ROCK N ROLL EXPERIENCE - Silverchair - 7/24/07

I'll admit that intially, when I heard Silverchair was touring the USA in support of "Young Modern", the bands latest release, I was truly skeptical whether the show would sell well, I mean the band doesn't get alot of airplay in the Maryland/DC are...the most played thing from the band is their hit "Tomorrow" which is from their first cd over 10 years ago, so I had no idea if there was a strong Silverchair fanbase still, & when I went to the 9:30 club's website to check out the set times & when the doors opened, there was a posting that the show was sold out, so my next thought was, wow, the gen-x crowd must still love the band! That thought was also blown out of the water, because when I got there, the first thing that struck me was, Holy cow, there's ALOT of young kids here! I actually think there were more under 21 people there than over 21, & you could tell by who hung out where..the over 21's hung hear the bar & the younger sect was right upfront rockin' out!

I actually got to the show right after We Are The Fury had started..it wasn't a huge deal because I've seen the band numerous times & this night was clearly about Silverchair, so I watched as We Are the Fury tried to get the kids all stirred up with retro riffs, grooves, & all the cliche's of 70's arena rock...I can't quite figure if the crowd really liked them or not, but just as they were before, the band delivered a nice, tight set that oozed of 70's rock!

Silverchair came on around 10 PM, & the band played till 11:30, & one of the funniest things to me was, right before the band came onstage, I had a conversation about David Bowie & his Ziggy Stardust era, & whenever I think of that era, I remember when Bowie wore an eyepatch, & I never quite understood why, but I just remembered Ziggy era Bowie wearing an eyepatch, & when Daniel Johns, lead singer/guitarist for Silverchair came onstage, guess what he had on? An eyepatch! I was laughing to myself & thinking, wow, I wouldn't have guessed that, because It just reminded me of Bowie! Anyways, the band opened up with all new material & sadly, there was no "Tomorrow" or any of the other gems from the bands first cd that the crowd really wanted to hear! At one point, there was a very large pair of panties tossed on the stage & the band joked about that, & later on in the evening, Daniel took his shirt off & wore tha pantied around his neck like a neclace for the remainder of the set! Daniel was sporting a bandana/rag on his head for the bulk of the night & later he donned a hat that he joked made him feel like Justin Timberlake, & to be honest with you, he really did look like Mr. Timberlake! Overall, the show was great, it was less heavy than I remembered the band being, but then again, I remember the band from their first cd! Musically, the band has really progressed, Daniel's guitar work is impressive, his song writing is strong, & his showmanship has really gotten amazing! The band closed with "Freak" which featured just the 3 original band members & no keyboards! It was also pleasant to see Daniel invite a kid onstage to pick a song for them to play & then he allowed the kid to dance on the stage while the band played! Overall, it was a great rock show & Silverchair played their hearts out!