Cat Empire

It was a fine sunny day as the crowd began to build early for a long day out at Morilla Winery, three acts for the price of one.

Local band, Let the Cat Out were the first to play. Let the Cat Out proved to be a great start to the start to the day with their jazz/funk tunes and the silky smooth vocals of the lead singer Jane McArthur pleasing the crowd.

Next up was Symbiosis, a Melbourne band, with a fast paced blend of gypsy and reggae music. The band had a lot of energy and had the crowd up early, away from their picnic hampers to dance barefoot by the stage.

When The Cat Empire took to the stage everyone stood up and never sat down. In addition to six regular members of the band, also on stage were the Empire Horns and the Cat Strings additions to the band…making eleven on stage. With the extra augmentation to the band seemly every song was extended with jams and improvisation that kept the crowd dancing
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On the songs that The Cat Strings (three young men on violins) weren’t needed they proved to be humorous backing dancers. One noticeable absence from the set list was, 'No Longer There', the first single from their latest album. This is understandable given that the mood of the song is a more sombre than the others chosen, and forgivable because the crowd were treated to fifteen other great songs.

This was the first time I’d been to a concert at Morilla, on the bank of the Derwent River. Stunning waterviews on one side and a great mountain landscape on the other, it made for a great venue for a day out for a pinic, wine and dancing.

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