It says something about the progression of the Australian music industry when a local band – and not exactly one which the average Joe on the street would even know – can attract such an acclaimed international support. And while there could easily have been a case for this to be a true co-headline show, Silversun Pickups fans would be treated to their own headline slot (albeit at a smaller venue) three nights earlier. On an early trip to the men’s room for yours truly, urinal talk suggested the crowd were rather evenly split as to who they were there for. And even when one already inebriated man was at a loss as to who these “Pickups” were, all was ok when he was told they had a “chick” in the band.

Even on record, Silversun Pickups rely on a fuzzy, distorted sound, so it was a little overwhelming that the mix for the band was still being tweaked as they kicked off with ‘Growing Old Is Getting Old’. The boys – and chick – soon cranked things up a little though, as ‘There’s No Secrets This Year’ and ‘Future Foe Scenarios’ sounded great. Lead vocalist Brian Aubert then struggled a little to bring out the poppiness of ‘Substitution’, but all was forgiven with the memorable closing duo of ‘Panic Switch’ & ‘Lazy Eye’. The melodies of both simply overwhelmed the audience as Aubert shined with his guitar-work and transitioning from gentle to enraged vocals in a heartbeat.

Having only seen front-man Ian Kenny’s “other” band Karnivool live, I was not sure what to expect from Birds Of Tokyo. Sure, their relatively traditional rock style was more my taste than the progressively heavy Karnivool, but would it turn out just a little (for want of a better word) boring in a live setting. Needless to say, it did not take long for my doubts to be cast aside. In fact, it was about the time Ian opened his mouth. Mr. Kenny may be as bad a dancer as Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett (who is now an Australian politician FFS) and is totally confused as to which direction he wants to take with his hair, but the man simply has the best vocals in the land right now. While the band played competently throughout (ably assisted by a synth player who impressively handled keys & strings duties), the audience were undoubtedly in Ian Kenny’s hands from beginning to end.