Live Review: Gossling in Sydney

December 2, 2013

Adam Davis-Powell reviewed and photographed Gossling’s Sydney gig. What a multi-tasker!

On a warm evening at Sydney’s Oxford Arts Factory came a night of Australian homegrown talent. Gossling has a big buzz behind her at the moment, with her debut album ‘Harvest of Gold’, being released on 1st November.

Whitaker were first up. With just two musicians on stage, their pleasant blend of ambient/indie had the audience charmed. At the front, lit up by the spotlight, was lead singer/guitarist/foot tambourine player Ryan Meeking, and towards the back of stage was rhythm guitarist – Brett Scapin. In between songs Meeking would banter with the audience and definitely got a few laughs. Their standout song was their title track to the newly released EP – “Witchita”. Meeking emplored audience members to take to triple j’s Unearthed page to listen to the fully recorded track with added friends, family and choir members.

Little Scout (pictured, left) jumped to the stage shortly after and within their first song there was an enchanted vibe that resonated throughout the venue with a great concoction of indie/pop that definitely reminded me of what Little Dragon would be minus their electronica sound. The key song that perhaps define their sound, and their set, would be ‘Are You Life,’ the title track from their album released earlier in the year. They also played a blissfully excellent rendition of Jodie Mitchell’s ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, that got the whole audience reminiscing and singing in each other’s faces.

Headliner for the evening’s music lovers was the very anticipated Gossling (pictured, top), and when the curtains were drawn back she was greeted with a warm and homely response. This Sydney show ended her small but well received East Coast tour, and anyone who had been listening to triple j that particular week would have heard the odd song or two, as it was the feature album. The Melbourne-based artist sat at her keyboard with a smile and proceeded to serenade the audience with her unmistakable graceful voice. She introduced most songs with a brief summery of why it was written, which gave the audience members a glance into her life.

The crowd were captivated by her to the point that they weren’t put off by the audience member in the crowd spinning a five-foot UV stick. I know, random, right? She performed a good selection of tracks from her new album and still managed to get in a few from her previously-released EP’s. ‘Never Expire’ and ‘Wild Love’ were key moments in the show and the encore, ‘I Was Young’, was a perfect end to the gig.

Gossling is making waves and will be popping up a lot in 2014, so keep your eyes peeled.