By JULES
(geejohn@ozemail.com.au)
I'd been
getting psyched up for my first silverchair concert, which
just happened to fall on my birthday. As we drove past Festival
Hall, we could see the immense line-up of people -- there
were HEAPS of people sitting, waiting, leaning against the
walls, awaiting the moment when they would be able to step
inside and scramble for the best places in the mosh pit (not
us, we had seats!)
We joined
the mass of people and stood around watching and waiting,
with ten thousand big purple butterflies, their wings fluttering,
crammed into our stomachs. The atmosphere out there was so
thick with apprehension and excitement that you could have
run a blade through it. A guy with a backstage pass paraded
up and down the street, fiddling with it, trying to get noticed.
Finally,
they opened the doors, and everyone started pushing towards
them. It took us at least half an hour to get inside, with
only two or three people going in at a time. When we got in,
we showed the ticket guy our precious pieces of paper, and
as he ripped one edge off them, he said, 'Oh, you guys have
got the best seats in the house!' We grinned, and walked up
to the balcony. Once we were seated up there, I couldn't believe
my eyes -- the balcony was behind and above the moshpit, about
50 metres from the stage. We got a clear view of the stage,
and since we were seated practically in the middle, it was
a fantastic seat.
The lights
dimmed, and all the moshers stood up and started pushing to
the front. The security guards had to scream at them to sit
down, because nothing was starting yet. Finally, [Melbourne
band] Ricaine came on. Because they were the first band on,
and everyone was really hyped, they recieved a huge welcome
of screams and whoops. The bassist stared out at us, then
walked up to the mic and asked, 'What are you screaming for?
We haven't done anything yet.' They continued to tune their
instruments, and everyone just kept screaming. Then the bassist
came up again and said, 'I think you've got us confused with
someone else.' This, of course, was welcomed with more screams
and cheers. When they started playing, the whole place jumped
to life -- the moshpit started, and everyone was rocking to
the music. If anyone EVER has a chance to go see Ricaine,
do so -- believe me, they are well worth it -- they rock like
hell. They played a new song called Pole Vault, but since
I'd never heard them before, it didn't mean much. All I know
is that it rocked, and that next time I'm in a CD shop I'll
look for them.
Near the
end of their set, the guitarist/vocalist asked, 'Oh, do you
guys like Midget? Yeah, they're brilliant. Well, they're up
next, and then Everclear, and then [quietly] some band called
silverchair.' Everyone promptly went ballistic.
The first
thing Midget did when they came on stage, was to have the
vocalist go up to the mic and say, 'FUCK SILVERCHAIR... for
the moment!' It was really funny!
Midget
rocked too. Then came Everclear, and I swear, they had the
BEST stage performance I've ever seen -- it totally blew me
away. Art interacted really well with the audience, and it
was during their set that we went down for our first mosh.
At first we thought it would be really hard to get down, but
it was easy, and it was really good. The first song they played
was Strawberry, my fave track off Sparkle and Fade.
Then came
the BIG LONG WAIT for silverchair. It took forever for the
sound people to set up and test out the bass and guitars,
but it was well worth the wait.
 silverchair's
setlist (as best we could remember it) was
Leave
Me Out
Slave
Findaway
Freak
Cemetery
Tomorrow
Suicidal Dream
Madman
Pop Song
The Door
Faultline
Pure Massacre
Israel's Son
Surfin' Bird
Paranoid (with Everclear)
It was
incredible. We were sitting up in the balcony, screaming out
the lyrics to almost every song, and whenever they stopped,
we all screeched at the top of our lungs, 'YOU FUCKING ROCK!'
but they didn't seem to hear us. Ben and Chris looked straight
at us a few times, though.
After
Slave, Daniel came to the mic and said, 'We fucked up really
bad then. Actually, it wasn't us that fucked up. Everyone
fucked up except us!'
Thunderous
applause and screams echoed through the packed hall.
And sometime
during the set, Daniel said, 'Oh yeah, and you can jump all
you want. Just keep on jumping.'
During
the show, everyone kept piffing their empty water bottles
up onto the stage. Daniel was beginning to get really pissed
off, and he goes, 'If you don't stop fucking throwing those
fucking water bottles, I'm gonna fucking come down there and
kick all your arses!' His remark was met with screams and
yells. He also said something about not wanted to wreck his
guitar, and that 'this guitar is worth like $500.' For that
one he copped a very sarcastic 'oooohhhhhhhh' from everyone,
including us!
He also
said that if people didn't stop chucking water bottles, that
he'd 'come down and do what I did last time I was in Melbourne!'
(Which was what?)
And when
he was introducing Madman, he said, 'This song's about ...
WATER BOTTLES!' Then the mosh pit went crazy, and we were
all moshing in our seats! It ruled!
Suddenly,
we all started having major moshing withdrawals, so, during
The Door (which totally ROCKED), we got out of our seats,
and went up the back of the balcony. We didn't want to miss
anything that they said, and promised each other that we'd
go to the pit at the beginning of the next song.
Nothing
was said, and the band went straight into Faultline. Screaming
out the lyrics, we all rushed down the stairs, and ran into
the pit. Grabbing each other's hands, we formed some kind
of train, and pushed our way through everyone (like we had
during Everclear), but this time even more determined to get
to the front. Doing the cool combination of jumping, moshing
and pushing, we got about seven or eight rows back from the
barrier. All these guys that were about fifty times our height
(especially me), moshing around us, shoving us in the back
-- it was like being in a forest of huge trees, and you're
just a little petunia or something. These huge 'trees' kept
pushing against me, making me squash up against the people
in front. It was getting hard to breath, except for when my
saviors (the crowd surfers) came flying overhead. I was able
to catch a quick breath. By this time Faultline was way over,
and we were in the middle of mosh pit mayhem with Pure Massacre.
A blond
guy who had got one of my friends surfing was in front of
me, and so I tapped him on the shoulder. I pointed up with
my finger, and he raised his eyebrows, pointing upward questioningly,
as if to say, 'YOU wanna go UP?' I nodded frantically, and
he grinned and grabbed my legs. He pushed up, and I jumped
at the same time, and I went flying. It was incredible! I
would have been seven rows back, but I landed at about the
fourth (I guess that's what comes of being light -- AIRBORNE!)
It was unreal -- the band, the heat, the music, the crowd,
and me sailing over all of it -- pure adrenalin. Then everyone
pushed me towards the front, and over the barrier. A security
guard caught me as I came over (it was really embarrassing,
he caught me like a baby, I just said, 'Uh, hi!')
When I
came down, I was about right in front of Ben, and a little
to the right of Daniel. When I looked up, the only thing I
could think of was that I was actually here, and I was so
close to them. So I did that sign with my hand and screamed,
'You ROCK! YOU FUCKING ROCK!' Then a security guard gave me
a really hard shove, and so I had to keep moving.
Pure Massacre
was incredible. The guitar buzzed, the bass kicked, the drums
rocked... IT WAS UNREEALLL!
So I went
back up to the seats after that and heard Daniel proclaim,
'K, this is our last song.' Spotlight on Chris, as Israel's
Son was bashed out. Because it was the last song, we were
determined to get a good view, and so we went up into the
spare walking aisle along the sides of the seats, and sat
on the balcony, with our legs hanging over. We sat there,
screaming the lyrics as loud as we could, and moshing on the
bridge of the balcony. It was great, the atmosphere was unreal,
everyone was really getting into it. We were having an incredible
time, until we felt this heavy hand come down on our shoulders.
The grip was too hard and too tight to be one of my friends,
and I turned to see a security guard. He pulled us off the
balcony wall, and goes, 'You abused privileges, and now you
lose them. And you know what that means. Downstairs.' Like
we care. He physically threw us down the stairs, and then
told the guards who were checking tickets for the balcony
(who had got to recognise us on sight because we'd been up
and down so many times) not to let us back up.
Israel's
Son was rocking, so we went into the mosh (stuff the seats,
the mosh is more fun anyway!) 'Put your hands in the air!'
It was electric! Some people near the back were beginning
to wind down, but I was getting happy, so I was moshing my
head off... it was fantastic.
We went
back out after Israel's Son, but when silverchair came back
on to play Surfin' Bird, we went back for another mosh. After
Surfin' Bird, silverchair were joined on stage by Everclear,
and they performed Black Sabbath's Paranoid together.
During
the song, it was Daniel's turn for revenge. Picking up the
water bottles, he piffed them into and at the audience. Of
course, this began a full-fledged war: rockers vs. moshers!
It was so funny -- we weren't far enough in to catch any directly,
but one fell at my feet, so I picked it up (no way I was going
to throw it... it'd make a nice souvenir! Besides, I didn't
want to hurt Dan's $500 BUCK GUITAR now, did I?)
After
that, everyone bustled out of the pit, and we left, our insides
warm, our outsides hot, sticky and sweaty, and our rock hunger
satisfied. It was the most incredible concert I've ever been
to, and probably will ever go to. silverchair rock, and I
will never stop believing that, particularly after last night!
I forgot
to pick up a pebble, but I've got my T-shirts, my water bottle,
and my memories, that hopefully will NEVER sparkle and fade. |
By MARTIN
PEGAN
The Buzz magazine
The scene
was set during the opening number, Leave Me Out, when silverchair
turned almost all of a packed Festival Hall into a frenzy
of jumping, sweating, surfing and flying water bottles. This
trend continued for most of the night, as they belted out
all the favorites including Pure Massacre, Findaway, Suicidal
Dream and Madman, which on this night Daniel informed us has
actually always been "a song about water bottles."
Who could have picked that? Of course, the old fave, Tomorrow
was also part of the set, and it seems to be a song which
is maturing with age.
The October
1st gig was used by silverchair to not only support the Surfrider
Foundation benefit album, Music For Our Mother Ocean, but
also to test the waters with some of their new material. These
new numbers gave the impression that the second silverchair
album, which is due out early next year, will contain greater
diversity than frogstomp. One of the newer songs, Slave, has
already received some radio airplay and highlights the influence
of Helmet on the band, with a stop start riff, particularly
during the opening. Of the tracks which were unfamiliar to
most, Freak had a touch of Soundgarden about it, not only
in its sound and style, but because it probably went for a
bit too long. The gentle paced Cemetery saw Daniel display
his powerful vocals while playing his guitar solo, apparently
because, "Ben and Chris can't remember it."
After
headlining Pushover on November 16th, silverchair will end
the month by playing one show in Argentina and two in Brazil.
These three shows are to be staged in large stadiums with
capacities ranging from 25,000 to 40,000. silverchair will
then head for California for their final U.S. appearance of
the year. While there is little doubt Daniel will end these
shows by using his guitar to give the speakers, amps, and
of course Chris' drums the standard whacking, it will be more
interesting to know if Ben is kind enough to present the Californian
and especially South American audiences with a full vertical
smile, as he was overly pleased to do during the bands recent
Sydney and Melbourne gigs.
silverchair
was more than adequately supported by Californian punk band,
Everclear, while up and coming Aussie bands, Midget and especially
Ricaine also impressed. As the Melbourne crowd got well into
their set, Art Alexakis the lead singer and guitarist of Everclear
modestly queried, "What are you guys doing? We're just
the warm up band!" They not only warmed up the audience,
they came close to tiring them out, as it was near impossible
to watch this band patiently or inactively, and save the energy
for the main act. This was especially the case during Everclear's
big ones, Santa Monica and Heroin Girl,which they appropriately
ended their show with as it was unlikely these two songs would
be topped.
It was
obvious that Everclear is well experienced at playing to a
Festival Hall size audience and this gave the impression that
the band was having a fantastic time and that their live act
comes most naturally. If, or perhaps even when, silverchair
can achieve this style during their live performances, they
could easily come to be considered as one of the best live
bands as their music is already suited to being played live.
The encore
by silverchair included Fix Me, a Black Flag cover and a manic
rendition of the start of The Trashmen's Surfin' Bird, which
sounded even better without the distortion that dominates
on the version appearing on Music For Our Mother Ocean. The
night also included a standard version of Israel's Son, which
even on an average night is still one of the best moshing
songs going around. Well, I know it makes me want to jump,
rather than kill anything or anyone.
Everclear
joined silverchair on stage for the closing song, a thumping
version of the Black Sabbath classic, Paranoid, with Alexakis
on vocals. It was during this song that the boys from both
bands united to try to reap revenge on the most satisfied
crowd by hurtling back many of the water bottles which had
by now covered pretty much all the stage. No doubt due to
them being so outnumbered, they lost the battle convincingly.
Lucky they put on such an enjoyable gig or they might have
really been hammered by those water bottles which both bands
hated so much. |
