It’s hard to beat a good night of rockabilly music, complete with banjos and harmonicas; especially hard when that band is The Snowdroppers.
Hailing from Sydney and having grown bigger and bigger over the last few years, the four-piece are making their way around the country in support of their latest offering, Moving Out Of Eden.
Having already played most dates on the tour, the band was ready to hit Brisbane’s Zoo with support from Little Bastard and Moses Gunn Collective, the latter of which get the night underway. The Brisbane five-piece start just before 9pm with a short yet satisfying opening set.
At a still fairly empty capacity, the Zoo welcomes the next band, Little Bastard, to the stage. As the seven-piece band walk on, it’s a little difficult to determine exactly what they’re going to be like as the look of the band is different with every member, however obviously supporting The Snowdroppers – it’s a pretty good guess.
Getting stuck in without any delay, Little Bastard start off with a high energy set complete with mandolins, banjos, acoustics, tambourines, harmonicas, violins, and a revolving band… how can you go wrong.
The sound is strong and the band are having a lot of fun making it quite an enjoyable experience, at one point it even feels like some kind of old fashioned hoedown.
With both supports out of the way, little by little people start to filter in to the venue, though only really hitting about half capacity (if that), the crowd are ready for the rockabilly glory that is Snowdroppers.
Kicking the set off with “Baby No More”, the band have the fans singing along from the get-go before those drums and guitar kick in to make everyone jump about.
“Rosemary” gets an early play in the set, prompting frontman Johnny Wishbone to show everyone the pelvic workout that goes along with the song.
After a new number and a head banging song about “being a man,” the banjo comes out for its first appearance in the set to much applause. “We’re Getting So Much Better At Making Each Other Feel Worse” is the song that has the brilliant instrument’s honours. Dedicated to “couples and married folk” the song has everyone singing along.
“Moving Out Of Eden” and “White Dress” keep the new songs coming and prove that the band’s latest album is just as full of live brilliance. Still nothing quite comes close to “Do The Stomp”, that from the moment the drums intro starts up, has the whole audience losing their minds.
With harmonicas in tow, the song just has it all. A “shit fucking yeah” from the crowd gets the band pumping into the end of their set before the encore that Wishbone warned everyone of takes place. “Just act dumb,” Wishbone asks of everyone as the band take to the stage.
The encore absolutely goes off, abd instead of playing their own material, Snowdroppers perform rousing renditions of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town”.
Getting the crowd as involved as they can, the group have everyone singing select parts to each song, sending the night out with a bang.
There’s no doubt about it, the Snowdroppers are a rising force to be reckoned with in the Australian live scene and are a must-see act.
