Silverchair

18-09-2007

Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Australia

By MELANIE

As I sat in my seat waiting for the chair to come onto stage in excitement the lights on the back of the stage slowly lit up, while the crowd roared. The band walked onto stage opening their act with a song that set the tone for the night. It was the first song Young modern station from their new album. Daniel ripped into a guitar rift and sang with clear precision while other band members played along to his lead. Throughout the song he got a laugh out of me and other audience members by playing the guitar with his mouth.

Silverchair then took us down memory lane with older songs, such as Israel’s son from their first album Frogstomp, Emotion sickness from their third album Neon Ballroom and Withhout you from Diorama, their fourth album. The audience sang along to these classic songs and seeing the band perform these oldies brought shivers down my spine. I was waving my hands crazily and singing along too.

Daniel then spoke to the audience briefly and broke into my second favourite song Reflections of a sound from the new album. This song brought most the audience into a trance-like state. It was mind blowing to see. The next song performed was the rocky song If you keep losing sleep; Daniel got the crowd involved by getting them to clap and wave their hands. He then played with his pedals and distorted the guitars, which the crowd applauded and loved. He went on to play more of my favourites such as Ana’s song, to which the crowd sang along. My favourite from Young Modern was played next, Those thieving birds. Daniel made a comment before they began playing that Paul was getting sick of this song, or something along those lines. This is one song, however that always sends a shiver down my spine when listening to it, and watching it performed live was even more amazing.

The chair then went on to perform Greatest view from Diorama; the audience screamed as the song began and sang along - it was obvious it was everyone’s favourite. The lights dimmed and Daniel was handed an acoustic guitar; he sang I luv your life which sounded fantastic. He played another hit from Young Modern Straight lines while the crowd was screaming every word. Daniel then mentioned that we were going to take a trip down memory lane and he got the audience involved by clapping. He then broke into another classic The door  from the album Freak, which sent the audience wild. The Chair closed the show with the raw sounding version of “Insomnia” and another classic “Freak”.  

Tonight at Rod Laver Arena was the fourth time I had seen the chair perform over the past 13 years. I had seen them perform at the 1999, Neon Tour, at Rod Laver, in 2003 Diorama at the Palais Theatre and May this year at the Metro. Tonight I had the same feeling I had seeing them play the first time – I was overwhelmed and felt like a teenager seeing their favourite band for the first time.

By HUNTER

The 'chair put on an almighty show at Rod Laver Arena Tuesday night, performing with a level of enthusiasm I haven't seen in the band before. I think this is really the most notable difference in their new music, its still identifiably Silverchair but there is an element of joy and fun there that wasn't present as much in past records.

The band took the stage to their intro music that started off sounding like a heart beat but grew into an approaching train as a voice welcomed us to Young Modern Station, which the boys then launched into, its an awesome rock opener. The lights and effects at the show where world class and probably better than I've seen in many of the big international acts to have played in Melbourne recently, video footage, lights and the big screens really added to the show.

I'll have a stab at a set list later but there where a  few surprises and highlights worth pointing out first. They played Israel's Son for the first time in a while. Insomnia off Young Modern really comes to life live, there seems to be much stronger drum and bass lines which turns it into a bit of rock monster, especially with that beat that the audience claps and stops along to. They played Thieving Birds which was unbelievable. I kind of understood that some of the Powderfinger fans perhaps couldn't follow it because on first listen it does jump around a bit, but once your familiar with it and can follow the melodies its a real highlight (the same could be said for If You Keep Losing Sleep). Mindreader went off, half way through Daniel put down his guitar and picked up a big spotlight from the front of the stage and proceeded to lead the crowd in a Mexican Wave, then strapped the axe back on and the band just kicked on with the song where they left off. One of those real rock moments. The Door and Freak where great and really whip the crowd into a frenzy, I paticuarly love the way the guys always do something different with the intro to Freak which really gets everyone pumped. And we also got the Powderchair jam, apparently Substitute by The Who, not familiar with the song but it sounded great too.

Overall a sensational show, Powderfinger were awesome as well and they may appeal to a broader audience but I personally think the chair kicked there arses live. Props to the boys as performers as well, Daniel's voice is really impressive live and he's one of the best frontmen I've seen, even Chris struck some rock god poses on the corner of the stage during Freak. Great work boys!!
 
Heres my crack at a setlist, pretty sure the order isn't right and I may have missed something but you get the idea. There's always a couple of more songs you wish you could of heard but if they had to pick 15 songs to play I think I would have picked these 15 song as well:
 
Young Modern Station
Israel's Son
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Luv Your Life
Reflections of A Sound
Insomnia
Ana's Song
The Greatest View
Thieving Birds
Straight Lines
If You Keep Losing Sleep
The Door
Mindreader
Freak

Oh, and the whole thing was filmed (both nights apparently) so heres hoping for a DVD later in the year.

By REBECCA T

It was a Tuesday afternoon as i caught the train to Rod Laver Arena for what was to be the Across the Great Divide Tour, with co-headliners Silverchair, Powderfinger. But something was telling me that the crowd would not be split into two halves, which was true.

I got to my seat and after watching an interesting set by Dan Kelly (who stops during songs to explain his lyrics), the excitement for silverchair began to get too much. As the lights dimmed, and the familiar sound of a train coming towards us, meant one thing, Silverchair were on the stage. With an impressive set behind them and screaming masses unleashing their excitement (including myself), the band ripped into Young Modern Station.

For a crowd that was 80% Powderfinger fans, the response was quite amazing to the band. Since the lack of Frogstomp material on the Young Modern Tour, when Chris began the intro to Israel's Son, the hardcore Silverchair fans were in full voice.

The set was incredible, with a brilliant mix of new and old, and even though Daniel tried desperately to get the Powderfinger fans involved, they still played Those Thieving Birds saying they wanted to play it incase they couldn't play it with Paul again.

The show was filmed for a "film" and the performance was tight. During Insomnia Daniel got hold of a light and asked if the crowd "were fans of mexico, if so, give mexico a wave!" and a mexican wave erupted around the arena. The hits kept coming and when it came down to playing The Door, Dan asked the crowd if they liked walking, cos it was time to take a trip down memory lane.

It was a phenomenal show, with the boys taking in the big stage with nothing but ace. Showing that they are truly class performers. Cheers boys!

Set List:
Young Modern Station
Israel's Son
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Reflections of A Sound
Insomnia
Ana's Song (Open Fire)
Those Thieving Birds pt.1/Strange Behaviour/ Those Thieving Birds pt.2 The
Greatest View Luv Your Life Straight Lines The Door Mind Reader If You Keep
Losing Sleep Freak