The John Steel Singers, CloudControl, Villians Of Wilhelm @The Zoo, Brisbane (31/05/08)

Mon 2nd Jun, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Upon arriving at the Zoo tonight, I am just in time to see Villains of Wilhelm, who strut their way through a competent set designed to rock out the ladies. The highlight of the show is the shapes thrown by rock star in the making front man Danny

Despite coming from a small gene pool, Blue Mountains sibling band Cloud Control give the audience that almighty feeling one feels when you discover your new favourite band. The band charm effortlessly with their unbashful pop melodies, Beatles-esque head boppin’ and the most infectious toe tapping seen in these parts of some time. Killer tracks Buffalo Country and Vintage Books prove that this band could easily have headlined the Zoo on their own.

Just before The John Steel Singers start playing I look around to discover four hundred people seem to have crept up behind me, filling the Zoo to maximum capacity. It soon becomes clear what they are here for tonight, as the JSS pack a rousing set with more suprises than anybody in the crowd was excpecting. The last time I saw the band was a couple of months ago at the QPAC cascade court, and it’s nearly impossible to describe how the band that was so brilliant in front of old people and youngsters could have improved astronomically, but they have, unleashing a mature and tight set that shows the boys have taken it to a new level. A slow starting but immensley satisfying opener had the crowd dancing to the beat of these six young gentlemen, before making what could have been a risky move by showing off triple j favourite Submarines and Kayaks to mass sing-along amongst the jolly punters. Playing the hits first could have been a huge mistake for most bands but the JSS ride through it, playing a lot of new songs to the crowd. Particular mention must go to guitarist Luke Mcdonald whose blistering guitar work and stage antics added a new dimension to the band as they incorporated feedback and more jam styled songs into their set. The special suprise of the JSS choir was another highlight, as five pretty ladies graced the stage, adding do-who’s and la-la’s backing vocals, giving some feminine touches to the hairy boys onstage perfectly. The last three songs bring the night to a climax and are a definite music highlight of my year, starting off with an awesome song, about a girl, called Strawberry Wine. Next up, the rumours were true, as Cloud Control joined the band on stage for a rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 epic-pop-sing-along Go Your Own Way. The JSS weren’t then to love us and leave us, leaving the crows enraptured, finishing off with bullocking newbie Evoloution, a certainty to be on every new band samplers for the next year. To finish with an adapted quote from the Flight of The Concords “Who comes to rock the party? JSS come to rock the party.”