MGK

MGK, Honestav and Will Swinton live at RAC Arena, Perth | 08 March 2026

Plenty of punters rolled down early prior to doors opening at RAC Arena on Wednesday night. Keenly waiting to get down to Machine Gun Kelly’s (MGK) Perth stop of his Lost Americana tour, alongside Will Swinton and Homestav as supports.

Homestav came out early to greet fans on the street. Eagerly chatting to concertgoers in the queue, and getting slightly swarmed by a small crowd brandishing phones in order to catch a photo of him. It was refreshing to see an artist intentionally hanging out with punters prior to a show. Showing a little does go in fact go a long way. Rather than the standard procedure of artists being loaded up into the boot of a covert sedan, and being loaded into the back of the venue like some international prisoner exchange.

It was impressive to see the GA already filled up with punters. With the stage set up with a large red stage curtain hiding the MGK props behind it. This meant the supports being squeezed onto the narrow catwalk to maintain the surprise and allure of the main show.

Young NZ singer-songwriter Will Swinton and his band bellowed out with a bold sound, laced with guitars guided with Swintons robust vocals. Stoked to be touring alongside MGK. Swinton shared with the crowd his backstory of working full-time in a trampoline park, taking a risk and moving to the United States to pursue music.

Surviving by dossing around and sleeping on friends’ couches. Before luckily running into MGK who provided mentorship, and invited him to play supports on his tour. His story imbued a sense of provenance into his set that didn’t just sound great, but also encapsulated the classic idea that to make it big in show business, it wasn’t just talent which brought success but the connections and risks you take alongside the journey.

After a brief wait, Homestav opened with a small film showing him sitting on a dirt bike and setting a servo on fire. Mesmerizing as it was destructive, it was a bigger distraction with him taking off his helmet to reveal hair with a silky sheen. Leaving you contemplating whether you just watched an anarchists’ artful take on a shampoo advert.

Following on from the themes about pursuing success, and following ones dream to become a performer. Homestav shared a little bit about his own story, and acted as the tours impromptu ‘Hype Man’. Homestav’s energy was pretty infectious, with a very kinetic and intense passion for being on stage.

Bouncing up and down, even with initial stage issues such as a dead microphone and the speakers not working. There was a humorous moment where Homestav had to acknowledge he wasn’t as tall as MGK, with the mic quite obviously set to the headliners height and sitting quite visibly above Homestav’s forehead before he lowered it.

With the sound finally working, Homestavs set was filled with very, very abrasive vocals. With that Missouri drawl shining through. There was a charm to Homestav, who really was a bit of a buccaneer in character. Telling a hilarious story where he hijacked MGK’s afterparty by inviting him to his house after sneaking back stage at one of his concerts. He acknowledged that MGK later remarked that they thought Homestav was going to rob him. Then through a series of steps he ended up being a supporting artist on MGK’s tour several years later (let’s be honest, background checks would weed out the fun performers).

Setting out an active beat that got the crowds in GA moving, despite the fun time Homestav was providing to punters. There was a rude interruption with production issues coming back just before he could play his final song. Leaving the stage a little bit dumbfounded and frustrated, similar sentiments were shared by fans in the stands who felt cheated of their last five minutes with Homestav.

MGK’s set exploded with the ominous read curtain dropping down to show a visual spectacle of American iconography and cigarettes (even the Statue of Liberty is into durries now). In what was a glorious fuck-you to Australian plain-packaging laws. It was a striking distraction throughout the night to see MGK continuously sing at the end of a giant cigarette.

The set opened with an ominous narrator describing who ‘Lost Americana’ was. Being described as some folk hero who was the last rockstar. Creating a mythical aura around the stage show. MGK’s set was incredibly well done, and it was clear a lot of effort had been put the pyrotechnics (there were fireworks coming out of well, everything).

With costume changes being quite frequent, and the inclusion of backing dancers busting a move all over the place. It was hard not to collapse with sensory overload from the sheer number of moving parts MGK had placed into the show. With MGK remarking he had to post a picture of his toes on social media to enable more tickets to be sold.  

But importantly, the show was exciting and genre defying. Exploring the depths and layers of MGK’s career through live performance. In a self-referential, humorous schtick. Showing tracks from his rap phase, emo phase and later vampire phase. With these milestones being marked by appearance of a streamer parodying how fickle music fan commentators and the industry actually are. There was something wry about MGK’s own awareness of his presence both on stage and in the wider world.

But ultimately, there was warmth to be found between all of the pyrotechnics, impressive choreography and genre-defying discography. In a similar sentiment shared by Homestav, and previously Swinton, where MGK let them accompany him on their own music journeys.

MGK similarly brought the crowd into his journey at every opportunity. Whether it was letting U18’s attend his show alongside their parents on a school night. Or selecting several punters on stage to dance with himself and his support band. Or even an exchange with a fan in the crowd whom alleged he had tattooed her lip (in a city or place neither could remember due probably being too intoxicated). It showed that below the visual spectacle and grandeur of the show, there was heart and humanity underneath it.

Aptly put at several points throughout his set MGK’s last show in Perth being in 2018 playing in Metrocity to 150 people. That ended up with an someone insulting him, and a bout of food poisoning with only a joint of weed as a consolation prize. To now, 8 years and several albums later to a stadium of 1000s of people. Showed that even when we think we haven’t played our best, our best could still be very yet to come.

Review by Joe Wilson

Photography by Caris Bingemann

MGK