Boy & Bear thrill Albany

The Albany Entertainment Centre played host to one of its biggest acts yet when five-time ARIA winners Boy & Bear arrived in town on the back of their Remembering The Mexican tour last week.

Touring support bands Tin Sparrow and The Jungle Giants warmed up the crowd in the hours before the main act took to the stage.

Bucking the trend of taking half-baked support acts on tour, Boy & Bear could not have chosen two better – or younger – bands to start off the evening.

Tin Sparrow’s brief set of sensitive indie-folk songs had the audience calling for more until follow-up act The Jungle Giants blew everyone away once again.

By the time frontman Dave Hosking, lead guitarist Killian Gavin, drummer Tim Hart, keyboardist Jon Hart and bassist Jake Tarasenko finally arrived, it was difficult to imagine the evening getting any better.

Until, of course, it did. Ridiculously likeable, the five friends played a diverse set, fitting in some of their most popular and best material alongside some new songs being performed for only the second time (the first being their tour-starting Adelaide show days earlier).

Opening gently with the slow-burning Lordy May, the set dissolved into other tracks from debut album Moonfire before peaking early with their souped-up cover of Crowded House’s Fall At Your Feet.

Easily an evening highlight, the song sparked a quiet sing-along and gave Hosking and company the chance to show off their impressive vocal harmonies. Feeding Line was another roof-raiser and by the time Golden Jubilee burst onto the scene, a portion of the audience had abandoned their seats and danced in the aisles.

Hosking warned a bemused crowd of the band’s tendency to ignore cries for encores before finishing the set with as much strength as they’d begun with.

A thrill from start to finish, Albany will welcome Boy & Bear back with open arms any time.