Fremantle Prison, Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Basement Jaxx brought the party to a Wednesday night at Fremantle Prison and didn’t disappoint a crowd up for the fun. With a slanted stage featuring a DJ portal and elaborate costumes galore, they ripped through their songbook and blew plenty of minds in the process. The crowd were locked in all night (had to do it sorry), and the prison setting suited the rave atmosphere beautifully.
Support came from the duo Close Counters and they warmed up the growing crowd with a nice blend of synth and samples. A very dancy vibe with some jazz thrown in for good measure. They were elevated for the second half of the set with guest vocalist Annalisa Fernandez, who brought her electro pop vocal prowess to the stage, if perhaps a little unsure how to deal with the stage setup.
With the venue packed and the drinks line already snaking well beyond the bar, Basement Jaxx took to the stage in full theatrical mode, dropping the lights and letting the darkness hang just long enough to build anticipation. This was the full show so no messing around here. Live drums, percussion, guitars and trumpets, plus an array of singers, dancers and costumes. The band (I’m going to call them a band, rather than a duo, as there were about 10 performers) really made this event a spectacle, something everyone in the crowd was in awe of and no doubt walked away very happy with what was delivered.
Kicking off with Good Luck and immediately getting the party going, the crowd were instantly reminded of the quality catalogue of songs the band have, and there wasn’t a body in the prison who wasn’t moving (I’ll admit right now I’m not a dancer, but a bit of head shaking generally does the trick).
All the hits were there like Do Your Thing and Red Alert, and some of the best moments came from jams between the hits where they pumped hard techno music and everyone got to just keep on dancing. Mixing this rave style with the various performers on stage, it was a great atmosphere. The costumes in particular had some fantastic moments – at one point a dancer in giant flower costume appeared on stage, which couldn’t be done without the help of a couple of roadies. It was something you needed to see to believe.
Naturally the crowd expected to hear Where’s Your Head At and of course they did not disappoint, bringing it out for the huge singalong finale that saw the whole crowd screaming the famous chorus back at the band, while they donned the monkey suits and brought the whole team out. There was no stopping there, and they came out for a three-song encore which included another favourite, Take Me Back to Your House.
It was a fine evening all up, and this reviewer will admit he wasn’t really in the mood on arrival — being a school night and all — but once the show got going there was nowhere else he’d rather have been.
