After 8 years as a band, Red Riders have decided to call it a day after two early EP's and two subsequent albums. With a strong local following and a memorable tour with Dappled Cities up their sleeves it seems the members have plans to go a new direction rather than changing what has been a well loved band that perhaps never reached the fame they deserved. It is a respectful yet small catalogue they leave behind. Tonight at the Oxford Art Factory is the final show the Red Riders are performing. And respectfully it's sold out.

Lucky enough to gain the support slot was Loon Lake from QLD. A semi full OAF looked to the stage initially bewildered but content to tap their toes. The first thing everyone was thinking was "What is with the age difference of this band's members?" Word slowly spread that it was a brotherly link; three of them to be exact, with two friends. However, despite the age disparity - the youngest looking under the drinking age - this band was surprisingly tight. My only real issue with their sound was that the lead guitarist (one of the more mature members) seemed to have some guitar hero moments that just didn't sit with what I could hear coming from the rest of the band.

When Sam on vocals first opens his mouth to sing you take a step back because the pitch of his voice is much higher than expected. This was expanded by his speaking voice, with his crowd interaction coming across as a typical QLD pub larrikin. The strongest part of this set was their single "In The Summer" which many in the crowd suddenly realised they knew and started to bounce around finally with some real intent. All in all a decent little pop rock performance and we may hear from them again.

So the moment finally arrived and Red Riders took the stage for what was billed as their final appearance. The Oxford Art Factory was filled like a stuffed bream. There was barely any room to move though a few late arrivals still managed to force their way to the front. A loud applause greeted the band who seemed eager to provide an entertaining goodbye to all their fans. The set list was fairly apt in many places. "C'mon" opened the set to motivate the crowd, though they hardly needed any pushing. Immediately you could feel the warmth of their sound.

The set itself featured a good smattering of songs from across their career with a number of tracks from their two EP's wedging in between some of their better known albums tracks, especially early in the show. "Slide in Next to Me" was third up followed by "Scream" and the mood was truly set. Andrew Grigg on vocals and guitar showed good crowd interaction and has become a very comfortable front man. Soon after, "A.S.P.I.R.I.N" was up and one could have been forgiven for thinking they were touring first album Replica Replica. This however can be easily be explained by original lead guitarist Adrian Deutsch joining the lads to reminisce about the good old days for the first half of the set.

Like any good show, the night was moving along at a vibrant pace and before we knew it Adrian was leaving the stage to be replaced by second album lead guitarist Brad Heald, better known as the bassist from The Vines. "You've Got a Lot of Nerve" made an immediate impact on the audience with "The Siren Song", "Feels Like Grace" and "Never Gonna Be Enough" carrying on the vibe. It is rare for a band to provide such a litany of quality material over such a small collection of releases as the Red Riders have managed. Although Alexander just states in a nonchalant manner that it's ridiculously easy to write a popular song if you just write in the correct key, maybe he was stating that the band found it too easy to write songs and that they broke up because they were bored of not being challenged. Either that or they didn't think they deserved to sellout the OAF. He may change his tune if his next project fails to have such a popular underground impact.

Adrian returned to the stage to create a five piece to complete the set which was finished up with "My Love is Stronger Than Your Love" and the most requested song of the night "Ordinary". Post encore it was time for celebratory cake! Well, homemade cupcakes which I must admit were very tasty. It was then time for an even more apt song placement of "This is the Beginning of the End of the Night" and the conclusion with EP track "Unstoppable". Perhaps more sarcastic than apt. All in all this was a great performance and an enjoyable gig. The only real shame was the crowd; both the number of people, and some annoying punters up front. This show was clearly oversold. To those that enjoyed this band throughout the years, this was a sad evening. However, it was a great night to remember a great Sydney band and let's hope they bring us more great music in the future in whatever projects they work on. I can attest that bass player Matt Chapman's new band Peppercorn are on the way to doing just that.