WHAT ' S ON //
Josh Pyke , Bob Evans and the ‘ no-brainer ’ 10 year tour !
WORDS MICHELLE MEEHAN
They say one man ’ s trash is another man ’ s treasure . But in the case of the clean-out that prompted Josh Pyke and Bob Evans to hit the road together once more , it is clear music fans are the ones reaping the rewards .
The respected Aussie troubadours will set out on a massive 12-date run of shows across Australia this month to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their first tour together .
But Another Evening with Josh Pyke and Bob Evans might not have happened if it wasn ’ t for Pyke ’ s parents ’ efforts to rid themselves of excess clutter .
“ It was mid last year my parents were moving house and they had a framed poster of the first time we did it ( the tour together ) that they didn ’ t want anymore , so they said ‘ Do you want this ?” Pyke said .
“ They gave it to me and I was like wow , this was 2006 , that ’ s ( 10 years ) next year and I sort of kept it in the back of my mind and I mentioned it to Kev ( Jebediah front man Kevin Mitchell , who goes by the name Bob Evans for his solo work ) a couple of times .
“ At the beginning of this year I called him and I was like ‘ I think we should really do this , 10 years … it ’ s a great chance to celebrate it and it will be fun ’.
“ It was a bit of a no-brainer after that point , it was just a timing thing as always .”
Josh Pyke ( left ) and Bob Evans ( right ).
With Pyke releasing his fifth studio album last year and Evans dropping his fifth solo record in June both men had plenty on their musical plates already .
But thankfully for fans , the singer-songwriters were able to find a three-week window in November and December to hit the road for their co-headline tour .
Kicking off at The Gov in Adelaide on November 24 they will embark on a series of shows across the country , scheduling a stop in Newcastle on Thursday , December 8 to showcase their sounds within the truly unique and intimate surrounds of 48 Watt St .
It will be a return to familiar ground for Pyke and Evans , who have both already played shows in Newcastle this year , and the pair are looking forward to heading back to the Hunter .
“ I love it ( playing in Newcastle ), I ’ ve always loved playing there ,” Pyke said .
“ I ’ ve played at a bunch of places there as I ’ m sure Kev has as well , but I think the last five or six shows I ’ ve played there have all sold out and I think this one is about 10 tickets off selling out as well .
“ Newcastle is obviously a really vibrant , supportive artistic community so I always love going there .
“ Also when you go to a place a lot you get into the town itself - Darby Street ’ s really cool , I love Chris ’ ( Joannou ) café there , The Edwards , and the beach itself , last time I went there I went for a long walk on the beach and it ’ s just completely stunning .
“ It ’ s obvious Newcastle is also really coming into its own at the moment , I noticed there ’ s heaps more venues and cafes … it ’ s obviously still developing in a really organic way , which is nice .”
Evans said he loves the atmosphere in Newcastle and especially the way local crowds react to one song of his in particular .
“ Many times when I ’ ve talked about Newcastle I ’ ve waxed lyrical about how much I love it and it ’ s very genuine because it ’ s always been reliably great , going all the way back to my earliest memories of playing there with Jebediah at the Bar on the Hill at Newcastle Uni and at the Cambridge and all the awesome venues ,” he said .
“ Obviously there just seems to be a really deep music culture in Newcastle , I ’ ve got lots of admiration for the place .
“ Also one of my great pleasures of playing Newcastle when I do Bob Evans shows is playing a song of mine called Pasha Bulker , which is named after the ship that ran aground on Nobby ’ s Beach .
“ Playing that song in Newcastle gets a different reaction to anywhere else in Australia , so that ’ s one of my favourite moments .”
Fans of the song will have to wait and see whether it is on the set list this time around , with the pair keeping details of the show close to their chests when talking to intouch Magazine .
They did reveal however that unlike their last tour together , which saw them play individual sets one after the other , this show will see both men on stage together the whole time , playing their own songs as well as each other ’ s .
“ It is something that we ’ re both kind of excited about and also kind of daunted by ,” Evans said .
“ Last time when we toured it was a pretty traditional kind of show , I got up and played for an hour or so then Josh got up and he played for an hour , we played a few songs together in between and at the end .
“ But this time round we thought look , we ’ ve got all the tools that we need to put on a show where we ’ re basically on stage together the whole time , backing each other up , so we ’ re going to do it across two sets with an intermission in between .
“ There ’ s a lot of work for us to do to get the show up and running but I think it ’ s going to be super rewarding , hopefully for the audience as much as for us .”
The format has also provided a few challenges for the musicians , who have been madly learning and practising each other ’ s songs .
“ It ’ s been a big workload , I think it ’ s 10 of each other ’ s songs that we have to learn , but it ’ s another good thing , it ’ s a good challenge ,” Pyke said .
“ When you ’ re a solo artist you kind of get to a certain point where you have a set you play – life gets boring unless you inject some new challenges in there , so it ’ s been a good thing .
“ I ’ ve personally enjoyed it , playing a bit of keyboard and stuff in some songs , which I don ’ t often get to do and also just the opportunity to be a backing artist for somebody else whose songs you really love .
“ It ’ s a real pleasure to kind of take a bit more of a back seat , sing back-up and do some different instrumentation … in order to let the other person shine . It ’ s good fun .”
With five solo albums apiece to their names , there are certainly plenty of songs in their musical vaults from which to choose for the tour .
The audience is sure to hear a few takes from Pyke ’ s last album But For All These Shrinking Hearts , which debuted at # 2 on the ARIA album charts in August last year , as well as Evan ’ s new release Car Boot Sale , which was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album at this year ' s ARIA Awards .
Once this run of shows is over , Evans will head back out on the road to continue playing and promoting Car Boot Sale , while Pyke said he was likely to begin the daunting , yet exciting task , of trawling through his back catalogue to put together his first ‘ Best Of ’ album next year .
Tickets for the much-anticipated reunion are on sale now via www . joshpyke . com or www . bobevans . com . au and come with a bonus free download of two tracks performed and recorded by Pyke and Evans .
20 | www . intouchmagazine . com . au