Photo: Elleni Toumpas

It's pretty hard to dislike opening act Hungry Kids Of Hungary, who are in top form showcasing the best power-pop in Brisbane tonight. Their multiple harmonies and casual grins entice members of the audience to border the stage, with two young gents dancing right at the front, irrespective of who might be watching. That's called a metaphor, kiddies.

Am I allowed to make a tongue in cheek reference to The Bawdies approaching their performance with Japanese efficiency and precision? No? Oops. In any event, these four immaculately dressed put on a hell of a show, their retro revival rock set whipping the crowd into a frenzy of '50s dance moves. Lead vocalist Roy does his best crossing the language barrier, but hearing him say 'let me introduce my member!' before introducing the band was worth the ticket price alone.

Following such a high intensity set, Melbourne's The Basics are sadly an anticlimax. Sure, they can interact with the audience better and their musical points of reference are from the same period, but they prefer the Roy Orbison 'let's sway in the dark' school of songwriting, and I suspect the crowd are looking for something more energetic. Having said that, drummer Wally de Backer's has an amazingly fluid quality, ably backed by his two bandmates. Plus they cover Roxanne in the encore, how could I say bad things about that?

MITCH ALEXANDER 

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