With the sudden closure of the Troubadour, the Brisbane length of The Jezabel's Dark Storm Tour had to be quickly relocated to The Zoo, and the date shifted to a Sunday night. I have to say, it's the best Sunday night out I'd had in a while.

Canadian four-piece Two Hours Traffic warmed up the crowd with their cheery brand of rock, full of bright pop guitars with a bit of tambourine thrown in for good measure.

The band launched with "Happiness Burns", a song about one joyful day, complete with cruisy guitar and husky vocals. The boys followed this up a mix of equally bright tunes and more mellow numbers such as "Wicked Side", which has a strong beat and slow melancholy vocals.

Their rendition of "Noisemaker" was pure energy, with the sheer volume of the song getting my toes tapping as they ripped through furious guitar and a driving beat. The set was rounded up sith Stuck, another standout number with a fantastic drum solo.

The Jezabels took to the stage to a large amount of applause, launching into a set absolutely brimming with energy and technical skill. Hayley Mary’s dynamic stage presence dominated the set... this woman was practically a force of nature , belting out talented vocals and energetically dancing in an infinitely memorable way.

Mary showed off an immense range pouring emotion into every song with vocals that were alternately hauntingly husky and high and sweet. The one thing each song’s vocals had in common was the amount of raw power imbuing the lyrics.
Complex lyrics were teamed with rich instrumental mixes to produce a great unique sound, that just blows you away when heard live. Sam Lockwood provided dramatic, flawless guitar with Heather Shannon’s skilful keys adding a layer of complexity and Nik Kaloper’s drumming helping it all flow together.
Popular hit "Mace Spray" really gained something live, with every sound and vocal tone gaining a level of drama present throughout the entire set.
"Sahara Mahala" was similarly all raw energy with Mary’s rich vocals shining and Shannon’s keys rippling through subtle guitar and driving drums.
"She’s So Hard" stood out as the sole slow song in an energetic set, but judging from the swaying of the audience and contented smiles, no one minded the change in pace.

The band members were so finely attuned to each others’ performance, with every part of the performance going smoothly. A perfect example of this occurred during "She’s So Hard" when Hayley adjusted the sound on Shannon’s keyboard during an instrumental. Moments later, Shannon removed one hand from the keys to swing a mike in front of her in time to provide back up for Mary’s resumed vocals.

Do yourself a favour, see The Jezabels live as soon as possible - they’re quickly gaining a following and with performances like this, tickets won’t be quite so easy to get in the future.