Rant - The Zoo

The Zoo is probably my favourite live music venue. I’ve never been to a bad gig there. It’s closely followed by the Tivoli, which I’ve also not had a bad night at but is a bit more dependent on the big name acts it brings in. It doesn’t seem to matter who’s playing at The Zoo, whether it’s Aussie folk royalty The Whitlams or a local act I’m previously unaware of. Tim Freedman tastefully described it as “just the right size; like a finger up a bum.”*

Size wise its main competitor would probably be the Arena, who are more than capable of putting on a bad gig. However size isn’t everything as shown by the Brisbane Entertainment Centre which is an outright ugly venue, poorly located and gives the feeling that they’ve just put a pro wrestling show or the police auction on hold to let [international act] in for the night.

So there’s half my dream gig worked out, the Zoo as the venue and The Fumes as the opening act. As much as the Fumes are more than capable of headlining, if you’re not psyched up after bearing witness to how much noise these two can make chances are you’re that charming deaf guy who sells origami. Now I just have to work out the second opener/first headliner and headline act.

Really this place spews forth good vibes and indie credentials as if there’s a hint of morphine transferred when they stamp you. Drinks are reasonably priced and the ‘you have entered a please and thank you establishment’ at the bar makes me smile every time. It’s enough of something new to stay interesting and enough of something old to measure the guitar solos by how many audience members pick up an instrument the next day.

*Can’t remember if this is exactly what he said but he was more than a few wines into his set and it definitely involved fingers in bums with relation to the Zoo being a perfect fit.