RADIO Birdman are a myth, an urban legend your parents used to tell you.
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They're the boogeyman hiding under your bed, just waiting to erupt in a whirlwind of blood, sweat and tears.
In their '70s heyday they would rule Sydney's streets, with lines outstretched for blocks as fans packed into venues like Paddington Town Hall and the Oxford Funhouse.
A similar scene ensued in Newcastle 40 years on last Friday night, despite greying hair and earlier bedtimes.
At the tender age of 66, guitarist Deniz Tek spends the show pounding away on his Telecaster. Age has done nothing to the strength of his fingers and the sheer grit he puts into his performance.
Meanwhile frontman Rob Younger allows his erratic stage movements to do the talking. Younger may well have been dancing like Peter Garrett long before the Midnight Oil singer was, with his hands flailing in the air, arms outstretched and moving in unpredictable formations as if electricity was shooting through his body.
Keys player Pip Hoyle rounds out the trio of original members. Dressed in an all-black suit and topped with a bright red tie, he captivates the crowd with a classical piano solo in Man With Golden Helmet and glides through slick organ lines in the doo wop hell ride Zeno Beach.
It's a rare occasion you'll find a keyboard player in a punk band, but here it pays off.
The show is astounding. Many audience members turn up to re-live their youth, but the band are careful not to be labelled as purely a nostalgia act. The 90-minute set extends across their entire career, climaxing with Aloha Steve and Danno and a tribute to the recently-deceased Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators.
In the encore, it was a treat to hear a cover of MC5's Kick Out The Jams, before ending on a high with their own pub punk anthem New Race.
Radio Birdman are arguably more important to the development of Australian rock and punk music than any other band. Silverchair even cite them as a key influence.
Their name should line the world's history books ahead of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and even, The Saints. They were punk before punk had a name.
The crowd dispersed out onto the icy winter streets just after midnight, knowing that birdmen do fly, and 40 years later, they've still got it.