2000s Brisbane rock outfit george were icons of the indie scene, releasing their beloved debut album Polyserena in 2002.
Although the band may be no more, the brother-sister songwriting duo that formed the band back in the day are back to let the music play, performing the entirety of Polyserena in full across capital cities, including two huge shows at the Melbourne Recital Centre, on September 22 and 23.
Honouring the album’s 20th anniversary since its release, siblings Katie and Tyrone Noonan are excited to honour the critically acclaimed LP with not only a tour, but a vinyl reissue of Polyserena too.
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“Our record label is re-issuing the record on vinyl,” says Tyrone. “I can confirm, from hearing the test pressings, that it is a very special re-issue: it sounds amazing. It makes you realise that the CD format in its own way is a compressed form of audio.”
Tyrone was so excited by it that he had to listen to it on the best system available. “I took it to my mate’s house who has an amazing audiophile hi-fi. I was able to hear all the instruments properly separated, I was hearing parts of mine that weren’t necessarily so clear or present on the CD version. It was incredible, I actually cried.
“It’s been a really great experience to hear the album in this way, reproduced on vinyl. To be able to hear the separation, I think that’s definitely influenced my approach to re-performing these songs onstage.”
Although they may be playing these songs with a new backing band instead of the original members, that hasn’t impacted the energy onstage. “It’s awesome this time around, because there’s a different energy onstage,” Tyrone says. “I’m also performing with my nephew, Dexter, which is really quite a special experience. He’s an amazing young musician. Absolutely killing it. That brings an extra special energy onstage.”
Putting the usual anniversary celebrations aside, the act of playing the album in full for the first time has truly been an eye-opening experience for Tyrone. “There are a couple of songs on the album that we never really used to play live much,” he says. “That’s exciting to play those songs like ‘Strange Days’ and ‘Chemical Dreams’, which are two of my favourite songs off the record actually. It’s been great to re-engage with those songs that we never did play live much anyway.”
But most of all, Tyrone is excited to reconnect with fans who loved Polyserena 20 years ago. “This album really did seem to mean a lot to a lot of people. All music is healing music to a certain extent. This album seems to be a particular example of that for people. It’s very humbling and it’s a great honour to know you’ve been apart of some music that’s meant something to people. At the end of the day that’s the whole reason you do it.
“In the live experience there’s an energy exchange going on between the musicians onstage and the audience. That’s something that can’t really be recreated in any other way. It requires people being in the room together. Something very special can happen in that moment. It can help everyone in the room feel together at that point in time. I think that’s a special experience that music can help allow people to feel.”
Catch Ty and Katie Noonan performing Polyserena at the Melbourne Recital Centre, where Tyrone hopes you’ll be able to connect and “remind each other what it means to be human”.
Buy tickets to the Polyserena 20th anniversary shows here. Buy the vinyl reissue here.
This article was made in partnership with Live Nation.
