Tag: Music

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Entertainment Music

‘Burst’ at Charelli’s

Thursday evenings are quickly becoming “new music talent scout evenings” for Brad and I. Last night a four piece rock outfit going by the name ‘Burst’ took the stage at Charelli’s.

From the outset it was obvious that the guys were not as polished as other acts we’ve seen, but somehow that was a good thing. Having a performance that is a bit rough cut fitted them well. Their slightly less polished solos (at times – they like to pretend they can’t play), the odd off-key singing note, and some slightly deviant cover versions proved that they are a working band, but they enjoy doing what they’re doing too – rocking out.

Their repertoire was good – older Green Day hits like ‘Basket Case’, Collective Soul’s ‘December’ (always an awesome song played live), Better than Ezra’s ‘Good’ and some ZZ Top got them off to a lively start.

On their next set they chased down Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ in hybrid form of Part 1 and Part 2. This was followed by the likes of Smash Mouth’s ‘I’m a believer’, the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ and a phenomenally powerful and energetic rendition of Metallica’s ‘Until It Sleeps’ – the highlight of their set by far. It became plainly obvious that ‘Burst’ is all about hard rock music.

More followed with Live’s ‘Lightning Crashes’ (the lyrics were way off base but it still sounded good, and hey, the song was in fact played specifically for Brad and myself) – cheers to Burst for their audience involvement, despite a dismal performance by that very audience who looked like a bunch of clones watching TV or something. They then wrapped things up very neatly with more including James’ ‘Sit Down’, U2’s ‘With or without you’ (the lead singer was professing some Irish blood) and a good, heavy cover of Creed’s ‘My Sacrifice’.

The lead vocalists’s voice was far more powerful and rich than that of the lead guitarist. Although there were some songs only the lead guitarist would have been able to sing, the lead guitar should probably concentrate on his sometimes sketchy guitar work a little more (he was awesome at solos though).

Ultimately it was a good performance – they did what they were expected to do and they did it well. Hopefully they’ll be playing again soon. Thanks to ‘Burst’ for a great evening’s entertainment.

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Entertainment Music

Saving Silence at Charelli’s

Last night’s adventures turned into an unexpected treat – Brad and I went out for what was supposed to be a quick drink at Charelli’s – and discovered a great rock band playing there. Saving Silence is a 5 piece outfit boasting powerful melodic rock, solid acoustic guitarwork and a few edgy twists in their set too.

Highlights of the performance were the ballad written for a cousin’s wedding (unfortunately the lead singer tended to mumble the song names), the funky reggae tune where they bring on the rapper, and a cover of ACDC’s Thunderstruck on acoustic. Very good stuff. Their album is due out around August.

As a side note, I like the idea of a good black rapper heading up a straight-laced rock band. Serious rock with just a hint of funkiness through rap, kwaito, R&B and soul could do very well in South Africa, targeting the right combination of audiences. This sort of collaboration has to be done right, in the same way it was with “Can you feel it building?” by Tweak, Pro-Verb and Josie. Artists, are you listening?

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Entertainment Music

Barney Simon to Podcast

Very, very interesting news – keep an eye on this site for news about Barney Simon’s radio future. I spoke to him on Saturday at The Rock Concert 6 at Carnival City, and he indicated his interest in releasing his show as a podcast while he works on bringing his choice of rock music back into mainstream radio.

I definitely underestimated Barney’s tech-savvy on this one – podcasting is the perfect medium for rock (and any other style of alternative) radio in South Africa’s licensing-choked broadcast industry. Hopefully the podcast will stay online even once he goes over the air again.

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Entertainment Music

Predictable Vanishing Act

Suddenly, after being solicited to us for weeks, within days of R.E.M. leaving the country, no more of their music is being played by mainstream radio. How sad. I hope the DJs and their producers, as well as the concert promoters feel very shameful at their blatant attempts to exploit the public.

Does the SABC really think we’re that stupid?

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Entertainment Music

R.E.M live in Johannesburg, 10 March 2005

Brilliant. Yep. That is the word that best describes the entire R.E.M. experience. Sure there were downsides and upsides, but it averages out to brilliant.

My first coup of the evening was getting my camera in. If I pay R370 for a ticket I’d like to be able to take a couple of snaps. So I smuggled it in. The photos will be up here soon. Brad almost outclassed me by nearly getting a six pack of beers into the dome, but was caught out at the last minute.

The act opened with Michael Stipe introducing Arno Carstens & New Porn to much applause. Thinking back to Arno’s performance, it can said that it was solid, and there is no doubt that he and the new band are very talented. However I did feel that Arno managed to alienate most of the audience, partly through the choice of music, but more so because his stage presence was missing. Thinking back to the few times I saw Arno with Springbok Nude Girls, perhaps there is a pattern showing itself here. So my advice to Arno – keep playing and writing, but talk to the audience, let them feel more involved, don’t just stand up and perform in front of everyone as if you were a music video. To quote something I heard “Concentrate a bit less on the hair and a bit more on the performance”.

Once I had finished dashing to the bathrooms and queueing at the beer counter I dashed back through the crowd in the golden circle, balancing four beers and spilling very little, to where Brad and Nadia and Co. were standing, arriving just in time to jam to “Bad Day”, the second song of the set.

From here R.E.M. took us on a musical journey with stunning visual effects, candy for our eyes. The whole repertoire was in there, from new to old. Each and every song prompting the crowd to sing along where they knew the lyrics or cheer at the end when they didn’t.

I was disappointed in the audience. I don’t believe they gave it their all and were as enthusiastic as they could have been. By and large this statement excludes the patrons of the Golden Circle who were vocal and trying to work the crowd from within. Although there was a large amount of singing along to songs people knew, there was no enthusiasm for clapping along to beats and there was little dancing or jumping around. Ok, except for us few crazies.

Michael Stipe was subtle yet brilliant, from singing through a megaphone to simply standing and nodding or crouching on stage. He can still perform equally alongside all the twenty year olds learning about rock nowadays. He was wearing his trademark Mask of Zorro – in blue this time, and I was surprised that nobody else had cottoned on to his masked performance thing, and strangely I was the only one that I saw who mimiced this with a mask of my own. Thank goodness it was in blue too – I think a lot of people must have seen me and wondered, only to be pleasantly surprised when Michael walked on stage.

In the end, after two hours of great music, the trademark closing “Man on the Moon” was spectacularly performed, with everyone making the most of the final minutes of a real treat of a show.