Hot and cold
Herald Sun, November 29 2001

Something For Kate are going to the Chapel, writes CAMERON ADAMS

FRANK Sinatra used one. Barbra Streisand and Shaun Ryder won't perform without one. But Something For Kate's lanky frontman, Paul Dempsey, does not require an autocue machine. However, should he ever forget one of his songs, he has human autocues. Many of them are at Chapel Off Chapel, watching SFK record their first Cold Live at the Chapel concert, dutifully mouthing every single word to every single song right in front of their favourite band. Something For Kate are that type of band and they attract the type of devoted fans for whom Cold Live at the Chapel is a godsend. Make no mistake, it's a tiny gig -- about 200 people -- the very definition of the word intimate. That is what makes the shows special, for the audience on the day, those watching on the live webcast and, later, on the small screen.

It's a Sunday at the Chapel and Something For Kate are enjoying the biggest year in their career trajectory so far. Triple M has discovered the band's Echolalia album, an instant green light to join the Cold Live at the Chapel series (Triple M-approved rock bands only, thank you). Three series in and the show runs like clockwork. This year it has moved to Friday nights on Channel 10, a much more appropriate home than the midnight Saturday shift of last year. Local music fans still talk about shows by Foo Fighters and Coldplay as you-had-to-be-there events, and the series has now spawned two CDs, boasting an impressive selection of international and local rock bands.

Enter Something For Kate, whose set kicks off Series Three tomorrow night on Ten. With their expanded line-up (keyboards, extra guitar), SFK (barefooted Dempsey, bassist Stephanie Ashworth and drummer Clint Hyndman) adapt to the surroundings with ease.

"You certainly get an adrenaline rush before you go on," Ashworth says backstage.

"I've watched a few Cold Live at the Chapel shows. The You Am I one I really enjoyed, the Foo Fighters were really charismatic, so that was fun.

"It's really intimate, the audience are so close to you. But we enjoy that, especially after playing festivals. The audience are so far away you can't really connect. It's better for us; there's more intricate parts with the band now, with violin and piano, and something like this really captures them, for the people here and the people at home."

As the invitation-only crowd gets beered up (one of the benefits of being sponsored by an alcohol company, who this year have a large neon sign near the Chapel's signature stained windows in case you forget), Something For Kate prepare for a set that will last 30 minutes on TV, but a bladder-challenging 90 minutes in real life. Yes, as this is for TV, there are no toilet breaks. But at one point, as fans cry out with requests, it seems even the fact the cameras have stopped rolling will not stop Something For Kate, who don't switch off when the camera does. But when the red light is on, TV world rules apply. Applause must be loud (not a problem with these fans, who have won tickets through fan clubs or media competitions) and there's quite often a take two. Or three. There are also questions from the audience (including the mandatory "Where did you get your name from?") and awkward TV introductions. The one where Dempsey spontaneously nudges Ashworth sideways after introducing the band and the show is later chosen for use in the final product.

That final product also has several shots of beer about as subtle as the way Hyndman pounds seven shades of poop out of his drumkit. One particularly devoted fan in the front row keeps singing each word. Dempsey pulls out an obscure song, Chapel St Etc, released on an rare tape several years ago. The fan knows each word. He's not alone. The acoustic song will end up making the TV broadcast, along with singles such as Three Dimensions, Monsters, Twenty Years, Electricity and Hallways. It's basically your dream Something For Kate set. Even early hit Captain (Million Miles an Hour) gets an airing (it appears on the webcast, but falls on the cutting-room floor for TV).

Ashworth says the band pored over their Cold Live set, and tried to make it different from the Triple J Live at the Wireless show aired on Rage.
However, she says there's no pressure from above to merely play the hits (they're not stupid enough to opt for a B-sides set) for the potential commercial home audience who may have never heard of them.

"There's no point us being elitist or snobby and saying 'We just want to be on Triple J'," Ashworth says.

"If you're going to sign a record deal you can't dictate who can or can't hear your music. We want everyone to hear it."

Cold Live at the Chapel Volume 2 (Sony) out now. Something For Kate: Cold Live at the Chapel airs tomorrow night on Channel 10 after Sports Tonight (about midnight).