Levi’s Young Guns goes Boxing
When last did you get your musical kicks in a boxing gym??? We’re giving you nearly a month’s notice about the Levi’s Young Guns event in July featuring the awesome Japan and I and The Kicks… Jozi’s getting colder and colder, except for the first floor of a corner in Norwood where, on Thursday the 24th of July, the heat’s going to be turned up until it reaches boiling point. This is not a fire warning, it’s an invitation to check out the next Levi’s® Young Guns show as it blazes into town, complete with two hot young acts that are going to let off some steam by going straight for the jugular. Japan and I are joined by The Kick in a Boxercising Gym for another evening of fierce rock and rolling. It’s another instalment in the infectious wildfire of independent music that’s been engulfing the country since the tour got started in May. Come get burned. In less than three years Japan and I have made an indelible mark on the local scene with an infectiously uncompromising approach to making music. They’ve put the grrr back into grrrl rock and continue to push boundaries with their indescribable, upbeat blend of ska, punk and do-wa-pee-do. Comprising of three high school friends who share a taste for musical deviance, stylish outfits and big performances, they’ve won hearts and blown minds with mesmerising live shows that combine up-tempo antics with exquisite compositions. Inspired by life, Japan and I have already made a global mark, winning an LA Music Award. But they’re most at home, at home. So don’t miss out on this opportunity to dance to a new sensation. The Kick are good. They’re better than television and UFOs, are violence and sex rolled into one and sound like life…and death. This manic foursome are 100 percent Jozi and totally original. Blessed with the rare ability to build crowds up and then tear them down with distorted guitars, screaming feedback and rich, dark writhing rhythms, they leave a trail of exhausted fans and post-party chaos wherever they perform. Theirs is a psychedelic mix of infectious grooves, blues rock fury and experimental jazz, all mashed together, mixed up and thrown back at ya with a fury and venom that will knock the hardest hardballs back. It’s a rough ride rocking with The Kick, but it’s so, so worth it. Date Thursday, 24 July Venue Boxercising Gym Address 1st floor (on top of Spar) Corner Grant and William Streets Norwood Time Doors open round 20:00 Price R20.00 Contact Annelie Hoffman @ 012 327 6601 / 6163 Tickets are available from the Levi’s®...
Sunday Bloody Sunday in Durbs
Nothing like great live music to sweep away the Sunday blues, Durbanite, you’re in luck, get to Harvey Wallbangers on Sunday 15th June 2008 round 5pm for ELIZABETH, GONZO REPUBLIC & THE PRIVATES. It’s FREE too! Check out the bands below: Elizabeth is a combination of three talented artists from Durban with a style that is different and harmonies that are creatively crafted and delivered in an original sound. Elizabeth was born out of pure love. Love for music, love for lovers, love for family, love for friends, love for hurting and love for life. Check out Elizabeth on www.reverbnation.com/elizabethdurban Gonzo Republic teams up again with The Privates International band after doing an amazing show in Johannesburg earlier this month. Gonzo Republic is made up of 4 talented musicians and they are currently busy with their debut album and have already got an EP out. You can listen to Gonzo Republic on www.myspace.com/gonzorepublicband The Privates International band have released their self titled album and have been performing and wowing crowds all over South Africa with their sound that has been described as Hectic-Eclectic. The band has also just completed a music video for the song ‘Magical Day’ yes the show promises to be one of those unforgettable nights. Check out The Privates International band on www.myspace.com/theprivatesinternationalband The event starts at 5pm at Harvery Wallbangerz and it is free entry. Harveys is on corner of Broadway and Kensington Drive in Durban North. Tel: (031) 563...
kidofdoom @ Fuel this Saturday
If you haven’t caught kidofdoom‘s entrancing light sabre musical treat, make sure you get to Fuel this Saturday night 31 May 2008 for a sublime twist in the Unsound system line up – 9pm, R50 gets you in. No lyrics from kidofdoom – just some of the most hauntingly addictive, unclassifiable non-vocal music around. They come to UNSOUND SYSTEM with an open-minded approach to songwriting that transcends the obvious whilst rocking dancefloors. It’s epic, hypnotic, groove-soaked, driving, dark and uplifting – all at once. And it’s a sound that has turned South Africa’s indie scene on. Big time. We’re so super excited that this truly innovative band is playing, and welcome a shared attitude towards musicality – one that disbands convention in the quest for something truly original. Keeping your dancing shoes busy either side of kidofdoom are resident groove-riders Offbeat and Dexterity, armed with loads of wonky, wistful, weird and wonderful delights, and the klassikist who debuts here with an illuminating mix of 80s-retro-alt-pop-counter-culture-unclassics. Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: dance time! And to top it off Sassquatch is on visual duty, bringing his sharp eye and impeccable taste to the VJ booth. Home = boredom. Fuel Café = untold...
Show your love @ AFROTONIC
There are many ways you can show your love of all people African, shaking your touche to Afro beats is a cheerful option – try it out at AFROTONIC that takes place this Friday at Carfax featuring two of our favourite bands, 340ml and Max Normal as well as the eclectic Zong, all the way from Reunion. Organised by the French Institute as part of their promotion of cultural diversity, urban culture, nd artistic exchanges between South Africa, France and Francophone Africa, you know it’s going to rock… ALLEZ-Y!!! AFROTRONIC #1 Friday 30.05.08 @ CARFAX Featuring Zong – a Réunion (France) Max Normal TV – Cape Town (RSA) 340ml – Maputo (Mozambique) Cooked in the great African Pot with three spoons of hi-voltage electricity, a dozen of the hottest chilies, the juiciest melodic passion fruits and liters of pure sweat: AFROTRONIC is the new vibrating musical feast proposed by the French Institute of South Africa, and for its premiere, we picked up nothing but the freshest ingredients: Hailing from La Réunion, Zong is not just another electro band “with spice”. Indeed, even without electricity, Drean, Costa and Fever remain three accomplished musicians whose “savoir-faire” cannot only be reduced to “Machine-Made Music” and whose three strong personalities locate them far from the anonymous and sometimes dehumanized electro producer profile. If Jane Fonda had had a punk daughter, she would have been something like Drean: sculptural, enigmatically magnetic, dangerously charming, as smooth and burning as a shot of Reunionese Rhum. Playing the Kayamb (a traditional reunionese percussion instrument) with rock’n’roll attitude, Drean is Zong’s singer and muse, and her unique voice can awaken all the senses as well as kick bottom. By her side: Costa, the melody maker, and Fever, the drum machine. From his classical piano background, Costa quickly went into the electronic music. From dub to drum’n’bass (his influences go from Lee Scratch Perry to Roni Size), with ecstatic virtuosity, he pushes the limits of his keyboards and machines to a level only his “comrade” Fever can follow. As soon as he sits behind his drum kit Fever’s cool and almost shy temper turns into a fury. Fascinated by the Punk energy, the unbeatable Drum’n’Bass skips and the accuracy of Jazz drummers, Fever delivers rhythms that make Zong’s sound unique on the global music map: a combo of Dub, Maloya (reunionese traditional sound) Techno and Drum’n’Bass, bridging the gap between “electronic” and “acoustic”, “roots” and “post-modernity”, as on their latest album “Fractures” (to be issued in SA). Max Normal TV is back!!! And he is also about to release a new album entitled “Good Morning South Africa”: What could...
Africa Day is for you
Africa Day – Giving a Voice to African Unity As a country, South Africa is probably best known for overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, and forging reconciliatory links where conflict and strife seemed the only outlet for expression. The events of the past few weeks have reinforced the need for bridge-building initiatives such as the Africa Day celebrations, and organisers have resolved that this year’s events will take place as planned. The weekend of 23, 24 & 25 May, is devoted to Africa Day celebrations, culminating in two free concerts held in Newtown’s Mary Fitzgerald Square (24 May) and Soweto’s Mofolo Park (25 May). The concerts have always attracted a widely diverse audience. One the key reasons for its success is that the shows enjoyed the support of nationals from all parts of the African continent. The Concert Goes On “The easy thing would be to cancel or postpone the shows, but we believe that now, more than ever, it is critical that South Africans and our brothers and sisters from the rest of the continent gather together on this auspicious anniversary to celebrate and honour the ties that bind us, the commonalities that make us one people.” explains Steven Sack director for Arts Culture and Heritage within the Department of Community Development, City of Joburg “It’s important to remember that Africa Day was founded to connect us to one another as a people. We want the concerts to be an exemplar of this principle – let it be a place and time where we can be part of turning the tide against the xenophobia, and remind ourselves that fundamentally, we’re all in this together. ” Safety and Security The unrest has also prompted the organisers of the Africa Day celebrations to bolster the safety and security set up of the event to allay any potential worries around security at the shows. Comments Graeme Dickson, Arts Alive Disaster Management Consultant “We are confident about our security plan, and working in close conjunction with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department and the South African Police , have escalated the security and police presence to an appropriate level. “ As the preparations for the events continue, there is no doubt that, in keeping with our tradition of overcoming strife and challenges, the City of Johannesburg’s Africa Day 2008 celebrations will become part of a new story – one that tells of the triumph of compassion and Ubuntu over fear and...