Ones to Watch
- Joe Wilson
- Jul 3
- 2 min read
Ullah, Mariae Cassandra and Ghost Care live at Mojos, Fremantle | 03 July 2025
Live Nation’s Ones To Watch at Mojos bar in Fremantle was a splendid evening showcasing the best of what Western Australia had to offer from its rising artists. Featuring Ghost Care , Mariae Cassandra and Ullah. Punters were privy to a treat of trendy alt-rock rhythms, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and a foot stomping good time.
Hosted by Aria Amplified host Tait McGregor, the quantity of pizza and slices consumed would put any corporate team-building pizza party to shame. Punters were well fed, and short of a delicious bribe. It would be remiss to say there wasn’t a gustatory conflict of interest within this review.
Ghost Care got the crowd’s hips shaking early into the night. Providing bright, summery guitars and jangly guitar riffs. With an addictive drum beat to tap your feet to, as well as high kinetic energy on stage. Ghost Care eased their way into the night. With a highlight being a fan favourite of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. With plenty of punters singing along to the chorus. Leaving a fun, easy, breezy impression upon in the punter’s minds, Ghost Care provided a pretty solid start to Ones To Watch.
Mariae Cassandra coolly walked onto the stage, shades on, and with her band mates behind. With punters edging in closer from the brief intermission and pizza resupply. Cassandra and her band presented punters with a dreamy range of live indie pop goodness and crunchy harder alt-rock guitars.
Expressing a degree of vulnerability in her music. Announcing and playing of a new song relating to a recent break-up. The added contextual segway deepened the emotional vitality of the performance. With a strong set of vocals, and added love of being on stage. Cassandra left an impressionable mark on the crowd.
By the third set, Mojos was beginning to heat up like a Swedish sauna. Literally. With Ullah pointing out the heat, requesting the air-conditioning to be turned on. Was this a savings measure of the venue, or anthropogenic climate change, or a thermostatic measurement to how hot the music was. No one could be sure.
In the spirit of that uncertainty. Playing I Want It All, Ullah noted how the song made her wish to have a book which had all the answers to achieve success. Acknowledging however striving for success involved a degree of risk taking.
Ullah enveloped that spirit into her music. Playing a sound that was bitingly bold in lyrics, and brooding in its instrumentation. With Ullah and her bandmates providing punters with a sanguine-like escape from the hustle and bustle. Her set was undoubtedly a good time for all.
Ones To Watch ended with punters being reminded the sheer breadth of musical talent Western Australia had to offer. Boldly asserting the show not yet over for many of the upcoming talent coming through the local WA gig scene.
Photography by Adrian Thomson
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