Were you there? Check out the best of the Birds in the photo gallery

Birds of Tokyo are just so freakin’ good live. If you thought their sound on the radio, your Day One CD or MP3 was good and you’ve yet to see them live and in person, then you haven’t really heard them, you’ve just missed out on another of their kicker tours and you better hope they’re coming around again soon.

Either the name was mis-heard when our man Wil the floor manager at The Zoo tried to clarify what had taken place regarding the line up over the din of those around us, or there are two bands named Stereophile, one from Australia and one from the UK. Either way, the originally advertised bill for last night’s final gig on the Silhouettic Tour was changed as In Fiction weren’t available for some reason that was also lost to the raucous ambient noise.

The frontrunner with their name in question, Stereophile, are a three piece of guitar, bass and drums and a very fitting opener, having the energy and style required to keep a full Zoo patronage happily amped. To their credit their lyrics weren’t lies. In one track the words “…we got the drums…” was followed by impressive, high-energy snare bashing. Further tracks were laced with intermittent buzzed whah, some sublime slap bass reminiscent of Flea (giving a couple of tracks a very RHCP feel) mixed with a smidge of hair metal that on many occasions gave an overall feel of Jane’s Addiction; a high pitched clipped “Get up!” vocal was even heard from the lead singer/guitarist to cement the deal on that thought. Overall, this band’s performance was well received by an appreciative crowd and it’s a damn shame there isn’t more info available on who they were and where they come from.

Second support The Mercy Beat were much faster paced – with distinct influences of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine and Motorhead clear in their ferocious bar chord slamming and pointed lyricism. It was evident that there were some melodic intricacies in their playing however it couldn’t be heard properly over the repetitive smash of the drummer’s crash cymbal which must have been miked to the beegeezus to drown out two guitars and a bass. Not to be simply labelled as one of those testosterone boy bands dealing out only grunt and shoutiness, there are also some funked out reggae beats with a hard edge, which lead nicely into an opportunity to sing *KISS*’ I Was Made For Loving You to wind down one of their tracks. Add to this a foray into alt-country then into raw California pop punk and you’ve just witnessed a group who are not afraid to play with styles that counterpoint each other regardless of the fact that, right now, they’re at their best when playing their fastest.

After a few tracks from Queens of the Stone Age’s Rated R entertain over the PA, the lights dim and a feint haze descends on the crowd. As it has been illegal to smoke indoors since July 2006, it isn’t cigarette smoke and there isn’t the acrid scent of weed, so a guess is that there’s some sort of smoke machine subtly helping to create the ambience for the headliners.

Opening with Like Rain, Ian Kenny ’s vocals were instantly uplifting. Bringing the song to a close neath a barrage of applause he greeted us openly “Good evening Brisbane!” and launched into what can only be a couple of new songs as they’re weren’t recognisable from Day One. Recent media releases have touted an internal drive from the band to meet and exceed all expectations for their sophomore album due for release in July. From the five new songs we were privileged to hear without any studio production last night, there is no doubt here that they will reap the rewards, (could they possibly reprise that long list attributed to their debut?) of what they’ve so publicly strived to achieve.

Returning to Day One and those tracks we all know so well from their high rotation on Triple J last year, Black Sheets was delivered with only minor shakiness due to *Adam Spark*’s guitar slipping tune briefly. This would have gone unnoticed to the majority of the crowd as not a beat was missed, the harmonies from Spark were bang on and Kenny’s vocals were further unleashed in the forced hiatus. As the last notes rang out, Kenny advised that this was the last gig of their tour, “Isn’t it a public holiday tomorrow?” he asked, “No? Well, treat it like it is.” The crowd issued its unfettered support of such a grand idea with volume. This made Kenny smile widely and with arms outstretched to Brisbane’s beloved shrine he proclaimed, “…always love it here, my friends.” Yes, the mood was that of such camaraderie that, friends we all felt we were.

The highlight of this performance was heralded with the poignant solo guitar strums and light cymbal taps of Wayside ’s first verse beginning and building to the climax of the chorus. While the new tracks were more aggressive, rich with the promise of a very fine follow up album, it was the rallying cry of this modern Australian classic that brought the weight of this band’s influence tumbling and crashing home like a tsunami set picking up from the roaring 40’s and slamming onto the break at Margaret River. Every single person in the venue was swaying, smiling and, really there’s no other way to put it – singing their guts out.

With fifteen minutes left on the clock, there would have been more than enough time to provide an encore after rounding out the set with Off Kilter and new single Silhouettic, but they didn’t. And rightly so, as how can you possibly improve on such perfection? I guess we’ll know in July.