Having decamped and moved halfway across the world to Perth Australia before Christmas this was to be my first review from my new hometown as well as my first time in this particular venue. Actually it turned out to be pretty cool but for such a good venue it seems to have a lack of live shows. It's tiered , has lots of vantage points that makes it easy to see the stage and yet it only seems to be open about once a week, and then as a club. What a waste.

Anyway on with the show. Coming from the UK I never realised what a big deal the Baby Animals were in their home country.  Their debut CD was Number 1 for six weeks and they toured with the likes of Van Halen, Bryan Adams and even Extreme at one point. I'd actually seen them before back in 1991 supporting Bryan Adams in the UK but, at the time at what was my first ever rock gig, I wasn't that impressed but with time perhaps my taste has matured and as this happened to be a  reunion of one of Perth's own bands I had to go check them out again.

This time around it was far different.  Suze DeMarchi proved a damn fine vocalist and the songs they deliver are catchy and rocky all at the same time. DeMarchi was actually on top form throughout, her strong vocals backed up by an excellent stage presence, moving all over the stage interacting with the entire audience and encouraging people to sing along and join in the fun, not least the male members of the audience who seemed to be watching her every move!

Although this was a reunion show for the band they are also touring in support of a new acoustic Greatest Hits collection so obviously a few of the acoustic numbers were thrown into the set alongside the full on electric workouts. The acoustic interludes however were beautifully arranged and performed and with the added advantage that it allowed Dave Leslie to showcase some lovely acoustic work. Songs of the night. Well Rush You, Early Warning, Painless and the marvelous One Word came out on top but in saying that there wasn't really any bad moments. With the two thousand or so people in the venue singing along at the top of their voices it's hard to wrong. If the reception such as they received in Perth isn't good enough reason for them to stay around then nothing is and if the band had any doubts about whether the reformation would work then this show must surely have banished them.

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