another man with a guitar

so tuesday night saw me heading back to studio 54 for some more good music, good people and most importantly, good wine. oh, this was where i had seen the marvellous muso, guy buttery.

this time it was to check out a man by the name of gary thomas. a name that sounded familiar to me, but as i said to the old chic sitting next to me, 'gary' and 'thomas' are both quite common names, so i probably just made something up in my head.

another incredible evening. once again, it was a man and his guitar, but this time with a different take on things. this was music that i had never heard before, and got very involved in. quite heavy at times with the intense chords,he put but very rich, like charly's brownies or a steak with blue cheese sauce. you love it, but cant have it all the time otherwise you will throw up (k, if i had thrown up, it would have been due to the wine cos my body and alcohol are currently at war).

he put an interesting groovy funk into his songs that i didnt expect, and consequently loved. i would say it was funky folk, with a irish twist (yes, i sit there and think of adjectives to describe what i am feeling and hearing). and the irish groove came through towards the end. i thought i was at a river dance party, but one that i could properly groove to. i found myself bopping my head to the beats he was creating on his stomper, and nothing makes me happier than an unexpected head bop.

and a great performer he was, constantly looking up to the heavens. i dont know if he was praying to the gods, adorning them with him melodic gifts, or praying to the music gods that his guitar string didnt finally give in. either way, it worked. he was at one with the music, and the music was at one with hi. brava! i rate if you get the chance, and enjoy some good, real music, check his album launch on 12 August at alliance francaise. i might do that myself (http://www.facebook.com/garythomassa?ref=search&v=wall)

and apparently he and guy buttery used to live together in a hippy home in kalk bay. i can totally imagine the musical competitiveness and genius that reverberated on the walls, and for that experience, i would have been very happy being a total groupie (this is the one and only time..until the next studio 54 perhaps).

brava!

a shark out of water

so this past weekend gave us the launch of the hardly anticipated debut album from The Plastics, 'SHARK'. i am sure everyone heard about this, there were posters everywhere, and if you were fortunate like me, you had a flyer stuck to your window after a rainy evening, leaving the damn print as a reminder.

as usual, i enjoyed holiday murray and captain stu. i always do. they feel like a cup of tea to me :) and then it was time for The Plastics. now, i have defended them in the past (there is a blog post somewhere), but this time, i dont think i have the energy, stamina or even the desire to defend them. and this isnt because they are a carbon copy of the arctic monkeys, which seems to be everyone's issue. its because i just found them....for lack of a better phrase...painfully boring.

granted every song did sound like an arctic monkeys cover, which is fine, but with that, every song sounded like the same arctic monkeys cover. i can listen to 'i bet you look good on the dancefloor' only so many times. and thats what really annoyed me. little variation or creativity was involved. i felt like i could have gone to the bathroom, come back, and nothing will have changed. in fact, that is exactly what one of my mates did and said. and he was right.

i just ended up leaving thoroughly annoyed that i didnt get a full musical experience. screw having gordon raphaely (of strokes fame) producing you. it really means nothing in the long run. i think these guys could have done better, but what do i know? but if you really do heart, 'i bet you look good on the dancefloor', then totally go get yourself the new album. if like me, you like a bit of creativy and exploration, save yourself the R100.