"It's our first crack at the Hordern Pavilion" Dave Hosking announced a few tunes into the Boy & Bear Friday night gig in Sydney. And later "I have a small confession" introduced his secret; it was actually his first time inside the legendary music hall.
The drummer ribbed him on. The Boy & Bear lead singer, Tim Hart told us, has been seen driving his '91 red Corolla around the block looking at the poster before the show. The back window of the car is broken, and there is a broken key stuck in the lock, if you want to steal it.
But after a rocking good warm up by The Art Of Sleeping, the Hordern packed out to capacity for the headline band Boy & Bear who stole the show. The mood shifted between the Boy & Bear softer caressing songs through the twang of core indie folk tunes to a couple of harder brackets. They played songs spanning their three albums, Moonfire, Harlequin Dream and Limit Of Love.
Just occasionally the band has been known to do a cover. Tonight they chose the song they played on JJJ Like A Version. They made Back To Black their own.
And the guys although generous during their shows are also known for not doing encores but announcing a final couple of songs. Friday night it was three including the favourite of the crowd Harlequin Dream.
It was just over six years ago Dave Hosking told us that they hired the Oxford Street Spectrum and had to beg friends and family to come to the first performance bribed with free drinks.
They've played the Sydney Opera House. They've toured internationally. This might have been their first performance at the Hordern Pavilion, but Dave Hosking, Killian Gavin, brothers Tim and Jon Hart, and Dave Symes owned the stage. The polished show was honed on the second last night of their Limit Of Love album tour, musically and vocally tight the performance produced close to perfect delivery and everyone at the Hordern went home happy.
