NOFX punk safari

Two days following the Freshlyground performance, I found myself soaked in beer and being wildly jostled around in a very different type of musical performance. I attended the NOFX concert at the Bassline in Newtown, Johannesburg, 12 November 2007. It’s a small venue, with a capacity of 1 000 people which made for a very intimate show. I’m not all too familiar with NOFX’s music, except for their most popular Punk in Drublic album. Punk band NOFX have been around for quite some time, and considering their blatantly excessive lifestyles, still look young, fit and healthy, and definitely know how to put on a good show (despite what they’ll have you believe). Bassist and lead vocalist Fat Mike is quite a comedic character providing a lot of on-stage banter much to the audiences delight. The show was initially delayed somewhat, with the band threatening not to perform, after audience members spat at the band as they walked out (must be a punk thing). But once the culprits had been identified and escorted out by some pretty tough looking NOFX roadies, the band performed with much vigour. Some highlight chirps from Fat Mike included gems such as: “When we play in Asia we play to Asian people. And when we plan in South America we play to South American people. But when we play in Africa we play to European people?!?! (following which they played Kill all the White Man) (another interesting aside is that he mentioned that there were no black people at their Cape Town and Durban performances, but that there were a couple in Jozi); and “We love touring the most fucked up countries in the world, and their most fucked up cities, and Johannesburg is definitely one of the most fucked places we’ve ever been to. We played in Australia once, that was awesome. You guys should go there. Except… you’ve got some good cocaine here.” He also sheepishly admitted that they’d be going on a tour of Soweto tomorrow on a tour bus. And he pointed out that he’d never seen so many long haired guys at a punk performance before, nor had he ever seen a guy with an afro at a punk performance (again, this is Jozi). Throughout the performance Fat Mike continued to drink from various refilled beverages positioned in his own permanent mic-stand cup holder, and seemed to get quite overly intoxicated later in the show, sometimes walking off stage, then being helped back up by his backstage crew. This didn’t hamper the performance of one their last but best songs of the night - Don’t Call Me White. Addressing issues pertaining to the “white” legacy, this song in particular went down well with the South African audience. This was easily one of the best concerts I have attended this year.

NOFX were supported by local ska/punk band Fuzigish. These guys never disappoint, and if you haven’t heard them yet you should visit their MySpace page and listen to some of their tracks (especially Mozambique) and find out when they’ll be performing again.

Freshlyground and Neo Muyanga

Local act Freshlyground (pictured left) recently toured South Africa and I had the privilege of attending the Johannesburg, Sandton Convention Centre show on 10 November 2007. Their show was great and this band is really an awesome exportable commodity. They have been likened to Mango Groove, understandably so because of their cross-over appeal and mixing of traditional with western musical styles, and they have the potential to garner as much acclaim as Mango Groove. The show was wonderful.

Opening up for Freshlyground was Neo Muyanga, also known for his work with BLK Sonshine. Muyanga is also a fantastic local talent. He performed solo, mostly on an organ then on a Yamaha Silent Series acoustic guitar. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed his act, especially his solo rendition of Born in a Taxi. Furthermore, I was blown away by the sound of the Silent Series. What an incredible guitar. Muyanga certainly delivered in terms of getting the crowd warmed up for the headlining act, perhaps even outshining them somewhat.

Check out I m Justin Taylor

Just by chance, I caught a performance by Justin Taylor a few months ago. I’d never heard of him before, but as it turns out he is an incredible South African musican and I really enjoyed his live set and his tracks on MySpace (especially Cheesy Little Love Song). His music sounds quite heavily influenced by the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer and the Goo Goo Dolls (just to give you an idea). Check out Justin Taylor on MySpace.

Mary J Blige and Enrique Iglesias at The Dome

Again as I continue to report on concerts long after they happen ;-b I thought I’d share a few thoughts on Mary J Blige’s concert in Jozi on 18 October and the Enrique Iglesias (pictured left) concert on 21 October 2007. The first, Mary J Blige, was a disappointment. Blige’s performance was left wanting. She seemed tired and uninspired and I felt the audience could read into this. There were vast areas of the Dome left empty and I saw quite a large number of people filing out early. On the other hand, Enrique Iglesias came to SA on his Insomniac Tour to seriously impress. Now I’m not a fan of Enrique (and I did not pay, nor would I pay, for a ticket to see his show), but I have to admit that it is one of the best performances I’ve seen of late. His stage is superb with a fantastic light show, and he himself is quite energetic, often running up an approximately 30 metre ramp into the crowd and connecting with his audience. He has a good voice and is an excellent entertainer. I was also surprised at how much of a rock show his live act is. Most of his band sport mohicans, are seriously talented musos and rock out. Though the concert started a little late, with no opening act, it seems many fawning teenage girls, and many of their mothers too, definitely got their money’s worth.

Fall Out Boy in Jozi

Though Fall Out Boy’s concert in Johannesburg did happen a long time ago, 20 July, I thought it necessary to mention that since watching them live I have seriously started enjoying their music, particularly their Infinity on High album. It’s just interesting to note the effect of live music and from what I understand, in this current era of uncertainty in the music industry, what with the state of music piracy, though music sales are down, concert attendances are up. People are buying less music, but attending more shows. Thus the importance of putting on a good live show. Fall Out Boy were excellent in Jozi, I was impressed and converted. I’m looking forward to hearing new offerings from the band and would attend another of their concerts any day.

Japan and I, Stanley Clarke and Pink

I’ve been a terrible blogger of late and haven’t updated my blog for quite a while now, even though I have watched a few live shows over the past few months. It’s too late now to go in-depth on any of them but I thought it would be worth mentioning a few highlights. In August I attended the Japan and I CD launch at The Bohemian and watched performances by Japan and I, the Diesel Whores and Swivelfoot. Sivelfoot is a Johannebsurg based punk band – very loud, very noisy – their punk is quite hardcore. Not quite my taste, I can’t recommend them. For the Diesel Whores I have a love/hate relationship. I enjoy watching them, but their music is such a blatant rip-off of the Pixies and of Johnny Cash, but, they do what they do well, so… still (and this is after many, many years) I’m not quite sure what to make of them. But, I enjoyed their performance. Funnily, this band has been performing the same set for the past couple of years, and fortunately lead vocalist Jaxon Rice did indicate that this would be changing soon. I look forward to hearing their new stuff. Japan and I headlined the evening and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. Japan and I are a female punk/punk-pop band. I recommend you check them out, they could go places.

Also in August, I attended the Joy of Jazz festival which featured jazz greats such as Stanley Clarke and George Duke. Despite certain bad management by the organisers, which saw artists performing at much later time slots than they should have, the music was fantastic. The Stanley Clarke and George Duke performances on both evenings absolutely blew my mind. They are such showmen and absolute professionals. Musically you can’t compare them to anybody else, they are leagues ahead of anything. Other highlights included local diva Miriam Makeba, American jazz artist Delfeayo Marsalis and local legend Sipho Mabuse.

In September I attended Pink’s concert at the Dome in Northriding, Johannesburg. It was excellent. Pink is an incredible performer, and though she often appears as quite butch in music videos and press photographs, she is actually quite petite, feminine and very attractive. She is an absolute professional and has an incredible voice and live persona. Local indie-rock act Cassette opened up for Pink. Their set too was excellent. These guys have done their time in the local music arena (as part of various other bands and projects) and have built on that to deliver a seriously professional set. I enjoyed what they had to offer.

Emerging Sounds touched by the Saint

I attended the RBF Emerging Sounds Battle of the Bands competition on Monday night, held at Emperors Palace, because good friend’s of mine Saint Dragon (previously mentioned here on this blog) were on the bill. This ‘battle of the bands’ competition has been running for just over ten years now, with one winner chosen each year. Previous winners have been Tweak, Prime Circle, Freshlyground and Seether among others. I too have entered the competition in a couple of different bands, not really getting anywhere though. The competitions are organised by ardent SA music supporter Simon Foulds. Check out this article on MIO for some more info on the competiton and how it operates. Anyway, this was one of the weekly gigs of the first leg, I think, of the Johannesburg leg and there were three bands competing to go through to the next round, the monthly final. Three bands performed on Monday in the following order: Chaos Theory, Enfuse and Saint Dragon. Chaos Theory and Enfuse have a lot to learn – I’m not going to say much about them, because both bands were quite bad (and that’s putting things politely). To give you an idea of their musical styles Chaos Theory, led by a female vocalist, attempted to perform three covers in their set (by Metallica, Nirvana and the Deftones) with the emphasis on attempted, and Enfuse (www.enfuse.co.za and here on MySpace), another female led outfit, performed broody English/Afrikaans rock, but were not quite captivating enough to pull it off. Honestly, both bands are young and will hopefully improve. On the other hand, Saint Dragon were cool and on the night managed to claim first prize and progress through to the next round. Well done chaps. Catch Saint Dragon at their next gig if you’re into Weezer, Blink 182 or Jimmy Eat World. Visit www.saintdragon.com to find out more about the band and their upcoming gigs.

An evening with Jose Gonzalez

Last night I was privileged to attend the Jose Gonzalez (pictured left) concert in Johannesburg (thanks to Karl at Just Music for the invite). Gonzalez is a fascinating musician, as mentioned here and here in my previous reviews of his South African releases. He hails from Europe, but is of Argentinian descent. He is considered a pioneer of the Nu-folk movement. His performance last night was outstanding. He performed to a small but capacity crowd at the Wits University’s Great Hall (1 000 seater). The show was intimate, and provided wonderful insight into Gonzalez’s character as a person and as a musician. Generally he comes across as very humble, slightly shy, yet when performing his assuredness and confidence shines through. He is a highly professional musician and sets very high standards for himself, as evidenced by his being bothered by the smoke machine – which made for some humorous asides. I was taken aback by the massive sound he manages to command from his classical acoustic guitar. And he held the crowd mesmerized through the subtleness of his voice. Highlights from his performance included Storm, Slow Moves, Lovestain, Remain, Crosses and his renditions of The Knife’s Heartbeats and Kylie Minogue’s Put Your Hand On Your Heart. I was a little disappointed that he did not perform his version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Gonzalez was joined on stage by Yukimi Nagona on backing vocals and Eric Bodin on percussion.

Gonzalez was supported by local act Harris Tweed (on MySpace) (read my review of their debut here), and without being too precocious I believe they may have stolen some of Gonzalez’s thunder. The core duo of Harris Tweed, Cherilyn MacNeil and Darryl Torr, entertained the audience with an amazingly intimate set. This group is highly talented and, really, I can not sing their praises enough. The band leave shortly to perform at the South By South West music conference in Austin Texas and I wish them the best of luck as they are truly deserved of international stardom.

All in all, a wonderful evening.

Jose Gonzalez and Harris Tweed will be performing again in Cape Town on Friday 23 February at the Tafelberg Tavern Hall.

Roots rock at the Bo

Went to the Bohemian on Thursday to catch good friend, and now a member of ‘the familia’, Lu perform as the Roots Rock Rebel. Lu previously led the band Thirteen, but has since disbanded the group and is currently performing some of his solo material. Basically Lu gets up on stage accompanied only by his Epiphone Sheraton II, and delivers a very intimate and personal set. It takes a lot of guts to do what he’s doing, but he’s very passionate about his work and it comes through in his performance. I was impressed.

On the night, I was also highly impressed by a band called The Black Hotels (Check out The Black Hotels on MySpace). They performed after Lu, and in a way reignited my faith in the South African indie rock scene. The Black Hotels have apparently been together for about eight months. The group comprises four members, two guitarists, of which one also handles lead vocals, a bassist (backing vocalist) and a drummer. The band have a laid back Teenage Fanclub, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Arcade Fire sort of vibe. They also included a Velvet Underground cover in their set. Their music is mature, and does not necessarily try too hard to fit in to any specific genre. I get the impression the members are just honestly making music they enjoy, and not just trying to impress a certain market. The Black Hotels are refreshing, tight, and a pleasure to listen to. I found the audience enjoyed the set as much as I.

Jim Neversink ‘headlined’ the evening, and it was unfortunate. This is the first time I watched this much touted (here and here) band and was highly disappointed. Unlike The Black Hotels, this band’s music is in no way easy on the ear. They’re alternative-country with a punk edge. The band do however employ an interesting array of instruments – an accordion at times, an acoustic base, electric guitar, slide guitar at times, violin at times, and a drummer. Unfortunately I don’t think the band gels well. I think their songwriting is weak and desperate, and they are fronted by a terrible lead vocalist who can at points be very crass in his lyrics and asides. Check out Jim Neversink on MySpace.

The evening was well attended. There was a R30 cover charge. Bands started at nine.

Saint Dragon at the Roxy

Caught Saint Dragon at the Roxy in Melville last night. I have been friends with the core members (the brothers Cunha) Justin and Paul for many years so this might be a bit biased. Saint Dragon are a pop-punk, college rock/geek rock band who hail from Springs on the East Rand of Johannesburg. They sound similar to bands like Weezer and Jimmy Eat World. The band has been going for many years but has recently found itself in limbo with the departure of two members. They have since reformed with a new line-up. Last night the band introduced two new members (on drums and rhythm guitar). The set was not bad, considering the recent introduction of the new recruits. They performed mostly original material but included two covers – Good Charlotte’s Girls and Boys and Blink 182’s Dammit. Unfortunately, the sound let the band down, as is what often happens at Roxy’s. But I believe once the band has sorted out their new ‘teething’ problems they will once again be a force to reckon with.

Check out Saint Dragon’s site. I recommend you download one or two of their tracks (especially Nintendo and Hello Goodbye and the Nintendo video – it’s classic). These guys have had some succes on the Powerzone MP3 download charts (you can download their tracks here too).

Saint Dragon were followed by a cover band called Ball Sack, and I have to say it takes quite a ball sack to open up with The Darkness’s I believe in a Thing Called Love. The rest of their set was as dubious as their name suggests.