Live Review: Gossling @ The Bird

Gossling flew into Perth last week for a two-date visit, alighting at The Bird on Thursday night. Another sold-out show on the Intentional Living tour (marking the release of her third EP of the same name) proved that Helen Croome and her band are either very popular or, as she cheekily suggested, the venues are very small. Either way, a sold-out show is a good show! The sole support act was kitsch toe-tappers Bears & Dolls, a six-piece pop outfit hailing from Perth. They had lots of vocal support from the local crowd and definitely got ten points for gusto and general cute factor. The lead singer sounds like a vocal spin-off of Gossling, so it was an odd choice of supporting band. Gossling's finesse, in contrast, made Bears & Dolls' performance look a bit green. Nevertheless, they're bags of fun and they have some good tunes.

Gossling live is like Gossling recorded to the power of five. Her voice is instantly recognisable, but combined with her physical presence (long limbs, shoulders swaying gently in time to the music), and her surprisingly sharp and funny asides between songs, the combination is arresting.  Many times the audience chatter was at volume, and then dropped away to silence a few bars into the song – in the most unassuming way, Gossling commanded the full attention of the room. Starting with the slower tunes and then amping it up in the second half of the set, Gossling moved through singles I Was Young and newie Wild Love, also dropping in her Like A Version cover of Dance The Way I Feel and a goose-pimply rendition of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. Unfailingly polite, Gossling thanked all for coming out on a school night and then mingled, posing for photos and chatting until the last punters trickled out the door.