Birds Of Tokyo @ Ruby'sLounge, Melbourne (11/10/2007)

Sun 28th Oct, 2007 in Gig Reviews

The self proclaimed “oasis in a desert of bogans” was the place to be, judging by the packed in crowd at Ruby’s Lounge. With the success and fan base growing rapidly, Perth’s Birds of Tokyo returned to Belgrave on their Minor War Tour to be happily greeted by a near capacity crowd.

First up on the bill were poppy-punk rockers Capeside. Packing six members onto the tiny Ruby’s stage was quite a novelty, especially watching three guitarists attempt to not belt one another by accident. Leigh Pengelly on guitar was the highlight of this outfit, as he trashed manically about his corner of the stage. The backing vocalists really made Capeside’s sound, although overall it seemed pretty generic pop-punk, and the inclusion of a little electro in their final track came too late.

Adelaide four-piece Soft White Machine followed Capeside and unfortunately didn’t get to play long due to extended time setting up. They played a heavier rock than the Birds, though had a similar style. With vocals that sounded similar to Serj Tankian and their drum kit set up with seemingly endless surrounding symbols (cool percussion effects), the band delivered an original sounding, solid rock set with plenty of energy.

With only four of their own lights and some kind of a smoke machine set up around stage, Birds of Tokyo managed to suddenly recreate the Ruby’s stage (which is otherwise very dull) into an almost haunting display. The lads appeared amongst the darkness and pelted into – œBlack Sheets’ with Ian Kenny’s vocal hitting hard and powerful from the first note. In fact, Kenny’s voice was arguably flawless in a lot of songs, as he managed to hit all the biggest notes spot on.

The rest of the crew were all in fine form and all looked to be enjoying themselves as they rocked through tracks off older EPs and their debut album, Day One. They even managed to throw in some new material, with Kenny claiming that next time they came out they’d hopefully have a new record; perhaps early next year.

What’s great about Bird of Tokyo and their fans is that there is an appreciation for both the fast and heavy songs like – œOff Kilter’ and – œGet Out’, but just as equally an appreciation for the slower, more ballad tracks, like – œViolet’ and – œLike Rain’. The crowd demonstrated their appreciation, singing the first few lines for Kenny of the title track of the tour, – œMinor War,’ after hearing the distinct introductory guitar intro.

As they made their way through these tracks, Kenny jokingly claimed they had left – œWayside’ off the set list (there were a bunch of people yelling for it) and that they were one of those bands that wouldn’t play songs that weren’t on the list. Sure enough it came though, right at the very end (including an awesome keyboard solo) and with much praise as most sang along.

It’s good to see that the new owners at Ruby’s haven’t changed the venue or it’s operations, and that the lounge still remains a great intimate setting for live music that caters for those so far out from the city. It’s also great to see bands like Bird of Tokyo keep returning to such local venues, much to the delight of their fans.