After nearly 15 years of playing, recording, and touring, The Cat Empire have amassed a cult-like following and an enviable reputation as one of Australia’s best live bands.
You only need glance at their history, touring the globe with their jazz-inspired fusion of ska-funk, rock, and Latin, to know that they’ve amassed some serious mileage on the tour pedometer. But did you know that the Melbourne-bred six-piece have performed to just over 6 million people across the course of their career while consuming 250,000 gms of ham in that time?
How about the fact that they’ve only cancelled one show after more than a decade, or that it took approximately 10,000 stage towels to mop up countless buckets of stage-light and music-frenzy induced sweat? Never mind the toll of beverages consumed.
That’s just a few of the interesting facts and pieces of trivia revealed by a fascinating new infographic detailing The Cat Empire’s touring legacy, revealed by the band themselves.
The amazing visual breakdown of the group’s 999 shows has released to commemorate the announcement of their 1000th performance, treating an audience in their hometown of Melbourne to a free, all-ages gig at Melbourne’s Federation Square on Friday 21st March. “Did you know that The Cat Empire have performed to just over 6 million people across the course of their career while consuming 250,000 gms of ham?”
Designed to “thank the city and its people,” in the words of the sextet, “giving something back in return for all help that allowed them to grow in the early years through so many amazing live venues,” the show will likely draw enormous crowd numbers – if The Cat Empire’s free performance at last year’s inaugural White Night Melbourne is anything to go by (as captured in their ‘Steal The Light’ music video).
They’ve certainly come a long way after more than a decade and over 1.5 million album sales worldwide, maintaining the exact same line-up – frontman/percussionist Felix Riebl, trumpeter/vocalist Harry Angus, drummer Will Hull-Brown, keys player Ollie McGill, bassist Ryan Monro, and DJ/percussionist Jamshid ‘Jumps’ Khadiwhala – since playing their virgin gig to a crowd of less than 50 people in May 2001.
A huge contrast to the crowd of 250,000 they played to at the 2013 Montreal Jazz Festival, their biggest live audience ever according to the infographic, which impressively notes in the same 14 years that only one band member has missed one show (though humorously, they’ve missed 12 flights and lost five passports).
Other notable achievements in The Cat Empire hall of fame include holding the record for the most shows one band has ever played at Melbourne’s Prince of Wales, and the most shows played in a row at Sydney’s Metro Theatre (eight in seven days).
They’re also big winners with Triple J, holding the #2 position for the most Hottest 100 entries for an Aussie band in the last decade, with 10 songs entering the countdown in that time (the same as Powderfinger and just behind John Butler Trio’s 13 songs in 10 years).
The band’s 1000th show will precede more international touring for The Cat Empire – including a trek to Asia and headline slots over Europe’s summer festival circuit – before returning home for another Australian national tour in the latter of 2014, increasing their live CV well beyond 1,000. They – and their fans – can’t wait.
View The Cat Empire’s amazing infographic and 1000th show details below
(Click To Enlarge)
The Cat Empire’s 1000th Show
Friday 21st March – Federation Square, Melbourne
Free All-Ages Public Concert, 7pm
Info at thecatempire.com
