Posts Tagged ‘gig guide’

WOW! That’s all I can say! The Mother of ALL Parties this past Saturday was one of the biggest events we have ever had! A HUGE thank you to all that came and dressed up – making it a night to remember… If you have any pics on the night we would love to add them to the website! Please mail them to shaun@thebangbangclub.co.za and don’t worry – considering the success of the event we will be doing it again soon for sure. Look out for more on that…

This week we have another jam packed calendar of smoking beats & rocking talent!

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Bed on Bricks played at Mercury Live on Friday 9th May and they clearly showed why they are one of the top South African bands and my favourite one at the moment. If I had two extra hands I’d give them four thumbs up.

Die Helde kicked off the show, followed by “experimental alternative rock” three-piece The Plastics. Bed on Bricks got up just after 11.30 and played songs from their two albums Humanarium and If You See Kay and also included a track from their long awaited third album Royal Honey. Each song was played to perfection and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed it.

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This post is more about a girl than it is about The Sleepers, Tonight We Die and whack rock newcomers Havoc Vultures, all of whom I saw last night at Mercury Live, and all of whom paled in comparison to the sight of her face again. I met her back in varsity a few years ago, and it’s been a story of unrequited love. The depths of my heart I know, but even after closing act Havoc Vultures had torn up the stage with manic, mike-stand-touting physical insanity, her heart remained as silent as it will until the day I pluck up the courage to tell her.

Live a little. Die a lot. Havoc Vultures.

As opening act The Sleepers mounted the stage for an extraordinary acoustic version of their typically high-pitched set. Earlier, in an interview I did, they’d described it as “somewhere between Cape Town’s indie and electro scenes” wisely clarifying that we’re talking about the ‘white’ market here, and not SA music as a whole.

Songwriter Adam Hill veered between a firetruck red electric and a lapsteel guitar — you know, those ones you play flat, like a keyboard on a stand, like Gary Thomas from acoustic/folk duo Cabins in the Forest (who just released their debut). His head shining like the sun after a fierce battle, guitarist and co-songwriter Nic Roos reserved the on-stage passions you can expect from him, which was almost as weird as singer Simon Tamblyn‘s buttoned down, escapist lyrics blasting, super-compressed, through the circuitry of the desk and into the eye-locked crowd. Superb adaptation of their harder set.

It was only towards the end of the evening, when I saw her again, that my long-lost affections were realised. I was preparing to perch atop one of the badass speakers near the front with my longtime companion (Canon IXUS40 4.1 Megapixel Digital Camera), when I felt a tug on my arm. It was her. Of course it was her. She was the reason I’d heard about the act on stage – the recently re-united TonightWeDie in the first place. Years ago, she’d convinced me to drive with her into some place in Tableview to check out her friend’s band. It was also the first night I’d seen Joshua Grierson, then called EmoKidJosh (more on this guy’s powerful live act here).

I remember her hovering around one of the band members while I bought us drinks, and she buzzed and flitted with an adolescent gape at the proximity she held to him. I was jealous. He was a better guitarist, and better looking and just better.

I turned around, climbed down from my half-mounted position on the speaker, and wasted no time in embracing her. God, it was good just to hold her tender body in my arms again, even if this girl had sapped too much of my mental energy in the past. She smiled and asked how I am. TonightWeDie, now no longer a threat, carried melodic acoustic rock number after number into the back tunnels of the awkwardly designed architecture of the long-time live music venue, and for a moment I didn’t care. About her, about the outcome, about anything. I’m fine. In good spirits.

TonightWeDie recently reformed after a hiatus that began in mid-2007, and was announced in a blog post that began “How do you write this? Do you try to be brave and hopeful or just play it cool and wave it off?” It was a pretty heart-wrenching affair, but we all know that it’s not over till the fat lady sings. Or in this case, lead singer Claude Barnardo, who — get this — Has A Very Good Voice.

Next up was Havoc Vultures, who, it turns out, aren’t newcomers at all, but have been together around a year and made the Mercury as the second last stop on their Cape tour (Kunskafee in D/Ville tonight, kids). Fronted by a Christlike ‘Bos‘, the Vultures are the epitome of energetic, asinine rock-stars with nothing to lose. A myspace page that encourages us to “Live A Little, Die A Lot” isn’t far from the truth, and with the backing of Kidofdoom’s Johan Auriacomb as a tour manager (on “holiday vibes,” as he put it earlier), these guys are chewing up the rock circuit with a sound and power that puts 80s hair metal in the shadows.

And then the evening ended. She waved off and disappeared again. Will I do the lunch meetings and movies when the sms comes? I dunno. Is it love? I dunno. It’s a spell. I got her email. I’ll be sending her this article now. Wish me luck. And if this all falls through, see you at the next gig.

The Spindle Sect | The Sleepers | StereoZen Van Coke Kartel, aKing, Fokofpolisiekar: Forever Young New Dirty Skirts Album: Daddy Don’t Disco	The Sleepers Myspace Tonight We Die Myspace Havoc Vultures Myspace

Throw five individuals together in a room — actually, a wooden bench somewhere in Cape Town’s nightscape — and get them to agree on something. It’s like herding cats. Especially when the five are a band called Wakato, and between them they’ve got more tastes than a metalhead has pins on her Jack Skellington bag. We chat with the upcoming alternative rock outfit for a few minutes before their Mercury Live Sixgun Sessions debut.

Lead singer

How long have you been playing together?

Almost a year.

If you were an interviewer, what question would you ask yourself?

What kinda music are you into?

What kinda music are you into?

We’re really not sure. Alternative, maybe a bit of fusion. We have metal elements. If we had to compare ourselves to other bands — ignoring the copyright and loyalty issues — we’d say we’re a mixture between Deftones and Interpol.

Wakato.

So, like Intertones, then.

[Laughs all round, because omfg Overtone is just HILAROUS!!!]

What’s the most ridiculous place you could play? Like, on the moon, on Eiffel Tower, whatever?

Ramfest, Download Festival.

How often do you guys rehearse?

Twice a week. Some of us have jobs, some of us study.

Where do you stay?

Kuils River.

What’s Kuils River like?

It’s very Afrikaans. Kinda boring. It’s a dead town. We’re just trying to create our own noise in-between all the silence.

What do we do about it?

A lot of it’s got to do with marketing. It’s business, at the end of the day. Look at guys like Seether. They work their asses off and got fucking far. You gotta be committed otherwise you’re gonna get nowhere. For South African bands, we have to work harder than anyone else in the entire world.

What is ‘getting far’?

Getting far is playing the big stage. It’s playing with bands that you grew up with. Also, a huge fanbase.

If you had ten thousand fans in front of you right now, what would you say?

Touch me! [laughs]

I wear a tie to work.

Join the club.

Any albums, recordings?

We recorded at our college, and it’s on our Facebook page. One of the guys at Cape Audio College asked us to come in. [to the band] I forgot to tell you guys, actually. [band: Yaaay!] We’re very particular about our raw recordings. To make sure the quality of the sound is to our liking.

What about the name, Wakato?

We just chose it [randomly], and believe it or not, it was by accident that we found out what it means. In Japanese, it actually means ‘people of the harmonious song.’

Dorpstraat Teater’s latest gig guide follows. Keep an eye out for the premiere venue in the Cape’s Northern Suburbs for upcoming gigs and events.

2de Stefan Ludik :: R70
3de Beeskraal :: R50
4de Gerald Clark – Sweepslag :: R40
9de Lone Sharks – Dave Ferguson :: R50
10de Oop Mikrofoon :: R15
11de Danie Niehaus :: R85
12de Melktert Kommissie :: R60
15de Helena Smith :: R45
16de Neill Smit :: R30
18de Melani Lowe (Idols-faam) :: R45
22ste Petronel Baard – Deur die oë van Laurika Rauch :: R60
23ste Luna :: R40
25ste Philip de Villiers :: R60
26ste Privaat Funksie
29ste Southern Gypsey Queen :: R55
30ste Wilna Snyman – Nooit is ‘n lang tyd :: R80