Pinhole Perspektiv

This last weekend I had the joy of attending the Rocking the Daisies festival outside Cape Town. With 30 SA bands and 30 DJ’s it promised to be an amazing weekend. And it was. However, to be perfectly honest I came away disappointed with many of the acts. But first I will touch on the highlights of the weekend. On Friday night Goldfish set the stage alight from midnight till 1am. They were truly brilliant. I was exhausted from a full day and little sleep but nonetheless I really enjoyed them. They are extremely talented, blending the quality of classical musical skill (Flute, Sax and Double Bass) with the memorable dance beats they come up with. They are distinctly South African and are something we can be proud of. When they finished off their set with the amazing Soundtracks and Comebacks,the crowd of a few thousand people went mad. We were all caught up in the moment, singing along to one of our nations most memorable tunes - something of a popular National Anthem at the moment, in my opinion. Then on Saturday, I would be blown away beyond my expectations. An uknown surprise for me was the skillful Dan Patlansky. He is our very own Stevie Ray Vaughan, J.J. Cale mix. A 20 something skillful blues guitarist up on stage with a bassist who looked like a 50 year old Harley Davidson biker and a drummer who seemed to have been well matured, Dan ripped up the stage with quality blues. For a blues-lover like myself, he was an awesome find! Then from 7pm the stage was bombarded non-stop with amazing talent. Freshly Ground brought their unique style, skill, attitude and entertaining act to the stage. What an amazing group. No two songs sounded the same, with typical Afro-sounding grooves to a straight 4/4 “I’d Like” that ended with the crowd yelling at the top their lungs, singing in unison and feeling proudly human, proudly South African. After Freshly Ground, the all-time legends of South African Rock music performed a set I will struggle to forget. Just Jinger were simply phenomenal! From the moment Ard Matthews stepped up to the mic, there was an air of maturity, humility and light years of experience. They rocked out all their famous hits that got the crowd, screaming, yelling, singing and crying for more. This band suited the stage perfectly. Big sounds for a big stage. They clearly told the sound man to crank it up loud as they blasted through their set with power and energy. A particular highlight of their set was when they brought out two latin drums (I dont know the official name) and Ard and the drummer took up sticks and walked to the front of the stage and started ripping into the most epic drum solo. To add to this, the bassist climbed onto the drum kit and provided a steady rhythm, interspersed by the most insane drum rolls! These guys are clearly talented, well trained musicians. Not just a bunch of charlies who think they can pump out a few crowd-pleasers. After this most amazing performance, they finished off with “What He means” which was an epic ending to a simply epic set. As people they seemed such legends. Genuine individuals not trying to be bigger than they are, just having a good time and letting the music speak for itself. Amazing. To end off an amazing night, Prime Circle took to the stage. Whilst I was originally sceptical of them they did impress me with a solid performance. At times I thought they tried a bit hard, perhaps rating themselves better than they are, but nonetheless they punished some great songs with enough energy to light up a small town. I really dig the lead singers distinct voice and whilst their music isn’t the most innovative on the block, it certainly was entertaining, and thats what matters. However, despite these great performances, I came away a little disappointed with the rest. From Friday afternoon until Goldfish and pretty much all of saturday except the above mentioned acts, every group left me unimpressed and largely bored. For some reason, South African ‘rock’ music seems to be dominated by bands that are trying far too hard to be the ‘Arctic Monkeys’. If its not ‘indie’, then its ‘ska-reggae’ which, whilst enjoyable for some, just doesn’t do it for me. Desmond and the Tutu’s are one band that comes to mind. Whilst enjoyable in a small club venue with a crowd of a few hundred people dancing their faces off, on a big stage they are simple, boring. Every song has the EXACT SAME drum beat. I know. I stood their for 45 minutes hoping for something different. It didn’t come. If i wasn’t paying attention I would think they were just singing the same song for 40 minutes. It all sounds the same. Unimpressive. Despite this, Des and the Tu’s are a a reasonably good band. There were about 15 bands before them that were just utter rubbish. Boring. Go home. Be innovative. Stop trying to be the Arctic Monkeys. They were good because they were unique. You’re not. Jog on. Freshly Ground and Goldfish are amazing because they are skilled, dynamic, diverse and produce quality music. They are unique and not trying to be an SA version of anyone else. It shows. They put on a quality show whilst the others are simply time wasters. Just Jinger are amazing because they have been playing for as long as I’ve been walking and they know how to write good songs that are not all sounding the same. Even if you aren’t a JJ fan, you will enjoy their show. South African Indie scene - get over yourselves. Be indie, but be original. Come up with your own sound. Desmond and the Tutu’s are probably the best we have in this field, but I struggle to see them on a world stage carrying our flag high. drew