There was no slow trickle of punters into the venue tonight – by the time the interval was beginning, Newtown’s infamous Enmore Theatre was full almost to bursting point as a couple of thousand people eagerly anticipated one of Melbourne’s finest live music acts today, The Cat Empire.
From older folks keen to dust off their dance moves to swarms of energetic teenagers dressed as cats, everyone in the crowd became more and more excitable for the main act as the minutes until their arrival on the decadent, extensively decorated stage ticked away.
The stage itself was a spectacle – the illuminated crowded eye glowed softly in the background and giant cats stared expectantly into the crowd as the eight-piece band strolled boldly out onto the stage, amidst cheering and a steady, pounding drum beat.
The genre-defying musical act kicked off their set fittingly with “Steal The Light’, the catchy chorus sending the crowd into a frenzy of sing-alongs and waving arms at the title track of their recently released album.
Trumpet player and vocalist Harry Angus reassured the crowd that they would be playing both new and old songs, before stepping back half a decade with “In My Pocket”, extending the crowd favourite into an epic showcase of the band’s musical prowess.
Vocalist Felix Riebl swapped effortlessly between singing and percussion, as Angus showed impressive vocal ability and additional instrumentalists Keiran Conrau and Ross Irwin radiated enthusiasm with their respective trombone and trumpet solos.
The level of energy was pushed up even higher with the entry of masked dancer ‘The Enigma’ in the recent “Prophets In The Sky”, injecting the audience with his infectious dynamism and hip-hop moves.
The extended trumpet solo at the beginning of Spanish-inspired, upbeat “How To Explain” introduced the three beautiful Ela Dancers who accompanied the band with seductive steps and reappeared, with much appreciation, every couple of songs until the end of the set.
The refrain from this catchy tune was the call of the night, as layers of vocal chords from all around the room combined to preach ‘Music is the language of us all’.
Positivity expanded through the venue as “Sleep Won’t Sleep” gave way to Riebl’s favourite track from the new album, “Still Young”, and the youthful tune had the whole venue grooving and toe-tapping along.
The volume simmered down for a while as Ollie McGill captured the attention of the crowd with his intense, draw out intro to ‘The Wine Song”. Showcasing his talent and improvisational skills on the keys, the building piano piece was complemented with Angus’ unique, emotional vocals, before he asked everyone in the room to put their arms around each other and ‘make it the most fun song of the night’.
The floor was sent into a writhing, waving castrophony of dancing and chanting as the increasing tempo was matched with increasing volume and energy from the audience.
Rewinding back to 2005, The Cat Empire pounded out their top single “Sly” to an appreciative roar, as drummer Will Hull-Brown had thousands of hands clapping in and out of time with his extensive, impressive drum solo.
After a climatic “Brighter Than Gold”, the band wandered off the stage but was called back on for an encore in less than a minute, launching into “Wild Animals” before “The Chariot” had almost everyone in the venue on their feet and singing.
The show was appropriately rounded off by the slower tune “All Night Loud”, the closing track on Steal The Light, with Reibl softly crooning ‘So thank you my dear friends, and that’s goodnight’ to a grateful crowd.
It’s no surprise to see that this incredible group of musicians have been selling out shows on their largest tour to date – their live show is an awesome, energy infused performance not to be missed, leaving everyone with high spirits and a whole load of faith in music.
