Reviews

Gossling Live in Wodonga

1 September 2012, The Cube, Wodonga.

Gossling Live in Wodonga At her homecoming show Gossling and her band wowed audiences with her remarkable voice and witty anecdotes between songs at the newly opened Wodonga performing arts venue known only as "The Cube".

Originally a Wodonga girl, Gossling (otherwise known as Helen Croome) left to study in Melbourne years ago, but her passion for music won out in the end. She ditched university in favour of the thriving Melbourne music scene.

Playing a self-described "mullet set" (business up front, party at the back), Gossling opened with "Hazard" from her EP "If You Can’t Whistle" before breezing through tracks such as "War", "Ancient Love" and "Love Fall Foul" as part of the "business" half of her mullet set. Gossling also performed solo for one song, covering Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game". She told the audience why she chose to include the track in the setlist, revealing that in her younger days she liked the song and thought Chris Issak was "hot".

Midway through her set Gossling invited two of her support acts, Eliza Hull and Ainslie Wills, to the stage and teased the audience by saying coyly, "We’ve got something special for you now." With a stage packed full of performers, Gossling and co. launched into a breathtaking cover of "Fall At Your Feet". Many voices melded into one to create a spectacular cover of the Crowded House original that certainly would not have disappointed fans of the band in attendance on the night.

Kicking off the "party" half of the evening’s set was "I Was Young", a song about the challenges of growing up in Wodonga. Gossling gave the crowd friendly encouragement to move around to the more upbeat tracks (but "not too much", she joked, because of her public liability insurance).

Gossling kept the tempo high by following up with superb tracks from her "Intentional Living" EP, such as "Rose" and "Heart Killer", a song about "someone we all know". Capping off an obviously crowd-pleasing set was the Triple J favourite and insanely catchy hit track, "Wild Love".

Gossling and her band had The Cube rumbling for an encore as soon as they left the stage. Needless to say, the band returned within a matter of minutes to perform a very different, almost countrified cover of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s "Dance The Way I Feel". The track, which was flung far from its electro origins, allowed the crowd one last "head nod and toe tap" of the night and brought Gossling’s fantastic set to a close.?

In between stellar performances, Gossling kept the crowd in stitches with her banter, sharing a story of how in primary school she was forced to mime in choir. This was before it was brought to her attention that the same teacher who forced her to mime all those years ago was actually present in the audience for the show.

An embarrassed Gossling then called out to an unknown person at the side of the stage and shared the news sheepishly to the delight of the already thoroughly entertained audience.

With an offering from all three of her EPs Gossling performed a truly wonderful show that had a certain special touch about it. Maybe it was just because it had that hometown advantage.

5 out of 5.

Like this review? Want to make one like it? Find out how on our Get Published pages!

For more gig reviews, check out our Reviews Archive.