Bacardi B-Together Party Thingy

Aaaaaaand I'm back! With a bang! Hopefully! Sorry varsity was being a little bitch, kept me quite busy!

So I got home last Thursday, powered-up the old typing machine and, like the good little techno slave that I am, checked up on Zuckerberg's brainchild. To my delight I saw that Doktrine Ontwerp were handing out tickets to some VIP party thing, so naturally I jumped at the chance to be a part of it...  


So i got the tickets, called up a friend and hit the road. now you have to understand, I have a VERY bad sense of direction, map or not, I get lost. ALWAYS. So as we fucked through the heart of the Joburg CBD (at night, not somewhere you want to be lost at night, believe me) I decided to ask help from a close by Cop car. Fearing he'll just chase me away if he heard I was Afrikaans, I greeted him with a slightly Japanese sounding German accent, and while throwing in a few German words, asked him to help us get to this event, lost tourist and what not. he was all to happy to oblige and set off with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Felt very VIP-ish at that particular moment....     

Helpful SAPS

So anyway, we finally pitched at the party, got stamped and immediately got directed to the OPEN, yes, OPEN bar. After we got some drinks i started to take in the environment around us, awesome murals and decorations, candy canes everywhere, famous designers, photographers and musicians all around,I know it sounds sad, so very very sad, but it was FUCKING AWESOME! The venue was decorated by designer Louis Minnaar, and was truly a sight to behold, very, very impressive. Now, you know how I mentioned the free booze, well, there was free food as well! And not Simba chips and Nik-Naks, proper gourmet snacks by Felicity Steenkamp, wow, truly, wow! My stomach was all like, bro I don't know what you are eating, but keep it coming! 

Peach van Pletzen

And, of course, we now come to the Main event, a mind blowing, brain melting, eargasmic show by the on and only Yesterday's Pupil. Now, I have listened to Peach's stuff before, be it Yesterdays Pupil, or for Bittereinder, but holy damn! That man can put on a show! When he is not playing guitar against balloon strings and the side of the stage, he does a complete system restart mid show without anyone noticing! As for showmanship and stage presence he is a god! Had the audience captivated with his rhythmic guitar solo's and techno sounds. Well done Peach, fucking well done! Cannot wait for your new stuff! 

All in all in it was an awesome night, with good friends, good drinks and good Music. oh! And we found our lecturer Martin selling some of his designs, was impressed!

Vrede

Photo's: 1. Unknown

                2. Werner Jacobsz

                 3. Werner Schaefer

Words: Werner Schaefer

 Venue: Main Street Life

2011's friendly faces

Photo: Roald Paul

Photos by Werner Schaefer

Joburg in Passing

All photos by Werner Schaefer

One Night in Ridgebacks

All Photos by Werner Schaefer

At the Dam(n)

All Photos by Werner Schaefer

Bittereinder drop nog n Awesome Bom!

Yes, goeiemore, long time ek weet, jammer daaroor, mid year moderation, toetse ens. Min slaap, min tyd en min kuier. Maar dis nou vakansie so ek het weer tyd!


ek het vanoggend my persoonlike rekenaar aangeskakel, op google geklim en bietjie rond gemoer, toe bietjie gefacebook,  foto's gekyk, comments geleees, jy weet, die gewone sielsdodende facebook experience. Net soos ek wou afsluit vang iets my oog...ek scroll franticly af met my muis en sien n wonderlike verskyning!

Slechte Mensen music video!


Bittereinder het hierdie awesome song gelaunch met hulle debuut album einde laasjaar, en was definitief vani heel eerste luister af 'n wenner in my boek! Die musiek video is puik! Die donker atmosfeer, die catscan slides, die flitsende gesigte en woorde, alles vloei perfek inmekaar in.

Louis Minaar het werklik n talent om musiek te kan vat en dit perfek vanaf klank oor te dra na visuele beeld. Die song  IS die beeldmateriaal.Weldone man, weldone, hoop om nog vele van ju produksies te sien!

Goeiewerk manne, keep it coming!

Balcony & Co

So yeah, 18th of May, 4 bands, a few beers and 1 very douchy sound guy.

The evening of the gig started pretty rushed, had lots of work to still do, people to go and pick up, having to find a place to charge my camera. All in all I thought the night is gonna be a screw up. Well, as usual, I was wrong. Music, my friends, music has a way to take any bad, rushed, stressed or hysterical person, slap them across the face and tell them to calm the fuck down and enjoy the night.

As we got there I picked out some guys I knew from school and was very pleased to hear them tell me they are playing first, I've been following them on Facebook for some time now but never had the chance to hear them play before. The Uprizing have been playing since 2010 and consists of Johny Coetzee on vocals and Guitar, Jurgen Basson on the drums, Winnie 'Lep' Nuss on Guitar and Robert Mitchley on the bass. These guys have a solid in your face Rock sound, one that reverberates through your front teeth, down your spine and into your little toes. I was Pleasantly surprised by the good quality of their performance, and although that 'garage distortion' you get with most live bands was present, they used it to their advantage and managed to give a kick ass show. Well done boys. Well done. 

The Uprizing

Next up we had an all chick band, Frame The Emotion with some nice post-punk, almost pop-punk sounds, power full guitar, good vocals and some high energy levels gave these guys (girls) a good sound and a solid stage performance. These girls describe themselves as "four girls who gonna take the SA music scene by storm!" and I must say, I do agree with that statement. The band consists of Chanel Venter - vocals and Lead Guitar, Natasha Strauss -Vocals and Rhythm Guitar, Kerry Oldfield - Drums and Percussion and Elmi Coetzee on the bass. So yeah, love the sound girls, keep it up, and aim high!

Frame The Emotion

The Third band of the night was probably one of the biggest surprises of the night, these guys put on one hell of a show! Get Up June have a colourful mix of indie, rock and alternative sounds that gave their show one hell of a kick! I could not help but tap my feet to their awesome beat and have a big ass smile on my face. Feel good music. All the way! These guys(and girl) consists of Erick Gerber on Guitar/Vocals, Pieter- David Du Plessis on Guitar/Keys, Luana Prioreschi on Vocals, Greg Van Kerkhof on Bass and Louis Malherbe on Drums. Definitely a must watch, keep an eye on their Facebook page for upcoming gigs, keep it up guys (and girl).

Get Up June

     

And now, off course, we come to the band of bands, the eye of the super-genetically-enhanced tiger, the gods of instrumental, the one, the only, the BALCONY!

Ok just some background information, this was their second gig, I unfortunately missed their first one because I was busy holding myself marathon runner, so I Really wanted to see these guys in action. Now as many of you guys know they have recorded a bunch of their songs and made them available for free download, way before they ever had a gig, and it was good!

Back to the gig, as they got on stage they were busy doing their pre-show sound check and I was slightly worried for a minute or two. The sound guy, to me, came across as a ginormous knob. He did not seem to understand the concept of listening to the performers when they told him what to do. At one stage he even made some snide remark, which kinda pissed me off. Any way the show started and I was in heaven. Music pulsed trough my ears, into my brain and seeped through to my soul. Seriously, I might have gotten a slight soul boner just there and then.

 Balcony

It was everything I hoped for and even more. Gustav played his cello like he was an angel with a harp, Jacques slapped his bass with godlike powers, Anton handled the keyboard like you or I would handle a beautiful woman and Hanro played his guitar with Hendrix-type awesomeness. All in all I would say the show was a great success, and I would love to see them again!   

So the night turned into a good one, worries were left behind, work was postponed and as always, music Triumphed!

Vrede 

Words: Werner Schaefer

Photos: Werner Schaefer