Lizotte’s, Newcastle
Thursday August 11, 2016 :
It was music, food and a jovial mood at Lizotte’s on Thursday night as stalwart Sydney troubadour, Josh Pyke, took to the stage for the second show of a two-night stint at the suburban Newcastle venue.
Joining him on the But For All These Shrinking Hearts Tour, promoting last year’s album of the same name, was up-and-coming singer songwriter, Jack Carty, whose crowd-funded album Home State debuted at #36 on the ARIA Chart and #1 on the Indie Album Chart this week.
Opening with ‘Everything, Unhappily’, an endearingly innocent tale about seducing pretty Melbourne hipster, Annabelle, with promises of Elliott Smith covers, Carty’s unique brand of Australiana storytelling was immediately in full flight and the crowd, from Baby Boomers on dinner dates to ‘Middle of the Hill’-era Pyke fans, seemed completely captivated.
While Jack seemed well within his element as the joker, whether it be through is witty lyricism or stage banter about his #censusfail Facebook video with 18,600+ views, there were plenty of tender moments on stage too. ‘Wedding Song’ with its Lior-like guitar lines and ‘This is What It Feels Like to Die’, both off his new record, and an absolutely magical rendition of ‘And the Ass Saw the Angel’ off 2014’s Esk were all big standouts. With an album tour of his own kicking off later this week taking in most capital cities, it well worth your while checking him out.
With Jack having limbered up the crowd, Josh took to the stage. Last time I had the pleasure of seeing Josh Pyke play, it was at the Small Ballroom, also in Newcastle, with a full band in tow. This time around he was solo and the night had an entirely different feel.
Having opened with ‘Memories and Dust’ and ‘Forever Song’ off his 2006 debut LP, Hollering Hearts, it was one of his latest offerings that would be the first time we’d see the full benefit of this stripped back style of show. With no one else to eye off on stage, you were forced to focus in on Pyke’s masterful guitar work. He told an anecdote on the night about how playing a series of shows with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra posed a few challenges, as he couldn’t read sheet music. Geez, you wouldn’t know it given the way he works his way around a guitar.
Pyke often gets credit, and deservedly so, for his vocal delivery but when he’s alone on stage you realise just how well rounded a performer he truly is and I for one was left with a renewed understanding of his enduring appeal.
Josh really showed off with the loop pedal too. Overuse of loop pedals is a pet peeve of mine. Some acoustic performers squeeze the life of a song by automating the shit out of them but at Lizotte’s, Josh was working in perfect balance. Maracas, whistling, gorgeous harmonies, and guitar layered beautiful to recreate Only Sparrows’ ‘Clovis’ Son’. A sack of tracks off Chimney’s Afire, ‘Candle in Your Window’, ‘Lighthouse Song’ and ‘The Summer’ were also highlights in this first half of the set.
Midway through, Jack Carty returned to the stage to join Josh for a few songs and you really got the impression that despite the pair having spent a good few months on tour together, that they were sad to see it all coming to an end. Fans who already followed Josh or Jack on social media and were familiar with their goofy Unexceptional Parkour series, were then treated to stories of the pair sticking their beards together like Velcro for cheap laughs on the road and just generally bro-loving it up on tour. When a lot of the time the supports will get, at best, token recognition from the main act, it was nice to see these guys genuinely enjoying each other’s company.
The friendly, laid-back vibes kept coming in the second half of the set. After smashing ‘Lines on Palms’, Pyke gave us a fascinating glimpse into his childhood spent in the suburb of Balmain in Sydney’s inner-west. “The ‘house on the hill that everyone fears’ was actually a couple doors down from ‘the house in the middle of the hill’,” he told us. Apparently him and his mates were convinced the abandoned place on the hill was haunted after seeing a curtain inside move one day while they were hanging out on the vacant lot nearby. Oh, and it turns out there really was a kid who lit fires in the gutters, it was a friend of Josh’s, and a girl who said her dog couldn’t bark because it’s voice box had been hacked out. Anyway, this whole exchange was nostalgic as all hell and just delightful!
The aforementioned ‘Middle of the Hill’ soon followed, but not before a rare outing of ‘Mannequins’ and a beautiful performance of ‘White Lines Dancing’ off The Beginning and the End of Everything, newbie ‘Still Some Big Deal’ and the romantic ‘Sew My Name’. Declaring that he doesn’t believe in encores, Josh finished the night on an especially delicate note with ‘Love Lies’ before beelining it to the merch desk to chat with fans.
What a guy! What a night.
Reviewer : Amelia Parrott
Photographer : Bobby Hendry, Will Capps
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