Josh Pyke - The Corner Hotel

On Friday night Lovely and I, my friend Holly from work and her friend (who is also named Holly, funnily enough), went to see Josh Pyke at the Corner Hotel

 

They were also selling puzzles, but I couldn't go past a Josh Pyke hand held fan. So pretty. 

Josh Pyke was one of my first introductions to the indie type guitar based folk music that I am now so fond of, as my tenderly impressionable teenage mind first began tuning into the frequency of triple j, which acted as my refuge through those stressful late highschool years, dreaming of the day when I would turn eighteen and would be allowed into places like the Corner and the Hi Fi Bar; to this day it remains a kind of safe house for me to hide from the incessant repetition of commercial radio stations, as I am fast approaching a time in my life that stretches beyond falling in love in da club etc. etc.
But ever since those first days, I have been devoted to Josh's music (I am quite proud of the fact that I can recite all the lyrics to one of his most anecdotal songs, Middle of the Hill, on cue. I think that allows me to refer to him on a first name basis, right?). Lovely once said to me that his songs aren't made of just lyrics but a collection of sentences that he has put a melody to. I must say that I have to agree, but it's one of the reasons I love them so much, each song is its own little story with a tune, and not one of them is superficial. Listening to one of his albums right through is like finishing a book of short stories, I always feel really satisfied that my mind has been enriched. That and they just make me really happy.

I had seen Josh play once before, years ago at the Hi Fi Bar, and was quite excited to see him play again; he has a really fun stage presence, an impeccable live voice and this really cute sway/dance that he does while playing his guitar. As I am severely vertically challenged,  I had a little trouble being able to see him, but Lovely being the gentleman that he is, demanded that I stand on his feet and held me up during my favourite songs (isn't he romantic, enduring bruised and crushed toes for little old me *swoon*). That he had already had a number of beers previous to our meeting up was probably a contributing factor, but I was immensely grateful nonetheless.
Josh played a set that spanned over all three albums, including Middle of the Hill, which I quietly mouthed every single word to, and one of my long standing favourites, Forever Song, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. He also managed to deflect shouts from all kinds of drunk hecklers with amusement and good humour, which I think is a an admirable quality in a musician.

I read an interview in Frankie where he confessed to being a huge fan of metal, and I suppose if you just look at him you could mistake him for a drummer in a hardcore band.

But then he goes and does this

This makes me so happy. Incidentally, it's from the film clip for Make You Happy, so I think it has achieved it's purpose. Apparently the actual boat was sold on ebay, and in an ideal world I would ride this boat to work every day. But then I would also work at the shelter for orphaned baby unicorns and live in a hobbit hole.