The Cat Empire @ ThebartonTheatre, Adelaide (30/04/11)

Sun 1st May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Felix, Harry and the rest of the merry crew which make up The Cat Empire are celebrating ten years of being together and being on the road, graduating from 21st party band to filling Thebarton Theatre last night and making everyone wriggle their hips and the rest of their body a little bit at least to a whole lot for most.

Young and old were represented, with children of about 10 running around and grandparents in their sixties being interspersed in the huge, happy crowd. There is no doubt this is a party band, infectious tunes, charismatic dual lead singers, horn section, big organ presence, bongos and drums – what more could you ask for to get you up and getting down? The song list was a mixed affair, tying in a lot of their most popular tracks which have endeared them to audiences in Australia and abroad, as well as presenting some of their newer and less known tracks.

The Thebbie is quite a big venue, so the songs had to be more party anthems on the whole rather than slow intimate numbers, but obviously that is no trouble for the Cat Empire. Days Like These, The Wine Song, So Many Nights, Fishies, and of course the song that really started it all for the band in terms of airplay and bringing them to the attention of Australian audiences – Hello, which most of us would probably think was Hello, Hello with a spitting H that Felix pulls off so well. The slow songs weren’t completely absent – Til The Ocean Takes Us All and Misere were beautiful slow moments which the gracious and indulgent crowd allowed and enjoyed due in no small part to the wonderful voice of Harry Angus and Felix. The only criticism I would level is that every song turned in to a scat match and solo overloaded version of the record tracks, which though a jazz tradition, gets a tad tiresome when every 3-4 minute song drags out to 6-10 minutes with often repetitious and frankly a bit unnecessary solo chest beating over and over again.

The support, in Miles Mayo and the Slippery Gypsies, was a little too country to have any kudos from this reviewer, go to Tamworth boys, even if you are from Adelaide. A great night overall and here’s hoping the next ten years produce as many hits…