Apologies to both Blame Ringo and The Deckchairs; a prior engagement with another band called Wilco made me late.  From what I’ve heard and seen before of both these bands, I can say with 100 percent certainty that they put on a good show.

Charlie Mayfair, the folk-pop based five piece from this very town (Brisbane for those not keeping score) wander on stage.  Writing about Charlie Mayfair is a tough thing to recall…but more on that later; the stage itself is worth mentioning.  A pleasantly out of place background for The Zoo showing a silhouette of a tree, as opposed to the general utilitarian wall that usually stands behind bands.  As the band runs through their latest release, Watch My Hands, with songs packed with soaring melodies and harmonies from pretty much every performer, the crowd reacts very, very supportively. Forerunner single Run gets great reactions, with clean guitar and a jingly xylophone playing the background, and show highlight "If I Fell Down" provides a call-and-response dialogue between the band members over a haunting background sound.

For such a new band, it’s surprising, even knowing the amount of coverage and amount of support they’ve garnered through JJJ Unearthed and playing around Brisbane.  I sincerely hope they continue to get this level of enthusiasm on the rest of the tour.

While the music is uplifting, sorrowful and I can’t stress enough, thoroughly enjoyable and great to listen to, the band themselves are relatively static throughout.  Whilst I do understand that it’s unreasonable for an indie-folk band to provide Phil Jamieson-esque stage antics such as jumping from speaker stacks, a little crowd interaction can go a long way in drawing the audience into the act.  As such, upon leaving the Zoo, I know that I’ve listened to some of Brisbane’s premier indie songsters give it their all, but somehow come away from it slightly underwhelmed.