Birds Of Tokyo @ The Gov, Adelaide 12/9/2019
Birds Of Tokyo kicked off their Good Lord Australian tour with the first of two nights at the home of live music The Gov. It was of no surprise that both shows are completely sold out and I’m sure a third would have done equally as well. The band haven’t skimped on the production either bringing a stage get up geared for theatre show but they made it work really well on a small stage. Lights, special effects on the screens that surrounded the stage were unique to each song and really did another dimension to the show.
From a fan perspective it was great to hear some songs that don’t normally get a run including set opener White Witch. Holy shit! Despite some minor sound issues it was a ripping open. With front man Ian Kenny welcoming Adelaide to “the rock show” you can’t help but feel total empathy for his personal struggles over the last couple of years which has translated in to some soul cleansing new tunes. With the fans in the palm of his hand you can’t help but feel that the crowd were literally throwing their arms around him. I really dig Empire and I’d Go With You Anywhere but it’s when they dart back to Universes were they seem invincible. Broken Bones and Wild Eyed Boy were brilliantly done.
Ian Kenny doesn’t need to pad the set with pointless banter just letting the music do its thing. He’s a great singer and has more charisma than he realises. Their self-titled album didn’t feature as prominently this tour but did include set staples Circles, Plans and Wild At Heart. Oh my god! How good was Silhouettic? Damn good! More recent single Brace is proving to be a good one live and it was good to hear Wayside from the almost forgotten debut album Day One.
The run home was a real treasure trove of hits featuring Unbreakable, the ever enduring Lanterns and the big chart single Good Lord highlighting Kenny’s struggles with a marriage that didn’t work out. The crowd sung it word for word closing with a group therapy session of sorts. It was a powerful moment to close their set.
The crowd wanted more and the band returned for a couple more. Birds Of Tokyo are in an enviable position with the songs they can leave out because they have so many good ones so it was going to be interesting to see what they would go with. New single Greatest Mistakes was stellar finishing up on This Fire. The show was that good I really wish I was backing up and returning for night two.
Live Review By Rob Lyon