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