Festival Review: Coke Zero Fest 09 in Johannesburg 10 April 2009

The Coke Zero Fest '09 has finally come and gone. This time it was a real roller-coaster all along the way for me. It seems that it probably was for the organisers too.

I blogged previously on my battle to actually get tickets, and then still missing out on a belatedly introduced bulk ticket discount. At the time, the international bands announced had not really convinced me that I was doing the right thing, but I was hoping for some exciting last minute additions - little did I know.

Closer to the time the venue changed: this worried me a lot (I was at the Metallica Coke Fest where it all went horribly wrong with the Venue and related logistics). Regardless I remained committed to go. Then the big news - two of the international bands had cancelled: Bullet for my Valentine and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I suppose most ticket-holders were pretty panicked after this, and this with only two days to go!

What kept me committed to going was Oasis and Foto Na Dans.

The Venue

The day arrived and we hit the road. Surprisingly 15 minutes from my house! Parking was laid out in amongst a bunch of non-indigenous Seringa trees, not a good sign in my view, but I resolutely put my plant snobbery aside and headed for the entrance.

The next surprise came in the form of the size of the 'Golden Circle'. It was huge. This meant that someone without a Golden Circle ticket was not going to get anywhere near the stage - like me.

The rest of the layout looked pretty good. Food stalls, beer and drink tents and various other places were pretty well laid out and there were strategically placed boards giving directions too. There were plenty of mobile vendors wandering around with various offerings too. There were even some attractively dressed 'cancer girls' strolling around enticing people to try starting a new habit - smoking.

I found a spot to set up, and just then the first band started up. This was it, great weather the whole day and night ahead of me and nine bands to go.

The Performances

Up first were One Day Remains.

These guys had it all when it came to doling out some ripping and shredding hard rock. The sound was great, and the songs were good. They put on a good show with the lead singer every now and then letting rip with some vocal effects sounding like a distraught Uru'khai who had just discovered that the rest of his horde had abandoned him in the mountains. I liked it.

Next came Foto Na Dans.

The first song did not sound too good, I think due to maybe the sound mix. But from the second song in these young Afrikaners with big hair rocked out fantastically. This really is a band to get to know if you haven't bothered yet. Their songs are carefully crafted and brilliant. At times they came close to sounding like Muse, with a trumpet. The trumpet playing was excellent and at this stage the sound mix was spot on. The lead singer - Le-Roi Nel also came close to matching Jared Leto from last year's Fest with his swearing, and this mostly in Afrikaans! A brilliant stunning performance!

A surprise to me was the next band: Evolver.

I was not aware that they were going to be playing. Thank goodness that they did, they put on a great show. Every song was well executed and most of them a lot of fun. There was one really bad song right in the middle there somewhere, but when they got around to punching a hole in Saturday night they could do no wrong.

Dirty Skirts followed Evolver and were probably, on the day, the weakest of the local bands. They are probably not the best suited band for big venues. I am not sure what exactly was wrong, but to me they did not come across very well. However, I did notice a lot of people in the distant outside zone from the Golden Circle really enjoying their show - especially when it came to their more well known songs.

While roadies prepared the stage for the next band I took a stroll around. The venue had really filled up. One of the good things about the venue was the previously maligned Seringa trees. These were not only in the parking area, but also inside the venue. People were showing great appreciation for the shade that they offered. It looked like a great crowd, with not as much black being worn as in previous years.

I headed back in time to take in Cassette.

These guys, and a girl, were definitely the most engaging with the audience, even stopping their show to record a video of the audience voicing their disapproval of the last minute cancellations. Apparently you can find a link to it on their web-site. Their entire show was terrific. They have the songs, a lead singer who knows how to work the crowd and the musicianship to bring it all together. I looked around during some of the songs and the audience were jumping up and down and singing along with abandon - just what you expect at a rock festival!

Next up were the local head-liners Zebra and Giraffe.

After the performances from Foto Na Dans, Evolver and Cassette these guys had a tough job. They definitely had the best sound thus far. Louder and cleaner, the music came across very well. Like a well-oiled machine the band hit the audience with one perfectly executed song after another. Their music was really good. The only problem was the lack of a 'performance'. To me at least, it seemed that they were just standing there playing song after song as well as they could. They could have been doing it in their bedrooms. A great band with great songs, but not much of a stage show unfortunately.

As I reflected after Zebra and Giraffe, I felt really excited by the standard of the local bands. If the festival had ended here, I would have felt like this had been close to value for money already. That's how strong our local bands are these days. You have got to go and check them out!

Next came the International Acts, with Panic at the Disco kicking things off.

I was probably the least excited about hearing this band of all the acts, local and international, on the line-up. This opinion was based on what I had heard of their music over the years on the radio. However, this is definitely a band that comes across really well Live. They are all very proficient musicians, and also have the looks to get the younger girls going completely crazy. Much has been said about the recent change of direction, but as a live set-list their songs formed a cohesive high impact set of fun songs. They really got the party going as the first group to play after the sun had set finishing of with a cover of the classic 'Shout' also covered by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on one of my favourite Live albums 'Pack up the Plantations'.

Now the time had come for the biggest bands and first up was Snow Patrol.

I have always considered them as a little boring, although I never denied the power of 'Chasing Cars'. They kicked off with sheer power. They were definitely the loudest band of the night, and the sound was incredible. Unassuming and direct, the band gave us hit after hit. Songs that had struck me as boring before came to life in the live show context. Again I looked around, the entire audience were grooving along to their show with absolute joy. They brought a mellowish but still joyous groove to the day that was thoroughly enjoyable. Gary Lightbody has a very cool way with the crowd and the sea of people jumping up and down to their songs were in the palm of his hand. At the end of their show, I for one, was elated.

Finally the waiting was over, it was time for Oasis.

They were exactly what they are - a world famous rock band with  a solid set of  songs and a surly reputation to go with it. Their stage show was similar to that of Zebra and Giraffe, but somehow in their case it worked. As we all know, Liam hardly ever talks, and Noel sings better than him. Every now and then Noel would say something that is probably humorous in Manchester and then gaze at the crowd as if scientifically measuring the comment's impact.

A lot of their set was made up of songs from their new album. My guess is that its not been a best-seller in South Africa, but the songs were in fact really good - I may go out and buy it now. Plenty of the older songs were also played and it was at this staged when I secretly thanked Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Bullet for my Valentine for not turning up. Oasis played a really long set, and it was great.

I think that they had some concerns about how well they were coming across since when the first chords of 'Wonderwall' came out and the crowd exploded with joy Liam commented 'Oh there you are'. Nothing like a bit of the Gallagher sarcasm coming through. They also took stabs at Bafana Bafana and our accents, but who's keeping track.

'Don't look back in Anger', and their traditional sign off of 'I am the Walrus' came too quickly.

Going home

Tired but happy I wandered though the parking field searching for my car. Each clump of Seringa's looked very much like every other clump. Eventually I found it, and then had flashbacks to the Metallica Coke Fest where the traffic organisation was so bad it took and hour and a half just to get out of the venue. This was the same - shocking.

I got home only to discover that something in the the field had punctured one of my tyres. A small price to pay I suppose even if it was a side wall puncture that could not be repaired.

Concert Review: Old Mutual Bassline Jazz Club Revisited Emmerentia Dam 01/03/09

Through word of mouth, we had heard that there was going to be some Jazz at Emmerentia on Sunday 01/03/09 starting at noon. So we got all our stuff together and headed out not really knowing what to expect.

 

Upon arrival it started looking a bit worrying. There were no crowds, parking was easy to find and tickets were suspiciously cheap. We found a comfortable spot under some trees and settled down to wait. There was a nice area for the kids to mess around, the sound from the stage (recorded music) sounded good and the weather was looking great (bright sunny skies as only Johannesburg can deliver).

 

Some digging around revealed the setlist (the only copy available taped to an officials desk):

Sam Mtukudzi

Sandile Ziqubu

Paul Hanmer

Oliver Mtukudzi

Vusi Mahlasela.

 

Sam Mtukudzi came on and played a short and enjoyable set as a one man act (voice and guitar). Carrying on the tradition from his dad Oliver, he accompanied himself on guitar singing soulful, beautiful songs. It was apparent at this stage that the sound system made available for this gig was awesome. Lots of people were also starting to arrive.

 

Sandile Ziqubu came on with his tenor saxophone and laid down some great grooves. The mix was, in my opinion, not the greatest, but he got a nice African fusion type of sound going and set the stage for the heavy-weights.

 

Next up was Paul Hanmer the pianist/keyboardist. In his band were the living legends Barry van Zyl, McCoy Mrubata, and Andre Abrahamse. They got straight into two numbers the second of which was ‘Strandloper’, with McCoy stepping in with some of the smoothest and most soulful sax that I have ever heard. For the next few numbers the audience were completely mesmerised by the virtuosity they were experiencing. The band finished off their all too short set with ‘The Life’ which was another revelation. The rhythm section set into a ruthless groove that was taking no prisoners. We saw Mrubata stepping up to the mike to hypnotise the audience and convince them that there was no better place in the world to be at that moment. Paul Hanmer suddenly seemed trapped too, his right hand tapping out what seemed like a frantic morse-code probably begging to be released from the awesome groove being laid down by van Zyl and Abrahamse, while his left hand danced on the keyboard like a dervish. It was over all too soon. By now the venue was pretty full.

 

Following Paul Hanmer was Oliver Mtukudzi, another living legend. He came on with a full band and his usual, strong repertoire. They delivered another fantastic set- what an incredible band! The music was bright and cheery and had the crowd dancing at the front of the stage. To close his set, his son Sam (no not son of Sam) took his guitar mid-song releasing the aging Oliver to bust some moves. One moment he writhed like a cobra as it hypnotises its prey, and the next made  some of the most agile limbed moves that I have seen from a man that age, in celebration of the music they could share across the generation.

 

Last up was Vusi Mahlasela. Mahlasela’s songs are the most recognisable due to generous radio play. This set had the crowd singing along all the way. Some issues came up in terms of the sound in this session, including a complete cut in sound mid-song in the beginning and some mixing problems later on, but it was still an enjoyable set.

 

So, not a bad day out for a sunny Sunday afternoon. The crowd was great. Strictly speaking only Sandile Ziqubu and Paul Hanmer are what I would call jazz, but the rest of the performers were still extremely enjoyable.

It was a true ‘rainbow-nation’ type of audience, and a line-up of musicians that should have every South African and Zimbabwean (for the Mtukudzis) proud of the musical talents that exist in their countries.

 

Great Venue, great organisation, great PA, great weather, great musicians and great performances, what more could one ask for?

February update

Well February has come and gone. It was a busy month for me, and in fact an inordinate amount of time was spent trying to buy tickets for the CokeZero Festival scheduled in Johannesburg for the 10^th of April.

 

In all honesty, I am not that enthused by the line-up, but generally this is the only chance that I get to see some international acts, so what can I do but go?

 

This time the international acts are Bullet for my Valentine, Panic at the Disco, Snow Patrol and, as head-liners, Oasis. Pretty slim pickings in my view, with only Oasis being of any real interest to me. Even then, I must admit that I have never really ‘got’ the hype around Oasis. I don’t own a single CD of theirs, and have listened to their singles on the radio with only a passing interest. My hope is that you have to see them ‘Live’ to really get them, therefore I am going along to the concert with an open mind.

 

As for the other international bands? Let’s wait and see on the day.

 

Why, though, did I spend an inordinately long time in buying tickets? Firstly, the ticket vendor’s (computicket) web-site refused to accept my credit card (I don’t have a problem like this on most other web-sites). That meant that I had to go to a Computicket to buy a ticket. Finding one proved difficult, apparently they are all hosted inside Checkers super-markets now. Therefore I had to find a Checkers that I felt safe going to. This was easier said than done. Eventually I found one less sleazy than all the rest and went inside. The ticket vending part triples up as the cigarette booth and also something to do with paying utility bills as well as something about Telkom. The one I went to had three unmarked queues and of course I stood in the wrong two first. But now I have the tickets and I am ready for the festival. To add insult to injury, I found out this week that they are now offering discounts on tickets based on volume. I bought three at the time and paid the full price…..

 

What seem most attractive to me are the local acts. There the line-up is looking strong. We will be treated to Dirty Skirts, Foto na Dans and Zebra & Giraffe among others. These are bands that I truly want to see. I can’t wait.

Classic Albums Revisited 4: Talking Heads - Remain in Light

I am not the world’s biggest Talking Heads fan, although listening to this album recently has made me question why not.

 

I have owned and listened to ‘Fear Of Music’, ‘Remain in Light’, ‘Speaking in Tongues’, ‘Stop Making Sense’ and ‘Naked’ for decades, and anyone who knows me will know that I cite ‘Naked’ as one of my favourite albums ever. Before getting into this review, I can strongly recommend ‘Naked’ as an album that always cheers me up and gets the legs jiggling due to the infectious vibe. The guitar on ‘Naked’ is nothing short of awesome, and part of this is due to contributions from Johnny Marr on a lot of the songs – sublime.

 

But not to get side-tracked too much let’s get back to ‘Remain in Light’. This album came out in 1980 and I first heard it in 1986. I was actually exposed to both ‘Remain in Light’ and ‘Fear of Music’ at the same time, and my preference in those days was for ‘Fear of Music’ due the really funny lyrics (in a dark and paranoid kind of way). Now in the 2000’s, my preference has moved to ‘Remain in Light’. As we go through it song-by-song I hope to clarify why.

 

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)

This song launches the album like a statement of intent. It explodes out of your loudspeakers, immediately demanding attention and then settles into the polyrythmic groove that pervades throughout this album. Driving and intense, it seems to say – ‘You will party hard here’. A strong hint of the truly demented guitar theme that carries through most of this album is given here.

Crosseyed and Painless

This is another epic groove that won’t let go. Both this and the first song are intense deliveries from Talking Heads and Eno high-tech (in those days) groove machine. West meets Africa, with a bit of the East thrown in too and it just sounds so great.

The Great Curve

To me this is the very best song on this album. If I had to pick a song that should be included in the space capsule that is sent off into space with the hope that some alien race would find it and listen to it, I think that this is as good a representation of the human race as you are going to get. Again West meets Africa meets East, and thrown in for good measure is the best example of demented electric guitar that you are ever going to get (stating to the aliens that we are cool and funky, but don’t think that you can mess with us). Byrne explains what the world is about in the lyrics- ‘the world moves on a woman’s hips’ providing the aliens with some clues to understanding human procreation. There are two guitar solos that really rock out in this song (the song clocks in at six minutes and twenty six seconds – the longest on this album).

 When I get around to completing my application to join the Sith (as Darth Kraken of course), my Light Sabre will sound like this electric guitar. The guest guitarist on this album is the famous Adrian Belew.

Influences from all over the world are encapsulated in this songs except for maybe those nasal resonators from the Mongolian Steppes.

Once in a Lifetime

Most people should recognise this one. This was the single I think, and also appears on ‘Stop Making Sense’ the live album that most people with a vague interest in Talking Heads seem to have. Great lyrics – ‘Well, how did I get here?’.

Houses in Motion

Aha – this is where the Mongolian Nasal Resonators kick in (more than likely actually Belew in another manifestation of demented guitar). Byrne (or his protagonist), I think is looking for a new place to stay, while the musical accompaniment suggests a swamp somewhere in a hot sweaty equatorial region. Great call and response from Byrne too.

Seen and Not Seen

There is some weird stuff going on here. Mainly to do with the lyrics, I still don’t get them but apparently you can change your face if you try hard enough. In the days of vinyl, the second side of this album contrasted a lot with the first side in terms of pace. The first side is fast, funky and somewhat frenetic. The second side slowing down a lot. This makes way for time to reflect on the lyrics and wander at all the wrongs in this world.

Listening Wind

A sinister offering with a slowed down pace, but actually welcome at this stage due to the intensity of the previous songs on this album. This is a beautiful song with a threatening undercurrent via the lyrics.

The Overload

At six minutes The Overload can seem to go on for too long. That was always my impression in my youth. Now, however, I marvel at it’s mind-altering capabilities. This is a song capable of picking up your thoughts and carrying them all over the place, usually leaving me in reverie so deep I often fail to notice that the album has ended.

In conclusion, to me, the relevance of this album has grown phenomenally over time. The soundscape is fantastic and it could only sound better if someone picked up the masters and brought out a re-mastered CD version (I have that for ‘Naked’ and it sounds brilliant). The band with Brian Eno were onto some cutting edge stuff in the studio that probably needed 2000’s type technology to be fully realised. It’s not Rock in the face of distinct categorisation, but listen to ’The Great Curve’ and you will realise that there are legions of so-called rock guitarists who will never be able to solo like that! I love this album!

 

December 2008 update

In South Africa, quality radio programming is a problem. Maybe it’s because we live in such a culturally diverse country, but radio station wise, it is very difficult to tune into some good quality rock.

 

This does not always have to be a huge issue since I now have my Squeezebox ( see www.slimdevices.com) and can therefore tune into radio stations around the world via the internet at home. The huge issue relates to what to listen to when I am driving.

 

I have blogged before on the college radio station UJFM that can be picked up in the Johannesburg area, and they have been a bit of a life-saver in this regard. You cannot begin to describe my joy in turning on the radio at 6:45 a.m. on my way to work and hearing the new AC/DC, Kings of Leon, Killers or Metallica song. Sometimes even an old classic comes on that leaves me overjoyed. This radio station can really be a life-saver sometimes.

 

There are slots in their programming where it all goes horribly wrong for me. They do have times that they play more of the commercial type industry bubble-gum. They also have some DJ’s who are abysmal. Some of these guys cannot even pronounce the street names around Johannesburg when providing traffic updates. That kind of makes the whole point of a traffic update redundant.

 

But on the whole, this is still a great station to listen to when looking for some good rock music.

 

A few weeks ago I even entered a competition on a Sunday afternoon whereby I won the new Kings of Leon album – how cool is that? For the record, it is a very good album. I had my reservations about this album and that is why I had not already bought it, but it certainly holds up as a strong offering from a really talented band.

 

Other news for December is that most magazines on the web have got their ‘Best of 2008’ lists out. Have a browse on NME.com (there is even a blog on NME.com that tries to compile results from all over), rollingstone.com and popmatters.com for a view on what people are rating for the year. For a South African flavour check out www.isolation.tv for Lloyd Gedye’s best of 2008 summary. My favourite South African rock offering is the new one (EP only unfortunately) from Foto Na Dans. They are an incredible band doing very fresh stuff. In terms of my favourites for 2008, what is new to me may even actually be a couple of years old.

 

What I can commit to however, is that the greatest musical experience I had this year was seeing Muse live in Johannesburg! Truly truly incredible. I am not sure that I will ever get to see something like this in South Africa again.

 

In terms of albums, Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago is my recommendation for 2008 in terms of what I have heard of all the offerings out there, which probably is not much.

 

The best music related DVD that I bought this year is Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Runnin’ Down a Dream by Peter Bogdanovich.

 

Albums that I listened to a lot this year regardless of when they were released are:

 

Rodriguez – ‘Cold Fact’,

Radiohead – ‘In Rainbows’,

Muse – ‘HAARP’,

AC/DC – ‘Black Ice’.

 

All in all I thought that 2008 has been a great year for music! Let’s see what 2009 has to offer….

CD Review: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

As an avid Led Zeppelin fan, I have tried to follow the careers of it’s members over the years. I have bought albums such as ‘Honeydrippers’, ‘Outrider’, ‘Walking into Clarksdale’ and ‘Manic Nirvana’ amongst others. And I must say that none have ever been as satisfying as the tremendous back-catalogue that Led Zeppelin have.

 

Also, I have a couple of Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS) albums which are enjoyable blue-grass offerings. Therefore this specific musical partnering appealed to me the moment I heard of it. Of course I was a little anxious, as I have felt let down by Robert Plant before, but as the rave reviews came in, I felt more and more confident that this would be a worthwhile purchase. But I was a little concerned that I would be getting a full CD’s worth of ‘Battle of Evermore’ style keening. While a fantastic song in the context of the Led Zeppelin album, I had my doubts about this being bearable for a whole albums worth of songs (I have enough issues with some of the neighbourhood cats on my garden wall).

 

My next problem was finding it at a decent price in South Africa. It seemed to be priced at least 10% higher than any other current/chart CD in the shops that I visited, and that offended my principles of the moment (hee hee). Then I noticed recently that it was going for half-price in on-line retail shops like Amazon, and my mind was made up. That’s the story on why I took so long to buy it!

 

The first good news is that it is not as I imagined – namely not ‘Battle of Evermore’ keening throughout. While Robert and Alison do sing together on a lot of the songs, there are just as many where Robert takes the lead, or Alison takes the lead with the other performing backing only. This means that there is plenty of variety. Another point is that the pace is rather slow. There are one or two up-beat songs, but it is largely a pretty laid-back album.

 

What comes through though is a pair of voices that nearly perfectly compliment each other, a solid bunch of musos backing this all up, and the production standards of T-Bone Burnett. I would say that the music is dreamy, smooth, beautiful, down to earth and warm. Overall, if one wanted to classify it, I suppose that one could say ‘Country’.

 

Making a reappearance from Plant is ‘Please Read The Letter’, that also appeared on ‘Walking into Clarksdale’, and I suppose that people are still not reading his letters. Since you’re asking, I will say that I prefer this version of the song but I really wish someone would read the damn letter now. The overall feeling about this album is that Plant sounds a lot better than he has for a while. Not everything is highly original. Songs are covered, the style is old, but amazingly it is one of the freshest sounding offerings that I have heard this year. I hope that they do another one!

CD Review: The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

Amidst all the genre definitions of music, there is a constant striving in the music industry to pigeon-hole bands and their musical styles. One that I have become increasingly attracted to is that that has been labeled variously alt.country, Americana, or even alternative rock. Maybe I have confused a few of them together where in reality they should be considered more distinctly, but what I am talking about is music by the likes of Wilco, Golden Smog and more recently Okkervil River and The Felice Brothers amongst others. What seems to define this music for me is that real instruments are used, influences can be detected from Bob Dylan and The Band to Tom Petty, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and the blues. The music is earthy, rootsey and heart-felt.

 

The Felice Brothers have two albums out. This one called ‘The Felice Brothers’ and is their second, apart from one song on their first (which I love) I have not heard that one. Based on my enjoyment of their second, I will certainly try to dig out their first. This can be a challenge in South Africa as shops here are pretty dismal, and ordering online has become more and more risky whereby shipments are frequently lost.

 

‘The Felice Brothers’ is in fact a very varied album. This was a refreshing discovery for me as I had the expectation that they would put out an album full of very similar sounding songs. This is not the case. Sure the vocalists have pretty distinctive sounds, and there is a general trend of a basic format carrying each song. But the pace changes a lot from song to song, the vocalists seems to change too (there are no liner notes so I don’t know this for sure, but if it is the same guy singing every song, he sure can change a lot), and they bring in some pretty different instrumentation from song to song too. Again without liner notes I can’t be 100% clear on who is playing what on each specific song, but on some the is the presence of brass, others include the accordion, while others can be pretty stripped down too. But my point here is that The Felice Brothers have managed to keep the entire album refreshingly different.

 

The anecdotal nature of the songs also draw the listener in from song to song. In each, one is also drawn into considering the protagonist. This multi-layered song writing requires a lot of talent and skill, and this band is certainly not short on that. What this results in is that you can listen to this album time after time and it reveals itself to you a little more each time.

 

The band is not afraid to start the album off on a pretty subdued note with the exquisite ‘Little Ann’, subsequently taking the listener on a roller-coaster ride with many changes of pace. One of the main ingredients that I look for in a great album is that of the fun element, and you can hear that this band really enjoys what they do. This is highlighted in some of the more bar-room brawl type songs that they deliver which bring a smile to my face every time. These songs come across as raunchy and rollicking, but such is the nature of this album, that you can expect a complete change of pace at any time.

 

If you’re looking for some real music by a band that loves what they do – I strongly recommend this one.