Caitlin Harnett and the Pony Boys – Oxford Art Factory

Caitlin Harnett & the Pony Boys bring their Pleasure Riding tour to the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, with Melbourne besties Sweet Talk and Sydney hometown besties Lady Lyon.

See the full photo gallery, shot for AMNplify, here.

Lady Lyon

First up tonight was Lady Lyon. A four piece from Sydney with drums, bass, guitars and vocals that put the cowgirl into the blues.

The smooth country blues had plenty of twang on the stage, and teamed up with amazing vocals, the band just demanded your attention. It wasn’t long before heads in the crowd were bobbing along, building up to little outbreaks of dancing all through the venue that ended up in a bit of line dancing scooting away to the end of the set.

Check out their latest release for yourself here.

Sweet Talk

Up next were Sweet Talk, changing up the pace to a bit of honky-tonky, funky boogie. A six piece (yes 6!) with drums, bass, a couple of guitars, keyboard and vocals cramming onto the stage at the OAF.

From the start to the end of their set, there was an infectious groove blasting out over the crowd. The swinging groove and soul infused blues had the crowd a dancin’ and a jiggin’ across the floor – with plenty of dancy antics on the stage.

The last few songs of the set ramped up the chaos, with plenty of guest artists popping up on stage to join the band; and even an excursion into the crowd for a shoulder dance by front man, Tane Walker.

Have a little taste of their home brewed boogie here.

Caitlin Harnett & the Pony Boys

Caitlin Harnett and her Pony Boys know how to start a party. They were playing as a five piece tonight with drums, bass, guitars, vocals and added saxophone for a bit of in your face brass.

From a walk on singalong with Lady Lyon, Caitlin soon got down to business of slinging out her signature Americana, alt-country tunes. Her usual storytelling banter was a little limited tonight as they were running tight on time, but that didn’t stop a bit of back and forth with both the crowd and the band; slugging a few tequila shots; and ramping up the crowd for some drinking and dancing; turning the OAF into a scene from a wild west whisky bar.

There was a revolving door of guest artists coming onto the stage, helping out with a few songs all through the set, but the star of the show was Caitlin’s voice that cut through and drove the swinging, rolling, twangy tunes.

Towards the end of the set, there was an obligatory invite to the crowd to come up on stage to join in for a rollicking rendition of All my Friends are Dancers, with absolute chaos as half the crowd packed the already jammed stage.