Getting tickets for this concert had been nothing but hassle for me. An endless series of phone calls, train trips and tram rides. So to be finally standing in the line to get in was something of a relief. My mum, friends and i arrived at around about 7:45pm just as the doors were opening. (Yes you read right i wrote mum, if you didn't know already, you needed to be accompanied by an adult to go in if you were under 18, and since i am my mum came). Anyway while standing in the line i made sure to observe the age group of people that i would be mingling with for the next 3 and half hours. I was really surprised to see that there were hardly any people my age. Most of them were early to late 20's.. The line was moving extremely slow and every time we ventured forth a loud cheer would rise from the crowd. Finally inside i was greeted with one of the most beautiful theaters i have ever seen. There was wall to wall carpet, ceilings painted to look like a sky, lights to give the impression of stars and elegant naked statues of Greek Gods to give it that sophisticated look. To me this was already a great start to the evening. Further inside there was the stage surrounded my much the same decor as we had just seen. We ventured inside and settled down in a little booth to wait for the mighty chair to come on. Something For Kate were the only support act and for not being a big fan of the band i thought they were excellent. Although i will admit it felt like forever until they finished there set. Finally the chair roadies were on the stage setting up and this was my cue to find my place in the mosh pit. Settling in to a fairly good spot i observed the stage. It was decked out in neon lights that were drapped over all the equipment and mirror balls hang from the roof. There were also long white lycra bags that hung at the very back of the stage. After seeing silverchair at The Peaches and Cream festival i knew what to expect from their set, but nothing could prepare me for the heart stopping show the boys put on that night. Before they made there appearance the room went dark an some sort of weird techno music was playing with a mans voice saying something about humpty dumpty.Then with a burst of lights and smoke silverchair came onto the stage. Daniel dressed in his Anthem gear, a sparkly black top and matching tie, Ben wearing little more them a pair of shorts and a smile and Chris sporting his red pants and famous bald head. The first song they played was Emotion Sickness, the first track from Neon Ballroom and my gosh it was fantastic. Daniel sung with so much feeling in his voice that it made it feel like he was actually singing the song to me and no one else. This song had just enough thrash guitar and beat to boost people into a hype. Then followed on with Israel's son, yet again another fantastic song. I am not exactly sure what the set list was so i will just tell you the songs they played as i remember them. Next i think were some new songs and surprisingly people were really getting into them. I did notice that Daniel was mouthing things to himself while he was playing and if i read lips right he was saying "I can do this, you know you can do this". Next they played Madman and Pure Massacre and i could see that people were appreciative to hear some familiar music. Daniel then was trying to make a joke about beavers and Trees. The joke being "Save a tree, eat a beaver". Alot of people just stood in a confused stare until Daniel explained "listen beavers eat trees right? well if we eat all the beavers then there won't be any beavers left to eat the trees". Hey i thought it was funny. Anyway next i think was a few more new songs then a outstanding version of Tomorrow which Daniel played solo. Then following was The Door, according to Daniel this was the biggest rock song of the night and we were all ordered to "fucking jump". Then followed an awesome sounding Freak and the highlight of the show Anthem For The Year 2000. When the music for this first came on everyone when nuts and started screaming, Daniel sung into the mic "We are the youth" followed by some directional hand movements. He repeated the words" we are the youth" over and over again until the crowd caught on. Finally he burst into song and began to sing the chairs Anthem. He left it up to the crowd to sing ever second line and believe me the crown was loving it. After that was a few new songs, them including Ana's Song, Black Tangled Heart and Miss You Love. The guys then left the stage only to be followed by the" we want more" chant and not until the crowd started to stamp there feet did the mighty chair return. The oncore was a mixture of new and old. It consisted of Satin Sheets a hard core punk song and the newly altered Spawn Again. After the songs where through Ben and Chris retreated backstage while Daniel stayed on and messed with the mixing pedals. Then just as quick as it had started it was over much to my disappointment. As the crowd moved out and the cleaners moved in and i couldn't help feeling a tinge of sadness, knowing that the fresh faced young teens i had first seen in 1994 and the rough and raw Frogstomp days were gone. Judging on tonights performance there are only better things to come from the great silverchair and you know what i can't wait to see what they do next.
By Belinda Perri