Friday’s appearance of the Triffids in Athens was a bittersweet affair for those who attended. On one hand, it was really nice to listen live once again, after 20 years, many beloved songs, on the other, the voice and driving force behind the band, David McComb was not present, as he was 23 years ago, to sing them.
This is actually the reason behind these few Triffids shows, as part of "A Secret In The Shape Of A Song / The Triffids and Friends play the songs of David McComb", a way for them to honor their friend who died way too early.
In a nostalgic atmosphere and in great spirits, the evening started with the two Greek bands that supported The Triffids at their first 2 shows at Rodon Club in 1987, and while unfortunately I didn’t catch The Jaywalkers’ set from the beggining, I was glad to hear one of my favorite songs of that era, "You can't be happy all the time", which closed their set. The 40 minutes set by Yeah! consisted mainly of covers, starting with Wipers’ "Over the Edge" and closing with Dream Syndicate’s "The Days of Wine and Roses".
The Triffids got on stage at 11 o’ clock and for the next 2 hours and 50 minutes we heard more than 30 songs that were written and interpreted by McComb with The Triffids, Blackeyed Susans, and from his only solo album.
The guest vocalists alternated behind the microphone, and in several instruments, with Rob Snarski and Mick Harvey giving us great interpretations of all the songs, most notably "Red Pony" by Snarski, which, as he informed us, is his favorite David McComb song, and "Bury Me Deep In Love" by Harvey even though he was singing it for the first time (as Mark Snarski didn’t make it to Athens due to the Icelandic volcanic ash).
Other great moments where "Bright Light Big City" with J. P. Shilo, which was also his first attempt and "I Want to Conquer You" with Melanie Oxley. Stef Kamil Carlens’s voice was not as suited for the songs and style of The Triffids, his best moment in "Lonely Stretch", mainly because of the intensity with which the other musicians played the song.
It's hard to remember the full setlist and who sang what, but some of the songs that we heard that night were: "Hell Of A Summer", "In The Pines", "Save what you can" (Rob Snarski), "The Seabirds" , "Wide Open Road" (Mick Harvey), "Personal Things", "Trick Of The Light", "Hometown Farewell Kiss" (Stef Kamil Carlens), "Raining Pleasure", "Goodbye Little Boy", "Tarrilup Bridge" (by Jil Birt, of course), "Embedded" (Melanie Oxley), "Jerdacuttup Man", "Fairytale Love" (Graham Lee).
A nice moment during the show was Robert McComb’s tribute to his brother David, by showing us a series of slides from their childhood and from The Triffids’ days (though Gagarin’s black background behind the group made it difficult for us to see them).
By the end of the show the group received a warm applause from the audience as they succeeded once more (and probably the last time) to leave us with the best impressions and great memories.
The Triffids - Red Pony, Bury Me Deep In Love, Hell of a Summer (live in Athens)
The Jaywalkers - You can't be happy all the time