Tag: south african rock music

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Entertainment Music

Metallica – The Band That Would Not Leave

Metallica - James Hetfield
Saturday’s concert was awesome, despite the problems detailed in my last post. As a matter of fact, I’d have to write an essay just to do each act justice.

All the supporting acts performed really good sets – sticking to the hits and keeping the crowd alive. The only band that seemed to be a bit flat was The Rasmus, but I’ve had plenty of exposure to Finns, and relatively speaking they were positively jovial!!!

Simple Plan were great openers, Seether rocked with all their classics and some new material too, Collective Soul had a great (gremlin-filled) performance and Metallica just blew everyone away, over and over again. James Hetfield has a stage presence second to none. They owned that stadium. By the end of their two hour long performance they looked just as tired as we did (probably far more) and yet they did not want to leave the stage. Our enthusiasm gave big man James gooseflesh! Lars practically died of exhaustion on stage too!

Was it worth the R500? Hell yeah.

After about 15 minutes of us cheering them and them cheering us, eventually they left the stage with a promise to return soon.

Oh, you want photos? Check here…

Tags: band, South Africa, rock, collaboration, SouthAfricanRockMusic, South African Rock, Metallica, Collective Soul, Seether, The Rasmus, Simple Plan, Prime Circle, The Finkelstiens, The Parlotones, Arno Carstens

Categories
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?