Live Review: Regurgitator, Godswounds, Mystery School

Not even a rainy, chilly Thursday can stop devout fans from flocking to The Zoo for the return of Brisbane's own triple j royalty. But first Mystery School opens the night as a sole performer, providing a few guitar hooks and plenty of nasally ramblings over a digital drum backing. Depending on your mood it could be considered self-indulgent nonsense or the sound of a musical visionary — most likely the former. 

Sydney experimentalists Godswounds produce a rhythmic rollercoaster of impressively tight tunes resembling a new-age Mr Bungle. Their set is impossible to predict; it's constantly changing pace, full of songwriting intricacies and time signature changes that sound a lot like if manic schizophrenia had a soundtrack. With only one or two breaks, the audience is perfectly exhausted by the set's end.

After two-and-a-half years with next to no hometown live shows, Aussie legends Regurgitator take the stage in typical Regurgitator fashion, flourishing flowing gold capes to enhance their already regal status. The crowd before them is as varied as the band's music, ranging from the middle-aged in business suits who look like they saw the band's first gigs almost two decades ago to those meddling youths and everything in-between. Every time you see the 'Gurge in the flesh is a reminder that you have forgotten just how much of their repertoire you know and how difficult the band is to pigeonhole. The guys charge through a wide scope of genres with the high-energy of an ADHD kid on speed. From poppy classic Polyester Girl and the '90s rock monster that brought back memories of getting up early to watch Rage or Recovery, Black Bugs, to the hip hop-flavoured Kong Foo Sing, the whole span of the band's releases is covered. Even Tony Abbott gets a shout-out when it's announced I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am is about to start. Anyone who has seen the 'Gurge before will most likely remember a band whose recordings do very little justice to the 90-odd minutes of pure fun that is their live show and nothing has changed, which is perfect for tonight they're launching their first-ever live album, Nothing Less Than Cheap Imitations. By the end of their raucous set (as it so often seems to do) The Zoo has transformed into a giant sauna just in time for the finale ! (The Song Formerly Known As), ending the night with the crowd pogoing in a display of synchronicity. 

Until you've seen grown men onstage wearing gold capes and a crowd screaming, "I will lick your asshole," at full volume, you haven't lived.