Live Review: Birds Of Tokyo, Ecca Vandal

Sydney’s iconic Metro Theatre is well known for housing big bands in a small venue with cheap entry and a good vibe — and tonight’s experience was definitely well in keeping with tradition. Walking up the perpetually sticky steps to the upstairs bar area was all it took to realise that the crowd was as diverse and eclectic as Birds Of Tokyo’s frontman and Australian mainstay Ian Kenny’s music over the years.

The crowd was starting to pour in and warm up as Melburnian Ecca Vandal took the stage — gearing up with a long guitar and vocal intro before smashing her way through a short list of hard-hitting, exciting and at times Cranberries-esque vocal stylings. Although amicably trying to warm up local punters it was pretty clear from the lack of crowd interaction that most people were there for one thing — to see the critically acclaimed headliners pump out a set of powerful, funky singalongs.

As the boys from Perth made their way on stage the crowd roared with anticipation. Not ones to let down their raucous fans, they burst into Weight Of The World before taking Sydneysiders on a journey that spanned their whole discography, including ARIA-topping Plans, Wild At Heart and This Fire all the while managing to show off all four tracks from their new EP Anchor. Not even the caked-on booze glue that stuck every shoe to the ground could stop people from dancing, singing and cheering along. Teens, 20- and 30-somethings and older parents alike couldn’t help but groove along to the boys’ trademark dancey and excitable onstage personas.

It was clear from the smiles on the faces of people as they left that Birds Of Tokyo had done exactly what they had all paid to see — they came, they sang, they conquered.