THIRTY years after a generation was first haunted by the vast and intense lyricism of the Triffids’ music, the band will tonight reunite in a tribute to its late musical maestro.

The turbulent romanticism of albums Treeless Plain, Born Sandy Devotional and The Black Swan matched perfectly not only theAustralian landscape but the spirit of the 1980s.

Now, nine years after the death of lead singer and songwriter David McComb from heart complications, the five remaining Triffids, along with 10 other musicians, have reunited at the Sydney Festival to celebrate his songs in a series of concerts opening tonight.

Guitarist Graham Lee, the driving force behind the reunification, said that for a long time none of the Triffids could come to terms with McComb’s death.

“I couldn’t even listen to the music and I know people who are still like that,” he said.

“But then we realised the best memorial to David would be to do the songs. He always wanted them to be covered. The songs are how he is best remembered.”

The now middle-aged band members were just teenagers when the band formed in 1978. Most of them now work in straight professions – – such as law, teaching and architecture — and have children of their own. Those children have been startled to discover their parents were once rock idols hailed by musical cognoscenti as one of the world’s best bands.

The performance, called A Secret in the Shape of a Song, includes classics such as Wide Open Road and Bury Me Deep In Love, as well as the first performances of unreleased works from McComb’s later years.

Everyone involved appears intensely aware they are creating history. Two film crews will be recording the event: one for a documentary by Steve Levett and another for a feature-length bio- pic on the life of McComb, which has the working title of Love In Bright Landscapes.

Keyboardist Jill Birt said getting back together had felt immediately right. “Life takes unexpected turns, and David’s deteriorating health was the turn that ended the Triffids. It just gives me an absolute buzz to be up there doing it. We realised that it’s such great fun playing together and we still enjoy each other’s company.”

McComb’s violinist brother Robert said they had settled quickly back into the songs, which in their original forms had been heavily worked and detailed in their construction.

“It wasn’t as if we improvised in the first place,” he said.

“The Triffids’ real place in our history is yet to be worked out, but we are all here because the music was so powerful.”

GROWTH OF A LEGEND

Formed in Perth in 1978 by David McComb

1983: Debut vinyl release Treeless Plain

1984: Raining Pleasure released

1985: Declared by New Musical Express to be the year of The Triffids

1986: Release of seminal album, Born Sandy Devotional, with its signature song, Wide Open Road. Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly says of it: “There’s a lot of loneliness there. In a lot of the songs, some guy’s somewhere in a lonely place, by himself.” TheGuardian names it as one of the 10 best albums ever recorded

1986: In The Pines released

1987: Calenture, including the hit Bury Me Deep In Love, released

1989: The Black Swan album released

1990: Live album release, Stockholm