The Whitlams Eternal Nightcap 25 Year Concert Tour on September 21st at The Canberra Theatre Centre. Image: Canberra Theatre Centre.
The Whitlams classic “Eternal Nightcap” turns 25 this September, and the band will mark the anniversary by playing the album in its entirety just down the road from where they first road-tested the songs in King St, Newtown.
The album single-handedly brought the piano back onto the youth airwaves in 1997 and propelled them to Best Group at the 1998 ARIA Awards, where they dropped to their knees before Gough Whitlam who had just announced, “It’s my family”.
“Eternal Nightcap” captured the hearts of a generation by describing a whole decade of its life – the mad, emotional, love-hungry contagion of its late teens and 20s. From love (“Melbourne”) to heart wreck (“Life’s a Beach”), mad parties (“You Sound Like Louis Burdett”) to tragic friendships (The Charlie trilogy), the album kicked off with the eccentric No.1 “No Aphrodisiac” and never looked back.
In ABC Radio’s “My Favourite Album” poll of 2006, “Eternal Nightcap” was the fourth highest Australian entry at no.27, and the album’s reputation as a cultural touchstone has only firmed over the years, with Rolling Stone last year placing it no.24 in their 200 Best Australian Albums of All Time list.
The Whitlams will follow the album in track order with a greatest hits set featuring favourites like “Gough” (1993), “I Make Hamburgers” (1995) , “Blow Up the Pokies” (1999), and a selection of songs from 2022s critically acclaimed album, “Sancho”.
Joining the show is Custard, fellow traveller from the 90s, whose songs such as “Apartment”, “Nice Bird” and “Girls Like That (Don’t Go For Guys Like Us)” are lodged deep in our collective memory.
The details
What: The Whitlams Eternal Nightcap 25 Year Concert Tour 2022
When: 21st September 2022, 7:30 pm
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square London Circuit, Canberra
Cost: $69.50-$79.50 plus transaction fee. Tickets at Canberra Theatre Centre
