REVIEW: Husky, Oxford Art Factory 03.05.12

I was having an off-day when I went to HUSKY, but never fear, this indie treat cheered me right up. And no, I'm not talking about the adorable dogs, I mean the band, silly.

I’d spent the day working and studying and I was feeling pretty drained and absent-minded. So much so that I left the tickets/ Best Friend’s birthday present at home. Oops. Luckily Moshtix let you print off a fair few copies and Best Friend came to the rescue. But not so fast- we then left them in her car before walking to the bus stop. Back we sauntered, giggling to ourselves about our ineptitude. Oh this would be quite the fun indie night.

We arrived at Oxford Art Factory early and buttoned the top buttons of our blouses. We just wanted to fit in. We just had to fit in. An eagle hung around my neck, a dragon around hers; we thought we looked utterly hip and credible, exactly the sort of people who mosey down into the depths of this ace live venue. Sure we ended up at the wrong show for a good 10-minutes, but we righted that wrong also. We were on our a-games that night. We really were.

And guess what!? FREE POPCORN. And a badass bartender gave us squares/cheap-ass ladies free cokes. Full of junk food we were ready to enjoy support act, The Trouble with Templeton. Brisbane based, singer-songwriter Thomas Calder has a certain stage presence and charm, crooning and nursing his little acoustic guitar. He had friends manning the bass, back-up vocals and keyboards and my favourite songs always involved a little bit of harmonising with his lady-friend who added some real texture to each track. He put a little bit of quirk into our trembling, anticipatory hearts.

Now was the moment of truth: time for Husky to shine. And boy did they. They emitted such light that some of us had to shade our eyes. Smoke curled up towards the roof as all eyes settled on the band and in particular keyboardist, Gideon Preiss. Would it be forward if I told you I loved you? Ever since my indie high-school days, I’ve had a thing where I perve on the good-looking, the talented, and the ones who make entertaining expressions throughout the set. That was you Mr. Preiss and I want to say thank you for being a hunk o’ man. Also seriously you know how to play a keyboard/organ and could be an esteemed classical musician if you wanted to.

But back to Husky as a whole, a wonderful wonderful folk whole. The crowd cheered and swayed and flirted throughout the set, heckling romantic sentiments up at Husky Gawenda. He held his acoustic own, singing in his troubled low-voice and making girls throughout the room swoon and faint with glee. You took our hearts and held them in the palm of your hand. The songs (especially my favourite ‘The Woods’) were sweet and artfully created, sounding even better thanks to the acoustics of that basement than they do spinning around our CD players. Especially awe-inspiring was final track, Leonard Cohen’s ‘Lover, Lover, Lover’: a single guitar, some maracas and the boys harmonising. Preiss and bassist, Evan Tweedie each had their own verses to demonstrate their vocal prowess, and the audience got a chorus or two, to desperately cry “lover, wont you come back to me?” After that performance, boys, I’m sure they would.

You can see Husky for yourself at Groovin’ the Moo and Splendour in the Grass. I know I will.

Words by Hannah Story.