ANYONE that's attended live music in the past six months knows, despite the band or artist's best efforts, a seated COVID-safe show isn't the same.
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It just can't compete with the visceral energy of a heaving crowd, squashed together and moving in unison to the music.
One band bucking the trend is Sydney inner-west Americana royalty Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys.
Back in October the Newtown four-piece won by public vote the National Live Music Awards' best live act in NSW for 2020.
It was particularly impressive accomplishment given The Pony Boys' pre-COVID reputation as one of the wildest rebel rousers in Australia's burgeoning Americana scene.
Harnett and her good friend and fellow musician Andy Golledge, are known to end up performing among ecstatic punters, and even topless, as last January's bushfire benefit show at the Lansdowne Hotel proved.
Naturally those antics were outlawed when Harnett and her Pony Boys reopened gigs at Lansdowne last June. But rather than struggle with COVID-safe gigs, Harnett has thrived.
"At first it was scary," Harnett says. "The first Lansdowne sit-down show, I haven't been nervous to play a show for so long and I was shaking before I went up on stage.
"I was just so scared because I knew it was gonna be different and people would probably be paying more attention.
"People are still playing attention at the rowdy shows, but because there's lots of energy, you can't really notice it."
The more attentive crowds have provided the chance for Harnett's charisma and emotive voice, which is often compared to Hope Sandoval from US alternative band Mazzy Star, to shine through.
"It's hard, but challenging in a good way," Harnett says. "For me, it's made me realise I have to work a little bit harder on talking to the crowd, making them feel involved.
"When you're playing a show people are just drunk dancing and you don't have to work as hard. It's kind of nice to think, what am I gonna say? I need some joke.
"You can let more personality come through, which can be lost in a drunk and rowdy show."
Strangely enough, while COVID has decimated most aspects of the music industry, Harnett & The Pony Boys enjoyed their most successful year in 2020.
Not only did their revenue from gigs increase, they released their anticipated debut album Late Night Essentials in November.
"I have actually really enjoyed it," she says of 2020. "Being able to play shows, I've been so lucky.
"I know many people haven't been lucky enough to have jobs or be able to play music. But for us it's been really great. We've probably made more money than we've ever made.
"People have been actually happy to spend money buying tickets, which has been great, as it allows us to make a decent amount of money and not rely on the venue to come up with the money."
Newcastle audiences will have a chance to catch Harnett and The Pony Boys on Thursday night will they kick off their Bowlo Bitter Tour at the Adamstown Bowling Club.
The tour of NSW bowling clubs is part of a beer collaboration with Newtown craft beer brewery Young Henry's, who have created a limited release Bowlo Bitter.
It was a natural union. Harnett has a proclivity for bowling clubs' unique Australiana and her beloved Petersham Bowlo was the site for the band's Make You Feel Blue video.
The release of Late Night Essentials felt like an age to arrive. Harnett first began performing with The Pony Boys - which include Josh Piltz (drums), Mark Piccles (bass) and Newcastle's Sam Montague (lead guitar) - in 2015.
Previous to that, Harnett had released several solo EPs and then her debut album The River Runs North in 2014. Her solo music followed a '70s folk template, influenced by Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne.
The River Runs North introduced her stunning voice and sweet songwriting, but in Harnett's mind it wasn't a true reflection of herself.
"I was in my early 20s when I did that one and was still figuring out what kind of songwriter I wanted to be and I really loved Joni Mitchell, so I was very influenced by her," she says.
"My songwriting at the time was, I wouldn't say not honest, but I was trying to be someone else."
The Pony Boys' more raucous blend of rock, country and rockabilly has found Harnett more at home.
"I think playing with a band definitely changes your songs," she says. "My band especially.
"Sam is such an amazing guitarist, he really brings so much to the songs. We build them up and they turn into these Americana songs."
Americana or alt-country has enjoyed a resurgence across Australia in recent years, particularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle led by acts like Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife, Andy Golledge and the Hunter's own William Crighton.
The next frontier is breaking into Tamworth.
"A few years ago it was harder for artists to play because there was a lot of judgement from the older traditional people who love country music and want it the same as it has been for how many years," she says.
"They say, 'Look at these young people coming in'. But slowly now it's starting to be more accepted."
Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys play the Adamstown Bowling Club on Thursday with James Thomson.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
