RADIO BIRDMAN
+ VINDICATOR SMOOTH
Annandale Hotel
Thursday, June 14, 2007
By STEVE ROBINSON
A very wet and miserable Sydney evening ushered in a full house of punters at Rock HQ on Thursday night to witness The Birdmen get back on the road. The usual suspects in the crowd were keen to get into the main room early to have a look at ex-Visitors frontman, the Marquis De Sisto, lead his Vindicators to Smooth the way for the headliners.
And having just recruited ex-Laughing Clowns legendary drummer, Jeff Wegener, the vibe in the room was hopeful. But the sound was dodgy early, with co-singer Madeleine Chase going over the top of Sisto’s lead vocal and the band sounding and looking nervous and stilted. It was going nowhere fast. Which seemed to me to be unfortunate – as there looked to be more under the bonnet.
Coincidence or not, halfway into the set when Chase left the stage, Sisto immediately seemed to loosen up and get into his stride. An atmospheric Doors inspired (he has never hid his influences, has he?) piece really got Wegener shining and the guitarists found the groove. From there it was a sprint to the wire with some inspired alto sax contributions. Good stuff.
I would seek them out again. Wegener will make a real difference to this band. They play the Excelsior on 29 June and are recording soon.
So all that was left to do was to get to the bar, find a spot and to get ready to groove to the mandatory Rolling Stones on the house PA for 20 minutes. But it was quickly evident that there would be no Stones – and the roadies were sound checking a Stratocaster and a Rickenbacker!
What the ______?
We were looking down the barrel of something different here. The room had swelled nicely and there was a new air of expectancy. Rob finally led the guys out and - after bit of retuning of Chris’ Strat – it was straight into the very familiar chords of “Smith and Wesson Blues”. Down the barrel indeed!
The opener was delivered urgently and accurately. Last year's tour had obviously taken this band to a new level. No false starts, no sheepish looks across the stage – just full on high octane rock. “Do the Pop” was quickly delivered from the same page, as was a frantic “Nonstop Girls”.
Chris was still having some tuning demons which helped everyone catch their breath between songs, but the opening staccato notes of “I-94” from Deniz’s cool new blue Ricky got the room going again. And it sounded damn good coming out of the Marshall. Chris traded lead runs with Deniz and also coaxed some great tone out of his sparkle red finish Strat through his Fender rig. Lots of treble on both sides – and I think the overall sound was all the better for it. Very sharp and full of great attack.
The Blue Oyster Cult's “Hot Rails to Hell” followed – and sounded damn good. The Zeno catalogue then got unleashed - courtesy of “Make It Worse” and a splendid “Come So Far”.
We now unequivocally saw the fruits of last years world tour. The old and the new songs were sitting comfortably alongside each other - with equal responses of familiarity and respect from the punters. “April” followed and took things down a gear, with Rob’s vocal sounding much more robust and authoritative than last year.
“Zeno Beach” followed and things seemed to go a little awry at the end, before Deniz launched into “Man With Golden Helmet”. This was unfortunately the low spot of the set, with Pip seeming to get lost behind the beat during his extended solo. Perhaps the onstage sound left something to be desired, but it was a bit of a mess.
But a high energy Zeno trio of “Found Dead”, “Hungry Cannibals” and “Remorseless” quickly put things right. This is where the revelation came. Russell Hopkins just took complete control and started playing his kit like a man possessed. Straight ahead pounding was mixed with delicate cymbal interplay to add accent to the twin guitar assault with supreme precision. This was Radio Birdman hitting their high water mark again.
Jim Dickson should also get a gold star while I’m talking rhythm. His bass playing is as good as ever and he is thriving playing with Rusty at this level of intensity and skill.
While things were hot it was Classic Hits Trio time to the first break – with a furious “Anglo Girl Desire”, a rampant “What Gives” and a “Steve and Danno” that would have made McGarrett break into a grin.
After a short break Deniz came out solo and told the room – with a huge dash of sincerity - that “it was a great privilege to play for all of you”. Nice.
Then straight into “Subterfuge”, which is a great song - and it was played well. Not so “More Fun”, which is past it’s used by date. But “Hand Of Law” saved the day, with Chris absolutely on fire throughout, delivering the majestic guitar runs as if he were still a 20 year old. Deniz threw in a nice bit of blues improvisation which gave the song a loose new dimension.
That should have been stumps.
But they came back for “Brotherhood” – which still does nothing for me. And “New Race’ was left to last. Played with furious passion, but I think there is a case to retire the shirt.
So …..the verdict.
Radio Birdman are well and truly back. This may not have been there best gig ever, but it was sure full of high energy playing at a level way above what was on display last year. Put that down to three things.
a) Russell Hopkinson
b) Touring, and
c) Rediscovered guitar passion.
The USA awaits, as does the Australian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
And Deniz, the privilege is all ours.
Still.
