WAMi Festival kicks off this weekend

The 2007 WAMi Festival is set to start this weekend, with over a week of entertainment scheduled for venues across Perth and beyond. The festival’s grand opening takes place on Friday night in Forrest Place in the CBD, where Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass will do the honours, before Little Birdy and Sugar Army play a free all-ages gig.

Also on Friday night, Birds of Tokyo launch debut album Day One at Club Capitol, support coming from Rollerskates and Celladore. The band played to a packed crowd when they performed at the Big Day Out this month, so make sure you get tickets for this one early.

On Saturday, WA’s next generation of talent comes out to play at the Garage Kids Ball at Fremantle Arts Centre. The Flairz will headline the show, after performances from the Real Life Animators, Spectrum, The Watts and more. End of Fashion’s Rod Aravena, Eskimo Joe’s Kav Temperley and the two most famous Steele siblings will also help out on the night, spinning their favourite tunes.

With umpteen WAMi Award nominations, Snowman are one of the bands to watch at WAMi 2007, and they’ll perform a headline show at the Rosemount Hotel on Saturday night. The Wednesday Society will join them on the bill, with The Autumn Isles and Felicity Groom along for the ride as well.

Also at the Rosemount, the opening weekend will wrap up with a Triple J Live at the Wireless show from Bob Evans on Sunday. Support will come from Bobby Blackbird and the Bluejays and Unearthed winners Institut Polaire. Tickets will be available at the door.

For full listings of all the gigs at the 2007 WAMi Festival, head to the gig guide here at FasterLouder or visit www.wam.asn.au.