Friday night we had the pleasure of seeing Baltimore duo Wye Oak in the Aurora in Hyde Park as part of Sydney Festival. It was the duo's first show ever in Australia and what a night it was. Firstly this spiegeltent this year was Standing only which I think I preferred. It was nice to have the freedom of standing, especially for a rock show. Secondly, did I mention it was a great night? I have been a longtime Wye Oak fan and was excited too see them. They didn't let me down. I have to say though that their 2014 album "Shriek" I thought was a bit of a let down. They abandoned the strong guitar element and went strong on keyboard, giving off a poppier sound. Which did not resonate with me as their earlier records. But I returned to the record recently and it has grown on me. And hearing those songs live they grew just a bit more. Particularly songs like "The Tower" and "Despicable Animal". It was interesting too to see Jenn Wasner use a bass guitar as the lead instrument. She also plied keyboards and was well matched with the stirring drumming of Andy Stack. They are a good match and Wasner was very charming with her nervous, but very human, banter. On the older songs she took up the six string electric and some of those songs were just fantastic. Especially "Holy Holy" and "Plains". But the undoubted highlight was the guitar chugging "Take It In". This was an absolute show stealer. By the time they finished and then returned to give us "Civilian", we were in love with the band. Well,  I certainly was. This was definitely a Sydney Festival highlight.

Set List
Before
The Tower
Shriek
Holy Holy
Plains
Glory
Sick Talk
Despicable Animal
The Alter
That I Do
Take It In
I Know the Law
Logic of Color

Civilian