The Zoo was the place to be to on Friday night to catch the Brisbane leg of End of Fashion’s O Yeah! national tour ahead of the August release of their self-titled debut album. After hearing their new single O Yeah! on the radio all week, it was time to find out what other goods End of Fashion had in store.

Johnny Rooks was the first to play and unfortunately the sound was up so loud it was hard to hear what exactly they were playing. After the first two or three songs, everyone’s ears were ringing as the dominant guitar and drums blasted over the top of the vocals. It was difficult to decipher the words that were being sung and after hearing the bands that followed, Johnny Rooks was a much heavier sound that didn’t suit the style of the night.

Next up, Tambalane. They opened well, with a number of their songs grabbing the crowd’s attention and even inspiring a few people to dance. At first it was expected that their claim to fame, Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies, would take the lead with a few drum solos; however this was not the case. While he did engage with the crowd every so often, it was mainly lead singer Wesley Carr who held the crowd’s attention. A combination of his amazing vocals with the drum, guitar riffs and keyboard made for a pleasurable experience as their retro-70’s style music kept all entertained.

The two songs that received the most applause from the crowd was their single Little Miss Liar and their cover of famous Beatles song Get Back, which showed they are most likely going to gain a larger following with their catchy tunes and addictive beats.

Then it was time for the long-awaited performance of the night and the reason why most of the crowd was there, End of Fashion. They opened with two tracks from their Rough Diamonds EP, She’s Love and Anything Goes - both of which had the crowd jumping.

They continued with songs from their Too Careful EP, Love Comes In and Too Careful, and soon got to their self-proclaimed favourite song, Be Like That. The amazing guitar riffs in this song are enough to make it anyone’s favourite, however it was to be outdone by their new single O Yeah! and old favourite, Rough Diamonds, which inspired a crowd sing along.

It was great to see how well lead singer and guitarist Justin Burford could control his vocal range. While some singers seem to make it look like hard work, Justin’s vocals seems to come naturally as he hit every high note and looked like he enjoyed every moment of being on stage.

It was great to hear a band that record well but also perform well live as they rocked it out on stage. There was great interaction between the band (Burford, guitarist Rodney Aravena, drummer Nick Jonnson and bass guitarist Hugh Jennings), however there probably could have been more interaction between the band and the audience. There was the odd comment about recording in Mississippi or successful attempts at revving up the audience, but it was lacking the anecdotal comments between songs about why songs were written and who they were about, which give the audience greater interest and appreciation for their songs.

It was a great night of live Aussie bands that left the crowd in high spirits. Tambalane had set the scene and proved themselves a band in their own right, while End of Fashion’s great soft rock style proved to be working for them. With Justin’s amazing voice and the guitar and drum mix, End of Fashion’s new album is definitely something to look forward to.