Anyone who’s been paying attention in the past 5 years will have noticed that the Irish music community has developed to be one of the most influential scenes of this generation. We’ve seen some fantastic artists along the lines of Fontaines D.C, Kneecap, The Murder Capital and Gurriers, rise to prevalence in recent years however indie rockers Inhaler are arguably the cream of the crop.

Having been following the band’s progressive rise in the international music scene since early 2020, this band caught my eye with the heavy influenced indie single “We Need to Move On”. I was lucky enough to catch their iconic show at the Electric Brixton in London back in 2023. Despite them being three albums deep , for a majority of Inhaler’s West Aussie fans, this was the first opportunity to catch the band live.

For those who’ve been patiently waiting to see the band live in Perth, the show taking place at the moderate sized Astor Theatre made the experience all the more special. The band have worked themselves to a level of playing main stage festival slots across most of then northern hemisphere and recently headlined shows at massive venues such as Brixton Academy in London, Pier 17 in New York and the massive 20 000 strong crowd at St Anne’s Park in their home city of Dublin, Ireland.

Inhaler certainly impressed as a live act. I was personally enthralled with the “low-end” heavy mix that still maintained a fairly clean sound when it was needed. Everyone in the band brought a genuine enthusiasm and high energy to their performance despite sarcastically complaining about their jet lag later in the set.

The set list was well catered for a audience who haven’t seen Inhaler on their earlier tours, with a solid mix of songs from their latest record as well as fan favourites from sophomore Cuts & Bruises and debut record It Won’t Always Be Like This. There was a rather massive “easter egg” hidden in the middle of the set, with a few keen eyed fans noticing that a small sample of ABBA’s hit single Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was used as an extended intro for the Open Wide deep cut X-Ray.

While it was a special experience to catch one of indie rocks most exciting new acts in a relatively intimate setting, I can guarantee if this crowd was half as impressed as myself, we’ll see Inhaler at bigger festivals and stages across Australia in the near future.