Press
20-07-2007
Showbox - Seattle, USA
By WADE
howdy, i'm Wade from Olympia and i've just recently experienced something that i thought may never happen, i attended my first Silverchair show...in my neck of the woods! i could go on and on about the nitty gritties, but i won't, instead i'll say that the show was fanfuckingtastic and that they put a lot of their album versions to shame! you must see them live. i'd seen Faraway Stables, and tracked down various performances on the web to tide me over for the eventual triumphant invasion of the U.S. once again.
i was reflecting on the show and all i could do was smile, no words or phrase could summarize. it was a special night and those are far and few between in the diluted rock scene that exists now. to top it off, before they started their encore, they brought up a young bloke to propose to his girlfriend onstage.
c'mon, how much more special can ya get? great song selection, and i must say that of the set, Straight Lines was the most improved live. thanks from a longtime fan who's grown up with your music.
here's the setlist, the order may be a bit off:
Young Modern Station
Tuna in the Brine
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Reflections of a Sound
Low
Insomnia
Ana's Song
Those Thieving Birds (pt. 1, Strange Behaviour, pt. 2)
The Greatest View
The Door
Straight Lines
{intermission}
If You Keep Losing Sleep
Mind Reader
The Lever
By Matt
I watched Silverchair's "Leno" and "Late Late Show" performances. I listened to their acoustic renditions of "Reflections of a Sound" and "Straight Lines" on 103.7 The Mountain six hours before the show. Daniel's voice improved in each performance, but I was shocked when I heard the difference in his voice at the Showbox. He hit every note. His vocal performance was truly impressive.
"Low," "Tuna in the Brine" and "Emotion Sickness" were played in a row, and each are my favorite tracks off their last three albums. That was a definite highlight of the show. "Straight Lines" was played perfectly.
If I'm not mistaken, the Portland show the night before was the first time they haven't played "Freak" since before Freak Show was released. They also omitted it from the Seattle show (a positive, in my opinion). I was surprised they didn't play "The Man That Knew Too Much." I thought it would be a staple in their set list on this tour, but they've only played it in two out of their first four shows on this North American tour.
I brought a friend to the show who thought Silverchair was a decent band, but he was blown away by their live performance. The bartender didn't seem too excited about the show, so I asked him what he thought. He said, "Have you heard of the band Shudder to Think?" "Yeah," I said. He then pointed to the stage, implying Silverchair sounds exactly like them. I strongly disagree, but it's certainly an interesting comparison.
"The Lever" seemed short. I was looking forward to Ben going off, which he did, but I was surprised that the guys didn't have an extended jam session at the end like they usually do. I abruptly left after the song ended, and the next day I felt sick to my stomach because I thought they might have had a second encore. I think I had that feeling because they left me wanting more. I wish they would change their set list and jokes up a bit more from show to show. Their set (1.5 hours) is rather short.
I enjoyed live performances of "Ana's Song" and "Emotion Sickness" more 7-8 years ago when Daniel could relate more with the songs. However, "Emotion Sickness" has evolved instrumentally and the guys perform it perfectly.
Although this review sounds negative, this show was arguably the best show out of the 11 that I've seen. I had high expectations, and they exceeded them. With all the work Silverchair puts into their albums, you wouldn't think they could be better live, but they are.
Set List:
1. Young Modern Station
2. Low
3. Tuna in the Brine
4. Emotion Sickness
5. Without You
6. Reflections of a Sound
7. Insomnia
8. Ana's Song
9. Those Thieving Birds, Pt. 1/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds, Pt. 2
10. Straight Lines
11. Greatest View
12. The Door
13. Mind Reader
(encore)
14. If you Keep Losing Sleep
15. The Lever