The opening slot of the evening was bodiless and reverent, filled with the favourite songs of the late Snowy Belfast singer James Cross, who was tragically killed by a truck only days before the show. Mark Lang of Skipping Girl Vinegar informed the audience at the conclusion of the time slot that it was left open as a mark of respect for Cross, who was so excited about being involved in the night. A friend delivered a heartfelt speech describing Cross as a perfectionist and a passionate songwriter. The dedications set the tone for the night to be a celebration of life.

Goodnight Owl opened with an instrumental epic involving an ambient use of samples and the building of complex three way rhythms between the ghost member drummer, guitarist Joe Walker and lead singer Eddie Alexander, who also sustained long vocal lines in the song’s later development. For the first few songs a melancholy mood was achieved through a scarcity of lyrics, which let the crowd themselves decide what the songs were about. Eventually came some words from Alexander, “we’re Goodnight Owl and I’m very sweaty.”

With no bass guitarist, a lot of the lower tones are achieved via the warm organ of Bella Walker, who often rotates with her brother between keyboard and xylophone. The band has great compositional skill, creating and effectively performing around electronic samples that are heavily rhythmic. For this reason, the leading single Maps & Compasses is completely accessible to any Postal Service fans. The next song played was Coles Bay off the self-titled EP, produced by Nick Huggins. It is an earthy yet ambient number, involving cute nostalgic melodies on the xylophone and could easily be compared to likes of Whitley’s classic I Remember. Alexander’s vocals are soaring live, pervaded with reverb and a tinge of delay. The tone is unrecognizable when compared to the naturalistic approach taken on the EP. On the debut record there is no drumming, which obviously looks the next step for this still very ripe band, as the drumming early on felt invaluable for the building of their interesting texture.

The curtain opened for the polished, hard-working Skipping Girl Vinegar, joined by their lovely hobo horn and string section. The sanctuary was eventually revealed after long anticipating field recordings of crickets and general eerie night sounds, which evolved in to a bassy drone. They started with a new slow song, before launching in to the eternal opener Wandered. Next up the single One Long Week was revealed, adding to the Nick Huggins showcase, recorded anxiously in his parent’s house in the shadows of 2009 under an “All Hobo’s Welcome” policy. It seems that this single has been inspired mainly by Mark Lang’s addiction to hard rubbish, involving a Moog salvaged from a skip for keyboardist Amanthi Lynch, in which all the black keys have been replaced with Gilette shaving handles. Thanks to hard rubbish, drummer Chris Helm is also the proud new owner of a bent and broken splash cymbal. Lang proudly states, “If loving hard rubbish is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.”

Sinking followed before Lang attempted to harness the crowd to focus together in the present moment for River Road. He claimed that we all spent time either lingering in the past or obsessing our thoughts with future prospects, but never thinking in the present. Unfortunately his mobile phone began to ring and interfere with the sound system a few lines in, consequently bringing his reflective work undone. Ironically it was Nick Huggins text messaging him, and Lang read the message to the crowd, “So sorry to be missing your show tonight… Comedy Gold!”

The sing-along eventually got back on track and was followed by a new love song, an obvious standout in terms of the new material. Although the song is about overcoming depression, Lang still considers it a love song because it is “about someone who loves you enough to get you through it”. The recurring line of the song is “yeah she’s found my soul”, and with its old western, rattlesnake vibes, it makes fans very excited about the next feature release from this band. A few quiet songs followed, including Fly Little Bird, the B-side of the new single. After the crowd sampled some of Amanthi’s “great textured” fudge, Lang put an end to the quiet songs, saying “we’re gunna cook it up!”

This involved a new number called Seasons, featuring Helm’s hobo cymbal. Old crowd favourite Wasted made an appearance before Lang made us release our “inner bogan” for Sift The Noise. At the conclusion of the classic One Chance, the band left stage for a big swig of Merlot before returning to their cheering audience. The first encore was introduced as Get The Hell Outta Town.
The night finished on a touching note, with Lang dedicating the song written about his grandparents, The Passing, to the late James Cross. The song hummed like a memorial siren, and the crowd stilled for the repetition of the line: “we’ll hold you in our heart”.