Josh Pyke delivers his second LP, Chimney’s Afire, this week and in preparation of the fact he played a “secret” gig at Manchester Lane on Wednesday night. The strange starting time of eight o’clock was the first of many oddities for the evening, but Pyke managed to work through the troubles to remind everyone why they liked him in the first place.

Entering the swanky jazz club without his band, Pyke was on stage alone with his guitar as the not so full venue of punters continued to chatter amongst themselves. The small contingent of devoted fans up front had seemingly nothing to worry about, although for the most part many further back would have to battle against the audible noise of patrons that didn’t care much for what was going on. Ironically, this is the price you pay for a “free gig”.

And so Pyke sang, with his voice being more than complemented by the quality of Manchester Lane’s sound. Song’s from his first album opened the set, including Fed and Watered, Lines on Palms, Sew My Name and Buttons, before a few new ones crept in, such as The Lighthouse Song and Our House Breathing. The latter of the two saw Pyke admitting he’d taken inspiration from firstly Annie and then Jay Z; an odd combination that got the crowd interested and yelling for some more hip hop.

Pyke’s humour continued to have the crowd smiling in between numbers, with dry remarks about the gig’s lack of secrecy, references to his theft of Madonna (and subsequent attempts to sing Material Girl) and a staged brawl that the photographers got to sink their teeth into. Then there was Goldmines, which highlighted the set for all the wrong reasons. Stopping mid verse in a self-confessed “unprofessional manner,” Pyke asked for someone to help him remember his lyrics. This soon turned to pleading, with remarks like, “I’m dying here,” showing an either uncooperative or unfamiliar crowd. His following comments about not being able to take the song as seriously anymore (he kept wanting to sing “I’m a Dark Knight” instead of “It’s a dark knight,” in honour of Batman) meant his forgetfulness could be even further laughed away. Of course, just as things got back on track, Pyke forgot the words yet again toward the end of the track.

A string of new numbers rounded out the second half of the set, including the numbers New Years Song, The Summer, You Don’t Scare Me and The Candle In Your Window. Whilst style wise, the new tracks are in very much the same vein as Pyke’s existing numbers, they certainly had an edge in the one man environment; likely due to their freshness and Pyke’s willingness to deliver new material.

“This is the last song,” Pyke proclaimed before admitting those in the front row could see the set list with a distinct line saying encore. He corrected himself with, “This is the third last song,” before playing Middle of the Hill, which was an obvious favourite for all the voices that suddenly appeared to sing along. Considering the encore had already become a joke, Pyke arose, then slunk behind the curtain with his head clearly poking out, as punters demanded two more songs in jest. Another new song, and the next single to be released, Make You Happy and the older Vibrations then finished up the set.

Seeing Josh Pyke solo has its ups and downs. The lack of a band did take away from some of his music’s power – for instance the lack of expected harmonies in Middle of the Hill – although the stripped back version certainly provided for a much more intimate performance.