Adelaide, Aug. 10, 1999

By shreder38@hotmail.com

After the doors opening slightly later than expected, and after being treated to an impromptu fireworks display outside by persons unknown, pre-shrunk kicked off the night when only a quarter or so of the whole crowd was in the building. Definitely an interesting choice for the tour, but they managed to get some of the 'mosh at all costs' types to move a bit. You can't flaw their energy or cohesion, and they were enjoyed by the few people who got to see their whole set.

Amidst a wall of recorded music, Placebo took the stage and delivered a full length set that would end up going as long if not longer than silverchair's own set. If you are a fan of Placebo, you would have liked the set, it's as simple as that. They came across as more of a hard rocking band than the massively aired singles would have you believe. The mix didn't quite allow the expression in the vocals to shine through, but it was a competent set, and they were playing to more than the odd person that was at the concert specifically to see them.

Then as Placebo finished, the familiar wait for the 'chair to take the stage began once more. I must point out that the choice of CD's to play over the PA was excellent, with Rage against the Machine in particular actually getting a half decent mosh going. That either says something about the quality of the song, or of the nature of the crowd. Then without further ado, silverchair graced us with their presence.

As someone who has seen silverchair and been blown away a number of times, it is difficult to be overly positive about the total performance we were treated to. I won't go into the set list, it seems identical to that of other concerts in the current tour. For a start, the mix is tailored to the Neon Ballroom songs, so when Israel's Son was launched into, the instrument sound was just completely wrong (ditto for Madman). Another thing I noticed was that Daniel seemed to have trouble hitting some of the notes in old songs like Pure Massacre. The impact of the hook with the lyrics, 'There's people crying, there's people dying,' was completely lost, and this isn't a good sign for the future. I have to stress that I am a huge silverchair fan, and it is ominous that this may be happening and getting worse. Another thing, people may argue with me (its only an opinion), but Daniel just could not get the crowd in the palm of his hand, like he is renowned for. Anyone who went to see The Offspring in concert a few weeks ago would have seen a band working the Entertainment Centre a lot better. Plus, it bugged the hell out of me that they stuffed around so much with songs like Freak and Tomorrow. Would it be too much to ask to hear these great songs played to resemble (even remotely) the recorded version?

The highlights of the set were still strong though, Suicidal Dream was majestic, and Anthem… was a real standout. There is one song that hits the mark perfectly. Songs like Ana's Song and Miss You Love were also great. In conclusion, I was disappointed. I know bands have off nights (anyone seeing Hole at the Adelaide BDO can attest to that), but silverchair could have given us a longer and more intense bunch of songs.