It’s very hard to fault a musician like Josh Pyke. Ever since he appeared on the Australian music scene, he has had a loyal and constantly growing fan base. For the last tour of his 2008 album Chimney’s Afire, Pyke has embarked on his biggest, most ambitious series of shows yet. The four city stop Variations Tour saw Pyke perform at Melbourne’s Palace Theatre in what could be considered one of the landmark tours of his career.

With the mercury rising, any hope of finding refuge under the Palace’s air conditioning was lost, when it became evident that the Palace does not actually have air conditioning. As patrons opted for cold beers over cool air, the show got underway with the night’s first performance. Sydney singer-songwriter Fergus Brown opened the night’s proceedings with his quirky, enjoyable and upbeat performance of songs from his debut album, Burgers Frown.

If you had walked in mid-set, you could have mistaken Brown for Josh Pyke himself, the similarities in their voices are strikingly close. However this is not a bad thing, as Brown grabed the attention of everybody in the venue with his wonderful songs, his down to earth stage presence and genuine ambition to provide a great performance for those who had arrived early. Set highlights from Brown’s performance included Hot Kisses, Cold Tiles, Nerds in Love and John, She Was Never Only Dancing. Fergus Brown is certainly one Australian artist to keep your eye on over the next year. Highly recommended.

For a second support act, the Palace was treated to the musical styling’s of New Zealand born, but Sydney based singer Gin Wigmore. Arriving on stage, Wigmore seemed very enthusiastic to put on a great show, which is always a plus. Nobody would disagree that the worst thing an artist can do is perform in an obviously unenthusiastic manner, and Ms Wigmore seemed more than confident to put on an energetic set for the crowd.

The first thing you notice about Ms Wigmore was just how much she channelled Welsh artist Duffy. Performing tracks from her new release album Holy Smoke, Wigmore’s first few songs comprised of Good News, Don’t Stop and the wonderful Too Late for Lovers.

After warming up Wigmore finally managed to really grab my attention when she performed Mr Freakshow. Wigmore dubbed two diehard female fans who seemed to be the only ones dancing – œthe best two people in the room’ and then encouraged others in the audience to join in on the fun. Wigmore finished her set with a song from her EP, Under My Skin and her most popular track from her latest release Oh My.

The raspy vocals are obviously similar to Duffy, but they are Wigmore’s vocal trademark and certainly set her apart from most other female artists. Bluntly put, she has strong essence of a bluesy soul in her voice. She puts her everything into her performance and you cannot ask for much more than that.

As the temperature rose in the Palace, many sat on the floors rather than standing between the performances. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the lights dimmed, and once again, Melbourne was treated to the delight that is Josh Pyke.

The gimmick of the “Variations Tour’ is the variety of the songs Josh would be performing over the tour, and the styles in which they would be played. A collection of songs from his back catalogue ensured that the Variations Tour would be one of the most unique shows from the humble Pyke. The show was split up into three sets.

Opening solo, Josh ventured into the performance with the title track from his early EP Feeding the Wolves. It was nice to hear something different from Pyke as an opening track, as many of his EP songs are considered by his fans to be some of the best songs in his catalogue. After the initial surprise of this, the audience were treated to another exciting moment when Pyke continued with his breakout song, the immensely popular Silver.

Following this, Josh performed track’s from his 2008 album, Chimney’s Afire. The first of which was the mellow Our House Breathing and the fan favourite The Lighthouse Song with its trademark sing-along line “I’ll just hold you tight and we’ll not let those f***er’s in.” The whole Palace crowd joined in union for this, even if the line itself is severely out of place of Pyke’s usual style. Concluding the first set, Pyke performed a track from his first LP, a fantastic gem of a song called Vibrations in the Air.

A quick thirty second set-up and the second of the three sets began. Josh Pyke welcomed his band to the stage. The unique aspect in this part of the show was that the instruments could be considered – œchild like’. Pyke’s band members were using such a variety of unique instruments including a toy piano, a miniature six-stringed guitar and even a toy drum kit that was found on the side of the road.

Opting to use a harmonica, Pyke launched into the title song of his debut LP Memories and Dust. The sheer beauty of Pyke’s performance is the essence of his natural relaxed attitude. Watching him, you feel like you’re the only one in the room, because he has a unique way of making you feel as though the song is being sung just for you.

Once again reaching into his Feeding the Wolves EP, Pyke performed Goldmines and Fill You In. It was fantastic to have heard so many early EP songs so early into a show, but the crowd were even luckier when we were given a glimpse into the future of Josh Pyke’s next record when he debuted a new song, Pressed Against You In The Crowd, which he called, – œA song about going to gigs and getting up close and personal with your favourite musicians’. It’s sure to go down as one of Pyke’s classic tunes if and when it gets a recorded release.

Returning to the familiar releases, the audience were treated to Candle in Your Window, the beautiful Sew My Name and the upbeat Middle of the Hill with the whole crowd singing along with Pyke to each and every word.

Pyke and his band returned for the final leg of the night, opening the third set with Fed and Watered. Using the big band allowed Pyke to perform all his major hits the way they were originally intended to be performed in a live environment. The poetic tune The Summer a song with some of the most beautiful and honest lyrics in any of Pyke’s collection was followed by another fan favourite Forever Song and Make You Happy, the first single from Chimney’s Afire.

Another new song, Good Head Start, which Pyke told us was – œan official debut that may or may not be on the new record, but enjoy it anyway’ followed before set highlight, You Don’t Scare Me was performed to much applause and crowd excitement. Reaching the end of the set and the show, Pyke performed Lines in Palms and another song from Chimney’s Afire – I Don’t Wanna Let You Down.

Pyke must be praised for the way in which he easily skips through songs pacing and moo; one moment he has you in his presence; the next you’re moving along, even dancing a little with everybody else in the room. You can never expect to be bored, disappointed or distracted at a Josh Pyke concert. Once he takes to the stage, you follow his every word and never look away for a moment.

Naturally, encores were going to be played. After all, what kind of tour doesn’t include the tour song in its setlist? So playing what could be considered a fourth set for the night, Pyke performed Variations and yet another EP song Private Education and concluded the night with The Doldrums.

It was a bittersweet moment once the show ended. Everybody had a smile on their face, but Josh had made the announcement that this would be the last time he would tour for at least a year. Once again, Pyke had managed to wow his audience with his amazing performance.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE

Set List

Acoustic
Feeding the Wolves
Silver
Our House Breathing
The Lighthouse Song
Vibrations in the Air

Toy Instruments
Memories and Dust
Goldmines
Fill You In
Pressed Against You In The Crowd (New Song)
Candle In Your Window
Sew My Name
Middle of the Hill

Full Band
Fed & Watered
The Summer
Forever Song
Make You Happy
Good Head Start (New Song)
You Don’t Scare Me
Lines In Palms
I Don’t Wanna Let You Down

Encore
Variations
Private Education
The Doldrums