The Sasha Lee Band played High-Flyerz on Saturday. They were fantastic. I’m really impressed by this three-piece outfit. The toothsome lead vocalist (Sasha Lee) commanded the complete attention of guys and girls alike, while the lead guitarist and the drummer provided note-and-beat perfect musical accompaniment to her rich and powerful voice. (Oh, and she plays the bass guitar of course – what a honey!).
Being a cold winter’s night in the middle of summer, the crowd was rather thin, but that didn’t stop the revelry in the least. The band journeyed through a choice collection of cover versions and sprinkled in a few of their original songs (good stuff) along the way. The Stones’ Paint it Black, U2’s With or Without You, a medley of Roxette hits, Nena’s 99 Red Balloons, and many other unexpected choices were all part of the entertainment. It was incredibly refreshing to hear a woman’s voice asserting control over many traditionally masculine numbers, although this refreshment probably lay in part due to the lack of female vocalists fronting bands on the local scene.
The highlight of their performance was difficult to pick – but it comes down to two options:
I was enraptured by a spine-chilling mimicry of The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ – deep, powerful and emotional with the right balance of anger and passion. Awesome.
Their cover of Collective Soul’s ‘Why Pt. 2’ was perfect to every single beat, chord, pause and note (barring perhaps the volume of the guitar solo). Perfect perfect perfect – I know, it’s one of my all time favourite songs. I doubt Collective Soul can even play it that well anymore.
I’d probably give the prize to the ‘Zombie’ cover, purely because the voice match is closer.
All in all, Sasha Lee’s is a fantastic band – way better than most others. I was really impressed, and if you go find them you will be impressed too.
Tags: HighFlyerz, music, sarockmusic, SouthAfricanRockMusic, band, SouthAfrica, entertainment, SashaLee, SashaLeeBand