Desmond And The Tutus, SweatX: The End Is Nigh

Generally, South Africa draws about as many parallels to an American teen flick as Ladysmith Black Mambazo does to a Taxi Violence fan. Usually, one doesn’t see kilometer-long queues outside a club, but Desmond & The Tutus, Sweat X and Sovereign Academy DJs Richard the Third and Data Takashi obviously got some steez crackin. We check out The End is Nigh at Carfax.

Like a sober 80s rocker, this downtown Jozi queue was an anomaly, a phenomenon that would by far be my standout memory of the night. I finally brushed past the bouncer with new lifelong friends and grey hairs. Once finally inside the place, which, granted, is a great party venue, we were greeted by the sounds and gyrations of Desmond and the Tutus in their skinny fit indie jeans, and the lead singer in his Mickey Mouse T-shirt – which he made himself. Does this make them a Mickey Mouse band? (Check out the killer T-shirt lead singer Shane the band made especially for the show!)

It was OK. Like when you think a leaf is going to be crunchy but you step on it an its squelchy – I was disappointed. I expected more. The upside is that with Desmonds (or Tutu? or The Tutus? – comments, please), you’ve got a couple of mismatched, image-reckless guys who love making music more than they love being musicians; totally refreshing and inspiring to see the mashup four-piece still going strong since we last saw em.

From the Tutu’s it was around the corner to another dancefloor, where DJ Richard the Third and Data Takashi played a ‘versus’ set together. This was good, and people were busting all sorts of grooves and cutting many rugs. My only concern was the amount of glo-stix that were being brandished, and the concern peaked when I saw someone with the glo-stick in their mouth and the glo stuff had come out and he had a fluorescent mouth. Something vaguely Roxette about it.

Next on the main stage was Sweat X, and boy-o-boy has p***y-mad frontman Spoek run out of steam. The once-luminous duo sure knew how to get a crowd going a few months ago, but this, their ‘last gig in Joburg for two months’, was a little less dirty and left most of us even hungrier than at their Cape Town gig a few days ago.

Much anticipated Glaswegian JD Twitch took to the main stage with an avalanche of bass, and the festival-savvy Franz Ferdinand producer, while not entirely convincing to the SA crowd, still put on a vibe of authority and kept the party alive. Now, let’s hope there’s not a queue to get out of here…

[Guest post by Moya]

“Do skinny jeans make Desmond and the Tutus a Mickey Mouse band?”