‘One of the finest Australian albums ever made. ‘An absolute masterpiece.’
(The Guardian)

‘Born Sandy Devotional’ – one of the most influential Australian albums ever – will be 30 years old this year and that should be celebrated. The album contains magnificent songs like ‘Wide Open Road’, ‘Life Of Crime’ and ‘Stolen Property’ that the late Humo-journalist Marc Mijlemans described as ‘onvervalste klassiekers’. The desolate Australian landscape functions as a metaphor for loneliness and loss, a theme that regularly returned in the work of The Triffids.

Country-mate Nick Cave is a fan and inaugurated them into the Australian Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in ’08. De Morgen, Focus Knack and De Standaard all use the word ‘masterpiece’ when refering to ‘Born Sandy Devotional’. The world doesn’t seem to have forgotten them over the past decades either. In recent years, their albums were re-mastered/re-released, there was a book about The Triffids (‘Vagebond Holes’) published, and also a posthumous poetry bundle (‘Beautiful Waste’) by frontman David McComb who died unexpectedly in ’99. The Triffids always considered Belgium to be a second home and so it’s no big surprise that there have already been two retrospective concerts in the past (in Leuven’s Stuk and in Zaal België).

To mark the 30th anniversary of their breakthrough album, the remaining Triffids members decided to head over to Europe one more time, to catapult the album ‘Born Sandy Devotional’ into the pantheon of masterpieces by means of a last tribute. They will only be passing through three European cities: London (where the band had resided for some time), Amsterdam’s Paradiso and our very own AB. You will find Rob Snarksi and J P Shilo amongst the guests (both are members of the strongly The Triffids allied band The Blackeyed Susans).

We’re working together with the band on an evening-filling programme. You can certainly expect an Artist Talk with the band, a screening dedicated to ‘Born Sandy Devotional’ from the series ‘Great Australian Albums’ (that also shed light on classics by Nick Cave, Crowded House and The Saints), a micro-expo,...

Nick Cave on David McComb.
Marc Mijlemans on ‘Born Sandy Devotional’ (in Dutch).