It was the end of a long day and, when heading to Chapel St with the stomach grumbling, it is always a smart move to fill up at Lambs on Chapel. With the voice in my guts quiet now, we could move on. For once, this turned out to be the wrong thing to do.
I have heard very little about the Chapel off Chapel from people that actually went to shows. The show Vodafone Live at the Chapel looks great on TV and really has a different feel and superior sound quality to your run of the mill live music show. Now I know why – Vodafone puts on a great night. Since I am not on the “A list” it has taken years to see the light, or rather candle light. The backdrop of stained glass, the couches, perfect acoustics and seating make it the best experience you can have. A venue deserving of a TV show and great performances recorded.
Josh Pyke is Triple J’s new singer/songwriter wonder-kind. Even if you don’t know his CD, his songs are in your head somewhere. I really enjoyed the CD and was looking forward to the show.
I think Josh and the rest of the band were a little in awe of the environment. Before starting his first song, ‘Fill You In’, he asked everyone to “imagine you are in a pub”, which was exactly where I didn’t want to be. The show started quietly with triangle on percussion and it really was a case of a whisper to be heard. It seemed like the band were all a bit nervous.
The two best aspects of this show were the use of different instrumentation, actually being able to hear the lyrics, and the words were worth listening to. On the night there was triangle, violin, string section, banjo, shaker, glockenspiel, along with the usual keys, guitars, bass, drums. I will note that they were Guild and Fender guitars – my favourites – and nice old drums. Josh plays most instruments on the recording of the new CD Feeding the Wolves , but had help from three other diverse players at the Chapel, that helped to add some atmosphere with each playing multiple instrument.
With Mr Pyke as master of ceremonies, dressed in the alt country uniform of blue gingham shirt and a red vest and boots, the others were in straight black. It will come out great on camera.
After playing some older songs ‘Memories and Dust’, which left some nice space for the vocals to shine through, and ‘Forever Song’, which has some sound problems, the band started settling down. When they hit the first notes of ‘Mannequins’ you could sense that groove getting deeper. This was when the violin play took on the bass, the bass player played slide, and then after that, the drummer ended up on banjo for a song.
The rotating musicians continued and on the fifth song, ‘Private Education’ from the new CD, the band were really wearing their shoes out, running around and changing instruments. They were also joined by three string players that played well, although the arrangement was nothing spectacular, I will say the sound was perfect for the room.
Josh is going to be a great stage persona in the future. He is still young, but he has a very funny and casual stage demeanour that will certainly win him many friends. I was also impressed that he swears even more than I do in his songs. When Josh got to showcase his solo talents on the song ‘Vibrations in Air’, he jokingly remarked about the permanence of cellulite, or was it celluloid? This is a great song in the style of Paul Kelly , where the story is told through song.
As Josh informed us he was about to play his smash hit, we all waited with anticipation. When he started ‘Fed and Watered’, we all had the wry smile that comes with a good line; that dawns on you a couple of seconds later. Having said that, ‘Fed and Watered’ could be a song that hangs around for a long time, and he will end up being very right! They played it with verve and a heavier beat which really suited the song.
‘Middle of the Hill’ was definitely my favourite song of the night. It also had everyone clapping along and the vibe was really upbeat. He won everyone over on that song.
Going to Vodafone Live At The Chapel is really more of a TV show production than a concert. You have to clap at the right time (which everyone did anyway) and the show revolves around the filming. Josh is much more “country” live than on his CD and I think it worked really well for him and his singer songwriter repertoire. It was a great night, a great venue, and Josh certainly deserved to be there!
