The Hoopla Sessions - Fairbridge Comes To Freo

One of WA’s much-loved annual festivals is bringing a magical slice of its annual event to Fremantle across three monthly sessions on the last Sunday of every month on 26 June, 31 July and 28 August 2022.

The Hoopla Sessions presented by FolkWorld Inc. – the presenters of Fairbridge Festival – is a new series of triple-bill concerts at Freo.Social, which gives audiences the chance to revel in new and upcoming WA bands, appreciate refined and beautiful songcraft, and dance to the energetic vibes of world, funk, jazz, and soul.

Session 1 on June 26 kicks off with Reubenali comprising Grammy Award winning pedal steel maestro Reuben ‘Lucky Oceans’ Gosfield, Australia’s first call drummer for jazz and beyond – Ben Vanderwal – and 20 something double bass phenom Alistair Peel. They are a brand new, highly interactive, multigenerational trio formed to find the secret pathways between folk, jazz and everything in between. Every Reubenali performance is a celebration that shows that musical barriers are figments of our imagination.

Session 2 on July 31 brings 2021 Fairbridge Festival favourites The Liquid Project – a neo-soul/disco nine-piece big band with rotating vocalists and a three-piece horn section. This supergroup of ex-WAAPA graduates will win over your hearts, minds and dancing shoes!

They’ll be joined by Irish jigs, reels, ballads, and the general madness of Grand Remedy who combine trad songs and tunes with improvision and medleys; and Claudie Joy & The Joy Boys who’ll deliver the crunchiest parts of indie rock and folk together in a delightful assortment of sincerity, honesty, and obscurity.

For the last concert in the series – Session 3 on August 28 – the all-star line-up features the much-loved Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse with their incandescent vocals, guitar brilliance and Noongar language; family group, The Brownley Gospel Singers who’ll bring their beautiful harmonies in Wangkatha language to Freo from Leonora; and a Trad Fest – Series Finale will close out the night with traditional Irish talent including Fiona Doyle (flute/whistles), Kevin Giang (fiddle), Ciaran O’Sullivan (vocals/guitar), Donough O’Donovan (fiddle) and Jet Kye Chong (bodhrán).

Artistic Director, Rod Vervest said that –

“While the FolkWorld team couldn’t bring you the full Fairbridge Festival experience this year we can bring you a magical slice of it.

“All three concerts celebrate the rich diversity of Western Australian music,” he said.

“We’ll even bring some of the iconic installations from the site including the snazzy Hoopla sign.”