A cold Melbourne night greeted fans waiting outside to see acoustic pop singer/songwriter Josh Pyke. As the fans slowly rolled in, the standing area took a definite look: romantic. The European-inspired surroundings and the blue-lit roof was hypnotising. However, it was a little sickly to see so many couples holding each other and kissing. Thankfully, the opening band took to the stage not long after.
Opening band Triple Threat wanted to make a good connection with the crowd, with the drummer sitting along with the rest of the band rather than at the back like most drummers, they also sounded very tight and clearly have their fair share of talent. However, that talent isn’t being fully utilised. They lack originality, sounding like any other hipster band at the moment, with monotonous songs to boot. Hopefully as the members of Triple Threat get older, they will develop their unique sound.
Gossling was up next and relieved on so many fronts. The singer/keyboardist sounds almost identical to Lisa Mitchell; a huge tick right there. Technically, the dynamics of the band worked very together, and the accents in the music added to the band’s great sound. A solo cover of Chris Isaac’s ‘Wicked Game’ was very impressive while a fully-back rendition of ‘Dance the Way I Feel’ had most of the crowd singing and bopping along. The second last song the band played about ‘the hussy’ was absolutely terrific. Gossling and her band have so much potential to make their mark in this industry, and hopefully their next project will see them continue to rise.
An eager anticipation soon took hold for the start of Josh Pyke’s set. The Triple J (and ladies’) favourite took to the stage, receiving a hearty applause from an energetic crowd. The intimate setting allowed the fans to be up close with the Sydney-sider. Pyke played a few rarely performed songs throughout the set including ‘Parking Lots’ and ‘Feeding the Wolves,’ which made the diehards very happy.
‘The Lighthouse Song’ went down very, along with ‘Fill You In,’ a great pop song with a catchy chorus. Pyke stated that he was glad one of his songs was played on Love Song Dedications a couple of days earlier, even providing a passable impersonation of host Richard Mercer which got a ripple of laughs. ‘Middle of the Hill’ and ‘Love Lies’ ended the set with a roar of claps, cheers and dancing. A huge round of applause and whistling accompanying Pyke as he walked off stage.
– Matthew Naqvi
