One Last Dance At The Zoo

Written by Max Bader.

Walking into The Zoo last Thursday, the energy in the room was palpable. It felt like when it’s about to storm, as if everybody’s excitement for the show to start had somehow physically manifested its own little atmosphere within the venue. With this being the first gig entirely independently ran by Unfazed, people might not have been sure what to expect.

What followed was captivating.

The night kicked off with local newcomers Tear Drive, fresh off their first headline show back in May. You’d think that perhaps with it being their second-ever gig, there’d be some nerves on stage, maybe a few mistakes here & there - they’re only new, right?

Nope.

Tear Drive delivered a set that sounded years in the making, and so polished that you’d think they’d been on the gig circuit for a decade.

Their confidence onstage was spectacular. I think everyone who was new to them was sharing the same thought at the same time: “Where the fuck did these guys come from?”

Looming synth-wavey soundscapes & thumping 80’s nostalgia grooves made for one hell of a musical foundation. On top of this, slick vocal melodies & brilliant guitar work. It felt like every song had been in the musical canon for years already, but also somehow it all felt new? Innovative?

I’m a big fan.

Moving on, Blind Pretty was next.

I remember having a conversation with Jessie, Blind Pretty’s frontman guitarist, backstage while Tear Drive were playing. He was nervous, one of his guitar pickups wasn’t working, the bands playing before & after them were SO good, and they were only a 3 piece!

I think everyone who plays music has these thoughts from time to time, we all worry.

Jessie didn’t need to worry.

Blind Pretty are going places. They’re kind of already there?

Their music feels so festival-ready, it makes it hard for me to picture them anywhere other than on an outside stage, surrounded by thousands of people, all chanting their lyrics right back at them.

They write anthems. Bangers. Doozies, even.

The 3-piece trademark of big, open guitar chords good for the soul rings true. The occasional lead break peering out over the chord work too? Seriously impressive playing, not to mention that every note felt exactly where it should be.

Every song was carried along by hypnotic drum & bass grooves that made me feel like I was on-rails. I was not getting off the ride, I was locked in, but I wasn’t mad about it, I was stoked. I’m calling this vibe surf-psych, and I will not be taking any questions.

Insanely catchy, insanely heartfelt, I’m still humming these songs to myself as I write this - loved it, next up was Bean Magazine.

Dear Reader, I have to be honest with you, I have a bias: Bean Mag are my favourite band in Brisbane.

So, full disclosure, I’m going to yap hard for a sec - bear with me.

Bean Mag walked on stage with the energy of superstar athletes defending a world heavyweight title. I don’t know if that will make sense to or resonate with anyone but me, but I’m writing it down anyway, try & stop me.

The Zoo was the first indoor venue Bean Mag ever played, and so with the news of The Zoo’s closing, this gig had an intangible importance thrust upon it that I think everybody felt. Bean Mag were saying goodbye to The Zoo, one-on-one, but we got to watch.

Anyway, enough preamble.

Chemistry onstage was, as it always is, unbelievable. Bean Mag has always been a band of 3 best mates, and that shines through at every gig. Every interaction on stage, every nod, every smile, every bit of banter - it‘s infectious, it makes you smile, it makes you feel the same unbridled enthusiasm for the music that they do.

Instrumentally, Bean Mag have established themselves as a Brisbane institution - skin-crawling guitar tones, lightning-in-a-bottle bass lines, drum grooves that feel like someone’s just crashed a car through your living room - couple that with an always unforgettable vocal performance & one-of-a-kind songwriting, and you’ll start to see why I like Bean Mag so much.

So unique, so raw, so many things to love & not enough words to tell everybody about it.

Final act, The Velvet Club.

The sheer scale of the wall of sound that these guys are able to build would vaporise a 16th-century peasant.

It nearly vaporised me.

Relentless, driving drum & bass grooves worked in-tandem with a swarm of interwoven guitar parts to create a musical force to be reckoned with.

That last sentence is giving high school English essay, but it’s true.

I think the thing that stuck with me most about Velvet Club was how much depth there was to their songs atmospherically. Dark, broody, sinister, but also hopeful. That’s a lot of what the energy I was receiving felt like, and it was all so well-articulated musically.

This complex, murky tone was present too in the vocal performance. Beautiful, haunting melodies, tantric lyrics & a performance that felt like it might lull you into a trance.

Velvet Club clearly knows what they’re doing.

I don’t know if that’s as impressive to everyone else as it is to me, but the choices they make instrumentally establish SUCH a distinct tone - it’s frighteningly good.

Like, I think maybe these guys legit know dark magic or something? We should all be a little bit concerned.

And that was that.

Tear Drive had opened things up, Blind Pretty were fierce, Bean Mag said goodbye, and Velvet Club gave Brisbanites one more reason to move to Melbourne (nice try Melbourne, but Brisbane’s the best city on Earth).

I was wrapped up completely in the performances. In the atmosphere. In the chaos of so many creative people all at once all in one place trying to make one thing happen.

I’m not sure if any of you reading this know what it feels like to throw a big event like this, but it’s incredibly daunting. The whole night had been underpinned by this yearning for everything to go well, because if it didn’t then there wasn’t going to be another chance.

Breaking news: it went REALLY well.

Congrats to Gabi & the entire Unfazed team, congrats to all the creatives & industry folks who worked to make this event happen. It was a triumph. What a way to send off one of Brisbane’s most iconic venues.

One Last Dance @ The Zoo, 20th June 2024