June 29, 2004
Exclusive: Win Promo DVDs of The Chariot
We've been given some exclusive promo DVDs with The Chariot video clip on them, so we're giving them away in the forums! It's not as easy as that, of course, you've got to think:
Either take or make a picture that says "PARTY!" as loud and proud as possible. The Chariot's about friends and good times, right? Capture that.
Rumour has it that another competition is in the wind too, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground... and good luck!
June 23, 2004
One hundred users and growing
The forums have breached the 100-user mark, and show no sign of slowing. Congratulations! The members list has been helped along by a couple of celebrity additions - Harry and Ollie have shown their face and joined in the posting!
As well as being the best place to hear all the TCE news and reviews first, you need to be a forum member to be eligible for the competitions being run in the future, so get in there.
Song For The Day
Submitted by Claire.
Awake, can you imagine how much time
We spent ‘round here
Enough to say that we have seen two moons come past,
Pass and turn away.
Whoa, no don’t close your eyes
For we have come to love
That mad [white?… no idea]
Don’t close for we will see
The moons depart, and sing the song for day
Whoa, I’m singing a song,
Singing a song just for the day
Whoa, I’m singing a song,
While the moons, they pass away
The song that bring our night to sleep
And creeps into our eyes
For delusion makes them manic
For delusion makes us manic
For delusion makes us sing the song just for the day
Singing a song,
Singing a song just for the day
Whoa, I’m singing a song,
While the moons, they pass away
The song that bring our night to
Sleep and creeps into our eyes
For delusion makes them manic
For delusion makes us manic
For delusion makes us sing the song just for the day
Awake,
Can you imagine how much time
We spent ‘round here?
Enough to say that we have seen two moons come past,
Pass and turn away.
The day
When all is said but we still say,
“Don’t close your eyes”
For we have one last thing to sing before we go…
The Song just for the day.
Whoa, I’m singing a song,
Singing a song just for the day
Wayeeh, I’m singing a song,
While the moons, they pass away.
The song that bring our night to sleep
And creeps into our eyes,
For delusion makes them manic,
For delusion makes us manic,
For delusion makes us sing the song just for the day.
Barfly interview
Cairns magazine Barfly have an interview with The Cat Empire online. Harry talks about their roots, and what could happen now that they've gotten some exposure for their style of music:
I think that people all around the country, especially teenagers, hopefully through listening to us, have maybe started to get into jazz and Latin music and some of that kind of stuff that would never I suppose be deemed cool otherwise.
Read the whole thing here.
June 21, 2004
Last Australian Gig - Reviewed
It sounds like the last Prince of Wales gig (Sunday night) was one to remember: old songs, new songs, special guests aplenty. Shakalak has written her review in the gigography:
While Voodoo Cowboy got its first Melbourne run and In My Pocket a welcome return, the night belonged to The Miserere. Unlike Thursday night, the room fell completely silent when those first haunting chords rung out.
All that's left is to wave goodbye to the boys... or see them in Europe somewhere! Read the whole review here.
June 20, 2004
Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Final Australian gig before the Europe tour.
Review
This review submitted by Shakalak.
I don't know The Cat Empire. Despite the fact that I'm a Melbournian through and through, I've only met the boys on the odd occasion. But you know what, I've decided it doesn't matter, because the music that they play and they way they play it has the power to make you feel a part of their mad world and Sunday's gig at the Prince of Wales did just that.
Now over the past weeks and months I've written a few of these reviews from different Melbourne gigs around the place that just filled you in on the hard facts. Indulge me here, because tonight's gig reminded me of why I found a passion for The Cat Empire in the first place.
The gig had all a perfect gig needs. The crowd was big and up for a good night - a good mix of the old and newer fans, mostly who were there for some crazy dancing and a bit of good music. Special guests, Nina Ferro, the Tedesco Brothers and Natalie from Skin also had the crowd pumped. Nina's scatting in Nothing was amazing and Two Shoes was again transformed by the amazing footwork of Johnny Tedesco.
While Voodoo Cowboy got its first Melbourne run and In My Pocket a welcome return, the night belonged to The Miserere. Unlike Thursday night, the room fell completely silent when those first haunting chords rung out. Never have I heard a room as big as that at the Prince of Wales go so silent during a gig. The chorus was sung by Nina Ferro and Felix's young brother Max, who stole the hearts and minds of all in the room (not to mention doing some fine work with the Empire Horns in the Chariot!) The song took on a life of its own and everyone, on stage and off was spellbound. Words aren't going to do it justice.
All the old favourites were heard - plenty of jumping up and down in Hello, a good old sing-a-long in The Chariot, hands in the air for One, Four Five and a few fine solos and plenty of dancing from the Empire Horns throughout.
And so that's it, the boys head overseas this week on their big adventure to spread their good word to Europe. What they take in amazing talent and unique spirit is no doubt matched by the best wishes and hopes of everyone here at home who hope that they get as much success as they deserve. Sometimes, you just know good music when you hear it; I wish you all could
have been there last night!
Setlist
Submitted by bethness.
Set One:
- how to explain
- the lullaby
- nothing
- days like these
- voodoo cowboy
- the rhythm
- the wine song
Set Two:
- rumbling
- wandering
- hello hello
- the crowd
- two shoes
- miserere
- the chariot
Encore: in my pocket
The Chariot
Dansta is back again with another excellent MIDI, this time of The Chariot, their third single.
Media: The Chariot MIDI
Music Resources: Welcome Greg and Dansta
The website keeps getting bigger and better. We've just opened a new section for Music Resources, which will be where things like fan-submitted MIDIs and guitar tabs (and anything else musical you've made) will be kept.
To look after this section, please welcome forum regulars Greg and dansta, who have put their hands up to contribute tabs (greg) and MIDIs (dansta). Catch them in the forums and say hi.
The newest addition is a new tab to The Crowd for all you aspiring guitarists out there. Check it out!
The Crowd
This can be downloaded as a text file here: The Crowd (Guitar Tabs).
The cat empire - The Crowd
Tabbed by Greg
greg_sher@hotmail.com
For the slide harry is just sliding up to
the G note 5th fret forth string then down
to the open D string
Listen to the track to get the timing
G chord
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------3p4-------------3p4-----------
----------------------------------------
-----5---------5-------5--------5-------
-3---------------3--3--------------3----
Dmin Chord
----------------------------------------
-------------5p6--------------5p6-------
----------------------------------------
--------7---------7--------7-------7----
---5----------------5--5--------------5-
----------------------------------------
The Crowd
G Dmin
Lord unchain my hands
G Dmin
let me sing inside the crowded trams
G Dmin
let me dance among the traffic jams
G
we're going to sleep
Dmin
on the St Kilda sands
G Dmin
Lord unbind my feet
G
let me mingle with the good people
Dmin
we meet
G Dmin
water rising up into the street
G Dmin
unbind my feet
G
‘The apparition of these faces in
the crowd;
Dmin
petals on a wet black bough"
G
Ezra Pound found the formula
our houses are rectangular
Dmin
but life is curved not angular
so when things start to strangular
remember
G
rain still falls on the halls of power
Dmin
new babies being born every hour
G
and the eagle keeps watch on the old clock tower
Dmin~
over me...
CHORUS:
G Dmin
Lord unchain my hands
G Dmin
let me sing inside the crowded trams
G Dmin
let me dance among the traffic jams
G
we're going to sleep
Dmin
on the St Kilda sands
G Dmin
Lord unbind my feet
G
let me mingle with the good people
Dmin
we meet
G Dmin
water rising up into the street
G Dmin
unbind my feet
G
On the train I refrain from sitting with head and shoulders bowed
Dmin
they told me time is of the essence
no wandering allowed
G
but then I saw a pretty girl
whose features stood out in the crowd
Dmin
went ten minutes past my stop waiting for her to look around
G
I'm just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town
Dmin
cooling out, relaxing watching the
world go round
G
so if you ever have the time
and you want to go drink some wine
Dmin
I'd rather greet you with a smile
than greet you with a frown...
G Dmin
Lord unchain my hands
G Dmin
let me sing inside the crowded trams
G Dmin
let me dance among the traffic jams
G
we're going to sleep
Dmin
on the St Kilda sands
G Dmin
Lord unbind my feet
G
let me mingle with the good people
Dmin
we meet
G Dmin
water rising up into the street
G Dmin
unbind my feet
June 19, 2004
Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
A daytime all-ages gig (initially planned as an under-18's only concert).
Special guests: Julie O'Hara (singing) and The Empire Dancers (aka the Hello dancers)
Some quotes from the forum thread for the gig:
korny:
they played well... but the crowd and the setlist ruined it for me... the crowd clearly did not respect the music... during awesome ollie solos ppl just screamed out things, in my eyes that is a crime! when julie o'hara was scatting ppl screamed out "JULLLLIE!!!" it definatly ruined the moment.
beanni:
there was enough room to move around where i was and the crowd wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, most of the people around me were pretty good except for one guy who kept yelling out "blow me" for some reason. the setlist was a bit of a disappointment for me too but judging by the amount of people i saw walking out with their brand new copies of the album and talking about how great it was, the right song choices were made to fit the audience. all in all, not the best tce gig i've ever seen (mainly due to the setlist) but a fun afternoon all the same.
Setlist
Tentative list of songs played, contributed by beanni and korny:
- Rumbling
- Manifesto
- Days Like These
- How to Explain
- Beanni
- 145
- The Rhythm
- Two Shoes
- The Crowd
- Hello
Encore: The Chariot
Purring to Success
Melbourne newpaper The Age has a nice little article about The Cat Empire in their Saturday edition. Click here for it.
June 18, 2004
Prince of Wales, 17th June
A classic Melbourne night - rainy and freezing - set the scene for a classic gig by The Cat Empire at the Prince of Wales last night, one of the few before their big adventure overseas....
The first set was a throwback to The Cat Empire of old: plenty of mucking around, lots of great music and crazy dancing, both onstage and off. Playing the old favourites and some of the new stuff, including The Lullaby and Protons, Neutrons, Electrons, the crowd lapped up every minute of it and agreed wholeheartedly with Felix when he declared "it's good to be home!" A rousing rendition of The Wine Song left everyone exhausted by the end of the set.
Felix had quite a bit to say about the culture of Melbourne in the second set; about it being about good food, good music and good times, and the crowd were treated to an exhibition of the best the good city had to offer! Two Shoes saw a massive (if not a little long) dancebreak with a couple of the breakdancers from the Hello videoclip and regular special-guests Richard and Johnny Tedesco doing their flamenco thing. The Miserere (which lost its intimacy in the big crowd) was dedicated to Melbourne jazz legend Bob Valentine and Harry's sing-a-long in The Chariot got the Prince of Wales singing so softly you could hear the rain pelting down on the roof outside (when in Melbourne!...)
The Empire Horns were in attendence and, as usual added that extra something... it was definately the night for crazy dancing! A couple of amazing solos by Ollie and a couple from Jumps too, who did warmup duties as well, all made for a fantastic send off for the boys.
Something makes me think that these gigs are only going to get better as the days roll on!
Some quotes from the forums:
lucie:
Felix paused the room with 'Miserere' (i swear i saw a tear in his eye)
but i would have to say the Hornbags really made the night!
See the gigography entry for the setlist and more.
Prince of Wales
Review
Review by Silverthorn in the forums. Thanks!
Well, they certainly did battle at this gig. A capacity crowd, the horn section in force, a Friday night, and The Cat fought with their music.
As the crowd waited for their emergence, there was an urgency to the room. One happy but impatitent hardcore fan yelled into the empty stage "It used to be about the music" trying to encourage the boys from the recesses of backstage.
A faithful gaggle of girls had secured their prime position for the night, in front of Ollie's keyboard. His white chair sat empty, a throne patiently waiting for its coming King.
Just as the crowd went into their third round chant of cajolling, the lads agreeably graced the small stage. As Jumps emerged for his second look at the crowd (he'd warmed the crowd up with some earlier deck work) the rest of the boys quickly drunk in the crowd's energy.
New material overlayed the old favorites, reaching back into the archives for Two Shoes. The set list was lost on me... I was too overwhelmed to remember specifics re. song list and order.
The tapestry that is The Cat Empire just gets richer - The Tedesco Brothers, Nina Ferro, Julie O'Hara, the dance fest. Even with all these threads coming together, expertly twisting and blending, Felix still humbly applauded the vivid colours that truly feature in this work of art - the crowd.
It felt to me like musical osmosis...the boys were pouring out their tunes and each note was drawn in, manifesting in a crowd that could not stop dancing, even if they tried. At one point Harry ambitiously tried to get the crowd to be still, until the chorus of (can any fans that were present help me with a title???), where he lead the crowd in a slow, swaying stomp.
A slightly bewildered crowd looked on as both Harry and Felix had fumbling moments. Harry laughed off his two attempts to fix a line sung out of tune, but Felix seemed more ruffled, taking a seat on the stage at the edge of the drum kit, trying to remember the words to a song he would have chanted hundreds of times before. A few faithfuls yelled out the words when asked by Felix to help out, and the momentum took force once again.
As the words of "Nothing" swam around the crowd, it was pretty apparent. This crowd, whether hardcore fans, or first-timers, realised there was something about this instant, something about this minute, and for a time, the future was here.
June 17, 2004
Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Review
A review by Shakalak is here.
Setlist
Contributed by Michael in the forums:
Set 1
- RUMBLING
- MOTHER (OLD AND BOUNCY)
- 145
- LULLABY
- PROTONS
- HOW TO EXPLAIN?
- DAYS LIKE THESE
- WINE SONG
Set 2
- BEANNIE
- TWO SHOES
- MANIFESTO
- HELLO
- WANDERING
- MISERERE
- THE CHARIOT
- THE CROWD
Encore: The Rhythm.
Exclusive! Win tickets to upcoming Melbourne concerts
Thanks to The Cat Empire, thecatempire.info has got some tickets to the sold out Melbourne gigs this coming weekend, and they're up for grabs!
You need to be a member of the forums to enter, so get in there now. All the details are in this competition thread.
Like I said, things are heating up around here! Good luck to you all.
June 16, 2004
The Lost Song
Dansta on the forums has made an excellent MIDI version of The Lost Song. You can download it here. Remember, what this sounds like depends on your computer, and MIDI instruments can vary a lot.
The transcription really captures the song, well done Danny. If anyone has more MIDIs, guitar tabs, or other media to share, get in touch.
The Sessions... Review
Whoever thought that The Cat Empire would play the Sydney Opera House? Anyone who did, well done, because yesterday saw a mighty fine shakedown take place all in the name of Pay TV...
As part of Pay TV channel MusicMax’s concert series
The Sessions, many lucky Cat Alleyites made their way (be it from Melbourne, Sydney or Perth?) to the Opera House for the gig.
Intimate? Yes. Between 75 and 100 people were lucky enough to get tickets to the show, hosted by ex-Crowded House drummer Paul Hester. The boys played two short sets, with a break for questions from the crowd in the middle. While everyone got a chance to answer one, the quotable quote of the day came from Will with his answer to the question "Are there differences between playing for Australian and Overseas audiences", to which he replied "The best thing about playing overseas is meeting people from different countries" (insert as many drummer jokes as you wish!)
The short gig saw Julie O'Hara team up with Felix for The Lullaby and with Harry on their now infamous version of The Lost Song. With a jaaaaazz version of Days Like These and an unrecognisable cover of Sing Sing Sing, the joint was jumping. Well, the first three rows anyway! (Thank goodness the good people of TCE.info are a little crazy!)
Hello and The Chariot were met with the usual dancing by the crowd (but no dancing from Felix and Jumps) and the boys looked especially pleased when all hands were waving in the air for In My Pocket.
The show airs on September 4th... look out for some familiar faces!
Setlist
Set One
Days Like These
The Lullaby
The Lost Song
Set Two
The Rhythm
Hello
Sing Sing Sing
In My Pocket
The Chariot
Photos from the MusicMAX sessions
MusicMAX have put up a slideshow of photos from the Opera House gig. They're only small (there were photographers there also but these seem to be from the video cameras, which would explain the size?), but there's some good ones, and you can see a few forum members shakin it down:
Ryan revealed!
Super secret sources have identified new information regarding Ryan:
Can you do better?
Movies from Darling Harbour online
There's some video from the Darling Harbour Jazz Festival online now. The clips are short and not the greatest quality. I was lucky enough to score a spot in the cordoned-off section in front of the mixing desk, so I was front and centre, but was surrounded by people singing, dancing, drinking and talking.
You may like to check them out, though, since there are parts of a couple of unreleased songs, including The Lullaby and Protons, Neutrons, Electrons as well as the now-familiar In My Pocket.
Opinions about the concert seem to vary a lot in the forums (here and here), with such a big crowd experiences can be very different.
June 15, 2004
A Long Weekend With The Cat Empire
It's been a big weekend in Sydney for The Cat Empire, and also for the fansite. I managed to catch up with their manager, Correne, as well as the band themselves, as well as people from MusicMAX, Channel V, and EMI. The site has received a lot of support and praise - which should go directly to the community that has been building up, around the band and the site itself.
It seems that "Phase One" of the fansite has finished: we've established a great resource and a great rapport with the band. I can confidently say that this is only the beginning: things will be getting bigger and better all the time now. Expect more exclusives like the concert passes and interviews, and a whole lot more for you guys.
For now, all I can say is, well done, and stay tuned! And I have to thank everyone involved with both the band (the boys themselves, their manager, their label, the MusicMAX/Channel V people) for their support now and in the future.
Pics and Movies from Coogee Bay Hotel online!
Hot off the press, we've got some pictures and video footage from the Coogee Bay Hotel gig on Sunday night. Quality is only OK, but should give you a bit of a feel for the night. Check them all out here.
If you were there and would like to add a review or some more media, get in touch in the forums.
Sydney Opera House
A "MAX Session" for MusicMAX music television channel.
Setlist (This is a bit sketchy...)
Set One
Days Like These
The Lullaby
The Lost Song
The Rhythm
Set Two
Hello
Sing Sing (cover)
In My Pocket
The Chariot
June 14, 2004
Darling Harbour
Free open-air gig to end the Darling Harbour Jazz Festival. Well over ten thousand people crammed in and around the waterfront, including the highway overpass, to listen to the boys play. The Cat Empire and the Empire Horns were out on the Aquashell, floating in the water.
Setlist
Submitted by Mailman:
Set One
- The Sun
- How to Explain?
- Days Like These
- Nothing
- The Rhythm
- In My Pocket
- Two Shoes
Set Two
- The Lullaby
- The Lost Song
- Hello
- Protons, Neutrons, Electrons
- Wandering
- Miserere
- The Chariot
Movies
These movies aren't great quality, and have talking through the audio track. You have been warned! They are DivX 5.1 movies so you will need a suitable player.
June 13, 2004
Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney
Setlist
Set 1:
- Wandering
- Days Like These
- In My Pocket
- Lullaby
- One Four Five
- The Wine Song
Set 2:
- The Cat Empire (intro)
- Protons, Neutrons, Electrons
- The Rhythm
- Beanni
- (whatever that cover song is - two words, El Something)
- Hello
- The Chariot
- Two Shoes
Encore: How To Explain
Photos
Submitted by Casey (Canon) and Jeremy (Sony):
Movies
Submitted by Casey. Divx 5.1 format
Photos from Environment Day
Thanks to beanni in the forums for providing some photos from the recent Environment Day gig. A rare opportunity to see Ollie hatless, and it looks like the wildlife enjoyed the show too! Check them out here.
Exclusive! Fansite Interview with Ryan
Forum regular Anonymity Man managed to line up an interview with Ryan. Some interesting tidbits:
Do you have a favourite Cat Empire song?
Well there is a new song we are working on at the moment.
Can you tell me what it is, or are you going to keep it a secret?
I’m going to keep it a secret, but apart from that, I like ‘Two Shoes’. That’s been given new life for us recently.
There's some information every fan needs to know in there.Read on for the whole interview.
Interview with Ryan
Forum regular Anonymity Man managed to line up an interview with the band. As they prepared for their Newcastle gig, he was given a last-minute interview with the bassist, Ryan Munro. The phone interview yielded some interesting answers to some interesting questions!
[ed: Note the lines from The Chariot:
Then our allies grew
wherever we would roam
see whenever we’re together
every stranger feel at home]
It went down well last time we played in the States.
Thanks again to Ryan and the band for their time, and Anonymity Man for conducting the interview.
June 11, 2004
Felix interviewed by Beat Magazine
Beat magazine have an interview with Felix in their latest print and online issue. He talks about the challenges facing the band now that they've hit the big time:
Music is always the foremost thing and it always has been, and if we can leave the stage saying ‘that was good’, then that’s what we aim for. Improvising is a way to do that.
Read the whole thing here.
Yallah Woolshed, Wollongong
From the official website:
10 mins sounth of WoolongongFriday June 11
Tiks through www.yallahwoolshed.com.au or 024 262 2655
Setlist, from the forums (tracks are not in the correct order):
All That Talking
How To Explain
Days Like These
The Lost Song
The Rhythm
Hello
The Wine Song
One Four Five
The Crowd
ENCORE:
The Chariot
Fansite exclusive: Free passes to MusicMAX sessions!
I am proud to announce that www.thecatempire.info has twenty double passes to the MusicMAX Sessions performance of The Cat Empire, at The Opera House Studios. Thanks to the great people at MusicMAX and ChannelV for organising this exclusive.
This is a very last-minute operation: if you want tickets, you need to jump to the forums as soon as possible to get in.
This is the first time we've been able to do this, but look forward to a lot more exclusive content in the near future!
June 10, 2004
Newcastle University, Newcastle
From the official website:
Newcastle UniversityThursday June 10
On campus through the contact office 02 4968 3717
Three thousand posts!
The dust has barely settled around the two thousandth post, and here we are, celebrating another landmark: sage words of advice were handed out in post #3000.
This is getting a little too easy: the next milestone is going to have to be 10,000 posts... see you there!
There's not a skerrick of The Cat Empire news or opinion that escapes attention in the forums, so check them out.
June 09, 2004
Beat Magazine
This week's edition of Melbourne street press Beat has an interview with Felix where he discusses how far the band has come in the past year and shares his plans for the upcoming gigs at the Prince of Wales
Click Here for the article
June 07, 2004
The Chariot MIDI online
Following close on the heels of the The Lost Song MIDI comes Danny's latest transcription, and The Cat Empire's most recent single, The Chariot. Get it while it's fresh! Once again some quality MIDI work capture the feel well, but it's a far cry from a live show.
June 06, 2004
World Environment Day Rally, Melbourne
Played as part of World Environment Day.
Setlist
- Two Shoes
- The Rhythm
- The Lullaby
- In My Pocket
- The Chariot
- How To Explain (encore)
Photos
Taken by forum regular beanni:
June 04, 2004
Darling Harbour Jazz Festival
Just a reminder that the long weekend is a great time for live music in Sydney - the main event is the Darling Harbour Jazz Festival:
There's heaps of different things going on, so if you're in town, check it out. The boys are headlining with the big concert on Monday (check the gigography for details), which will be huge!
The Cat Empire goes MIDI - tastic: The Lost Song
Dansta on the forums has made an excellent MIDI version of The Lost Song. You can download it here. Remember, what this sounds like depends on your computer, and MIDI instruments can vary a lot.
The transcription really captures the song, well done Danny. If anyone has more MIDIs, guitar tabs, or other media to share, get in touch.
June 01, 2004
Two Thousand Posts!
Not even two weeks after reaching the 1000 posts, the forums have hit 2000 posts!. Congratulations everyone.
If you haven't checked out the forums, now's the time. Get in before all the good names are taken!
Song for Elias
Contributed by AndyC in the forums. The title is unconfirmed.
meant to meet you but I couldn’t stay
till now never knew how life tears you away
now I wait for the springtime in spain, my love.
Beautiful being so sad and so strong
You gave me a story you gave me a song
When he played his guitar she would weep, my love
Rainy day, that spirit took flight
But she made him a cap full of magic and life
For his birthday to rule that great stage
And perform till I age, my love
Why did you never arrive?
Before you left us all tears in your eye
And your mother just told me you died, my love
To stay he was born, boy got rhythm within
Is to put it so mildly her crying face in
it would spring from all fibres of humanly everythings, my love
because, nothing's sure but that love never reasons
now the world might have lost all its springtimes
and all of the seasons are bleak without you, my love