It's been a long day already even for me. After a mild interview time snafu and a lot of listening to soundchecking crew goofing off on various keyboards and drums, a small pile of fans were herded in - contest winners for a soundcheck party. Now 'party' may be a bit of an understatement, but it was cute anyhow. A dozen or so people sitting politely at tables with Big Gulps and coffees watching the band warm up. We even got a preview of the light show! They did miss the brief moments that singer Daniel Johns launched into the Amy Winehouse hit, "Rehab," but still, a preview of some new stuff and then a quick and quirky meet n' greet. Johns also expressed his soundcheck-related concerns with such quips as, "I'm getting little electric shocks... is that all right?" and, "I think there was literally too much power."

It's never too much power.









You want to talk about power... then talk about a band like Silverchair, which has been nearly absent on this continent for years, only to somehow manage to come back stronger than ever. Older, wiser, less angsty and teenage-mayhemish, but still firmly stamped onto the hearts of those who formerly were the angsty, mayhem-ridden teens listening to them. Oh, and a new generation of kids, which admittedly confuses me a bit... how did they find out about this so fast? Anyways, their performance has settled slightly, surely from how I remember it, and carries a confident grace. There's a lot of comfort and love in the room tonight. My only other experience watching them play was at the massive EDGEfest show in 1998, back when EDGEfest still mattered, where innocent little me wandered into her first 30,000 person mosh pit, only to be nearly killed by stomping and charging testosterone-driven highschoolers the second the band struck up a note. Still trying to live in the 90s maybe (does anyone crowdsurf anymore?? At all??), there were a few folks tonight who hoisted themselves onto the hands of the crowd to go for a bit of a sail. There was some moshing. The bouncing Commodore Ballroom floor was hopping.









Musically, they've clearly had time to get even better than they'd ever been before. With layers added not only by the core members themselves - Johns, bassist Chris Joannou, and drummer Ben Gillies - but also by a pair of keys/synths flanking the stage (one manned by a very feisty and energetic man who we later found out was called Paul). Most of the set centred around the new music off of Young Modern, which was still a few days from being officially released in Canada as of the day of the show. While I don't doubt that a number of people in the crowd had obtained the album via international ordering or the ever-popular filesharing programs, and others perhaps getting a preview via Myspace, these songs were likely brand new to many. It's a startling difference how much more flowy even the tunes the band itself warns us are 'rockers' are than previous material, and the songs they chose from albums past to pad the setlist were largely newer as well, and some of the band's more ballad-y work. Johns manages to play some guitar riffs with his mouth, and I also must point out this man has the most striking naturally-perfect brow bone in creation. After having to postpone a few dates due to laryngitis, I found myself cringing any time Johns hit some strangled, roaring note, but he sounded quite fine and powerful and didn't lose his voice by show's end or anything.









And how about the ridiculous and personable nature of this band? I guess mostly in a live setting, this falls on Johns. I had no idea this would be so light and entertaining though. Aside from his cute banter about songs that were about fish and birds, Johns killed a song a few seconds in to help security stop a scuffle that had sprung up in the crowd. "Hold it hold it hold it," he said, shaking his hand at the band to get them to stop the song. He looks back down into the crowd, where security were aiming flashlights at the offenders. "Don't fight. Nothing's worth fighting over. You know what I do whenever I feel angry and feel like punching someone? Instead of punching them, you either propose to them or just have casual sex, depending on how much of a committed person you are... and this next song is about those kinds of choices." I think that was "Reflections of a Sound" but I could be wrong. Anyhow, he talked to the roughhousers for a while there... "there's always one or two in every crowd..." How peacemakery. Much later, he wanted to tell us a joke but he needed his keyboard player (the aforementioned Paul) around for it. So he told us another one about Michael Jackson picking his nose out of a catalogue. Clearly having a great time, he attempted something a bit later on that sounded like some sort of pseudo-backwoods-Australian national anthem (punctuated by a guy in the crowd yelling 'Aussie aussie aussie!' to which Johns replied, "Oi oi fuckin' oi.") before finally having all the members present as needed to tell the joke he'd been itching for all night.









Wouldn't you know, it was one of those jokes that go on and on forever until you get to some horrible groan-inducing punchline, but for every part of the joke where different animals were wandering around, Paul and Gillies would provide cute sound effects of animal steps and sprawling vistas and whatnot, and Johns was tickled to absolute bits at the prospect of telling us all this. Also to note - Gillies' drumkit is the most colourful one I have ever seen. It's practically tie-dyed.

This was a brilliant return to Canada for Silverchair. I think it was quite a satisfying showing for everyone. As the crowd thinned, I noted more broken glass covering the ground than I have ever seen here before... extraordinary amounts. So clearly, the crowd had been moving. And the crowd also clearly was moved. Onwards and upwards, guys, welcome back!

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : July, 2007.