The Bird

Overview

The Bird is known as a hipster haven, but don't hold that against it. A small bar with a gorgeous outdoor area complete with fairy-light-wrapped trees, it's a venue that was designed by friends for friends. Back in 2010, a group of beer-loving buddies gutted the William Street site and it's since played host to exhibition launches, spoken word nights, dance parties and, of course, live music. Indeed, The Bird has been a comfortable home for Northbridge creatives for the past eight years.

With raw exposed brick, op-shop furniture, well-worn wooden floorboards and a slew of hyper-stylish bearded men drinking tinnies of Emu Export, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were at a rough-and-ready house party — till you see the music lineup. The Bird draws some seriously impressive acts and is a great place to catch the latest local EP launch. With a small 150-cap band room, it fills up quick on Friday and Saturday nights. You'll see a few familiar faces in the crowd over the weekend — this place is frequented by many of Perth's up-and-coming musicians. In fact, one of the guys from Methyl Ethel runs sound most nights.

If you're more of a participant than a listener, on the second Thursday of every month The Bird hosts the incredibly popular hip hop karaoke. This isn't your ordinary karaoke night, with punters going all-out to compete for first place. Free before 8pm and $5 after, it's the best-value live music entertainment you can get in the west.