The night opened to NSW-bred power-pop trio Boy In A Box blasting out some infectiously fun and energetic tunes. Though the band seemed confident in their individuality and musical ability, their nerves did show through at times with some rather wooden attempts at rock ‘n’ roll moves, however frontman Tobias Priddle did his best to dispel this newbie-aura by swigging at a bottle of Jamesons rockstar-style and engaging the audience in some casual banter between songs.
As the crowd of emo kids and unmistakeable Triple J devotees grew, the stage was hastily reset for the grand entrance of Birds of Tokyo, the lighting setup seemingly designed to fit perfectly into the elaborate Greco-Roman architecture of the Forum theatre.
The Birds’ began the show with some powerful tracks from their back catalogue, with hits from 2008’s Universes and 2007’s Day One proving to be the perfect choices to work the crowd into a frenzy, leading them into a run of more subdued tracks from 2010’s Birds of Tokyo. These more emotionally driven tracks, such as ‘Plans’ and the single ‘Circles’ had the crowd swaying appreciatively, but lacked the intensity of the group’s earlier work.
It seems that like many popular acts, the passion has faded somewhat since the Birds’ debut in 2004. The group’s unbounded success over the past few years has been heavily rewarded with a string of awards from WAMi and even an ARIA for ‘Best Rock Album’ with the release of Birds of Tokyo in 2010. Perhaps this success has bred complacency within the band, or perhaps their heavy touring schedule has simply taken its toll. Either way the performance came across forced and lacking in spontaneity. As energetic and powerful as this band’s music can be, this was a plastic reproduction of a hand-carved sculpture – faded and weightless.
As a band with so many awards to their name, the Birds of Tokyo have a serious reputation to live up to, and a plethora of fans to keep happy. And while the venue and the stage setup were befitting of a band of their status, ultimately the band themselves did not deliver. Frontman Ian Kenny’s vocals were weak and certainly didn’t justify his 2007 and 2009 WAMi awards for ‘Best Male Vocalist’, his dance moves were wooden and rehearsed and at one point the band launched into a song completely off-time, taking until the first chorus to bring it together.
The Birds of Tokyo have become an act with some serious sway in the Australian and international music scene, but if they want to maintain their upward trend – not to mention the respect of their fans – they’re going to need to rediscover the intensity of their beginnings,or they may just find themselves falling from the Tokyo sky.
– Jake Vitasovich
