Josh Pyke, Kyle Lionhart @ The Gov, Adelaide 17/8/2017
There’s no questioning the genius, talent and musicianship of Josh Pyke who played another great show here in Adelaide. There is a definitely an affinity between Adelaide and Josh Pyke with the show feeling like a party with good friends. Opening act Kyle Lionhart is an amazing talent and no doubt we will be hearing a lot from Kyle over the coming months as the word starts to spread about his impressive debut EP Eleven & Two.
There were no surprises with Josh Pyke’s first set playing his classic debut album Memories & Dust which kick started an amazing career. After Lines On Palms Josh asked the crowd how do you feel about the table situation? Then saying it is a divide between your heart and my heart like a moat. This prompted fans to stand up moving closer to the front of the stage. Memories & Dust and Forever Song were fantastic with Josh commenting that it felt like a party tonight indicating that each city having a different vibe suggesting that’s why he says Adelaide is Rad, Radelaide.
The crowd were hanging off every note on Mannequins and the story that goes a long with Someone Else’s Town is great one. Staying in a ‘shithouse’ hotel on Punt Road he thought that would be enough to impress the then girlfriend who later became his wife. To spruce up the room he picked flowers from neighbouring houses with the moral being never give up or paying retail for flowers. After Sew My Name Josh said it is so good that we all stood up prompting a crowd response of ‘fuck tables’ which became a theme that ran through the set.
After an impromptu Happy Birthday to Sophie (whoever that is) it was the classic Middle Of The Hill that saw the crowd find voice. When Josh was trying to introduce Vibrations In Air he was being egged on to do a shoey (not really knowing what is is) but declined opting to tell another story behind this song referring to the punk band he was in at the time who broke up to explaining how he got the chip in his tooth and spending the insurance claim on a trip to Europe. Again Josh expressed the support of his fans and how much that means to him over the last twelve years but did mention he would be taking a break for a while. The first set closed with Monkey With A Drum.
The second set was just as much fun playing greatest hits and crowd favourites. Josh played a splendid acoustic version of Bug Eyed Beauty off The Beginning And End Of Everything. So many great songs from the likes of Lighthouse Song, Private Education to Hollering Hearts. Interesting as Josh explained Beg Your Pardon at the time was going to be the next single until Triple J started playing Private Education. There was a definite party vibe which was hitting full swing with the second set finishing with Leeward Side.
Josh didn’t beat around the bush by saying let’s not pretend to go through the whole encore thing asking the crowd to pretend that they’ve gone off and come back on. Two of my favourite tracks Kids Don’t Sell Their Hopes So Fast and Make You Happy were winners in the ‘pretend encore’. Fans who assume Josh will be back sooner will regret missing this one as there are only two solo shows left in Adelaide before he takes a two year break to pursue other projects. Great show, great night!
Review by Rob Lyon