Josh Pyke – Live at the Palace : Gig Reviews

Upon hearing that Josh Pyke was to play the Palace, (formerly Metro – or as Pyke would later refer to it, a cool art-deco venue that use to resemble a crack-den), I was immediately confused as to how an artist of Josh Pyke’s ‘modest’ following could fill such a venue. Upon entering, my initial concerns regarding crowd size were swept away, and I was further staggered at just how attractive the predominantly female audience was.

Way to go Josh!!!

The music began with a few favourites played by Pyke by himself, gently winning the audience over with his softly carried melody-thickened tone, with the miniture solo performance rounding off with Middle Of The Hill. He said in a brief moment of silence of playing solo, “I forgot how much fun this was.”

Phase two, and we were met with the band in a semi-conventional setup, that encompassed rudimentary percussion installments and dissonant keyboard chimes. Throughout this stage we were dazzled with the likes of Candle In your Window, as well as a rousing performance of The Lighthouse Song, of which contained the crowd favourite line, “I’ll just hold you tight and we’ll not let those fuckers in”.

After a brief intermission, Pyke and band were back out, the stage this time complete with the less-intimate set than before. Here we were treated to the full spectrum of the Josh Pyke set, ranging from astutely assertive Private Education to easily song of the night Make You Happy.

Despite being the hottest and stickiest night in Melbourne for the last 6 months, we were still treated to a musical banquet. And if Josh Pyke himself saying “See you in a couple of years” is anything to go by, sorry kids, but we might have to wait a while for the next time.