Live Review: Andrew WK, Aleister X, Scraps - The Zoo

For a man who has literally dedicated his life to partying, you'd imagine a birthday celebration would be something to behold. Tonight Brisbane finds out.

Scraps, aka Laura Hill, ducks on stage in a shimmery gold wig which acts as a shield against the massive cavernous room she plays to. A mere sprinkling of people are scattered around, though most are supportive of the meekest act on tonight's bill. Hushed vocals over cheesy synth beats and sweetly-constructed pop progressions do little to dominate and, while you might wish she was a little more confident, you can't blame her for not being so.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Aleister X. The British MC literally tumbles onto stage – Juggalo paint all over his face – and launches into his messy “fuckin intro”. Thankfully things tighten up a little as his set proper begins, when the vibe is less manic he becomes a little more distinguishable. He's still pretty hard to understand; it seems like a lot of talk about bitches and getting high from where we're standing.

A siren blares through the speakers, the first of many “party, party, party” chants goes up throughout the crowd and Andrew WK hits the stage with frenetic force launching into It's Time To Party, bouncing around the stage hollering over a backing track with gusto. He leaps onto the riser where his electric piano sits and lets loose on the keys – he is a formidable pianist and his neo-classical shredding plays a big part in tonight's proceedings – and launches into Take It Off. Ready To Die is ferocious before he changes things up with a little N'awlins inspired tropicalia on the piano. We Want Fun with its “We wanna have fun and we wanna get wasted!” chorus is stirring, but then he brings something of a strangely sombre yet positive tone to proceedings, preaching about how life really is worth living before things go nuts again with You Will Remember Tonight. The night's first crowd surfer is up during I Love New York City – which Andrew WK changes to Brisbane City – and then he gives a ridiculous number of high fives to those at the front of the stage. A rambunctious Party Hard follows, after which Andrew WK and the majority of the crowd countdown from 96 before he blasts through I Get Wet.

And then, the party is over. It's hard to even comprehend that it's possible that Andrew WK has said good night and left the building, so everyone just stands around and looks at the stage. Five minutes after the lights have gone up, another “party, party, party” chant commences, but to no avail; it's clear we need to take what we've learned about partying tonight and apply it to our everyday lives, we can't rely on him forever.