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When British India were touring their debut album Guillotine it was the single Run the Red Light that got a sing along from the crowds. Tonight’s show proved they’ve come a long way from that one single.

Opening the night to an already packed venue were Perth’s Long Gone Midnight. While nothing inspiring, they put on a solid performance. Long Gone Midnight seem to have their sound and their live show pretty well figured out, and it shows, but this band still need to find the songs that show off their capabilities best.

Unlike a large portion of Australian musicians, British India are a band with few pretensions. They’re unmistakably honest, in their music and their performance and it makes for a refreshing change. Tonight this was most easily recognised in the ease with which they won over the crowd. The mostly male, lad-ish audience seemed the type to be both easily won over and easy lost, but British India could do no wrong by them. Within the first few songs the band offered up two singles Run the Red Light and Tie Up My Hands from their first album.

The ardor that front man Declan Melia committed to each song fed the eager crowd, who were quick to follow every word and each guitar stroke. Each band member was as committed to the performance, with seemly unrelenting energy throughout the set. As the band moved through the set the introduction of current single Vanilla was met with the expected enthusiasm, but tonight’s crowd had to earn this one. Bassist Will Drummond picked this rather inopportune moment to be having guitar trouble. Despite little effort from the remaining band members to entertain the crowd while the problem was being resolved, they were granted an awful lot of grace from a restless audience – eager to hear the track they’d just been promised.

Melia certainly had it right when he told the audience that Perth was always good to them. And suitably, all was forgiven with the first chords of Vanilla. The band continued with the same zealousness as Melia’s conviction was clear with his shout out loud, sing along vocals. Following with yet another single God is Dead (Meet the Kids) it was no surprise that the boisterous crowd knew almost every word to the whole set.

While the night was still young at barely eleven, the set was drawing to a close, but not without one last kick from the band’s catalogue of stage worthy singles. Sticking to their usual set closer, British India played Black and White Radio. The crowd is rarely the focus of a show, but to see an audience so enamoured with a band is a sure indication of the quality and consistency of their live performances. British India have obviously mastered both of these things.

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