Check out Stuo’s gallery here

February in Perth means the Perth International Arts Festival has hit town and this year there are dozens of amazing shows to see. Saturday was the opening night for the wonderful Becks Music Box. From now onwards for every night in February there will be all kinds of international and local acts with free Dj sets after 10pm. The stage set up is the same as previous years, with plenty of dancing room, two tiered stands and some couches scattered here and there. There are some new additions, with live art happening each night: three painters are commissioned to complete their works in front of your eyes. There was also some kind of artistic manicuring available (something to try if a less engaging band were performing perhaps).

Breakestra showed that Becks is the place to come for a good time as they certainly opened the festival with a big funky bang. Their upbeat party vibe had the sold out crowd dancing the night away for the whole 2 hours of their set. If you didn’t intend on having fun you sure were in the wrong place. The LA based troupe is an 8-piece big band pumping out funk, soul with a bit of jazz, rock and hip-hop added to the mix for good measure.

Music Man Miles Tackett was joined at the front by guest vocalist Afrodyete. Regular frontman Mixmaster Wolf couldn’t make it but Afrodyete sure made up for it. She starred with her overenthusiastic dance moves as entertaining as the music itself (think butt popping, all over jiggling and shimmying). Her voice projected across town all the way to the Bell Tower and she was a very appropriate choice for a band that regularly salutes James Brown. Her voice is hearty and warm with the husk and force that is the delightful trademark of an African American songstress. It would be a big call to make comparisons to Aretha Franklin but the strength of her voice allows you to think along those lines.

And the instrumentals! So much variety was to be heard. James King’s booming bass saxophone, with it’s oompa-loompa gravelly blasts was a welcome addition to many songs. He switched to flute for some songs to bring a unique sound to accompany many songs, sometimes being a light twittering over some heavy guitar thanks to Pat Bailey. Tackett had an interesting cello solo, an unusual but welcome inclusion to a funk outfit. Trumpet, Organ, Percussion, Bass, Guitar and Drums also made up the outfit, each flitting in and out of songs.

Highlights of the set were there reggae-ish version of Ring of Fire and Come On Over which showcased Afrodyete’s amazing vocals and the dropping of familiar breaks in, out and around the songs which worked to get the crowd excited and dancing hard. The winning mix of familiarity with originality meant that the crowd could get excited by bits of old favourites but remain engaged with the band without knowing what would come next. The screen behind the band meant the crowd were visually engaged by images of the performers the band paid tribute to throughout their set.

Breakestra ended the night graciously with much deserved applause. Despite being from LA they appeared so unaffected and appreciative of the crowd’s response and even invited people to hang out with them after the show. Considering the line curling outside the complex of people hoping to get in for free after the sold out show, they would have had plenty of company, as Charlie Bucket then DJ J-Rocc carried the party onwards into the night.

Check out Stuo’s gallery here