A trick of the light?

Flicking through the SMH site yesterday, I noticed this gig review, for The Triffids. Sounds really interesting, I thought, wow, a Triffids reunion (admittedly difficult as the key person, David McComb, died a few years ago). Actually the show is not a reunion as such but various band members do sing Triffids songs, plus a number of guests will wander on and off the Metro Theatre stage during the festival show (including Rob and Mark Snarski, who were in the Triffids-influenced band Chad’s Tree (Rob later co-founded the Blackeyed Susans with David McComb); Mick Harvey of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds; pianist Chris Abrahams; Youth Group’s Toby Martin and Steve Kilbey, singer-songwriter of Triffids contemporaries The Church).

I rediscovered The Triffids a few years ago after hearing Weddings, Parties, Anything cover “Wide Open Road”. David McComb did indeed write some wonderful songs, the title of this post refers to one of my favourites. The extent of the Triffids catalog is evident from band member Graham Lee’s comment about selecting the songs for the show:

“I went through initially and put together a list of songs that I really thought were essential. I came to 52. Then I went through and said: OK, I’ll be really brutal this time. I got it down to 33. For a two-hour show. So there are plenty of songs that are absolutely essential that we won’t get to do.”

For those not familiar with the work of The Triffids, enjoy this: