SUNDAY, APRIL 26
11 BANDS PLUS FUN FOR FAMILIES

(IF YOU’RE NOT AT OPPIKOPPI, FOOL)

The BIG BEAT MUSIC FESTIVAL shouts out to KZN from the Bishopstown on Sunday, April 26. The 11 band line-up boasts something for everyone, from the young to the young at heart, from acoustic to pop and rock.

Headliner, STEALING LOVE JONES, fresh from the television screen and radio charts, will perform an intimate, unplugged set. The HAIRY LEGGED LENTIL EATERS will pound out psychedelic folk whilst the SPLAYED FERRETS will remind you what was best from yesteryear. Diversely talented, HABIT TO, will mix progressive, rock and jazz influences into soft delight. For the youth, there’s local, rising stars, THE RANKS and TRACING SUNDAY. THE RYAN CALDER BAND, well known for their Hexagon Theatre performances, is another great band on the line-up. They’re also joined by the rich vocals of the HINDS BROTHERS and MONGOOSE, Durban’s magical CATLIKE THIEVES and PAN LATINO’s heartfelt rhythms.

1000 (gates open)

1100 - Mongoose

1200 - Pan Latino

1300 - Hinds Brothers

1400 - Ryan Calder Band

1500 - The Ranks

1600 - Tracing Sunday

1700 - Catlike Thieves

1800 - Habit To

1900 - Stealing Love Jones

2000 - Hairy Legged Lentil Eaters

2100 - Sprayed Ferrets

The festival furthers Big Beat Productions’ belief in South African talent. Having catered concerts for stars such as Freshlyground and Prime Circle, the Pietermaritzburg based company wanted to give some of that glam to local bands. This will be a top notch show featuring great lighting and sound shot from a 42 square meter stage.

“The Mountain View Entertainment Centre is the perfect venue,” says Kevin Liddell, the owner of Big Beat. “It set in an amazingly, beautiful countryside. It’s hard to believe that the city is just 10km away. And it’s a great place to bring the family for the day. There’s a pool, slides, playground and quad bikes. The restaurant is affordable and I dare anyone to finish the giant, mountain burger. There’s also a fully stocked bar for the adults.”

The Mountain View Entertainment Centre is in Bishopstown, 10km east of Pietermaritzburg and just off the N3, 75km from Durban. You will find the map and much more at www.bigbeatmusicevents.wordpress.com. Tickets are only R60. Kids under 12 get in free. Gates open at 10am with bands running from 11am to 10pm. It’s the Sunday before a public holiday – come have some fun.

You can direct enquiries to Lara at admin@bigbeat.co.za or 033 394 4426.

Press release courtesy of Wicked Mike

“The much anticipated local Cape Town band, Chasing Friday will be performing on Saturday 11th April 2009 at Fashion TV Cape Town.

States front man Phill Black “It is an honour and a privilege to be finding ourselves in the company of a true rock band of such a high calibre as Stealing Love Jones.”

Chasing Friday recently launched their latest single Campus Girl at FTV Cape Town.

When asked about the new single, drummer Andrew Mellish said, “We are immensely excited and expect it will do big things.”

Chasing Friday, one of the most entertaining and energetic live acts in SA, has played extensively with some of South Africa’s premiere acts such as Stealing Love Jones, Bed on Bricks, Taxi Violence, Ryno Velvet, Alan Funk and Lara Frances.

Chasing Friday can be seen on stage on the 25th of April with the Parlotones, aKing, Dirty Skirts, Crashcarburn. at “F ROCK ” Festival at Ratanga Junction.

The latest single currently available online at www.chasingfriday.com“

So I went. And had a great time.

Snip:

The video for “Limozeen” was shot by international director and producer Michael Matthews using 35mm film, a rarity in the South African music-video industry, and is regarded as one of the most expensive music videos filmed in South Africa this year. The song features a guest-vocal by multi-platinum selling urban artist Mzambya who also star in the video.

You can certainly see the huge amount of money, effort and skill that was put into the video - it’s a well polished work, unlike your average MK89 music vid which seems to be filmed using a cellphone camera and edited with Windows 95. The only downfall for me was that the Limozeen video didn’t really say anything - maybe I missed it, but it seems there was no real storyboard drawn up to give the characters some substance. Oh well, I’ll have to see it again to make further judgment.

As always, here’s a sampling of the snaps on flickr.

I saw their second live gig ever. I couldn’t believe that it was only their second gig when Kevin later told me. The band members portrayed comfort, charm and effortlessness on stage (and off), exhibiting unexpected maturity in their act. I later confirmed there is a good deal of experience for the band members prior to the formation of this band.

The small yet solid crowd was feeding off the band’s good vibe as The He-Shes’ rock-’n-roll-meets-New-York-punk-rock sounds chased their feet into foot-tapping, dancing and hand-clapping.

I must admit there was the occasional bit of irritating sound feedback, something to be expected for a band of this age I suspect, but as the set drifted on this was progressively corrected.

Nick’s voice is really distinctive, and similarly powerful, but he manages to control it well into crafting some solid vocals. I had the words “Tom Waits” stuck in my head throughout their set.

After the conclusion of set the band were sociable, friendly and excited to share a good time with all. I ended up having long chats with both Kevin and (surprisingly) Nick, who has the reputation of being super energetic and rarely gets tied to a conversation.

All in all, some good rocking at the Bohemian. (And I haven’t even said a thing about the spectacular Jim Neversink) (it will come soon)

Juicy musical delight Flickr photos here.

Here in fact is some footage from the exact same gig I attended (ripped off The He-Shes Myspace page). Click through for more vids.
Country Feeling

Quality of sound: 7.6

Rockstar Rating: 8.5

Overall Rating: A promising 8.3 (Don’t let me down boys…)

Why 52Weeks? I’m NOT Dion Chang…

Of course to prosper further Tonight We Die headed up to Gauteng to entertain the real rock fans who live in Pretoria, the City of Rock, (my new home) and 52weeks made an unscheduled stop at Zanzibar to check them out.

High paced frantic metal interspersed with, well, a little bit of melodic  breathing space for the drummer, is the name of the game for these rockers. Their controlled energy carries you up, brings you down, lifts you back up and throws you around the room. Think of it like you are Spiderman and they’re Doctor Octopus. A really hardcore rocking kind of Dr Octopus. Kinda. Except they’ve got ten arms. Um. Yah.

Tonight We Die are a great live act. They’re HAPPY people (see the photos for proof) which always helps a band warm to the crowd. They’ve got a strong following too.

I must admit I’m torn in trying to rate the band. I bought their CD unheard, listened to them live, enjoyed it enormously and then I stuck in the CD and listened to it straight through (a good sign) but it just wasn’t the same. So here’s what you do: Buy the CD, and visit their myspace page.

Do those things now, and then go watch them.

If you haven’t seen the music video for FFF on MK89, here it is:

Quality of sound: 8

Rockstar Rating: 7.8

Overall Rating: 7.9

Why 52weeks? Do it for the mountain.

Simply click on an image below to open the voting site, and be sure to fill out a correct confirmation email address to guarantee your vote gets through.

Thanks!

Rock on.

Why 52weeks? For the love of SA Music.

I think the photo’s say it all about My Favourite Weapon.

They’ve got a punchy, punky metal sound. Their high-paced, energetic performance is visibly enjoyable to them, and their contagious enthusiasm shines through in their fantastic stage attitude.  

Smiles all around from the band members show that these guys love jamming.

From start to finish their performance as part of Punk Rock 101 at Tings was a blur of energy.

My only criticism can really be that in a way it felt a bit like it’d all been done before - they felt like a band I’d already seen, even though I hadn’t. If they can find a hook song they should really do well - they definitely have enough ability, passion and presence to pull it off.

Quality of sound: 8.0

Rockstar rating: 7.9

Overall rating: A punky 8.

Why 52weeks? Rock is MY favourite weapon.

Say hello to some solid old-school rock ‘n roll, with a splash of blues, where the sound of the guitar is what matters, full stop. Oh, and if you want to you can throw in some vocals.

If you’ve heard “Joburg Overdrive” you’ll know what I mean when I say raspy guitar, catchy beats and effortless style. It’s a beautiful sound that hearkens back to the birth of of rock. Then again, if you don’t like old school rock ‘n roll, go home.

The vocals at times suggest a hint of Chris Cornell’s (ala Soundgarden/Audioslave) range, but at the same time this introduces the risk of monotony, which The Kick barely avoided. Never mind - the guitar work provided all the novelty required.

The guitar work wasn’t exceptionally tight, but in retrospect it doesn’t have to be - after all, This is Rock and Roll - and experimentation should be the name of the game, so kudos to The Kick for their riffs.

The other highlight of their nice and lengthy set was Plastic People, a fantastic overdriven jamming session that seems to steal a little from Higher Ground of the Red Hot Chili Peppers variety. At least that’s what you might think for the first minute or so until it steps up into it’s very own role.

Simply put, The Kick are pretty close to mastering this timeless form of music, and I look forward to spending many an evening mulling over their effortless sounds with just a bottle of whiskey as company.

Photos of The Kick are on Flickr as usual - I must say they are some of the best I’ve taken with the new baby - not as lifeless as usual, and the lighting on some is just way cool.

Quality of sound: 8.0

Rockstar rating: 8.0

Overall rating: A retro 8.6

Why 52weeks? “Ours is a city, never stops to take a breath…”

A mad and excited crowd welcomed Fokofpolisiekar to a rowdy gig at Maloney’s in Hatfield.

There are few english words to describe the brilliance and energy of these Afrikaans rockers. They’ve done what many thought was unachievable - creating vibrant, popular Afrikaans rock that is actually musically worth something.

Over the past few years their sound has matured into a distinctive and complex product that is both thrilling and poignant. The lyrics are precise and intelligent, providing content to the blazing vocals that dance above the grinding energy of the guitars backing it. Their onstage presence is undoubtedly second to none.

Yeah, I’m a huge fan. I’ve got all their albums (legally). Go to Rhythm Records and you can have their music NOW! Alternatively, kalahari.net will surely oblige.

Beer price: Affordable to students.

Quality of sound: 8.0

Rockstar rating: 9.8

Overall rating: BEFOK!

More pics here…

Why 52weeks? My skroewe is nie vas gedraai nie…

I’ve seen Ménage à Trois play a number of times, first at Levi’s Young Guns and subsequently at a couple of other random gigs. Each time I’ve seen them I’ve enjoyed them more and more. Their sound is quirky, attitude-filled, alternative, worldy folk rock. In fact I suspect Menage fits fairly-comfortably into the anti-folk genre, although they run in a slightly more mainstream area.

 Hehe, look at me talk shit about music genres and styles <…places beer gingerly on table…> Like I know what I’m talking about…

Seriously, though, Ménage à Trois is a polished act that leaves you wanting for more. The lead guitarist handles his guitar like it came with him from the womb. The drummer entertains with serious beats as well as a hand-drum-thingy solo second to none. Couple it with some strings from a very popular cellist and a strait-laced bassist and they’ve got a good package. Auriel’s lead vocals are husky and soulful, crooning out lyrical imagery that dances through possible interpretations in your head.

A sure highlight of their set is when they kick it  up a notch and bring on a guest male vocalist to perform an anxious, haunting and intense number that hungers for your attention. Gripping.

They’re *the* band to watch while sipping a whisky and mellowing your thoughts through what real music should sound like.

Quality of sound: 9.5

Rockstar Rating: 9.0

Overall Rating: 9.0