Review: The Cat Empire with WASO at Perth Concert Hall

The Cat Empire with WASO at Perth Concert Hall
Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Cat Empire have been a staple of the Australian music scene for more than twenty years, but the band does not rest on its past achievements or rely on nostalgia. The band reinvented itself with a new line-up in 2022, leaning hard into the Latin flavours it has always played with. The original band always had an interesting balance of light and dark, with frontman Felix Riebl bringing an infectious dose of light-heartedness to get audiences’ hips swinging, while trumpeter and vocalist Harry Angus brought darker musicianship and songwriting that was deeply captivating.

Without Angus, the band is fundamentally altered. The only original band members now are Riebl and keyboard player Ollie McGill. On Thursday night at Perth Concert Hall, they were joined by the rest of their new eclectic band, flamenco group Arte Kanela, and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vanessa Scammell.

The diverse mix of musical styles and cultural influences was spellbinding. The horn section gave distinctly Latin Caribbean vibes; singer and bassist Grace Barbe brought her own Seychelles soul sound, and the performers of Arte Kanela played Spanish guitar and cajón and danced Flamenco. The orchestra brought a depth, richness, and complexity, at times taking centre stage and sometimes fading to the background, while Felix Riebl made the whole combination sound recognisably like The Cat Empire.

From the opening overture, an orchestral mashup of Cat Empire songs arranged by the band’s longtime horn player and musical director Roscoe James Irwin, the audience was in for a rich treat. How to Explain? really kicked off the first set, with its repeated affirmation “music is the language of us all” serving as a thesis for the evening and bringing together the audience of old and young: ageing festivalgoers, teenage fans and WASO regulars.

Thunder Rumbles, the first single from the band’s new line-up back in 2022, was elevated by the depth and variety of bass brought by the orchestra and set the scene rhythmically for the rest of the night, as the mix of Flamenco and Cuban took over. This was followed by two songs from the band’s new album due out in March 2025, which give a taste of more complex, danceable, horn-heavy music to come.

Other highlights of the first set included Grace Barbe’s lead vocals on The Lost Song, a huge orchestral intro and outro on Rock ‘n Roll, and a cover of the Buena Vista Social Club’s Candela, which featured an epic piano solo from Ollie McGill and dance solos from Johnny Tedesco and Chantal Cano.

During the intermission, Felix encouraged the audience to enjoy the venue, as he reminded everyone that the Perth Concert Hall will soon be closing for several years, and paid tribute to the brutalist architecture.

The second half brought more mixing of old and new, with increasingly impressive flamenco breaks from Arte Kanela during the classic Bulls, as well as more songs from the upcoming album. By the time the band played the 2005 hit Two Shoes, audience members could no longer be constrained to their seats and streamed down the aisles of the concert hall to form dance floors in front of the stage.

They stayed dancing through Blood on the Stage and Owl, after which Felix opened up and spoke about the death of his brother and the depth of his grief. He dedicated the following two songs to him and invited the audience to grieve together for all of their lost loved ones. The emotional outpouring from the audience was overwhelming. The two songs, one old and one new, were characteristic of the band’s approach of taking on heavy themes and mixing pathos with an urge to dance. Be With You Again, from 2023, which Riebl wrote for his brother, featured an achingly beautiful French horn solo and was followed by 2005’s Misere.

The night finished with the emotional highs of Steal the Light and an encore of Still Young, with a bit of Chariot thrown in. The musical complexity, the depth and beauty of the orchestra, the constant driving percussion, and the overall joyful fun of the night were a perfect way to farewell the Concert Hall, with the repeated cries of “Long live living, if living can be this!”

SAM ROSENFELD

Photos by Adrian Thomson