. Peak Freo had been reached.

Down below in the Swan Basement, the delightful, soulful sojourns of Ladywood kept the night funky. Armed with four talented vocalists and an equally funked up backing band, the group definitely knew their groove. Led by the souled up lyrics eloquently sung by Farren Wood, the band left behind a memorable, unforgettable funk.

The raw energy of Rag N' Bone could be felt in the Railway Hotel as soon as you stepped foot into the entrance. With the stage cavernously set out at the back, a bubbled up audible hellscape was what the average punter would have entered. Honest, powerful and sufficiently crisp, Kiera Owen smashed out emotionally charged vocals with ease, guiding a large bulwark of rock'n'roll.

Galloping Foxleys created a hoedown at the North Fremantle Bowls Club, with punters young and old bouncing around to the addictive blues and roots antics of the band. Earthy like a well fermented whisky, Galloping Foxleys left the crowd yearning for more. The night was topped off with some heady punk rock from Red Engine Caves, who filled The Railway Hotel with a stadium-worthy sound, with the overdrive bursting at the seams and crisp guitar riffs liberally spread throughout their set.

Scalphunter tenaciously hammered it home, setting fire to the stage with hard-fast punk and a raw, uncompromising energy. A classic punk band at best, the Sex Pistols with a modern flair — members of the band were unrelenting on stage, rescinding the classic adage that indeed punk was not dead.