Live Review: Josh Pyke, Kyle Lionhart

Kicking Saturday night's proceedings off nice and early, Byron Bay's Kyle Lionhart warmed the room with his soulful tunes and laid-back style. Those that made the effort to arrive early were well and truly rewarded.

Things really stepped up a notch when the man of the hour Josh Pyke took to the stage with his band. Aptly named the Best Of tour, the night celebrated the ten-year anniversary of Pyke's debut album, the ARIA award-winning Memories & Dust, by playing the album in full for the first hour. This was followed by an extended encore of Pyke's other top hits, spanning across each of his other four albums - so, for a Pyke fan, this was the mother lode. 

Working his way through the Memories & Dust tracklisting in full felt like slipping on an old sweater you've had for years: so very comforting and familiar. It was obvious Pyke was in his element, gliding through each tune as though he'd sung them a million times (to be honest, he probably has by now). It wasn't packed at Capitol, but almost everyone in the room was singing along. The beauty of Pyke's music is that each ballad tells a rich story, his timeless songwriting proven time and time again.

Peppering the set with short stories about every other track, fans were given an insight into Pyke's early days as a struggling artist and just how far he's come. By the time Middle Of The Hill came around, everyone was prepped and ready to clap along, with plenty of enthusiastic punters jumping around and dancing as the lights came up and Pyke encouraged us to up the ante.

After a short break, Pyke jumped straight into old hits including The Lighthouse Song, The Summer and Leeward Side - the latter getting everyone up and moving again. After explaining that he'll now be taking a few years off, Pyke finished up with Make You Happy and left the stage to thunderous applause.

Reliving his debut album in this way connected with the crowd in a way this reviewer hadn't seen before - something that Pyke can cherish as he takes a well-earned break.