San Francisco, June 18, 1999

By AlyJash@aol.com

Photos by ALEX/LEXI

Slave
Freak
Emotion Sickness
Israel's Son
Ana's Song
The Door
Tomorrow (60 seconds) Lie To Me
Point of View
Anthem for the Year 2000

silverchair, having a lengthy 10 day break from their last show, played an incredibly solid and entertaining show in Mountain View, Ca at the Shoreline Amphitheater in front of a collective total of 30,000 fans. There were 21 bands at this rock fest show featuring, Orgy, Cake, Smashmouth, Lit, Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chilipeppers, Kid Rock, Pennywise, The Living End, Live, Moby, Blink 182 and more. As you can imagine bands had to be divided up into stages according to status in the rock community. silverchair was originally slated to be on the Main Stage but was replaced by Lit at the last minute because Lit has a more radio friendly sound than silverchair essentially.

silverchair wore exactly the same clothing that they wore at the concert here in Northern California just 2 months ago. Chris wore the baggy nylon orange athletic pants, Daniel, the black shirt and the silver tie, Sam, a Union Bay sweater with dark pants and Ben, shirtless with khakis shorts to the knees.

The band came on at 4:20 PM, fittingly enough, on the Dysfunctional Stage. And for all you Limp Bizkit fans, Fred Durst was on stage off to the side singing to many of Daniel's lyrics. Daniel said very little to the crowd of 3000 that basically watched silverchair over Smashmouth and Sugar Ray who were playing at the same time.

The moshpits were very active and violent throughout much of the setlist, especially Anthem, Lie To Me, and Israel's Son. The crowdsurfing was insane and I almost got neck contusions on several occasions. I was dead center in front of Daniel and made lengthy eye contact with every band member, including Fred Durst. Being 6'5" in a crowd full of people under 6 feet has to be a key reason. Daniel said "thank you San Jose" which is a neighboring city to Mountain View, so he wasn't totally accurate. But, his Australian accent was doubly amplified trying to pronounce a Spanish name! He said as little as I have ever heard anyone say at a rock show, which I did not mind because their playing speaks for itself and that's what the crowd came to see.

My favorite song was Emotion Sickness live. It is even better than on CD. I like the fact that they did not play Pure Massacre, just because they always do at every show. They played literally one verse of Tomorrow and then led into Lie To Me. It was really cool to see and hear. Lie To Me got everyone moshing and crowdsurfing and frantically jumping up and down while Daniel screamed and played very aggressively. I was thrilled that they opened with 2 Freak Show songs. This band stole the show in my opinion. silverchair fans were going crazy. I was headbanging to most songs and doing Daniel's infamous hand movements for him. I held up a "Vegan" shirt right in front of him but he never seemed to take notice.

The band seems very mature and business minded and knows that a show is just a show. They don't seem to like American rock crowds as much as their native Australian or even Canadian rock crowds. However, silverchair played a solid set and represented all 3 albums well. The letdown of the show is that they did not play Spawn Again or No Association, usually songs they close with.

It was very apparent to me that silverchair has a very strong following here, particularly from the 13-19 female crowd because of Daniel's feminine and striking looks. But the boys love them equally for their Drop D tuning grunge classics like Israel's Son and Freak. The other letdown of the show was that there were no neon lights wrapped around the equipment and Ben's bass drum did not say silverchair on it. Also, being as wealthy as the 3 young band members must be, couldn't they wear something different to play in? I mean, they wore exactly the same clothes and from what I can tell, they do so for every single concert.

Anyway, silverchair rocked and I am saying that as a music enthusiast, not as a 5 year chairhead who thinks Daniel Johns is a musical genius. They played every song flawlessly. The highlight of this show was having a couple Limp Bizkit members singing Tomorrow to themselves backstage off to the left "taking notes" from a lad singer in Daniel Johns that captivates as well as motivates his teenage audience. I am looking forward to silverchair finally attracting the older ear, the 20-30 age crowd which seems to continually write off silverchair as Nirvana, Hanson, and Backstreet Boys genred groups which is so ignorant that is doesn't even anger me anymore. Anyone who sees this band live or hears Neon Ballroom will notice the maturity, sophistication and musical brilliance this band brings together in a way that bands like Metallica, Rage Against The Machine and The Red Hot Chilipeppers do. Go see this band if they are a state away or less! They rock! They have a heavy kick ass sound complimented by Daniel's rich pretty soothing vocals.

silverchair made quite an impression on all the fans that listened to them on this day, especially people who loved Frogstomp and never cared about the band since. They woke up and rediscovered that silverchair is here to stay and was never a garage band playing to "rebel against their parents" in the first place. Amazing show! Thank you Daniel, Ben, Chris and Sam! We love you in Northern California and patiently look forward to the next album and tour which hopefully will be due in late 2000. But, I am probably ahead of myself. Later chairheads worldwide! Feel free to e-mail me if you have specific questions about the band's performance that I failed to touch upon.

Yeah man! silverchair rocked Mountain View, CA for 40 minutes of the best music that came from the 21 bands at Live 105's BFD! The day, being broken up into 3 stages, consisted of such bands as Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, Cake, The Living End, and much more.

I got to Shoreline with my 4 other friends at 12:30 or so, and we went right to the Dysfunctional Stage where the 'chair would be playing. Not many people had showed up to the stage yet, so we stood behind a row of people already taking up the barrier. Two bands would play before silverchair, Imperial Teen and then The Living End. Sorry to say, but Imperial Teen was pathetic. The funny part is, they're all about 35 years old. The Living End came on and they were awesome. I had never heard any of their stuff before, but what I heard was pretty good.

After a short break to change the stage setup, the opening music for silverchair came on and the crowd went nuts. By this time in the show I had managed to knock people out of the front and get right behind someone to squish the hell out of and not get myself hurt on the barrier. Daniel, Sam, Ben, and Chris all came out at the same time from the left side of the stage and Bailey handed Daniel his guitar. I knew what was ahead because I got a glimpse of the set list as they were being taped to the monitors. Daniel looked at Ben who then counted off the beat on his hi hat and the opening notes of Slave blasted through the speakers. The sound system totally sucked on this stage. The vocal mix was too low, and the bass was too high, but since the 'chair rocks so damn much, it sounded great anyway. They were able to compensate for the PA. Slave was unusually slow and Daniel didn't sing it with as much energy as he did at Slims back in March in San Fran. It was kind of disappointing because throughout the whole show, Daniel didn't seem to put out much energy at all, but it was great anyway.

After Slave, Daniel started the opening chords to Freak immediately after the closing notes of Slave. This was also quite slow. I caught Fred Durst's image in my left eye and dismissed it as an illusion but I looked again anyway and there he was watching silverchair! It was incredible to see him singling along to "body and soul, I'm a freak, I'm a freak" He watched the whole show which was pretty damn cool.

Next was Emotion Sickness. Bailey gave Daniel his black Les Paul with the ban duck season sticker on it. They started in on the song, but I couldn't hear the strings throughout the whole song. I don't know if it was keyboard trouble or the crappy PA, but only hearing the three of them do it sounded really good and different.

Right after Daniel strummed the last chord of Emotion Sickness, Chris started in on Israel's Son, (which was also very slow). That had to be the best version of the song I've heard them play. Daniel added some different stuff to the song as well which was pretty cool. The crowd knew all the lyrics so it was even better. At this point in the show the moshing and crowd surfing became so intense I thought I was going to break my neck. There would be 5 surfers in a row all landing all their weight right on my head. I managed to punch a few kidneys though, which was kind of nice. There was also this psycho chic standing next to me who had this strange idea that I was planning to bite her. She must have been on something because her eyes were crazy man.

Daniel got his SG and he said something, but I couldn't hear it because of all the people screaming around me. It was something like, "We don't need to say who we are 'cause you already know. This next song is off our new album and is our new single." Then he started Ana's Song and it was great. Since they all had 12 days of rest Daniel's voice was wonderful.

Daniel then started playing Tomorrow and I was in heaven. I hadn't heard the full band version in so long. Right after the part where he says "very hard to drink" and then finishes those chords to go into the bridge before the first chorus, Daniel stopped, kept the distortion on, and broke into Lie To Me. It was the best surprise. Chris and Ben just followed along and they played an intense version of it.

After Lie To Me, Daniel went up to the mic and said "I stopped playing Tomorrow because I forgot the words." Next was The Door. A great version of it. During the part in between verses when the bass harmonizes with the guitar, Daniel added a harmonized solo which sounded awesome.

Bailey gave Daniel his orange PRS and he strummed the first chord to Point Of View and everyone cheered but he stopped. Then he started again. This song sounded great live. They do it with a lot of energy and it sounded great with the crowd singing along.

Next would be Anthem for the Y2K. Daniel got his green PRS and they played a great version. The crowd was okay for this song, but it would have been better if they were all chair fans. After this they just put down their instruments and left. It didn't even hit me that it was over. It was so short! They walked off and I was like "uh...where did Daniel go?" And then it was over.

They were supposed to all sign autographs at a booth by the stage afterwards. We waited for over an hour and the people in charge told us if they were going to be signing it would be on the other side of the place, so we went over there. I went to see Cake finish their set while a couple of my friends waited. The 'chair decided to leave and not sign anything which was disappointing but the show still rocked! Thanks silverchair!

A "Big Friggin' Day" it was last Friday, with 12+ hours of rock! With so many bands who have more radio and MTV airplay than silverchair, like Orgy, Kid Rock, Cake, Limp Bizkit, and Sugar Ray, I was surprised and excited to see how many people rocked out to silverchair's EXCELLENT set! BFD 6 was my third time seeing silverchair, and they never cease to amaze me with their incredible talent. I arrived at the Shoreline at around 12:30, with 4 friends (Dan Ellis being one of them - I'll try to make my review different from his!), and the second we got in, we walked over to the Dysfunctional Stage, where a small group of people were already waiting. Imperial Teen played the Dysfunctional Stage first, and I thought their set was pretty good. The Living End was next, who I am a very big fan of! They were so energetic and the moshpit really got insane during their set. My friend, Briana, and I met Scott, the bass player, later in the day, and it's very easy to see how he and our very own Ben are good friends!

About 35 minutes after The Living End finished their set, a DJ from Live 105 had us all take a "family photo," so by that time everyone was screaming because we knew it was only a matter of minutes before we would once again be rocking out with the 'chair! Finally, the DJ had the crowd introduce silverchair, having us scream "silverchair!" at the top of our lungs twice. After we did that, the familiar "Taxi Driver" entrance music was played, and everyone freaked out. Ben came out first, in his usual shorts and shoes, and I have to say that his spikes stayed very well throughout the heat....he must use some high-powered hair gel. Second to come on was Chris, in the spiffy orange pants, and finally, Daniel came out with his all black outfit and silver tie to complete the stage.

Since we had seen Bailey taping the set lists up, we knew that "Slave" would be the first treat to our ears that fine day, and we were not disappointed! Although they did play it a bit slower than usual, it made the song even more heavy and grinding in my opinion. By this time, the pit was just insane, with hundreds more people running over to catch silverchair's set from the main and local stages. Second was "Freak," and as Dan said, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit was on the side of the stage, singing along and wearing a huge smile which lasted the duration of silverchair's set.

Every time I hear "Emotion Sickness" live, I can't believe that it can become even more spectacular than the recorded version - I once again was amazed at how gorgeously this song was played, and Daniel in particular performed beautiful vocals on this incredible song. We were then excited to hear the familiar opening bass line to "Israel's Son," and it was easy to see why this song is now recognized as "the 'chair's anthem," as the band and the pit were going off the whole time!

"Ana's Song" was next, and Daniel spoke to the the crowd for the first time right before this song. He said his usual "Hello San-Fran- Cis-Co!!" and introduced Ana's Song as their current single. I actually saw people crying in the crowd at this point, and I can understand why - this deeply touching song is so beautiful, and Daniel conveys so much emotion when singing it. Later in the day, I heard a woman about 20 saying that "Ana's Song" made her realize that she had an eating disorder, and that she was very impressed with how Daniel handled his own eating disorder and how true the lyrics are. I thought that was very impressive. Next up was "The Door," and yet again, our friendly Fred Durst was singing along with Daniel! At one point during the 'chair's set, I noticed that Fred's cell phone was ringing, and after a quick 30 seconds on his phone, he finished his call and actually turned the power off. I thought it was really cool that he was enjoying silverchair so much that he would set aside his own agenda to watch them play. Anyway, "The Door" was, as usual, AWESOME, and Chris seemed to really be enjoying himself at this point, busting out some rad jumps. I think Ben might have broken a stick during "The Door," but I may just have been hallucinating, due to the fact that the sun was making everyone fry by that time!

Right after "The Door" was "Tomorrow"....or rather, 60 seconds of it! Fred was also singing along to this song, but 60 seconds into this song, Daniel stopped playing it and instead began playing the opening riff to "Lie to Me." I nearly peed my pants out of sheer shock and excitement! It's been too long since silverchair has played that song live, and it was welcomed enthusiastically by the crowd. Daniel was screaming his head off at the end, and Ben was slamming the shit out of his drums, a smile on his face the whole time. Chris was bent so far over his bass I thought he'd lose his balance, but he just thrashed away. What an excellent silverchair moment and memory for me! It was such an excellent surprise, and it was refreshing to see them break away from the usual festival set list for this tour. Daniel then explained that "umm, I stopped playing 'Tomorrow'....cause......I forgot the words......" Then he said, "This next song is for the guy up front, the tall guy....who used to have no friends....until now....this is for him," and played "Point Of View." Since this song is my current favorite silverchair song, I nearly peed my pants again, as the soft, gorgeous opening vocals poured out through the amps. This is such a phenomenal song, I was so happy to hear it live again.

Directly after "Point Of View," which got a great response from the audience, Ben broke into the wonderful opening drumbeat to "Anthem," and soon the whole crowd was a mass of screaming, singing, jumping, moshing people. The band's energy levels really seemed to escalate towards the end of their set, but this song particularly. Daniel looked like he was enjoying himself, and after a few tries of getting the audience to repeat "We are the youth!" it worked, and the large crowd sounded like exactly what the song is about - a huge youth rebellion. It was really cool to see so many people responding so positively to the band. After an ass-kicking rendition of "Anthem," the band quickly left the stage - and the audience wanting more silverchair! Our wish, however, was not granted, but everyone was still in a happy daze from such an awesome, rockin' set from our very own silverchair. silverchair is always well-received in California and I can't WAIT to see them back. Excellent job, guys - rock on!