Spiderbait
Enmore Theatre
Sydney, AU
March 18,2017
In case you are burdened with the mercy of late birth and hence unfamiliar, Spiderbait are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Finley, a small rural town in New South Wales. What made them special and made them the face of Australian rock in the late 1990s was their own brand of heaviness mixing in with experimental and weirder off the beaten track moments, while not lacking the knack for writing a good pop tune.
The show tonight was In celebration of their20th anniversary of their third and most celebrated album, Ivy and the Big Apples, which in 1997 was combining an eclectic mix of sounds and subsequently won the “Best Alternative Release” ARIA Music Award”.
Spiderbait held court in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Sydney's Enmore Theatre, with an audience ready to go on a nostalgia trip to relive their youth and the rite of passage the album represents for them. It can be argued if their oeuvre is comprised of any nuances, yet the crowd lapped it up with gusto, with sing-alongs galore and smiles all around.
Bassist Janet English, Damian Whitty on guitar and the bearded backbone and rudder Kram (aka Mark Maher) blasted through their seminal album and got everyone moving in the process, culminating with their most well known songs –“Calypso” from Heath Ledger’s cult classic flic 10 Things I Hate About You invaded.
All sixteen tracks of the album were renditioned from start to finish including songs that were performed in a live environment for the first time. It was interesting to see the extensive instrumentals of the album performed for the first time, some of which became epic battles of bass vs. guitar vs. drums. Plus a few off their other classics thrown in for good measure.
Spiderbait proved that they are in league with the greats of Australian rock music generation such as Silverchair, Grinspoon, Regurgitator, and Powderfinger, an accomplishment emphasized by the fact that despite hiatuses and side projects, the band has always retained its original line-up.
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Photos by KAVV
