Birds of Tokyo back for WA concert
Chart-topping rockers Birds of Tokyo and former Little Birdy singer Katy Steele will make rare hometown appearances next month at the fourth annual State of the Art music festival.
Part of the WA Day long weekend celebrations, the multi-stage event in the Perth Cultural Centre on May 30 will be the first Perth show in more than two years for Birds of Tokyo.
The ARIA Award-winning quintet, which headlines the WA born or bred talent at State of the Art, is currently putting the finishing touches on the follow-up to their No. 1 album March Fires.
Meanwhile, Steele returns to the festival stage after two years living in New York.
The diminutive yet powerful singer comes from arguably WA’s first family of music – father Rick is the long-serving president of the Perth Blues Club, brother Luke leads globetrotting electro-pop stars Empire of the Sun and twin brother Jake makes music as Tobacco Rat.
“WA music to me is just home,” Steele said.
State of the Art will be her first full-band performance since finishing work on her debut solo album, due for release later this year.
Other acts returning to the nest include Aussie rock legends You Am I, whose frontman Tim Rogers was born in Kalgoorlie, and Port Hedland-born Gareth Liddiard of award-winning alternative band, the Drones.
The rock heavyweights anchor a local line-up spanning eras and genres, from post-punk icons the Scientists to young pop purveyors Rainy Day Women; from hip-hop veterans Downsyde to indigenous jazz singer Lois Olney.
State of the Art also features the best of WA’s burgeoning electronic and hip-hop scenes, notably white-hot producer Sable and the Community Supergroup honcho Diger Rokwell.
Sable, the non de plume of John Dewhurst, described the local music landscape as unique.
“I think WA’s got the advantage of being insulated from the rest of Australia, so we can develop our own scene,” he said.
Rokwell, who co-founded long-running music and arts collective the Community, agreed that Perth’s isolation was as much a blessing as a hindrance.
“We’re very proud of Perth,” he said. “We’re really pushing diverse and different sounds and aren’t worried about what’s the trend.”
State of the Art was held in the cultural centre for the first time last year, attracting an estimated 4000 music lovers.
Organisers expect the bumper bill playing across three ticketed stages with free entertainment to draw at least those numbers again next month.
Tickets available from sotafest.com.au
