The Zoo, Brisbane
Thursday December 21, 2017 :
Standing around The Zoo a few days before Christmas & catching up with mates I only see at shows. I was doing my best to transcend what had to be approaching 50 degrees inside a non-air con barn that normally has a big fan corner loaded cranking, alas tonight even the fan was out of action (who’s thirsty..?)
The buzz was evident, recent runs on the board and a reputation for powerhouse performances forged many moons prior was fizzing in the minds of the throng assembled. A sound check power chord ripped through the crowd as instant smiles beamed back, “Ah I remember you” I thought to myself. The unmistakable tone made his own by the perpetually chill Pete Williamson.
10 minutes of expectant murmurs and the tell tale torch was flashing back toward the sound desk.
What followed was pure Mammalian pandemonium, Zeke hits the stage in his famed mirrored disco helmet and launches into the visceral ‘Nagasaki in Flames’, the crowd surges as voices immediately accompany the ever enigmatic frontman. The band were in the pocket from the first note, Nick bouncing and leaping around without missing a note as Zane pummels the kit like a ferocious Buddha performing his rhythmic kata.
On they rolled, track after glorious track, effusive, confronting, invoking ‘The Aural Underground’, ‘Clear Enough?’, ‘The Majority’. Questions become statements as a recent resurgence in social conscience stands and delivers personified and strutting across 10 meters of sweat soaked hardwood in the middle of Brissy sporting another unforgettable accoutrement, ‘The Horns’.
‘Groove Junkie’, ‘Maker’, ‘New Breed Judas’, the crowd looked like they had just hopped from a swimming pool fully clothed, not a one seemed to care. “6 string mofo” Williamson showcasing his talents as he shred through the biggest solo’s, clearly enjoying ripping live once more. The seductive ‘Mr Devil’ leads into new track ‘Virtue Signalling’ an instant classic tipping its hat at the lunacy of partisan political insanity as it heralds a new level of heightened dynamism for an outfit voted the nations most potent live performers on at least one occasion.
With the punters in a frenzy after the explosive strains of ‘Smash the Pinata’, the serious intensity that is the hallmark of a Mammal show momentarily yielded to some well received levity when the lads in keeping with the spirit of the season launched into ‘Jingle Bells’ amid the provocative sass of ‘Inciting’. At which point there was really only one way to go and the crowd knew it, one note in and the first 3 rows were erupting as the 4 piece tore into ‘Hell Yeah!’, as the guitars wailed on through the outro and the crowd screamed and roared appreciation we were assured that Melbourne’s Mammal were back and will be bringing it all over again.
Hallelujah!
Reviewer and Photographer : Quenched
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