Let me just start off by saying that this was my favorite show of the year so far. RADIO BIRDMAN just completely knocked my socks off. Now of course I was expecting them to be good; I’d heard really good reports about most of the previous dates on the U.S. tour, their first ever. However, I wasn’t fully prepared for the aural assault that was unleashed upon the First Unitarian Church basement on an otherwise calm Sunday evening.
Fortunately, the show was better attended than THE AVENGERS show there just four days earlier. It wasn’t completely sold out, but I’d say that it was about two-thirds full, and to say that it was highly anticipated would be an understatement. In their initial run from 1974 to 1978, the band never got to tour the U.S., and though they’ve been playing in their native Australia for the past ten years (first getting back together for the Big Day Out Festival in 1996), this was their first time touring here. Also, this was the last date on their U.S. tour, though I’ve heard that they may be back here in the spring.
The setlist perfectly balanced selections from their landmark first two albums Radios Appear and Living Eyes, along with inspired new material from the recently released Zeno Beach. In fact, the new songs fit phenomenally well with their older material. They opened with their first single “Burn My Eye” (the song that launched the entire Australian underground), and other highlights (and there were many) included “Do the Pop,” “Hand of Law,” “I-94,” and new songs like the appropriately titled “We’ve Come So Far to Be Here Today” and “Hungry Cannibals”, which the band released as a limited-edition single recently.
After their main set, they came back and played “Aloha Steve and Danno,” their homage to the TV show Hawaii Five-O, a great cover of the IGGY AND THE STOOGES classic “Search and Destroy,” and then the inevitable closer “New Race,” with the crowd’s cries of “yeah, hop” from the chorus closing out the evening and echoing into the night.
Frontman ROB YOUNGER had unbelievable stage presence and came off like a cross between IGGY POP and JIM MORRISON. Guitarist DENIZ TEK was all determined fury, angry when there were sound issues with his guitar amp (though they were minor), and 100% aggressive and pissed-off looking as he was spitting out rapid-fire licks throughout the evening. The biggest surprise, however, was the rock solid rhythm section of bassist JIM DICKSON and drummer RUSSELL HOPKINSON (formerly of YOU AM I). If I have any complaints, though, it’s that the guitars were so loud that at times it was hard to hear PIP HOYLE’s keyboards.
Then again, as I was standing up front not that far from the speakers, the twin guitar attack of Tek and CHRIS MASUAK sounded glorious. And though my ears hurt the next day (and I was wearing earplugs), it was well worth it!
Openers EASY ACTION featured JOHN BRANNON, the former singer of NEGATIVE APPROACH and LAUGHING HYENAS, but featured none of the former’s righteous anger or catchy tunes, nor the latter’s cow-punk leanings. Instead, Brannon growled generically throughout a mostly uninspired and unmemorable set of noise-rock tunes. Oh well. It was still great to see another one of my teenage punk heroes in person, opening for another legendary band who I’ve loved since I was a teenager as well. I just wish that I could’ve seen the recent Negative Approach reunion show in Chicago instead.
