Birds of Tokyo

As far as the Australian live music scene goes, you often go through periods of jadedness where nothing impresses, where you feel like you’ve seen it all. Then there are the moments, historical, scene-stealing moments where you feel like you’ve witnessed something of great importance. The first time I saw The Vines or Jet, you couldn’t help but feeling that big things were bound for these guys. I’ve seen Birds of Tokyo a number of times before. Last night, I got that feeling.

A decent crowd had turned out at Sydney’s Metro Theatre for supports Tokenview and Calling All Cars. Calling All Cars were tight, driving and very energetic, and, had the lead singer not had a hunger for the microphone (he nearly swallowed it at one stage) making the lyrics somewhat distorted, they’d have got ten thumbs up. Nine will have to suffice for now.

By the time the lads from Birds of Tokyo took the stage there wasn’t much room left in the Metro, which was great to see. The crowd had been subdued by the lolling sounds of Queens of the Stone Age, Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid, but all it took was a lull in the music and a dimming of the lights to encourage a hum of excitement from the throng. Then, to the hilarious strains of Tenacious D’s Classico, “rocking and f*cking rolling” was set to begin.

The stage lit up with bars of white light, which was visually stunning, and the boys walked on to raucous applause. Ever the professionals, they wasted no time and commenced their tightest set to date. The crowd lapped up songs from the newest album, Universes, which mostly dominated the track listing. Toe tapping abounded to tracks like Broken Bones and Wild Eyed Boy, but tracks like Head In My Hands and An Ode To Death elicited more than one sing-along from the crowd. It was also nice to see that most punters had done their homework, singing along to classic tunes from the band’s first album, Day One, like Off Kilter, Get Out and Black Sheets, which usually get an outing, but it was also great to hear Like Rain live. An earlier track, Stay, at the beginning of the set was a nice surprise, but didn’t get a great response from the crowd – it was the Universes tour after all, and that was what most had come to hear.

Front man Ian Kenny (or just Kenny to the initiated), who you may remember from such rocking bands as Karnivool, remains ever the charmer, and wooed the crowd like there was no tomorrow. His scruffy look takes nothing away from his incredible voice, and there was more than one swoon from the ladies in the crowd, myself included. Guitarist Adam Sparks is always a pleasure to watch, and, having contributed to the writing of some of the tracks, is integral beyond his rocking stage appearance. Adam Weston on drums and Anthonny Jackson on bass, who you may remember from such equally rocking bands as Tragic Delicate, completed the line up.

For a band that has tried for years to shake its side project tag, this was the first outing where they seemed to have thrown it off with gusto. Not only did they stand on their own feet during the biggest show of what has become an almost totally sell-out tour, they firmly planted themselves in the middle of the Metro stage for all and sundry to see in their glory, challenging the crowd to dare consider them anything but a band in their own right. In short, they rocked.

As with Karnivool, the boys seem reluctant to give in to the drawn out, painful process that is the staged encore, and instead finished with what was obviously the crowd favourite, Silhouettic and left the stage promptly. It was sharp, clean and well-executed, and the same can be said of their tracks. If you missed them this time, grab a copy of Universes, join the mailing list, and go see them next time. History is in the making.

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