Rockhampton, Nov. 26, 1997

By atreju@rocknet.net.au

At last my dream comes true! silverchair in good ol' Rocky - beef capital of Australia! I thought it would never happen!

Annoyingly enough, it took absolutely forever for the band to show. First a local band played, followed by a break, followed by a fairly 'tame' performance from Magic Dirt, silverchair's support throughout the tour. Finally the boys rocked on up amid thunderous applause and much rocking of the soundshell!

After playing around with some grinding notes from Israel's Son, they launched into Slave which really got everyone pumping to the heavy bass. Surprisingly, their second song was Roses, a bit mellow for the mosh pit, but that didn't stop 5500 people serging forward hungrily, crushing the steel barrier that seperated the crowd from the band. Panic ensued as people spilled onto the stage, a few were trampled and one unlucky security officer had his leg crushed in the chaos. He got off with a broken ankle and probably a bit of a fright!

Consequently, the show ground to a hault while the damage was assessed and and new barrier was hurridly built in a record 15 minutes! Daniel even came onto the stage and told everyone, "O.K, you've all gotta take a step back, take a fucking step back or there won't be any show. We're gonna go now and come back in 10 minutes to rock the fucking house!"

This statement of course, was followed by ear piercing applause and screams. Roadies worked their asses off to control the crowd and build the new barrier. John Watson (I think it was him) came out onto the stage and said, "Well, this barrier that's been knocked down has been here for 10 years and you guys have managed to destroy it 2 songs! That's pretty good!"

Finally it was all set and silverchair emerged once again. Naturally, pandamonium followed when Daniel's first words were, "Don't let that crap hold you back. Rock the fucking house!" (screaming sounds from Daniel followed by screaming sounds from the crowd)

The band wisely launched into a beatuiful rendition of Pure Massacre which sent the crowd and the mosh completely insane (just what everyone needed after the frustrating break and anti-climax), as Daniel writhed and thrashed about on stage like a madman! I have to comment on the hair-do: NICE ONE DANIEL!! Apart from the fact that he looks skeletal at the moment (obviously not eating enough vegemite sandwiches), he's in fine form and simply exudes energy and sex on the stage.

Yes, SEX, don't ever let anyone tell you that Rock is not about sex!! He did a few sus things with the mic (hey, at least he was having fun!) and let his own hands do a bit of wandering!?!?! Don't ask! We don't know either! Lots of moaning and groaning and screaming like a maniac (a bit too much like KORN for my likings). For all the girls out there who er...shall we say, appreciate Daniel's fine form, he responded well to the teeny boppers in the front row and gave them all ample opportunity to have a "bit of a feel".

The set went something like this (not in order because I can't remember!)

Slave
Roses
Pure Massacre
Suicidal Dream
Faultline
Abuse Me (awesome)
Cemetery
The Door
The Closing
Freak
Israel's Son
Tomorrow
Techno version of Freak with Ben on drums

We were all a bit disapointed with the fact that a lot of the songs played were quite mellow and unmoshable! I don't think Faultline needed to be included and I don't think Suicidal Dream, Cemetery, Roses and Abuse Me should all have been on the same set. It was just getting too quiet by the time they came to actually putting a bit of zest back into the show and Daniel didn't let the opportunity pass to hurl insults at us! (insert extremely sarcastic tone of voice here) "Rockhampton is getting quiet....there's nothing to do in Rockhampton but what the fuck, I come from Rockhampton and I don't give a fuck! I live in Rockhampton and we're in the desert and we're getting fucking quiet!" Incidently, Rockhampton is not in the desert!!! Guess who failed Geography!!

Aside from this, Daniel spent a lot of the time in between songs being sarcastic, hurling abuse at the world and people in general, throwing himself at large, heavy objects, screaming like a mad animal and calling himself a "fucking freak". He attempted to wrap himself around the mic but was unsucessful so threw it into the air instead. Party trick!

silverchair's actual playing was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! They were spot-on and have improved 100% to when I saw them 2 years ago. Daniel however, was a much better singer 2 years ago and was also a lot more decent to the audience and seemed to be having a pretty good time. I don't know what has happened in that time, but now he seems to be torturing himself up there and often gives the crowd the impression that he is in a lot of pain and agony!

The rendition of Abuse Me was nothing short of brilliant and so was the Spawn song. For Cemetery, Daniel said, "and don't hold up your lighters for this song because lighter songs are fucked!" Everyone dutifully complied! Thank-god! I hate lighter songs too!

The finale was fascinating. After Freak, Israel's Son followed. Here, Daniel decides to really go off his head. He bascially ran around in a purely deranged state of being, which was entertaining, but slightly disturbing! At one stage, during the final song which was the techno version of Freak (absolutely brilliant, Ben accompanied on drums and sounded excellent), Daniel was crawling around on stage, twisting and turning and moaning into the mic; he whimpered "I'm a freak" over and over again ending with a dry, rasping of, "I'm a fucking freak," which sent him over the edge I think.

He tried to slide down a railing off the side of the stage as though he were a snake, singing at the same time - a difficult task I think! Then he crawled up onto an amp and huddled in the corner like a frightend rabbit for a while before taking a huge dive off onto the stage again! Thunderous applause and satisfied screams from the crowd followed. He must be used to this as he recovered well!

Overall, the show was entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable, though I worry about the state of mind of Daniel! Next, he'll be ripping the heads off chickens!! Their playing was superb, the songs could have been chosen a little more carefully, the lighting show was simply breathtaking and the mosh pit was reasonable - my favourite song of the night was the Spawn song which Daniel really seemed to enjoy (about the only one, he obviously hates Tomorrow!) and then Abuse Me which was captivating!

That's all from the Rockhampton show!

Overall, I thought the concert was quite enjoyable. Their playing, technically, is spot on. They've improved 100 percent over how they were when I saw them two years ago. Daniel's voice however, has not. He does not know how to manage his voice properly and with his new-found Korn impression, he constantly sounds like he is straining to project. Often, he would simply cut notes short or not sing a line at all, preferring to simply moan or play.

Still, he has really come out of his shell in two years and he utilised the stage like a pro! Lots of twisting and turning and jumping and climbing -- he must be very fit (and very thin too I noticed!) I didn't appreciate his oral communication with the audience, hurling lots of insults and threats and the like -- but that's pretty trivial. The only other criticism was that they played A LOT of mellow songs which I will discuss later.

The finale was fantastic! They played a techno version of Freak, which Ben accompanied with drums while Daniel paraded around, whimpering and bellowing into the mic. Chris was really energetic too and I found myself really listening to him throughout -- he has a strong stage presence. Ben and Chris kept a low profile and let Daniel do all the talking.

They opened with the first few notes of Israel's Son and then blasted into Slave which really got everyone pumping. Roses came next but that didn't stop the mosh pit from spilling over the barricades and onto the stage -- consequently, the show had to be stopped for nearly 20 minutes. A steel barricade cemented into the ground which had been there for 10 years was completed wrecked after two songs. So the show ground to a halt while a new one was built.

That was the end of a totally amazing night!!!! Can't say anymore. I was alson fortunate to score one of ben's drum sticks!!!