what are you doing this weekend?

there is only one word to that question: SYNERGY!!! and if you are not there, then you clearly do not have your finger anywhere near the pulse of whats happening.

this is just a quick one. if im not chilling in the river, arbing around or drinking with all of you fine cats, this is where i will be (and where you should be too). some bands i do know, some bands i dont, but im not going to pull daisies stunts, im actually going to watch these bands because either they are brilliant, take me to a happy place, or have a hot lead singer/drummer/trumpet player ;)

FRIDAY

i have an all day workshop on friday so going to get to synergy late and miss a few peeps i wanted to jam with e.g. tommy gun at 6 in the electro tent. good luck, young cat! but after i arrive all flustered from sitting in afternoon traffic and watching the minutes where i am not sipping on a mojito go by, im going to get my shit together, crack open a black label and check these peeps out:

foto na dans at 9pm at the main stage. they should make for a spectacular performance, and i have yet to be disappointed by them. have heard good things about their new album, so keen to check it out. plus, we all know im a sucker for a brass instrument in a band!

thereafter its taxi violence, van coke and jax panik. im pretty indifferent as to whether or not i see these bands. i would really like to see jax though cos have never seen a performance. lets hope that i make it. yikes. someone told me that he hasnt done a live performance before/in a while, i dont know, so i guess it should all make for an interesting experience.

SATURDAY

today is the day where you will more than likely find me at the LMG stage. what they are offering is pure brilliance and good times. bone collectors, natasha meister, and we set sail are my must see bands, and should be yours too!!! i have a music crush on natasha meister and will be front and centre drooling and the musical brilliance. LMG are totally bringing it, and you will be a fool to not be at this stage with good people, good vibes and fucking fantastic music.

the only muso i will be jamming to at the main stage is napalma. saw them last year at daisies and at synergy, and i love them. always a treat. if you like 340ml, then this shit will blow you out of the water. was considering catching aking as loyalty memoribilia, but saw that mix n blend are playing at the same time in the electro tent, so that wasnt a hard choice.

i still have no idea who feeder are. and i dont really care.

gotta bounce early on sunday morning, but if for some reason im still kicking it around lunch time, then i will be checking out jack mantis band.

cool beans.

see all you fine individuals this weekend for some irie good vibes.

back to the time when music was alive

the blog is still under construction, but this just needs to be said.

spent a FABULOUS evening at studio 7 last night. honestly the best time i have ever had there. it may have been due to a combination of factors- no school to think about, not tired from a long day on campus, good people..um, ja, thats about it. or it also could have been about the music? i dont know. maybe al four? but was one of the most spectacular gig events i have been to in an age. perhaps ever. and i know i say this after every studio 7 gig, but i think this time its for real.

so, whiskey, a comfy couch, some good people and the blues. the musical era of all musical era. the grooves and lyrics that have catapulted and influenced every musical genre thereafter (and if you dont agree, then get off my blog site). a man by the name of Gerald James Clark was jamming some original tunes from various genres, but with that same underlying blues feel. he came with a sweet, smooth raspy voice that completed the set and the mood, and transported you to a different time and place. i wasnt in a living room. i wasnt here. i wasnt even me. i was a part of the music.

thereafter a incredible young lady by the name of natasha meister rocked out on the electric guitar. wow wow wee wah! i fell in love. i literally could not take my eyes off this chic. such amazing talent, and a beautiful voice. every lyric and note wasnt played in vain, and you could feel and hear the emotion behind everything she said. this was music in its original form. the kind that cant be tainted, and that we so rarely get the opportunity to experience.

they then joined forces and played some classics for us. never having jammed together, you would have thought otherwise. in fact, you would have believed that they came out of the same womb rocking it out on their guitars in perfect unison and harmony. these two worlds and vibes colliding to give us something new, fresh and just a little bit incredible.

has an accordian ever been cool? no, right? i mean, what do you think of when you think of an accordian? not every accordian will have a bottle of richelieu inside. but some contain a little bit of magic. yes. i promise you, thats what i saw yesterday.magic. and not that harry potter kind of bullshit. the real kind. the kind that moves you, and makes you question your belief in reality and the accordian. a gentleman by the name of domenico giuliano benigno made this happen (i think he is also in jack mantis band cos he looked eerily familiar). i literally found love. no lies.

so we have an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, an accordian and a dream.

ah, im still reeling. studio 7, thank you.

(natasha meister is the only one with a fanpage, thats why i havent done links to the others *sad face* )

under construction

this is just a note to say that this blog will be man down for a while. im currently not too happy with it, as im not sure of the direction i am taking with it, and to be frank, im not stoked with the whole layout and shit. so im shutting this bitch down until i know what to do with her. its not fair to the blog, or to those 11 followers (athankyou!) if im writing absolute crap about nothing in particular in relation to SA music.

so let me take this badboy into the back room, and spend some time with it. perhaps with a whiteboard marker and some cheese, and hopefully inspiration will come in some form or another that will bring you a new and improved tambourine popeye.

but i have recently acquired a camera (not a hipster one with 5million gizmos, gadgets and flashes, just a regular mainstream one that i can actually work), so at least there will be socially revelant pics on board.

but if for some obscure reason you are craving a dosage of the atrocities i comment on in everyday life and within this muddled up brain, then check #imjussayin or find me anywhere they have red wine.

stay tuned for further updates :)

somewhere beyond the sea...

last night assembly brought us the RTD after party. i dont know why they had to hide behind the veil of the daisies, but whatever. the night was still an awesome vibe #goodtimes (i recently received a tutorial on twitter language, and cant get enough of the '#' symbol-even though i use it on the #imjussayin blog. but the love of the # has been reignited. stay tuned for the introduction of @, but i think we are still a while away from that).

i missed jakkals ONCE AGAIN!!! tck, i think you guys need to start later, cos i will never be there on time if you're on at the likes of 9.30. once again, a million apologies for missing it...again. next time i will arrive at sunset and wait with a sign like a crazed fan. that ok?

but the issue that i wanted to address here is that of we set sail. the issue? they are awesome. so awesome in fact, that its an issue. you see what i am saying? the 20-million piece band put on a stellar show, and they are a band that i have been meaning to watch for some time now. last night presented itself with an opportunity.

they are completely instrumental, and it works for them. i have mentioned before my thing with instrumental bands i.e. kidofdoom, and i think they are amazing in that they can still portray a story and emotions without the use of emotive lyrics. its a feat that i think very few bands can achieve. i am one about the music, where some are about the lyrics. i like the way it speaks to me, and the freedom to interpret it in any way that i want. we set sail offered me that freedom last night.

instead of a lead singer, they have a lead trumpet player. and again, we know how i heart brass instruments in bands. and that seems to be the main vessel for communication. i dig it. jazz infused rock. different. interesting. something i can myself growing to love. and they play with such passion, because without the use of words, the passion has to be portrayed in other ways. rock stars to the full.

they dont play music for the sake of it being music. they play it for a purpose. a purpose you yourself can decide.

cant wait to jump aboard again. SYNERGY! do yourselves a favour, and come play.

flowers anyone?

well, rocking the daisies has finally hit our shores. well, not really shores, but the general west coast region. same same, but different. yay! some people wait all year for this particular weekend, others, like myself, decide at the last minute to stop being a punk and just go with it. normally UCT knows all about this, and therefore assigns a crap load of work around this time of year because they are sadistic dictators, but for once, i have managed to work around it (i still have a crap load of work, but its manageable).

still trying to decide whether the line up is average, or slightly below average. im not going to peg it at brilliant, because lets face it, it isnt up there. but you cant buy energy like the energy of RTD, so that in itself is reason enough to go. that, and drinking beer out of a plastic cup with the sun in your face (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!). yes, thats exactly what i am going for. and to find some sexy talent ;) if you are looking for me and im not in the beer tent, you can find me watching the following musos (which you should check out too, cos they are awesome):

city bowl mizers at 1pm on sat
my aim is to be best buds with these guys by the end of this festival, and have shared many a tequila induced tale

new holland at 3pm on sat
i have written enough about them, so one should know my feelings toward them. that, and when i saw them on my birthday at mercury, all i did was check out the bassist and force my friends to tell me who in the band they would close with. i plan to do the same this time.

i shall then be traipsing about, but by 6pm i will be in the red bull studio checking out mix n blend
and niskerone at 8pm.

oh, lets not forget guy buttery who is on at 5.30pm in cuervo nu world beat barn. fuck, i dont know how im going to work this out. hmmm.

wow, i only have 5 must see acts? interesting. oh ja, and taxi violence at 11pm. mustnt forget about them!

then sunday will give me holiday murray at 11am. and i will just generally be arbing around picking up scraps of my dignity perhaps. or that of my friends. who knows?

not going up tomorrow unfortunately. its the idea of not showering for a whole day that irks me out. i mean, how is one meant to close if they smile like a combo of smoke, booze, dirt and perhaps shit and pee? precisely. so i will be gettting there bright and early on saturday morning, smelling like a new lease on life. but if i was there, i would def be checking out she man lion, tidal waves and goodluck. the dirty skirts and zebra and giraffe can kiss my fabulously black ass. athankyou.

but for the full line up, click here (i love that i FINALLY learnt to do that!)

dont forget to bring sunscreen, winter jacket, alcohol, condoms and a generally good vibe!

see you there!!!

feels like a cup of tea

i havent been to a gig in a while, so this is going to be a little different. was just thinking about this band last night, and thought i should pay them some kind of a attribute (as much as it pains me because i am NO ONE's fan!)

last year jamie and i packed a mad picnic, bottle of wine included (naturally!) and went to kirstenbosch to see aking. i had never seen this band before, let alone really heard of them. but when the sun is shining, and life is sweet, why not. this marked the beginning of a new era in our lives. it represented a significant part of the next stage in terms of music and in terms of life.

from that day, jamie and i were all about aking. and we used them to describe things that we were feeling but had no idea how to articulate. thank you hunter kennedy for your inspirational lyrics. i have no idea what the band will do without you now. but yes, the lyrics moved us, and motivated us. and with that, we found a connection with the band (sorry james, i am just including you in this. but i know your sentiments are the same. feel free to comment if im incorrect at any which point). i liked the beat, james was about the words, and together we were about that thing we called music. we learnt about visceral heights and malignant regret. we learnt to be scared of wolves, and to undress people with our eyes. and most importantly, we learnt not to lose speed, baby. in short, we became fans. yikes!

we didnt go to all their gigs and become groupies, we just enjoyed the music for what it was. and then we had the crazy oportunity to have them play at a party that was being thrown for us! what?! yes!! i know!!! nothing in the world could have prepared us for this moment, where we would finally meet the faces behind the words, and the hands behind the strum. and they didnt disappoint....really. basically we were treated like fans, and this only ruined the illusion we had created about the band. we renounced our vows to love aking forever, and that was that. never to be seen or heard again.

but as time has gone on, we have gotten over ourselves, and moved on. and there are times when i will hear an aking song and think back to good times and good feelings. at the end of the day, they were an integral part of our lives for those short few months, and personal feelings aside, we do love them. they offer a comfort and show how much we have grown. we got into a chat about this yesterday when i mentioned that i might go see them this week at lentelawaai, and that i was excited. she responded by telling me that she does miss them, and that they are like cup of tea. which i was in total agreement about. we laughed about the gigs we went to, and laughed about the words we took to heart. and appreciated all those moments, and more.

so now, i have decided that aking are still in fact one of my favourite SA bands. as full of shit as i am most of the time, i cant hate them. their music moved me at a particular point, and when i hear a song of theirs, i smile, and remember happy and interesting days. i am not a fan, but i do appreciate. hopefully i will see you all on wednesday to appreciate together!!

so, lets step into the night, and bring into it life

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!