It is virtually impossible to describe just how amazing this concert was! I will give it my best shot though ...
After hearing that the 'chair would be coming to Brisbane I contacted a number of my friends to see who was interested in going. My good friend Rachael and 4 of her cousins really wanted to go, so I volunteered to queue for tickets the morning they went on sale.
About 0830 on the Saturday I arrived at the nearest big shopping centre and joined the very small queue that was outside the Myer department store. 0845 a woman came out of the closed store and handed out a raffle ticket to each group of people buying tickets. (Later on I would find out just how important this tiny piece of paper was!) Nothing much happened for the next 15 minutes. At 0900 the doors opened, and we made our way quickly (but in a relatively orderly manner) up to the 1st floor where the Ticketek counter is.
Shortly after, everyone was beginning to wonder what was taking so long. The queue hadn't moved an inch! Well, to cut a very, very long story short, the Ticketek computers had gone down Australia-wide at the same time the silverchair tickets went on sale.
A video was put on a small TV, and we all settled down on the floor. Not long after, the Ticketek woman started calling up the people with the raffle tickets to nominate how many tickets we wanted and mosh pit or seats. She assured us that she would place a bulk order for those people as soon as the computers went back on line.
Anyway, … It was nearly 2 hrs later when she called us up again. The computers had finally decided to behave. Raffle ticket holders were called up first to buy their tickets. Clutching the 6 tickets, I walked away a little numb from sitting around for 2 hrs. Only 2 months 'till the concert …
The night of the concert I met up with my friend at her cousins' place and we all headed off to the concert together. Not even the announcement that Placebo wouldn't be playing (due to lead singer's tonsillitis) could dampen our spirits. We were pretty keen to hear what Placebo sounded like live, but after all we where there to see the 'chair.
Pre-Shrunk really got the mosh pit going. I'm doubt if anyone actually has any idea what the songs were about or what words were being sung, but the music was absolutely great to jump to. Somehow our group managed to stay together. Dehydrated, and a bit worse for wear (some people had been shoving people really hard, so that there was a major domino effect).
At some point of their set the winner of a Triple J contest was invited onto the stage. She proceeded to look at us, & as the crowd booed her totally she gave us a defiant 2-fingured salute!
As Placebo wasn't coming, there was a 30 min break. This allowed us to get a bit of fresh air, and each suck an iceblock from someone's drink. We would have done anything for water or anything cold! I can only imagine what a summer outdoor concert must be like!
The shoving started up again, and Rachael wisely said that there was no way we'd be able to stick together one silverchair hit the stage. There had been a sense of expectation and excitement right from the very start, and we could feel it building.
Killing in the Name Of, The Taxi Driver Theme, immense madness in the mosh pit, then …
4 figures walked serenely out onto the stage amidst yelling and cheers as the crowd showed their appreciation. The atmosphere was absolutely electric!
Until about half way through Slave it was all I could do to keep from falling over amidst all the shoving. (Everyone around me was really great to each other, so I presume that the shoving was down to a few isolated idiots somewhere!).
Despite all of this, and not hearing the first 1 or 2 lines, Emotion Sickness was a simply brilliant opening piece!
2 seconds into ES I lost sight of all of my friends and didn't see them again 'till it was all over. After allowing some people to push through to the front I ended up in a really good spot a bit further back, but where I could see both Chris and Daniel well.
It's absolutely impossible to pick a favourite song or moment from the concert. silverchair has such an amazing range of songs, and the concert represented each of the albums extremely well. One moment you're going off to a heavy song like Israel's Son, and the next it's a softer, but perhaps more lyrically intense song like Ana's Song. Suicidal Dream, Miss You Love & Ana's Song received an especially good responses.
Unfortunately I can't remember much of the stage banter, except that when he asked the people who were standing to all sit, he said that Melbourne had come close to achieving this, but that no other city had. Also, something about the front row not having to, 'cause he knew how impossible that would be. Surprisingly, he didn't ask the people in the seats to stand. Maybe after so many concerts he was sick getting sick of this game. He also 'discussed' Brian Molko being too sick to play, basically taking the mickey out of him saying that all of the 'chair members had played sick. Him with really sore throats (or something!), Ben with some affliction, and Chris with only 1 arm! This amounted in immence approval from the Brizzie crowd.
After Anthem the calls of 'encore' were almost deafening, and we weren't disappointed.
Daniel got up and did a solo performance of Petrol & Chlorine one of my faves from Freak Show. It was simply amazing! It was just one of the many moments I wished could go on forever. He said something like he'd be doing something a bit special for us 'cause Placebo didn't show.
Chris and Ben came back for Kick Out The Jams. Daniel said something about it not being one of their songs, but they liked it. (I could be a bit wrong about this though!). To finish off, they performed the one song I had really hoped to hear live, No Association. It was great to end the night jumping as hard as we could!
All too soon they'd disappeared, and a near-capacity crowd was left to make its way home - very contented and full of amazing memories! It was a night I'm sure none of us will ever forget!
The presentation was absolutely amazing. From the stage setup (with the neon ballroom arches), to the lighting, not to mention Daniel working the stage so that wherever you were you got a chance to see him. Throughout the concert he did what can only be described as a kind of disco thing with his arm or arms. At certain points in each song he's raise an arm (sometimes both) and point either straight up or at some section of the crowd. His glittery black shirt and Chris' bright trousers also made it a very colourful stage.
I bought a cool concert shirt with a Wheel of Fortune theme, drank heaps of water, then headed home.
I only wish that I could express the atmosphere and my feelings about this night better …
Brisbane, August 15, 1999 - Set list:
Emotion Sickness
Israel's Son
Slave
Abuse Me
Ana's Song (Open Fire)
Suicidal Dream
Paint Pastel Princess
Madman
Point Of View
Tomorrow / Satin Sheets
Miss You Love
The Door
Pure Massacre
Freak
Anthem For The Year 2000
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Petrol & Chlorine
Kick Out The Jams
No Association
