Week In Rock
The Australian band silverchair broke through in this country on the teen spirit
of its debut album. Now the group is back on these shores, only slightly older,
but encountering some sales resistance to its two month old second album,
Freak Show, which has dropped to No. 67 on the Billboard chart. A U.S. tour
could conceivably help; the band launched one last week in Oregon.
DANIEL JOHNS, Guitar, Vocals: I really enjoy being in a rock band.
It's good getting to play, and play to people who appreciate your
music and stuff. But as far as touring is concerned, I think there's a
lot of things I'd rather be doing.
CHRIS JOANNOU, Bass: We've got a lot of our own gear on the road
now, before we hired a lot of stuff. This time it'll be better 'cause
we've got gear that works.
Gear that works, throngs of screaming fans, and a video game-equipped tour
bus are just some of the things that silverchair has to look forward to as they
kick off their U.S. tour. But when you get three 17-year-old rock stars on the
road, parental guidance is suggested.
BEN GILLIES, Drums: It's cool having, like, your dads on tour. I
mean, they're a bit more laid back than our moms, you know. They
let us get away with a lot more.
JOANNOU: You don't really see them apart from sitting down and
having some dinner, you know, or just sitting down having a chat.
It's not a major drag.
JOHNS: They're worse behaved than us. We kind of have to look
after our dads.
If it seems like the guys have a lot of energy on stage, there's a reason. It's
pretty much the only physical activity they actually get in the course of a
normal touring day.
JOHNS: Just playing, I think, is the best. I think playing is the only
good thing about touring, I don't think it's the best, I think it's the
only thing that's... actually you get out there and enjoy. The rest of it
is just a big build up to the show at the end of the day. A lot of people
think, "Oh, it must be really good to see all the world" and stuff, and
we're like "Must be."
MALE FAN 1: silverchair are pretty killer. They're power core
(MAKES POWER CHORD NOISE), you know. They kick ass, dude.
FEMALE FAN 1: Daniel Johns is fine (LAUGHING).
FEMALE FAN 2: The show was all right. It was live, it was hard, it
was cool, it was there, man. It was right on.
MALE FAN 2: Yeah, we don't get a chance like in Salem to get much
of this stuff right here. It just rocked hard.
MALE FAN 3: I thought it was kind of inspirational, considering that
we're trying to do a band, and so it gives us a little more hope that
maybe someday we'll be there, too.
silverchair's tour moves on to Chicago on Sunday.