It may have been a long minute since their last live outing, but The Cat Empire's recent return to live performances have maintained the group's legendary status as the ultimate party-starters.
After headlining SummerSalt in Adelaide earlier this month (read our review of the concert), the band have blown-out the cobwebs with several more shows that has the group once more rolling smoothly."Those live shows, they could have gone either way," admits the band's singer-frontman, Felix Riebl.
"Getting to Adelaide, we had half an hour to pack a bag and get to the airport before they closed the borders – it's not been without its dramas, but it's so good for that hour and half on stage.
"It's been a complete blessing getting back on stage, especially when you've been deprived for a long time, especially for a band like The Cat Empire whose life blood is live performance.
"To get back on stage and prove not to be a disaster and have a great crowd is great."
A homecoming of sorts, The Cat Empire will return to the stage for Live At The Bowl at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl next weekend (6 March). "It's really special for us because we were raised in Melbourne, musically as much as anything," Felix says of the group's bond with their home town.
"We spent so much of this [last] year not being able to play music, so to be able to perform in our home city feels like a special show."
It's been that long since they performed locally that Felix can barely remember the last time The Cat Empire entertained a Melbourne audience.
"Maybe it was the Forum, late 2019, I think? Just to be able to get out now and play for the city, [particularly as Victoria has] probably done the most amount of soul-searching during this time in terms of its inability to do what it does so well, which will be a great thing."
Set to support The Cat Empire will be soul singer and vocalist for funk band The Bamboos, Kylie Auldist – a choice Felix says was made by the band for her authentic and real-deal performances.
"We're no longer a band who are fresh of the scene; we've been around and surrounded by amazing musicians for all of those years – Kylie is one of them.
"Someone like Kylie whose been performing for years with The Bamboos, who's a bona fide solo artist in her own right now, she's just got such an authenticity she brings to the stage.
"I think it's just that respect for musicianship, and she's such a great character as well. She's ferocious in a great way that justifies the music she's singing."
It's been a weird past 12 months for live music certainly, but it's served as a blessing in disguise for Felix who says he's been working on the follow-up to the group's 2019 album 'Stolen Diamonds'.
"Coming home from a tour cut short and having to isolate for two weeks, it was actually the start of trying to keep that fire alive," Felix says. "For me, it was a great chance to take that fire that would have been spent on stage and put it into writing.
"I've been writing a lot, and a good amount of that is going toward The Cat Empire. We're looking to record this year, and I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be an exciting new discovery to see what music's going to come out of it.
"Having done the shows recently as well as realising the life of the band and crowd is very present, it's going to be exciting to see how those new songs evolve and how they take to the stage after that."
The Cat Empire with special guest Kylie Auldist play Live At The Bowl at Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne) 6 March.
