The Cat Empire’s latest show at the Sydney Opera House was an electrifying display of the band’s capacity to escape all limits of genre.
Performing for the first time alongside the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Children’s Choir and Massed Choir, The Cat Empire took us on a journey through an array of styles that combined to form a wholly unique sound.
The concert opened with a slow orchestral overture where rich string and brass harmonies lulled the audience into an almost meditative state. We were then sharply awoken by a virtuosic trumpet solo.
The solo, played by band member Lazaro Numa Pompa, rang out across the hall with spine-tingling clarity. Pompa’s elaborate trills and glissandos were reminiscent of Cuban jazz, creating a seamless bridge into the band’s first song, “How to Explain”.
Through its dazzling fusion of brassy flamenco and rhythmic Brazilian carnival music, “How to Explain” perfectly embodied the band’s genre-defying style. The classic flamenco montuno piano riff, performed by Ollie McGill, provided the rhythmic backbone of the song that bolstered its overarching message: “Music is the language of us all!”
Felix Riebl’s was warm and energetic as the band’s lead vocalist. Photo: Jay Patel
The band’s lead vocalist Felix Riebl had a warm, infectious energy that kept the audience mesmerised throughout the entire show. This was particularly noticeable in his performance of a few crowd favourites, including “Thunder Rumbles”, “Brighter than Gold” and “Two Shoes”. In these songs, Riebl swung between a breathy spoken-word style for the fast-paced verses and a more robust timbre for the chorus sections, showcasing his broad stylistic capacities.
While these songs came from some of the band’s earliest albums, they were given new life through the orchestral accompaniment, arranged by the band’s own trumpeter Roscoe James Irwin and conducted by Nicholas Buc. In “Brighter than Gold”, for example, the chorus was given greater depth through a sweeping string melody that took the song to spectacular cinematic heights.
The orchestra’s large brass section also created a layer of harmonic complexity to these well-known songs. In “Thunder Rumbles”, the groovy lower-brass bass line, led by trombonist Jordan Murray, was made even gutsier through the addition of the tubas and horns. The elaborate reworking of the sparkling trumpet melodies of “Two Shoes” added to the song’s fiesta energy.
These songs were certainly a hit among the long-time fans in the audience but the band also took the opportunity to premiere two songs from their upcoming album, “Birds in Paradise”, due for release in March next year.
The two songs, “Blood on the Stage” and “Birds in Paradise”, emphasised the band’s ongoing openness to new influences, heralding an album that will lean more heavily into the Afro-Cuban style. Both were slow-paced and deeply rhythmic, thanks to the intricate percussion lines of Daniel Farrugia and Neda Rahmani.
Chantelle Cano’s flamenco solo was breathtaking. Photo: Jayn Patel
Renowned flamenco artists Richard Tedesco, Johnny Tedesco and Chantelle Cano provided some of the show’s most memorable moments. The intimate flamenco sequence in the second act was mesmerising, as was Cano’s powerful solo where her rhythmic steps and sweeping gestures made the audience hold its breath.
This more intense emotional mood carried through into the band’s performance of “Miserere”, a deeply reflective song about loss and grief. The choirs provided breathtaking accompaniment in the chorus sections, filling the hall with a meditative, gospel quality. Although vastly different in mood from the band’s other songs, “Miserere” highlighted the ease with which Riebl can take his audience to different emotional extremes.
His skill was again on display in the encore, “Still Young”, where he returns to the high energy style The Cat Empire is renowned for. A song filled with glitzy brass melodies, irresistible rhythms and vocal earworms, “Still Young” lifted even the most stubborn audience members from their seats to join in for a final shimmy.
The Cat Empire took the audience on a rollicking sonic journey through a vast range of styles, genres and emotions. But from brooding tango to glitzy carnival every song was a reminder of music’s power to bring us together to celebrate life in all its magic vibrancy.
The Cat Empire is touring Australia until January 2025. Concert dates and locations can be found on The Cat Empire website.
