Silverchair at The Roxy, Atlanta, 7/23/07

The return of Silverchair to Atlanta was a sight to behold.  On the heels of their first tour in North America in eight years, the boys from Australia gave the crowd one absolute hell of a time.  Personally, this was a pretty big deal for me.  I've listened to these guys since I was a kid, and Neon Ballroom is one of my favorite albums of all time. To say that I was excited to finally see this band play would be quite the understatement.

The opening band, We Are The Fury, wasn't really anything special.  The crowd was not into them at all.  The singer had fairly decent stage presence, but the rest of the band seemed to sleepwalk through the set, and the music itself was not particularly captivating.

Thankfully they were the only opening act, and it was now time for Silverchair.  I was dead center, right up on the stage for this.  The lights went out, and the crowd exploded.  The band walked on, grabbed their gear, the lights came up, and they tore into their first song. While the rest of the press pit went nuts, I took a moment just to stand there, literally inches away from Daniel Johns, and take it all in.  It's an interesting feeling being that close to somebody you grew up idolizing and admiring.  So then I started to breathe again, and began taking pictures with everyone else.

The new album Young Modern was just released, and the new songs that the band played sounded amazing.  I was blown away by the intensity and musicianship these guys showed, and the crowd was singing along to songs I'd never even heard before.  They opened with the semi title track "Young Modern Station" and quickly went into the next few songs.  Daniel would occasionally play the guitar with his teeth, which was impressive.  As we were being ushered out of the press area, I heard the crashing introduction to "Emotion Sickness," and a wave of chills ran up my body.  This is arguably my favorite song by the band, and I was very, very pleased that they played it tonight, considering most of the set was new material.  They then went into "Without You," a standout track from Diorama, and the crowd was essentially explosive at this point. 

The highlight of the show, however, was probably "Ana's Song," which was the smash hit off of Neon Ballroom.  The lighters and the cell phones came out, and what was once a song Daniel found a bore to play, came out powerful and beautiful.  I had been waiting eight years to see that song played and I was not disappointed.  The crowd sounded amazing singing along to this, and the band really fed off of the energy.  After a few more songs, the band walked off stage, then returned, playing a new song, and closed with "Freak."  The crowd released any energy they had left, and went ballistic for this heavy classic. Daniel then proceeded to destroy the drum kit, and that brought the show to a close.  Holy wow, I have just witnessed one of the best concerts ever.

Daniel and crew really seemed to be having a genuinely fun time playing.  They were laughing and smiling the entire set.  Daniel even told a joke about a profane parrot, and I think most people pretended to get it. He also kept joking about everyone in the band being gay, and other things of that nature that probably don't need to be written. He was in a very talkative, and possibly even strange mood, although I wouldn't know what he is usually like, so maybe he always acts like that.  There was even a point where everyone in the band was throwing drinks at each other on stage.  I do believe he also got hit in the face with his own guitar, giving him somewhat of a black eye.

This show was ridiculous.  They said it was their favorite gig since playing in Poland.  Daniel's vocals were spot on, and any remnant of his throat problem is hopefully gone for good.   If you have a chance to see Silverchair on this tour, do it.  A lot of the dates are sold out, but who cares?  Find the money, buy some tickets, and have a great time. You'll get a taste of the classic Silverchair, and a heavy dose of the amazing rock act that this band has matured into.

Here's the set list to the best of my abilities:

Young Modern Station
The Man That Knew Too Much
Low
Emotion Sickness
Without You
Reflections Of A Sound
Those Thieving Birds Pt. 1/Strange Behaviour /Those Thieving Birds Pt.2
Ana's Song (Open Fire)
The Greatest View
Insomnia
The Door
Mind Reader

Encore:
If You Keep Losing Sleep
Freak

Comments

[Shawn]

Very nice sir.

[Steph]

I'm not even a Silverchair fan, but it sure seems like you enjoyed this.

[Steph]

I'm not even a Silverchair fan, but it sure seems like you enjoyed this.

[Scott]

To be honest with you, I'm going to go see Silverchair on friday and if they don't play anything off of Frogstomp I'm going to be very upset.

[Ian]

I was there and I agree that it was a pretty amazing show. I wasn't a huge fan of Young Modern going in, but their intensity while playing those songs (which made up most of the show) made me like it more. And if anyone is going to see them soon, don't be too disappointed if you don't hear any Frogstomp songs and only a few from Diorama (my favorite album). Either way, I'd go see them again in a heartbeat.

[nat]

Did they really say that thing about Poland? It's kinda surprising because they've never played here...