Touring his new album The Beginning And The End Of Everything, Josh Pyke’s down-to-earth affability evidently stands him in good stead with his supporters.
With a large “SOLD OUT” sign plastered across the window of The Gov, Pyke’s popularity has done nothing but grow over the past 10 years – apparently much to his surprise.
Melbourne-born Olympia was first on the evening’s roll-call.
As a swarm of curious onlookers moved towards the stage, the tones of a vocoder introduced the shorthaired blonde singer – her vocals booming and shrinking under a controlled grasp.
A dreamy haze of trickling chords underscored the raw power of her voice and, though sparse, the accompanying guitar work mesmerised the shivering listeners. A few quiet words of thanks ended her set as she hopped quickly off stage.
Following Olympia was Sydneysider Patrick James and band.
Claiming that the sold out show was the biggest they’d played to in Adelaide before, James flew into anecdotes pertaining to the brightly string-driven “All About To Change”.
The audience moved inwards as smoke enveloped the musicians, the guitarists wrapping their own vocals around James’s in smooth harmony.
Highlighting his warmth of voice, James brought the sold-out venue to near-silence as he crooned over his piano during “Kings And Queens”. It proved once again that this touted indie-folk act is a constant crowd-pleaser, with talent overflowing from every strum of their banjos and guitars.
The highly anticipated main act then walked on stage, flushed in diffused blue light, and strummed straight into 2005’s “Goldmines”.
Already set up for a euphonious night of songs spanning his entire career, Pyke ran straight into “Memories And Dust” and “Forever Song” with poignant fervour.
A natural performer, Pyke bantered with the crowd between songs and grinned in delight as his voice was met with hundreds of others – admittedly, not always quite so in tune.
His chatty and sweetly boyish charm brought the lyrics of every song back to the moment each fan first heard them.
A master of catchy romanticism, Pyke laced the room with a starry-eyed ambiance. This loving tone was quite appropriate in The Gov, with close to half the onlookers swaying in a partner’s embrace.
Rolling over new songs “The Beginning And The End Of Everything”, “White Lines Dancing”, “Warm in Winter” and the more toned-down “Haunt You Love”, Pyke and his band emanated good-natured familiarity as smitten punters reached endlessly towards him.
Wistful and full of insight, it’s no wonder that Pyke is such a highly acclaimed and well-loved lyricist. He obviously enjoys his vocation, flooding the audience with rivers of thanks and acknowledgements throughout.
Ending with an extended encore, bringing the number of tracks played to well above 20, the set was a genuine pleasure from start to finish.
