Live Review: Radio Birdman, HITS, Mick Medew & The Rumours

A well life-experienced throng of eager rock aficionados is out early so it’s quite packed as clearly chuffed local veteran Mick Medew leads his Rumours through a tearaway set of the catchy garage-rock he’s been producing with aplomb for decades now.

Classic songs from his former outfit The Screaming Tribesmen such as Ice are thrown into the mix early and draw a strong reaction, the sound thick and full, with Medew’s inimitable voice carving across the guitars like a knife. It’s not all tripping down memory lane, however, as a couple of strong new tracks are aired, before they throw in set highlight, Another Girl Another Planet (The Only Ones’ cover that these guys long ago made their own) and finish with a scorching rendition of Date With A Vampyre.

As soon as scruffy rock reprobates HITS take the stage there’s a noticeable difference to their usual look – drummer Gregor Mulvey is absent from behind the kit (he’s not missing altogether though; he can be spied on crutches at side of stage rocking out for most of the set – we don’t want to know) and in his place is the band’s Conquest Of Noise label head Peter “Booges” Werth (that’s dedication), who does a solid job from the get-go. Frontman Evil Dick spouts “G’day cunts, I’m Rich from Brisbane” to the packed room and they power into Fuck The Needy and it’s instantly incendiary, the guitars sounding huge and crisp, especially when Tamara Dawn Bell peels off the first of many brilliant solos that she’ll unleash tonight.

Jesus F Christ is monstrous and finds Dick tearing around the stage like a banshee, before Take Your Pills flies by in a rush of hair and guitar and harmonies. Dick spews forth, “This is fun – now we’re going to do a depressing one so suck shit,” and they power into a crazily intense version of Bitter & Twisted that descends into mayhem. The room seems slightly agog at the designer debauchery as the band smashes through Disappointed and The Church Song as if their lives depend on it. They’ve worked closely with Rob Younger from tonight’s headliners (he produced HITS’ recent album, Hikikomori) and seem determined to put their best collective feet forward; accordingly the vigour with which they attack Never Sing A Song Again, while Loose Cannons borders on manic. They meet mid-stage and decide upon the next song by committee – agreeing upon Sometimes You Just Don’t Know Who Your Friends Are – before finishing with their amazing cover of Joy Division’s Shadowplay, Bell and fellow axe-slinger Stacey Coleman trading licks long after Dick has exited stage right, a fittingly rocking finale to a great performance by these ragtag hometown heroes.

By now anticipation is at fever-pitch for the first Brisbane appearance by Radio Birdman in many moons, and after the curtain opens to reveal a huge backdrop of the band’s logo which rules over proceedings for a few minutes the six band members file on stage and rush into the propulsive Smith & Wesson Blues like they’ve never been away. Frontman Rob Younger is showcasing his trademark jerky dance moves and barking the lyrics with epic conviction, guitarist Deniz Tek on stage right firing off riffs and licks like they’re going out of fashion. This band has a seemingly endless arsenal of great tracks at their disposal and pull some big guns out early, Do The Pop seguing into Anglo Girl Desire, which finds the night’s first crowdsurfer getting passed around (complete with jazz hands).

Age seems to have galvanised rather than wearied this fine outfit and the sound is pristine as they burn through Descent Into The Maelstrom and then bring the tempo down a bit with the slow-burning Love Kills, which brings Pip Hoyle’s jazz-flecked keys to the fore. Prodigal drummer Nik Reith (the ex-Celibate Rifles skinsman who served a touring stint with Birdman about a decade ago) is an absolute powerhouse behind the kit, a heady mix of power and panache, while new guitarist Dave Kettley (of The New Christs, who somewhat controversially replaced long-term guitarist Chris Masuak in this incarnation of the great band) fills his role admirably, interacting with Tek at times and holding the rhythm at others. Despite ostensibly being here to launch the next boxset spanning the band’s initial tenure in the ‘70s, they’re more than willing to revisit more recent times, throwing in We’ve Come So Far To Be Here Today from 2006’s Zeno Beach, then show that they’ve still got that hip-moving swagger with the vibrant Crying Sun. The crowd belts back the chorus to Alone In The Endzone with utter joy before bouncing back to Zeno Beach territory with You Just Make It Worse, before criss-crossing back and forth across the ages with Non-Stop Girls and Zeno Beach itself.

The evergreen I-94 hits and has everyone in the room singing about eskimo pies, before the anthemic Hand Of Law leads into the inscrutable Man With Golden Helmet – complete with Hoyle keyboard solo – and then Murder City Nights elicits an orgy of dancing. They take us right back to where it all started with Burn My Eye, then complete a triumphant return with the ever-amazing Aloha Steve & Danno, the perfect finale showing how well this music has stood up over time. But of course on a night of such celebration an encore is a given, and after a short break and much braying from the crowd the now sweat-drenched rockers return and take up their positions, bassist Jim Dickson leading them through exotic instrumental Alien Skies, which segues into the riff-laden Dark Surprise. The essence of this great band is encapsulated in the sheer joy of What Gives before the classic New Race almost lifts the lid off the venue, such is the shared communion emanating from both stage and crowd. It seems perfectly fitting that a night so good should end with a ball-tearing version of 13th Floor Elevators’ You’re Gonna Miss Me, the song summing up the night perfectly in both tone and sentiment.

One of Australia’s best-ever rock bands shows tonight that chops don’t dissipate with age – tonight they show the young kids how it’s done and done properly. Long may they reign.