Silverchair

24-11-2007

Fox Theatre - Boulder, USA

By BRUCE

I live in Colorado and have always loved Silverchair. I was able to see them live when I was much younger during their Freak Show tour at a stop in Denver, CO, and again when they came and contributed their time to the KTCL Big Adventure at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre shortly after the Columbine shootings back in the late 90's. Since then, Silverchair has gone through their ups and downs and ups again, and haven’t been here since…until just recently.

My wife and I bought tickets and made the trip to LA to see them at the Wiltern back in July, but due to Daniel’s illness, the show was canceled and we were very disappointed as we never do anything spontaneous like fly to see a band play. To see Silverchair again…I took that chance…but it didn’t work out just then.

They re-scheduled their shows for this winter, added a bunch of extra dates, and what do you know, they booked the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO, just about an hour from where we live. So…of course, we went! We also flew out a week earlier to San Diego to see Silverchair play the House of Blues there, which was an amazing show as well. Two times in one week! Awesome!

We arrived 2 hours early, but still waited about 50 or so people back in line, but still walked right in and walked to the front right up against the stage, about two feet from where Daniel was standing. Talk about being up close and personal! I wasn’t sure how the turnout would be, but by the time the stage setup started for Silverchair, the fans piled in and seemed to pack the small venue quite well.

The Boulder show, from what we noticed, was not as long as the San Diego show a week prior, and the band, while in good spirits, did not seem as interactive as they were in San Diego. In terms of singing and clapping, the San Diego fans seem to win that battle. Boulder had a different vibe, and not bad at all, just different. The show did seem to go quicker too, but that could also be because Daniel must have bumped into something during a solo and ended up with a huge knot on his head, right by his left eye. He told the crowd shortly after realizing his new bump, “I will bleed for you,” which was funny and got the crowd feeling at ease again (at first many fans looked shocked and concerned, it looked like it really hurt!). That may have sped the set up (the one song I noticed they left off the set from the week before was “Those Thieving Birds/Strange Behavior”). Daniel came out for the encore with an ice pack on his new bump, and that again got the crowd laughing and screams of “we love you” and “feel better soon” were heard shortly after.

The fans, like at most Silverchair shows, screamed out their requests. Oddly enough, most of the requests I heard were for newer material like “One Way Mule” and “Without You”. I heard a couple of “Frogstomp” screams in there as well. Me, I was fine hearing a mix of everything, and that is about what it was, about 50% Young Modern, and 50% everything else! One fan screamed to hear the Koala joke, and Daniel finally gave in and told the joke a little later in the set (if you haven’t heard it, it involves a lizard, crocodile and a koala). Everyone loved it, as it is was kinda goofy, but great fun...especially with Paul Mac on the keyboards adding some flavor! Daniel also lead a Happy Birthday sing-a-long for Ben, but when Daniel moved away from the mic, it didn’t seem like the crowd was interacting as much as we should have been! Still, it was nice to see the guys having a good time.

They opened with “Young Modern Station” and ended their first set with “If You Keep Losing Sleep”, which lasted a lot longer than the album version, as Daniel and the band provided a lot of extra “rocking out” to close things up! They came out and played “Freak” for their lone encore song, and the crowd, of course, loved it. Of all their old stuff, “Israel's Son” seemed to be the most surprising to the audience members expecting only new stuff. That song was a lot of fun and got the crowd moving and jumping!

Favorites of mine were “Ana’s Song”, “Straight Lines”, “The Door” and “Emotion Sickness”. Daniel seemed to put a lot of emotion into “Ana’s Song”, and it paid off as fans were watching and singing along very intently. So if I had to pick only one song from that night as my favorite, it would have to be that.

Overall, the entire night was an unforgettable experience, as we were right up against the stage, the turnout was good, the crowd was very acceptive to their new stuff, and even with a new bump on his eye, Daniel and the band seemed to be in good spirits and enjoying their stop in the Rocky Mountains.

Here is the set list, the songs may be a bit mixed up in the middle, but should be very very close:

Young Modern Station
Emotion Sickness
Israel's Son
Reflections of a Sound
Insomnia
Ana’s Song
The Greatest View
Straight Lines
The Door
Mind Reader
If You Keep Losing Sleep
Freak