Live Review: Owl Eyes, Art Of Sleeping - Northcote Social Club

Tonight marks the second sold-out show for Owl Eyes on her Crystalised tour and the Northcote Social Club is already more than half full by the time Brisbane boys Art Of Sleeping take to the stage, making it cozy, which is nice given how cold it is outside. If the audience's collective body warmth isn't enough, Art Of Sleeping make things even cozier with their fuller-than-full sound, not to mention their ability to make the stage seem crowded despite only being a five-piece. Throughout their too-short set, they keep the crowd entranced with beautiful songs that are both intricate and simplistic at the same time. At one point, frontman Caleb Hodges asks the audience to come closer and, almost as though hypnotised, everyone crowds in closer to the stage. Genuine honesty seems to be this band's calling card and you can tell that when Hodges gives his gracious “thank you” at the end of each song, he means it.

Owl Eyes, aka Brooke Addamo, kicks off her set with a non-orchestral, but equally good, version of Wait, driving the last note of the song into the first note of Faces, with no audience reaction in between. Whether it's because they're still spellbound from the Art Of Sleeping set and now by Owl Eyes or because they're not used to being out so early in the week, who can say, but Addamo puts it down to it being a Tuesday night and urges the audience to dance and not be quite so polite. A gorgeous rendition of her first single, 1 + 1, is next up. Her wonderful version of the Foster The People track, Pumped Up Kicks, including her fine glockenspiel solo, really gets the crowd going. We're treated to brand new song (according to Addamo, her and her band have only played it twice before tonight), Night Light. Pieces, Break In, lifted from the Crystalised single, Dancer and Raiders, among others, make up the remainder of the set before Addamo and her fantastic band finish off the night with the single they're touring, Crystalised.

Oddly, there is no encore, despite the fact that the house lights remain off for ages. It's an unfulfilling end to what would otherwise have been a close-to-perfect gig. Addamo exudes an absolutely adorable charm and is clearly in possession of a scary amount of talent. Melbourne, be proud she's ours.