The Bird, Friday March 13, 2026
Friday night at The Bird once again delivered a great night of bands and fans, this time it was Bribes launching their excellent second album Caught in the Corners, with support from Symmetrical Dogs and Parclo.
First up Symmetrical Dogs with a very enthusiastic crowd relishing the banter from frontwoman Claire Stanwix and the band. Stanwix is one of those rare performers who ooze charisma and confidence, seemingly without trying. Pair this with some great guitar work on the acoustic from Michael Wooldridge and Boyd Jarvis’ tight drum work, and you can see immediately why they have established such a solid fanbase. The set was short and sweet and effective in warming up the packed house.
Parclo arrived on stage next, bringing post-rock vibes with a bit of that wonderful genre of shoegaze. Zoe Koong front and centre on bass and vocals was a revelation, showing plenty of power from such a small package. Sharing lead vocal duties while blasting out synth, Izzy French stood in stark contrast to Koong, but it worked well alongside the tight, high-quality playing from the rest of the group. Some moments went to the stratosphere with shoegazing jam-out goodness, and by now the venue was well and truly full, and ready for the headline act.
And so came Bribes, who pulled out all the stops for the launch of their latest record. The atmosphere was warm, the crowd were packed to the rafters (I don’t like to use the term literally but given the side benches and low ceilings in the place, there were literally people up to the rafters), and the band were keen to show off their hard work.
Playing the album through (a nice touch), Head was the obvious choice for opener anyway, and it made for a big start. The crowd were onboard and on for the ride, which was extra special with guests joining in to play the string and wind instrument sections live. If the lovely violin on Pale Blue Bowl was not enough, by Gidge Ridge things had escalated with flute accompanying the strings. Ange’s voice has a fragility to it that came across really nicely with the backing.
The bands experience came through with all members playing tight and clearly enjoying themselves up there. One of the best guitar parts, that riff in Carnage ringing through the venue was a real high point. Danyon, on synth and vocals, had plenty of great moments – Don’t Let It End being one in particular where the catchy synth shines through. We even got a bonus track for the encore, with the band going back to BBB, one of their first tracks released, and a great choice to reward the crowd’s enthusiastic response.
So once again, Friday night at The Bird delivered, and reminded everyone there that the Perth/Boorloo scene is thriving. Let’s hope these bands can continue growing and putting out material of this calibre, and nothing beats the challenge of backing it up live.
