Saturday marked my first visit to the Fremantle Arts Centre, and I was immediately taken aback by how perfect a venue it is for a summertime gig in Perth. Lined with tall trees and limestone walls, it was just the sort of place one would expect to find globetrotting musical tastemaker, Gilles Peterson, who basked in the late aftenoon sun while delivering a typically soulful and eclectic set.

Starting with some South American salsa and other Latin-infused tracks, it wasn’t long before the diversity of Peterson’s tastes became evident. Switching between vintage funk and Northern soul, world tunes, nu-jazz, lounge and hip-hop, it’s a testament to the man’s calibre that, despite all of the genres traversed, there was a common soulful element to all of his tracks and no track progression ever sounded out of place. A first-class DJ, Peterson’s smooth mixing and bubbly personality (his occasional use of a microphone to chat to the crowd worked to great effect) ensured that the growing crowd got comfortably into the mood for what was to follow.

While no person could ever hope to recognise every track dropped during a Gilles Peterson set, there were some clear crowd favourites. K’naan’s America, which features Mos Def and Chali 2na, provoked a loud cheer, while Peterson’s final tracks were also popular, starting with 4Hero’s divine remix of Nuyorican Soul’s I am the Black Gold of the Sun and ending with the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys collaboration, Empire State of Mind.

Coming on just a few minutes after 8PM, New Zealand band Fat Freddy’s Drop got the main set underway with an extended instrumental jam. Normally a 7 piece band, the group had to do without one regular member, trumpeter Tony Chang, who arrived in Perth only to discover that his pregnant wife was about to give birth and promptly got back on the flight to New Zealand. Undeterred by his absence, the band embarked on a series of blissfully long and funky grooves, the mixture of soul and reggae wholeheartedly embraced by the enormous crowd, which filled the venue to capacity.

Fat Freddy’s Drop has an enviable reputation for live performance and I now know why. The hard-working band ignored the debilitating effects of the Perth heat (it had reached 42 degrees Celsius during the day) to showcase their tightness and rich, full sound. Tracks from the celebrated albums Based on a True Story and Dr Boondigga and the Big BW were given extended workouts in the live arena, while a couple of new tracks allowed individual members of the band to demonstrate their respective abilities. Hopepa showcased the warm tonal qualities of the underrated trombone on Blackbird, while Never Hold ‘Em provided the ideal platfrom for Chopper Reedz to launch into some extended saxophone solos. Most impressively, those solos were spread across multiple saxes!

Not to be outdone, Hopepa also gave the crowd a taste of his talents on harmonica, as MC Slave broke up the smooth vocals of Joe Dukie with some fun and high-energy rhymes. Controlling the beats and samples on the decks, DJ Fitchie was celebrating his birthday, and the crowd gave him a fitting salute, singing along while the band busted out a particularly funky rendition of Happy Birthday.

As the sun went down and darkness descended on the jovial crowd, the band got progressively heavier, trading in the lighter reggae vibes for a stronger, dub-step feel, as they ended the main set with an energetic version of This Room. With the clock approaching 9:45pm, and a strict curfew of 10pm in place for the venue, it was clear to all that Fat Freddy’s encore would comprise just one song. But what a track it was! The song that first gained the group international recognition, Midnight Marauders started off slowly before gathering momentum and finishing off the night (and an impressive 2 hour set) on an undisputed high note.

You can add me to the long list of admirers of Fat Freddy’s live performances, and of the Fremantle Arts Centre as a concert venue. It may have been my first trip to the centre, but it most certainly won’t be my last.