It's gotta be said, I don't like The Zoo. I know I just offended the entire indie music scene of the town I live in, but my first (and prior to last night, only) visit to the venue resulted in me, (18 years of age at the time) confusedly wondering:

a) why I didn't get any change from the $10 note I handed over for beer
b) why the venue was so crowded and awestruck by the appalling indie rock band that was playing and
c) why the hell the place was SO hot.

I didn't go back, and decided it would take a pretty good band to tempt me back there. Los Angeles based post metallers Pelican were that band.

On the strength of their most recent album City of Echoes (see Andrew Carolan's OzProg review here) Pelican had already thoroughly won my respect with their songwriting, even if the actual performance on the CD left something to be desired. Any doubts of the band's technical proficiency for mine were completely silenced last night. More on Pelican later.

I arrived and noticed the windows were open and there was breeze. Win so far.

I caught up with a few friends as the 3 piece opening act Scul Hazzards were setting up; their actual sound was a semi-interesting hybrid of Tool like guitar work and harder punk rock. Their rockier moments were very raw and dirty sounding, and their bass was pummeling. It's not my favourite sound, and I'm not the most schooled to comment on it, but I will say that it worked well for them.

The primary support act The Stockholm Syndrome were a change of pace. They are a very interesting band, and I'd even go as far as calling them frustrating. At first I'd simply arrived at the conclusion that the sum of their parts was far greater than their actual sound. A great drummer, a metal bassist with a melodic capability for once, guitar work tuned thunderously low and a charismatic singer. They were chaotic and complicated enough to gain my interest and cohesive to sustain it. However there is such a thing as being too boisterous on stage, it can be too much for people to follow, and the awful mid range howling and incredible clipping (I've never heard a mike distort this terribly) of the singer's second microphone EQ, which he used in tandem with the main mike didn't help matters.

Finally I realized that the band was doing far too many clever things to be an unintentionally bad band, simply a very stylized one that I didn't really enjoy. Best of luck to them, they're definitely something else and I've never really heard anything like it.

Pelican came on at 10:30 and within the first 30 seconds of opener "Bliss in Concrete" had proceeded to highlight the difference between local bands and international, touring performance.

Every one of the 4 performers and the sound guy worked in perfect harmony and transfixed the room without much movement, chit chat between songs or even a vocalist. The band were relaxed on stage and when interaction finally came, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-LeBec even thanked the audience for not attending that night's Brisbane Motorhead concert; before joking that they still wouldn't cover any Motorhead to make up for it.

There is no two ways about it: Pelican are a downright terrific live band. When they rock out, they rock out, and it's good, however the band hit their stride in their moodier moments. When they play introspectively, the band's ethereal and meandering sound really takes you away. Watching them I had several of those terrific moments where you suddenly realize that for the past 10 minutes you've been daydreaming, and this is has all been right here; happening in front of your nose.

It's also refreshing to hear a band writing vastly in major keys, especially (albeit with only the song titles) reflecting such bleak subject matter.

Primarily tracks from City of Echoes such as "Far From Fields", "Lost In The Headlights", "City Of Echoes" and "Dead Between The Walls" rang throughout the room while the meek but strong in number Oz audience (for a band of Pelican's level) reacted in kind. Pelican must be in an unenviable, but awe-inspiring position on stage. To look out every night and watch on as faces gradually grow transfixed. By the end of the band's set, everyone in the room was nothing short of captivated.

An undeniably good performance by a terrific band, here's hoping they make a return to our shores again soon.

http://hydrahead.tortugarecordings.com/pelican
www.myspace.com/pelican
www.last.fm/music/Pelican