The Cat Empire, Eagle and theWorm @ Enmore Theatre, Sydney(14/5/11)

Tue 17th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Despite being ten years into their career, the Cat Empire are still evolving, showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Over the course of four albums, the band has developed a following that has seen them selling out venues across the country in their latest ’Ten Years of The Cat Empire’ tour. This string of sold out concerts continued with one of the bands final shows on the tour at the Enmore Theatre.

Eagle and the Worm played a tight set and managed to keep the majority of the crowd entertained in support, however, something felt lacking from their show. In comparison to what was to follow, the band’s set felt like it drew on longer than it should have, and more so; it failed to have a real sense of variation. The band members were proficient at their instruments, however, they never really played to their clear potential and after several songs their sound and ideas began to feel recycled and repetitive, losing much of the early crowd focus they initially garnered.

The Cat Empire didn’t shy away from their earlier material, making it what seemed like the focus of the show, shying away particularly from material from their latest effort, Cinema. The early segment of the band’s set was filled with early tracks including Sly, Days Like These, Two Shoes and The Darkness. As a band, the Cat Empire performed a set that re-affirmed their position, not just as a great Australian live band, but more simply as a band that everyone should make the effort to see live at least once in their life. With heavy improvisation and extended jams over the almost three hour set, the band took what was already a phenomenal collection of recorded material and brought it to the stage in an astounding presentation, not merely of the ability of the band to write unique and inspiring music but instead; the individual presence and skill amongst its members.

Throughout the set, keyboardist Olli McGill established himself as a crowd favourite, with virtuoso solos and a sense of humbleness that most musicians of the same skill would be unlikely to maintain. McGill played a lengthy intro before the band launched into The Wine Song causing rapturous applause from the audience, continuing to please them later in the set. Felix Riebl revealed himself as an incredibly enigmatic member in Sly and Fishies as he alternated between his engaging stage work during vocal parts and frequent timbale and conga solos when not singing, constantly remaining an active and energetic factor on the stage. Last, but not least, in stand-out performances was trumpeter Harry James Angus, whose inimitable style and skill almost defines the band’s sound. In The Darkness, however, Angus displayed an awe-inspiring vocal range as he switched from laid-back lyrical delivery, to skat, then an astounding falsetto. Despite these three members of the band particularly standing out, no members were ignored.

There were stand-out performances in the set, but there were no stars. While in the past Angus has often stolen the show, the band seemed to mediate between all the members. The bassist, drummer, DJ and the mainly rhythmic brass section were all given solos throughout the show, and in this, the eight piece demonstrated how their ten years of recording and touring has made them very much a band rather than a collection of solo musicians. Throughout the concert, the members all delivered a laid-back sense to the show but this didn’t affect their skill, albeit added to the audience’s reception of the band as a group of humble musicians, motivated by a love of music. Rather than a feeling of superiority which has become a recurring trend in many live performances of late, the band put themselves on the same level as the audience and the ecstatic reception they received was due to this.

After a set of over two hours, the band returned to the stage for a thirty minute encore consisting of fan (and likely band) favourites; Hello, The Car Song, and The Chariot. The encore was one of the main highlights of the show which not only saw every band member play significant solos, but also showed how far the band has progressed since recording their early material. Even with such a successful past behind them; after seeing the Cat Empire play such a tight, humble and crowd-pleasing set, the future is no less than bright for the band and there’s nothing standing in the way of the band playing even better shows in five, ten, or even fifteen years.