Star Fucking Hipsters, AC4,The Quickening, The Mercy Beat@ The Zoo, Brisbane(07/04/2011)

Mon 11th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Minor Threat and Bad Brains merchandise accompany the mohawks, studs, Doc Martins and fluorescent-dyed hair littering the small crowd milling outside The Zoo’s entrance. Inside the venue, punk ‘literature’ from the Socialist Youth Organisation is offered from a small stall near the merch desk. If that was enough to set the scene, local act The Mercy Beat set the punk tones for the rest of the night with their final song ending with defiant screams of “fuck you”. They deliver a tight set but know their place as a warm-up to the two international headliners yet to come.

Also hailing from Brisbane, The Quickening continue the fast pace of the night. The one clear break from this rhythm is found in their song, Pistolaz of Love. The lead singer’s high vocals verge on irritating as the half-hour set draws to a close, but some of the punters now filling out the front half of The Zoo show their appreciation with some excited movement throughout.

Along with The International (Noise) Conspiracy, AC4 is one of the current projects of Swedish musician Dennis Lyxzén. Best known as lead vocalist of the now defunct legendary 90s hardcore-punk band, Refused, Lyxzén makes no secret of his veteran status, introducing AC4’s set as “the part of the show not for entertainment but for self-indulgent jamming”. This is shown to be no false promise as the band plays a relentlessly vigorous set, including the songs Let’s Go To War and This Is It. Lyxzén bounces around the stage effortlessly and only stops for a breather in between songs to continue with humorous anecdotes about the band’s flight to Australia. AC4 are entertaining in all facets of their performance, and it is no surprise there are calls for an encore. The four-piece willingly oblige and end the explosive set with Lyxzén hanging precariously above the jubilant crowd from a light fixture.

The Zoo’s floor quickly empties out as AC4 leave the stage and never quite returns to its previous capacity for the headliner, Star Fucking Hipsters. Nevertheless, the New York City band’s first song, 3000 Miles Away, is met with no shortage of moshing and chanting from the eager crowd. Stza, the ex- Choking Victim and Leftover Crack guitarist/vocalist shares the small Zoo stage with a young female vocalist who he introduces as Kelsy. Having only joined the band the previous week, Kelsy appears to have some confidence to gain. Red-faced and strained, she screams lyrics she reads from a sheet and dances in a jerky, off-beat manner. Together, however, the band performs a broad selection of songs from their four albums, including Dreams Are Dead, Until We’re Dead and Two Cups Of Tea.

Midway through their set the crowd has thinned considerably, yet a group of diehard fans at the front of the stage continue to skank and cheer loudly enough to fill out the venue. Stza often appears awkwardly anchored to his side of the stage and it is only until the encore where he truly shows what fronting several ska/punk bands for nearly two decades has taught him. Handing his guitar to Kelsy, Stza reverts to his roots to pull out an unexpected song from Choking Victim’s 500 Channels. This final song receives the most spirited reaction by far as Stza jerks his head and yells the final chorus alongside the equally fierce punters. Whether punk is dead or not, the bands on show tonight demonstrate there’s still a lot of liveliness to be enjoyed in the genre today.