Washington,
Mar. 11, 1999
By DAVE
KAHLER and BOBBY GILL
After
many, many days of waiting, the day had arrived. At about
6:45 PM Bobby's father had arrived in the family van. Dave
had been rushing to finish his sign which had said "Nobody
knows Daniel's a lesbian" in big, bold Freak Show font.
Bobby's sign read "Eat a beaver - save a tree" -
a quote made by Daniel in a previous concert and on the other
side, "Can I have a drumstick, Ben?" Jonathan, another
fan of the almighty 'chair, had quickly scribbled "We
are the youth" on the back of Dave's sign.
 Driving
through the "mean streets" of downtown Washington
D.C., they had finally met their destination, The 9:30 Club.
Wearing only t-shirts to cover their upper bodies, Dave, Bobby,
and Jonathan realized it was "butt cold" outside.
Being
inside after 15 minutes of shivering, Bobby and Jonathan quickly
took their spots in the crowd while Dave bought a brand spankin'
new Neon Ballroom t-shirt. After about an hour of mingling
with other 'chair fans, Lit took the stage at 8:30.
Lit's
setup was pretty good, although Jonathan loved making fun
of them for their odd behavior onstage (mainly the lead singer).
Lit really knew how to rock, though the singer's voice clashed
with the heavy backbeat of the music. Their set lasted approximately
45 minutes.
Dave noticed
John "Watto" Watson (silverchair's manager) had
stepped out onto the balcony for a second while Lit was playing.
Dave screamed "Watson!!!" and he actually heard
him. So Dave waved to him and he (Watson) smiled back. It
was pretty cool.
 Finally,
it was now time for silverchair! Well, not exactly. . . Danny
and Bailey (roadies) came out and started setting up for silverchair.
Once finished, the house lighs died out, and the neon lights
lit up the stage. The lights were one color one minute and
another the next. They outlined everything from mic-stands
to bass drums to amps. Now, the ever-so-famous (around the
'net) music started playing with Robert DeNiro's famous line
- "are you talkin' to me?" - from Taxi Driver.
Alas,
silverchair took to stage! It was the event that every person
in the place had been waiting for! Ben and Chris walked out
and took their positions. Ben, as usual, was sporting the
"sexy" shirtless look with spiked up hair. Chris
had his flashy neon-orange pants (which will soon be in your
local department store - hehe!) on. Everyone was already screaming,
but that wasn't as loud as it would get when Daniel took the
stage.
 A
silhouette of Daniel's body soon appeared on the left side
of the stage. Now, it was loud! He hopped on stage with his
black pants and sparkly silver shirt and Bailey handed him
his black Les Paul which was bearing the sticker "Ban
duck season. Big guns - little dicks."
The band
took one quick look at the audience and then jumped right
into the first song off of Neon Ballroom, "Emotion Sickness."
About 3 minutes into the song, everyone thought it was over.
It was just the beginning of the intensity. When fans started
clapping, Dave screamed "it's not over!" Indeed
it wasn't over. The intensity had just begun!
Right
after Emotion sickness, Chris started the intro to "Israel's
Son" and the crowd went WILD! Once Daniel started the
words "Hate is what I feel for you...," the whole
crowd decided to join him, Dave especially. For Daniel's little
scream at the end of the song, he backed away from the mic
and decided to let the crowd finish that part.
 This
next part was a surprise to most people. Daniel started the
opening notes to "Abuse Me" and again, the crowd
went wild. They joined in on the singing of this song as well.
One of
the highlights of the show, for Dave at least, came up next
- "Slave". silverchair delivered this classic (at
least in silverchair land) with more power and enthusiasm
than recorded on the album, Freak Show, itself!
Up next,
the song that most 'chair-heads were waiting to hear - "Ana's
Song." WOW is what the whole crowd thought (regardless
of whether or not they've heard it before). Daniel sang with
his eyes closed throughout the whole song and left this author
in awe!
Following
"Ana's Song" was "Suicidal Dream" and
a couple (not many) people noticed the Ben screwed up in the
beginning, but that's alright. It was still an awesome performance!
"Paint
Pastel Princess" was not accepted as quickly as the other
songs. Many still loved it and sang along if they knew the
words.
 "Madman"
started massive mosh pits and these two writers ended up crawling
to the walls of one of them to save their lives!
Most everyone
in the club was expecting Ben and Chris to join in after the
intro to "Tomorrow," but a surprise came to them
- a solo version of "Tomorrow." Again, Daniel sang
with extreme passion.
"Miss
You Love" was taken as a love song by many fans, as anticipated
by Daniel and some others. The way this song was performed,
you'd have thought the whole band was in love, even Sam!
Daniel
had made a comment - "American culture - hamburgers and
fries. We love you!" right before "The Door"
and it was rockin'! It got the whole place jumping! Dave jumped
throughout the whole song and most people thought he was a
freak. (He gets pretty wild at silverchair shows!)
 The
song that Bobby had been waiting all night to hear was next
- "Pure Massacre." It got pretty rowdy. By this
time, a few people had to be pulled out of the crowd because
they were getting squished. Thank God for those big guys in
front of the stage!
One of
the best performances of "Freak" came up next. I
didn't expect any moshing to happen, but there was one HUGE
mosh pit right in the middle of the place that Jonathan was
ballsy enough to jump into.
Neon Ballroom's
first single, "Anthem," was up next. Right before
they started playing Daniel asked "Can I get a Helleluhia!?"
This really got the place rockin'! Of course, Daniel started
a call and response to kick off the singing - Daniel: "We
are the youth!" Crowd: "We are the youth!"
silverchair
stepped offstage to take a break and the crowd started chanting
"sil-ver-chair!" and "We want more!" followed
that. Finally, the band came back on stage for the encore
and everyone started cheering.
 An
unexpected song came up next - "Satin Sheets." Everyone
thought oh cool, there's a punk song on this album as well.
The crowd enjoyed this and surprisingly, a few people in the
club knew the lyrics.
The last
song of the night had finally come - "No Association."
It was kinda sad, but it had to happen sooner or later. This
was a rockin' song as well! A crowdsurfer came along and kicked
Bobby in the nose, Jonathan in the eye, and was dropped on
Dave's head. A few 9:30 Club employees came over to see if
Jonathan was alright and it turned out that he had a "mild
concussion." Bobby went with Jonathan to get some water
while Dave stayed for the remainder of the song.
After
the concert, Bobby and Dave went up to the stage and asked
Danny, one of silverchair's roadies if they could have a drum
stick. Danny had made their day!
Later
on, everyone (Jonathan, Bobby, and Dave) met up with Dave's
brother, Pete (no, not Pete Walton) for the ride home. It
was still "butt-cold" outside!
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