It's that moment of exhilaration in your life when, standing there among a couple of hundred fans with an unimpaired view of the headline act that you realise, you're witnessing something rare.
It's that virgin tour, where no one knows exactly what to expect and the smallest inclinations of fandom from the audience can send the biggest sparks of ecstasy through the musician. It's Oh Wonder's Sydney debut (6 January), and it's as unforgettable as it is unpredictable.
Tonight is the duo's second headline gig in the southern hemisphere. Ever. And for a band that's been around for one and a half years and has only 15-recorded songs, the fact that they sold out their upgraded venue (they were originally to play at Newtown Social) speak volumes.
Opening for them is Sydney-based project Plgrms, who – playing to a near-packed room – manage to hold the audience's attention with all the indie prowess and swagger of a triple j Unearthed Artist.
But as the lights dim and the curtain is raised, revealing Oh Wonder's initials – ceiling high – in the background, the crowd softens. There is no enthusiastic call or shout, just a sense of mute elation.
Then, out comes 'Livewire' and within moments those initials transform into a light installation that dances to the duo's every song in perfect artistic unison. The crowd responds likewise, lighting up, dancing and singing to the sounds.
Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West let 'Dazzle' and 'Shark' pass us by before decreeing that the gig has officially started and "reopen" with 'Body Gold', which is the first song they wrote and released on 1 September, 2014 as part of their musical commitment to write and release one song every month for a year.
What follows are little nuances; subtle differences in the woodwork that dutiful fans may not have ever considered. Tacked to the end of 'Body Gold' is an alternate ending that is almost rapped into existence.
Songs are given new introductions making them near impossible to predict and 'Midnight Moon' is reworked into a mesmerising, slowed-down acoustic duet, short-changed in time but repaid in rapture. In short, it's one hour of tweaked and twisted album songs, with the adorable gamine, Vander Gucht, incapable of containing her joy throughout.
While her more docile half (West) plays it cool, she smiles from ear to ear as the audience takes over the chorus of 'All We Do' without a single prompt; and giggles like a schoolgirl after the crowd goes wild over the feel-good song, 'Landslide'.
It's fresh, exciting, exhilarating and oh-so wonderful - for the audience, yes. But tonight, especially, for the artist too.
