Artists

We can only wonder what David McComb would have made of the current resurgence of interest in The Triffids, his band for most of the eighties and the most potent vehicle for his astonishing body of work. David's songs such as Wide Open Road and Bury Me Deep In Love use the Australian landscape as the setting for sometimes heartbreaking tales of emotional extremes are are now a well known part of Australian music history with the admission of the Triffids into the ARIA Hall Of Fame earlier this year. David's loss, tragically early in 1999, was felt keenly not only by his friends and brother in the band, but by fans around the world who had been touched by his music. A couple of years ago two of these, from Hasselt in Belgium, put together a huge exhibition of posters, photographs and memorabilia and invited the remaining band members to join them in celebrating David's music at the arts centre they run in their home town. So it was at the Kunstencentrum Belgie in 2006 that The Triffids played the songs of David McComb for the first time in 17 years. Standing on stage and hearing those songs roll out one after the other like a perfect set of waves they realised that the best way to remember and celebrate their friend was through his music. It's for this reason that that band play a select few gigs every year. They wouldn't normally consider supporting anyone but in the case of Leonard Cohen they could feel the boot of their missing leader prodding them not so gently. They will be joined by their friends Steve Kilbey and Mick Harvey.