Amsterdam (Netherlands), June 2, 2003

By ELINE

Last night was the best nights of my life. I had never expected it to be so good. The crowd was great, the band was in a good mood and everyone was just having fun.

Something for Kate started the night with some of their best songs, including Jerry Stand Up and Monsters. The people around me obviously didn't know them, except for some crazy couple a few meters next to me. And I was the only one singing along to their songs. I did feel a bit sorry for them in that way, and when they started playing the hall wasn't even half full yet! Anyway they did a great job as a supportact.

Then we had the usual break. The crew builded up the last few things, and as soon as the little music intro started the whole crowd went crazy. When Daniel came on stage, I nearly couldn't breathe. It was like someone was sqeezing my throat. I tried to sing along to After All These Years, but I couldn't! I was so hyped to see him. I just enjoyed the moment and forgot all about singing along. When the song finished, and Ben and Chris came on stage, everybody cheered. They played World Upon Your Shoulders, and at that point you could see who knew Diorama and who didn't. Some of us were singing along but there were also people who didn't like it, you could read it of their faces. It was a great live-version of the song.

Next up was Emotion Sickness, and I went totally mad. This is one of my fav Neon Ballroom songs and it was absolutely amazing to hear it live. At one point Daniel has to sing very high, and when I thought he couldn't go higher, he did, and he did, and he did. It was unbelievable; I never knew he was such a voice-artist. The band was clearly having fun, cause Ben and Stu were constantly smiling while Chris just rocked one, like he always does. I already knew that they were going to do a long version of this song, I was just wondering how, cause it's such a complex song in a way. It ended up sounding fantastic. After this song came Without You; this is my fav Diorama song, so I was thrilled to hear it live. I sang along every word, and as I looked around me, I saw that I was not the only one.

Before they kicked into the next song this is what Dan said: 'This next song is about fish. You know, fish and other creatures in the big big ocean......'. And so began Tuna In The Brine. There was this dude next to me who sang along every word with his eyes closed, and I could totally imagine what he felt. This because I felt exactly the same. It just took you away to some other place, and for a few seconds I felt like I wasn't standing in the crowd anymore, and that it was just me and the band. A feeling I shall never forget.

Luv Your Life was next. Well, what can I say about it? It's a great tune and everybody do-do-do-ed with Daniel along. When the song finished, and they wanted to begin with Across The Night, Daniel again did a little intro. He said that it was about the night and sleeping and dreaming etc. During the song he did his own little 'I don't wanna be lonely' jerk off thing, and pretending holding on a 'baby'. The 'I am god'-pose later also came along. Once again the band was clearly having fun, especially Ben since he couldn't stop smiling while playing this song.

This is just a little detail, but next to the bottles of water which standed next to Ben's drumkit, was also a bottle of wiskey. And the whole band now and then took a zip. Daniel later on also threw some water in the audience because it was so hot! The security guards even began sharing water with the crowd at the front, cause everyone was thirsty. Anyway, next on was The Greatest View, and needless to say everyone once again sang along, including me. They did a great job on this song, even though the performance at the Aria's was better. As soon as the song had finished, Dan switched guitars and told everyone to go f*cking crazy on this one. So 'get the f*ck up' and everyone started jumping around and bumping into eachother. This made it harder for me to actually listen to the song, cause I only payed attention to what was happening around me.

After this song Dan told us a little story about the contract they've signed and that they had to do a tour to support their album. And that a show had to be 57min. at least + encore. He said something about that during the time they were off stage, we had to cheer and that they'd come back for the encore. And then came a little surprise to me. He said that they were going to play an extra song, cause they were forgotten to play a few songs. So I started thinking which then? I soon realised that they hadn't played Ana's Song, my fav silverchair song, Miss You Love and Paint Pastel Princess. At that point I really didn't care much cause I was already happy to see them live! But after the show I was dissappointed that they hadn't played Ana's Song, it's my fav after all.

When Chris started playing before the rest of the band, I couldn't believe it. It was Israel's Son! I never thought I was ever going to hear this song live. The song is after all almost 9 years old! It was absolutely amazing to hear it live. As soon as it ended and Ben started playing his drums, we all knew which song was next: Anthem for the year 2000. Daniel made us sing the whole first couplet, and we all went mad. Later on in the song we had to sing 'We are the youth' so loud that 'the roof will blow away'. And I believe we almost did; even the band was amazed to hear how loud everyone sang/screamed.

The band went off stage, and we all started screaming 'we want more'. Just like the protocol says. Daniel and Julian came back on stage and they performed Asylum. How many times haven't I played that song on my piano, and now I heard it live. Some people around didn't know it, so they were like 'what's this song?'. In the meanwhile I sang along to every word Daniel sang. Amazing. After he finished the song, and Ben and Chris came back on stage, Daniel did a little rap/poem thing behind the piano. It was about 'black is death, death is black, sheep are dead' etc. It was funny to see, even though the lines weren't that positive. At one point Ben even tried to add some sort of drumpart, and were Stu and Julian just improvising. When Daniel was ready and had his guitar he told us another little story about that he was offered some pills, but that the fella who seld them only accepted euros, so he called Melissa to get the euros for him etc. It was hilarious, especially since he did all of these little voice-tricks. He even rapped a piece about Melissa driving in her van, getting some euros for Dan.

After all of this, they played a song I never expected them to play: it was One Way Mule. Before the show I was quite dissappointed that they weren't going to play it live, but when they did I once again went mad. It was great to hear it live, and it certainly was one of the highlights of that night. And last but not least they kicked into The Lever. I had to say that it sounded live better than on the cd, even though they did try to fill up the orchestral parts. It sounded harder, tougher, you know. For the last time everyone started moshing and jumping around. It was great. After The Lever ended they did some funky outro thing, with Dan going mad with his guitar and Ben hitting his drums harder and faster then ever. Dan threw his guitar in the air, smashed it into Ben's kit, and not much later the show ended.

I had one of the best times in my life, and I'm sure I wasn't the only.

The setlist:

After All These Years
World Upon Your Shoulders
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Tuna In The Brine
Luv Your Life
Across The Night
The Greatest View
The Door
Anthem For The Year 2000
Israel's Son

Asylum
One Way Mule
The Lever/Jam

But, WOW, what a concert!!! I’ve read a lot of road reports and now I understand all the used superlatives, because Silverchair is just so amazingly good at live performance, nothing comes close to what Ben, Chris and Daniel (+ Julian & Stuart) achieve together on stage. I’ve heard a lot of stories about the band breaking up and bandmembers looking bored on stage, but none of that was to be seen yesterday! Daniel Ben and Chris were in a euphoric kind of mood. And it was so nice to see Daniel in such great shape after all he’s been through, he looked almost as good as he sounded (and you know he’s the greatest singer in the world). He had both his nipples pierced, as he showed us during the encore by taking his shirt off, it looked pretty cool. It was pretty hot, so I can imagine why he would strip. ;-) He threw some bottles of water into the public as well. Thanks, Dan!

The concert started with the instrumental Across The Night tune. Daniel walked onto the stage together with Julian, one of the keyboardists/backing vocals. He sang After All These Years with so much feeling put into it; it was almost too beautiful (if that’s possible…).

Daniel didn’t speak at all during the first four songs, but after Without You, which was one of the highlights of the night, he said ‘Thank you Amsterdam’. And then he introduced my favourite Diorama song, Tuna, as a ‘song about fish and apple-green animals and mammals and the many wonders of the many oceans of the world.’ Introducing Across The Night he said: ‘The next song is about the many splendours of dreaming and slumber. Especially slumber. Slumber and dreaming, but not necessarily in that order. Yeah, you know what I’m saying, Amsterdam!’ At one point he also told us a story about Julian and how they lock him up in his room every night, on a leash, like a bulldog (‘a bulldog, if you know what I’m saying’). And he asked us if we had ‘anything to smoke for later on’ for Julian and to ‘throughout the night, if you’re feeling charitable, throw something on the stage’, because ‘he’s a lonely boy’ and ‘he needs to figure it out somehow’.

The Greatest View was better than I could have ever wished for. When it was over Daniel said ‘This is pretty short, boys!’ to the other bandmembers and told us a story about signing a contract which said they ‘had to play for at least 75 minutes plus an encore’ and that they would ‘do a lotta encore’ (as they did!!!). And then he said something about them being millionaires and singing songs about it after getting the money for their signed contracts. Then he said they weren’t really millionaires, but they would be after this song; ‘This is the funkiest The Chair ever yet. So, I know that you guys are lazy and lethargic because of your activities throughout the day, but all I’m singin’ is; You gotta move your ass, motherfuckers!’ And the coolest version of The Door was next, with Daniel shaking his butt and playing the guitar with his teeth.

Singing along with Anthem was something I had been looking forward to for a long time as well. Fan-fuckin’-tastic! The perfect closer was Israel’s Son, which was introduced as a song from ‘the teenage grunge sensation from down under’. He told us how he looked back on themselves in those days and that back in the day they didn’t know what they were heading, ‘but now that they’ve made it to the top, we’re gonna make sure this motherfucker goes down in here! That’s right.’

We applauded civilised to show our appreciation and waited patiently, as can be expected from the Dutch, without shouting ‘we want more’, for we are not in the position to want anything from this genius rock-formation. Especially not if you have to pay only 16 lousy euro’s. Then Daniel came back on stage and sang to us, while keeping beat on his electric piano;
‘Thank you very much
for your kind donation.
Thank you very much
for this lovely nation.’

He sang Asylum better than ever (I had heard at least 3 recordings before). After this Daniel shouted some pretty dark shit accompanied by Ben about ‘black sheets’ (‘trade them for your soul’), ‘black clerks’ and ‘dead goats’ (‘take the money and get out!’). He also told us that we should always tap into our anger, ‘’cause there lies magic’. And then he said: ‘And now we’re gonna play a song that we don’t usually play, but we forgot songs in our setlist, so we’re gonna do an extra encore for you boys and girls.’ One Way Mule was superb; a great headbanging song, too! Compliments to Ben and Chris for the heavy stuff! Same thing counts for The Lever. What a great song to end with; they extended it with a wicked jam. Daniel added some lyrics, stripped, played the guitar with a bottle and told us a story about him wanting to buy some pills, which would ‘make a large contribution to the show in Amsterdam’, but he had to pay them with euro’s, while he only had dollars. So he had to call his manager; it was a pretty funny story. And then it was over. Daniel threw his guitar in the air before smashing it into a cymbal and Ben threw his drumsticks in the crowd.

THANK YOU, SILVERCHAIR, AND PLEASE DON’T EVER STOP TOURING AROUND THE WORLD! WE LOVE YOU, AMSTERDAM LOVES YOU, HOLLAND LOVES YOU, EUROPE LOVES YOU, THE WHOLE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD LOVES YOU!!!
Anyway, good luck to you Daniel, Chris and Ben.

Setlist:
1. After All These Years
2. World Upon Your Shoulders
3. Emotion Sickness
4. Without You
5. Tuna In The Brine
6. Luv Your Life
7. Across The Night
8. The Greatest View
9. The Door
10. Anthem For The Year 2000
11. Israel’s Son
Encore:
12. Asylum
13. One Way Mule
14. The Lever
Jam

By ERWIN

The night in the Paradiso in Amsterdam with silverchair was one of the greatest nights of my life. I’ve never seen before such a great show. ( And I’ve seen a lot of shows of many bands ). It was 4 years ago that I saw silverchair live. That show was in the neon ballroom era and was also in holland, but then in 013 in Tilburg ( my home town ). That show was also really great but the show of last night was stunning. I didn’t know what to expect about it, ‘coz diorama has lots of other instruments playing along the songs, such as an entire orchestra.

When I arrived at the Paradiso, there was a long line of people who where waiting to get in. I knew the concert was sold out but there where so many people, amazing!!! After a while I was in the building and went directly to the merchandise, I could finally get my own silverchair stuff, YES!! I bought the “across the night” tour shirt. I also wanted the pyjamas but I hadn’t got enough money. Then I went on to the room where the bands would play that night.

Something for kate was already playing. I’ve heard of the band but never heard some music of them. I must say, it was very nice to see and to hear. The sound also was great. The halls in Holland always have problems with the sounds I guess but this time it was really great.

After a while Something for Kate left the stage. Some guys prepared the stage for silverchair to play. I knew that Daniel was popular with the girls, I’ve experienced it a few years ago at the neon ballroom gig in 013. But I never thought that it would be so hectic when Daniel made his entrance to the stage. The crowd completely went crazy. Soon I realized then that I stood on the wrong side of the room, Daniel was at the other side of the room.

I never had thought that they would begin with “After all these years”, I thought they will open with across the night, but I liked it, it is one of my favorite songs of diorama so I tried to sing along. It was very hard to do that because all the pressing crowd and the heat. When the song ended, the rest of the members entered the stage, Ben and Chris took place behind their instruments and then “World upon your shoulders” kicked of. At that moment I thought: What a amazing band!!! I’ve never seen a band performing so good live.

After this song one of my favorite silverchair songs started, it was “Emotion sickness”. I always wanted to see that song live, I was very curious about how they will play it live, but it was really fantastic they even made it an extended version, which sounded great. You could see that everyone had fun while playing. After that they played “Without you”, also one of the greatest songs of Diorama. With the amazing light show it was really a wonderful song.

Almost every song on Diorama is a great song, and also was the next one, “Tuna in the Brine”. Daniel itroduced it with a litlle story obout fish in the great ocean and stuff. What Eline ( in another road report ) said is really true, it’s like we where drifting of to another place.

Then there was “Luv your life”, which I like very well because I think it’s sounds like a happy song. It’s very cheerful and especially the du-du-du thing. The next song where I was waiting for was also introduced with a short story about dreaming and sleeping. “Across the night” was finally there. Never thought Daniel could do a ballet-dance hahaha. It was al very funny to see, also the rest of the band couldn’t stop laughing.

It was time now for a heavier song, so “The greatest view” started and when the intro played, the crowd went completely crazy, they bounced and jumped into each other. I liked that because it gave me the opportunity to go further tot the front and get closer to the stage and Daniel, so I could take better pictures. After this one an older song came along. “The door”, it was hard to stay where you are during this song the crowd moved from one side to the other and even people began to crowdsurf. After this song Daniel told us a little story about the contract they've signed and that they had to do a tour to support their album. And that a show had to be 57min. at least + encore. But hey we want the money said Daniel, but that money wouldn’t make them millionaires because they already are hahaha. I envy the guys because they are 1 year older than me and the are already millionaires.

Then Daniel said that they will play an extra song, according to Eline they forgot some songs. So they went on with the next song, this was the oldest song they played that night it was “Israel’s son” never thought that Daniel had so much experience with playing the guitar in different ways on this song he played the guitar behind his head and in another song ( I forgot which one ) he played the guitar with his teeth, I thought wow he’s is really a great musician. One of the most popular songs I guess because all the people started to scream and sing along with the first lyrics. Daniel wanted us to sing as loud as we could. This song was “Anthem for the year 2000”.

After this song there was a break for the band and everybody was shouting for more so they came back for encore. But this time the same as in the beginning Daniel came alone on stage with one of the keyboard players ( Julian ). They played “Asylum”, I’ve heard this song once a long time ago so I didn’t remember how it went also the rest of the crowd didn’t know the song very well. When the song ended Chris and Ben entered again the stage and it was now time for some funny stuff. Daniel improvised I guess some kind of funny song on the piano about black death, black sheep, death sheep and it went more exciting and spookier when Ben played some drums and the keyboards came along.

And there was another improvised songs about pills Daniel got offered in amsterdam and he had to pay in euro’s. So Melissa had to get some euro’s. Melissa driving in her van, driving in her van getting euro’s for Dan hahahaha.

The next part of the show was really surprising, I don’t know it was during this song or another but they played “One way Mule”, a really great song and I thought that it was during the solo the band improvised and Daniel stripped during a funky part that was improvised ( maybe it was during Anthem for the year 2000, I forget ). All the girls went mad when they saw Daniel’s naked chest with his pierced nipples. Also he sucked the microphone, which made the crowd even go crazier than before.

Then there was the last song they played at the show, “The lever”, one of my fav songs to play myself on the guitar, it sounded really, really great and heavy. This song was also extended in which Daniel threw his guitar in the air and smashed it into Ben’s drumkit. And then Daniel somewhat raped his guitar ( as we call it in dutch ). Then after this heavy part of the show the band left the stage and the show was over.

I’m for sure this will remain one of the best gigs I will ever see in my live, it goes on my list as one of the greatest shows ever.

Setlist:
After All These Years
World Upon Your Shoulders
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Tuna In The Brine
Luv Your Life
Across The Night
The Greatest View
The Door
Anthem For The Year 2000
Israel's Son

Asylum
One Way Mule
The Lever/Jam