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Perth MusicBirds Of Tokyo Live @ The Wireless Review
Sunday 3rd August 2008
Fly By Nightclub, Fremantle
Birds Of Tokyo
Abbe May & the Rockin Pneumonia
Harlequin League
It was that time of the year when Triple J made the journey over to the West for a special Live @ the Wireless performance by a fantastic group of WA bands. Birds Of Tokyo have just released their sophomore album Universes to a fantastic reception and to get ready for a national tour they played a special afternoon gig to lucky fans. Abbe May is loved by almost all WA music lovers as well as Triple J and she has had a fantastic year playing festivals and her own gigs all over town. Harlequin League are building their reputation as strong up and comers and have their debut EP coming out at the end of this month. All in all it was a great selection of WA bands to represent WA on the national stage.
After a bit of a delay in letting people in to the Fly By Nightclub (due to apparently getting sound check just right for the radio) and a introduction from Triple J’s Rosie Beaton, Harlequin League jumped on stage to a growing audience. Visibly excited about playing a high profile gig the boys were intent on proving their worth. Great guitar work, fantastic energy and even double drumming was a perfect start to the afternoon as more and more audience members crept closer to the stage and started bopping along to the rockin tunes. Itchy Heart and Bones were electric highlights of the set as the band garnered plenty of new fans who must be eager to see how big this new band will get.
A short break was followed by Abbe May and The Rockin Pneumonia arriving on stage to an appreciative applause. As the first song started Abbe started to sing but no sound was coming from the microphone. This continued for about 3 minutes, followed by frantic sound guys trying to figure out what was going on. A few loud screeches of distortion finally ended the song with a disappointed look and a laugh from Abbe. The sound was then finally fixed and the band rocked into their set. Abbe May has one of the best female voices in Australia and she had it on perfect display this afternoon. Some great blues songs filled the newly renovated Fly By Nightclub but a lot of the crowd were young music lovers that might not have had the patience to enjoy it. As Abbe May and The Rockin Pneumonia walked off stage the electricity in the room lifted as the band all were there to see were up next.
Rosie Beaton was on stage again to introduce the band of the moment and get the radio guys ready to press record. Ian Kenny and band walked on stage with confidence but mentioned that they “had never done anything like this before where a show was recorded live and they were shitting themselves”. Starting off with crowd favourite Broken Bones, the Birds Of Tokyo were intent on making this a show to remember. Plenty of songs were played from the new album Universes as well as a good sample of songs from Day One with the crowd singing along to most songs. Getting ready for a huge national tour it was obvious the Birds Of Tokyo were in perfect form, from the thunderous drumming, the magic guitar and bass combos and Ian Kenny’s powerful vocals. When this recording does come out on Triple J make sure you catch it.
