British India played at the ANU as part of their ‘March into the Ocean’ tour. Supported by The City Riots and Boy in a Box, the venue was half filled with a mainly male crowd by the time I got there, just as The City Riots finished.

Boy in a Box performed a spirited set but the crowd wasn’t exactly engaged, with more standing than dancing. That didn’t stop the boys giving it their all though, no-one could say they lacked energy when playing power-pop single, ‘Moon Comes Up,’ and, ‘We are the Warriors’.

Front man Tobias Priddle had the necessary charm, charisma and cheekbones to draw attention from the small female portion of the audience and the rest of the band warrant special mention for their matching white shirts.

They ended their set with much debauchery, with all members using the last of their energy in a fit of noise, instrument whacking and piggy backs around the stage.

When a slightly haggard looking British India finally leapt onto the stage, the pedal was to the metal from the first bar of music. I had heard about their infamous live shows, and their sound was rougher and heavier than I had expected, which was not a bad thing.

They certainly didn’t wait around to get into their solid list of hits with, ‘Run the Red Light,’ one of the first songs played. This got the rowdy, testosterone-fuelled crowd riled up, and a crazy hour of heavy moshing began. Lead singer Declan Melia was dressed in a wu-tang t-shirt and grey hoodie, which at one point, he placed over his head and sang through. He was chatty throughout the set, talking about previous visits to Canberra and double checking whether he was at the ‘pretentious’ university or the ‘bogan one’.

Songs like, ‘I’ll Wait For You,’ and, ‘She Prefers Older Men,’ were hard and fast, and the timing of slower ‘Vanilla’ was perfect to give the fatigued crowd a break before their most popular song ‘I Said I’m Sorry.’ At the end of their set the boys went ballistic, using every instrument on stage to make as much noise as possible. Predictably, the crowd went crazy with crowd surfers and shoulder rides making the security guards earn their keep.

British India proved again why they are regarded as one of Australia’s finest live acts with no intention of slowing down any time soon.

Photography by Chris Whitfield.