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There is one thing Birds of Tokyo fans do better than any other audience; sing. Try to sing along by yourself with Ian Kenny and unless you have a phenomenal vocal talent yourself, you will find it quite difficult to hit exactly the same notes throughout. Perhaps it’s a harmony thing, but when an audience of a thousand or more sing along to the same song it sounds impressively tuneful. It was noticeable less often during this set because the arrangements had changed, however when Kenny sang “I hate my melodies,” the low response from the gathered fans “they’re all the same” was beautiful enough to bring a tear to the eye.

Thanks to Britney and her legion of vapid fans, many of the Birds’ audience were late to the gig – the lack of parking necessitating a walk of 30 minutes or more. Nevertheless by 9pm the Burswood Theatre was mostly full with a spellbound crowd marvelling at the unparalleled sound quality in the venue and how well everyone’s favourite pop/rock songs stood up to the string quartet and grand piano treatment.

Sitting on stools in their own spotlights across the front of the stage were Anthonny Jackson, who alternated between electric and acoustic bass throughout, centre stage was Kenny, and to his left Adam Spark on guitar and harmony duties. And what harmonies! Spark’s voice is often lost in the recordings because he pitches so well to the main melody, but in this acoustic setting, it was clear that it is his voice that adds the richness we have come to love from this band.

On a drum riser, between and behind Jackson and Kenny, sat Adam Weston looking neat and often exuberant as he played beats more complex than they looked, with the backlighting and smoke drawing the audience to focus on his part in the music more often than usual. To his left was Glenn Sarangapany, long associate and touring partner, seated at a shiny grand piano and to his left, the string quartet.

The new arrangement of the songs allowed one to focus and separate the parts played by specific instruments, and spurred a striking realisation that all the parts of the music are written to blend and complement the other instruments rather than have one part outshine the others. Perhaps the synergy created by this approach is what makes it so appealing.

The stage was sparsely set with just three colours, black, silver and gold dominating. The floor spots lit up the audience as often as they lit up the band creating an unusual sense of intimacy, as if you shared the performance with only the few people beside and immediately in front of you. As if the band were there to perform for you personally. In a sense they were, The Birds of Tokyo are one of the few bands that genuinely respect and love their fans, particularly the ones who have been there from the beginning. As they acknowledged numerous times, their fans give the band the confidence to pursue their dreams.

There is something compelling about watching Kenny sing; even having heard the songs eleventeen times, each performance has the integrity of a new song. Despite knowing that he has sung the same song over and over and must be sick of it by now, his delivery still seemed heartfelt and truthful. Listening, there was a sense that whatever inspired the song happened just yesterday, and he sang as if telling a close friend about something that just happened. The emotional honesty that came through created a sense that this man trusts us with his heart-truths and made you forget that you don’t actually know him at all.

Returning to the stage after intermission, Kenny and Spark did a stripped down, chest clenching rendition of Marvin Gaye’s Grapevine and perhaps this is a total fangrrl response, but for the duration of the song, the two boys were singing about a real personal experience of a woman they both loved. Every song wove its own magic into the crowd, but this night, Broken Bones was the one that was the most breathtaking, thanks to the stunning piano build-up and reduced tempo that allowed each word time to become saturated with meaning before the next was placed alongside it.

A standing ovation and stomping demands for an encore that had those in the lounge concerned for the stability of the balcony above, and they returned, flushed with love from the crowd, and humble about their success, thanking us for our love and support, before finishing us off with Get Out and Sillhouettic and bows and grins for the second standing ovation before we were disgorged from the theatre to the harsh reality of the still heaving Britney audience.

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