Patrick Watson Does Not Stand Alone In Australia

A near-capacity crowd filled the Northcote Social Club for the first of two gigs at the venue by Montreal's Patrick Watson. He was originally slated to play only one concert in Melbourne during his Australian tour, Tuesday's (Jan. 5) show was added due to an overwhelming demand for tickets.

With everyone seated on the carpeted floor drinking beer out of plastic cups, the Northcote Social Club felt like an over-sized rec room when Watson and his three-piece backing band, The Wooden Arms, emerged at 10 p.m. Some spectators near the stage began to stand up, causing many in the back to voice their displeasure. Looking to appease all, Watson took a vote to see if the audience should get up or not, with sitting down winning in a landslide.

All smiles, he was unfazed by the crowd's decision stating, "I never really thought I'd get to Melbourne, so this is a real treat. We got out of minus 25 weather for this," before launching into a topnotch rendition of "Beijing" from last year's Polaris Music Prize short listed Wooden Arms.

Golden on disc, the densely layered chamber pop number is so much stronger live. Dominated by Watson's piano and fantastic percussion from drummer Robbie Kuster, after a brief solo by Kuster the pair really went off, taking the song in a wonderfully experimental direction as Aussies shouted their approval and, rebelliously, almost appeared ready to rise to their feet.

Enjoying the challenge, it took Watson and The Wooden Arms a mere three more tracks to get everyone standing. Rising from his piano, Watson began playing the opening organ notes of the wonderfully warped Tom Waits-esque "Traveling Salesman" while singing through a megaphone and using a plunger mute on the end of it to toy with his vocal sounds. The track received the largest applause of the night and inspired one woman to shout "recount" amidst the cheers.

Watson responded, "Let's do this politically and politely. We're fucking Canadians," before asking all again whether they wanted to stay seated. Inspired by the awesome "Traveling Salesman" everyone jumped up boosting the energy level in the room for the Polaris Music Prize-winning Close To Paradise's "The Storm."

Closing with "Where The Wild Things Are," a whole lot of hollering brought Watson and company out for an encore. Walking into the middle of the audience, Watson and Simon Angell climbed atop of Watson's piano stool with Angell pausing to joke, "If I fall you're going to catch me, right?" before he started strumming his acoustic guitar.

Singing both of the night's final numbers without a microphone, Watson had little trouble creating a mass singalong that had many begging for more as he made his final exit at the end of his highly entertaining 80-minute set.