I’ve mentioned it more than once on these pages that I’m quite fond of Afrikaans music. It’s a delightful medley of over the top silliness all the way through to the real serious stuff. More importantly, it almost always has that ‘local’ feel, which is probably why I secretly enjoy it so much.
Anyway, halfway into October I was lucky enough to be able to catch a live performance of Theuns Jordaan at the Barnyard Theatre here at Willowbridge Mall in Durbanville – and as expected, it was a great evening out!
(If you aren’t familiar with him, essentially he is one of Afrikaan music’s biggest names, however at the same time, he flies so low under the radar that you pretty much almost never hear about him. Characterized by his deeply emotive bass voice, his music is the stuff that works best when sitting reflectively around the fire with a glass of red wine in hand! Also, now that I’ve seen him live, he tends to point his knees at one another when singing the slow stuff – which is kind of comical and can’t be unseen once you spot it.)
As it happened: Jessica and Emily got to spend some time with my folks, while Chantelle and I joined hers for the Thursday evening performance. Drink was obtained from the bar, and pizza ordered from the pizza counter – which was delicious I might add. (Not so much for Monty and Cheryl mind you, as for some or other reason, their order got kind of lost in the system).
We had a great view from the upper tier as Theuns and his super distinctive, deep voice got off to a slow and serious start, but halfway in he started applying the energy, waking the crowd up with a great mix of both his own material as well as classic English (like Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash) covers.
And of course, once his big hits started making their way into the set, well then things really became alive!
For example, “Net Voor Die Storm Kom” (my favourite by the way):
Also, how can you not like “Sal Jy Bly?”:
And of course, he saved the best for absolute last. I suspect though that the crowd may have killed him if he had walked off without performing this legendary track of his – “Soos Bloed”:
As for the venue: The Barnyard Theatre is a privately-owned group of small to medium-sized, intimate theatres and entertainment venue spaces across the whole of South Africa, primarily used to host local music events and stage performances.
Durbanville’s Willowbridge Mall (which long term readers might recall as playing host to the market that Chantelle and I traded at for the longest during her Cupcakery market stall run), is home to the Cape Town edition of the Barnyard Theatre, which is advertised as being able to seat around 500 guests.
The atmosphere is brilliantly informal and always ready for a party, with guests being able to consume both drink and food in the venue. (Drink can be grabbed from the downstairs bar, and as for food, if you don’t want to brink your own, then you can grab a pizza or two from the pizza service next to the bar as well!)
Needless to say, Chantelle and I have been to quite a fewperformances put on at Barnyard over the years! ;)
Always a fun option if you are looking for something to do with your evening in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town.
Of course, just in case you are looking for it on the map, there you go:
Grunge rockers from Cape Town, Woodstock Mafia consists of Joe Theron on vocals, Nick van Rensburg on guitar, Ryan Matthews on bass, and Owen Ingarfield on drums. They formed as a band in 2011 and rocked out Cape Town for four solid years before deciding to call it a day and leave it all behind, playing their last live gig on the 2nd April 2015 at The Manila Bar in Long Street, Cape Town.
If you never encountered them before, then you most certainly missed out, because this was as polished a band as what you could find, the proper complete package in terms of sound and lyrics. Their live shows always got great reviews, noted in particular for their great energy on stage.
They also managed to release a fantastic album entitled Defiance in 2013, definitely worth a listen to on rdio.com if you get a chance.
Anyway, the second of their two full production music videos that they ever released is this one, Trigger and Gun, which sees the boys battle one another on a stage of black and white!
Oh, and as a parting gift, the guys released a special EP entitled 86, free for download and listening to, mixed particularly to try and capture the feel from their live show performances. Enjoy!
If you were a South African rock-leaning teenager growing up in the nineties, then undoubtedly you were madly enthralled with the Springbok Nude Girls – there was literally no way you didn’t lose your shit when the opening cords of Bubblegum On My Boots started playing!
Everything about the band worked, and powered by Arno Carsten’s amazing voice and the clever trumpet from Adriaan Brand, the band was unstoppable, piling on alternative rock hit after hit.
Needless to say, I was a massive fan, and in a way, still am. Saddened by the rock kings from Stellenbosch’s breakup in 2001, their sudden 2006 reunion was a godsend – particularly because the more mature souding 2007 album Peace Breaker was such a refreshing hit!
Illuminate was without a doubt one of the power hits on this particular outing, and so if you haven’t heard it before then you are most certainly in for a treat!
I’ve mentioned the fact that I rather enjoy Papa Roach’s music more than once on this blog, and thus it can come as no big surprise that I’m highlighting the new music video that the band just dropped for a track off this year’s new album release, F.E.A.R.
While 2012’s The Connection album didn’t really come out as a winner for me, this year’s F.E.A.R. effort is definitely a different kettle of fish. Great songwriting and epic riffs means that the boys are definitely back, and this latest single off the album is certainly no exception.
“Gravity” was written by Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix for his wife, and in an interview Shaddix had this to say about the song:
That’s a raw nerve, man. I always want to put myself out there in the music and this song does that just more so than really ever. It doesn’t necessarily paint me in the best picture as far as the cliché rock guy gives himself to the rock and roll excesses story. But we went through that in our relationship. I failed as a husband, as a father, as a lover, as a friend to her and I just wanted to write a song about that brokenness and how somehow she sees something in me that I didn’t see in myself at times.
In other words, pure rock and roll stuff. Enjoy.
(Oh, and in case you were curious, In This Moment’s Maria Brink is playing the role of Shaddix’s wife in the video)
I’m not really familiar with comedian Amy Schumer, nor her seemingly popular Inside Amy Schumer sketch show that runs on Comedy Central, and just in case you aren’t either, here’s the show blurb grabbed straight off of the Comedy Central listing:
“Straight from Amy Schumer’s provocative and hilariously wicked mind, Inside Amy Schumer explores sex, relationships and the general clusterf**k that is life with sketches, stand-up comedy and woman-on-the-street interviews.”
IMDb says a fairly similar thing:
“Assuming the title didn’t give it away, comic Amy Schumer is the creator and star of this series, which features her biting wit delivered in scripted vignettes, stand-up clips, and man-on-the-street interviews. Schumer’s wholesome good looks are in stark contrast with her material — a mix of self-deprecating jabs, uncomfortable sex talk, and charmingly inappropriate insights — which has garnered her acclaim since her attention-grabbing appearance on Comedy Central’s 2011 roast of Charlie Sheen.”
So by now you might have picked up that Amy’s shtick appears to be putting forward her wholesome All-American girl look, and then letting it rip with a lot of uncomfortable potty-mouth sex talk.
Case in point, her rather funny musical response to the way music videos currently glorify women’s bums… when they probably shouldn’t be. (Featuring Method Man, Amber Rose and a couple other special guests for good measure!)
What, another Jack Parow track so soon after the other?!? What can I say, I like this man’s music! No idea why, I just do. (Chantelle gives me funny looks every time she sees me tapping my foot to these ridiculous tunes!)
If you missed the quick biography last time around, here is the quick write-up grabbed off electromode.co.za:
“Thirty three years ago, Zander Tyler was born in Parow, Cape Town. Today he is known as Jack Parow, original donker dodgy afrikaans rapper. Contrary to popular belief, his wild-fire success did not happen overnight. Jack started out rapping with crews from the Cape Flats and has been at it for thirteen years. It’s been almost six years since his breakthrough in 2009 and since Jack Parow has released his first self-titled full length album that struck gold within two weeks of its release and went platinum within a year; headlined at major festivals in South Africa; toured Europe and played before packed out shows there; and then followed it all up with another two seriously popular studio albums! His songs are hits on national radio stations and he has been on prime TV shows and on covers and centerfolds of publications in South Africa and in Europe.
Jack Parow’s self-titled debut album (2010) sold almost 45 000 units which made this sexy romantiese Afrikaans rapper a force to be reckoned with.”
Anyway, from his 2012 album re-release Eksie Ou (Special Edition), here is Jack Parow with the perfect year end holiday song, “P.A.R.T.Y”:
Comedians Nic Smal and Gareth Allison make up the Youtube singing comedy duo of Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues (thank you Carte Blanche for providing the naming ammo), and have been having us South Africans chuckling along for quite a while now with their ridiculously silly songs that pretty much make fun of everything popular right now.
(My favourite without a doubt was Braai Day, released back in 2011 in preparation for South Africa’s National Braai Day (held 24 September every year) parodying the viral sensation that was Rebecca Black’s “Friday”.)
Anyway, quick bio grabbed off the 27dinner.com (who knows why it’s up there) site:
“Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues have made waves both locally and internationally with their unique brand of comedy, using YouTube as their platform of choice. Known for their tongue-in-cheek parody music videos (“Braaiday”, “The Car Guard Song”, “Movember Song” and most recently “Hipsters & Hashtags”) as well as their original animated series (“Chat Sandwich”, “Hippo & Croc”), their work has been featured on sites such as TIME Magazine, Huffington Post, The Telegraph and Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die. They were also adjudged by Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee as winners of the international Movember video competition in 2012, beating out hundreds of entrants worldwide.
The duo, consisting of Nicholas Smal & Gareth Allison, recently signed with Los Angeles-based network The Collective, and have worked with local favourites Ard Matthews, Dr. Michael Mol, Rob van Vuuren & even Derek Watts himself on some of their videos.”
Right. And now for a description culled from Youtube itself:
“Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues return with their most ridiculous song yet! This time the boys chronicle the journey of two ordinary young men who splurge out & live large on payday, their spending sprees making those of celebrities like P. Diddy and Nicki Minaj look dull in comparison!
Alas though, reality comes back to bite them and they have to figure out how to get by for the rest of the month until payday comes around again. Will the boys learn their lesson this time around?
Featuring guest appearances by Jack Parow, Jeannie D, former-Miss South Africa Cindy Nell & The Kiffness, it’s the song everyone can relate to – PAYDAY!”
I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion before that Afrikaans zef rapper Jack Parow is a bit of a guilty indulgence for me. Seriously, earphones in, Jack Parow blasting, and me coding at the keyboard is a combination that is hard to beat! :)
For those of you not familiar with him, here is a quick write-up grabbed off electromode.co.za:
“Thirty three years ago, Zander Tyler was born in Parow, Cape Town. Today he is known as Jack Parow, original donker dodgy afrikaans rapper. Contrary to popular belief, his wild-fire success did not happen overnight. Jack started out rapping with crews from the Cape Flats and has been at it for thirteen years. It’s been almost six years since his breakthrough in 2009 and since Jack Parow has released his first self-titled full length album that struck gold within two weeks of its release and went platinum within a year; headlined at major festivals in South Africa; toured Europe and played before packed out shows there; and then followed it all up with another two seriously popular studio albums! His songs are hits on national radio stations and he has been on prime TV shows and on covers and centerfolds of publications in South Africa and in Europe.
Jack Parow’s self-titled debut album (2010) sold almost 45 000 units which made this sexy romantiese Afrikaans rapper a force to be reckoned with.”
Anyway, from his 2014 Nag Van Die Lang Pette album release, here is Jack Parow, featuring vocals from Nonku, with the brilliant “Ode To You”:
Back in 2000 a song was released that literally blew my mind and which I just couldn’t stop playing and rocking out to – Kryptonite. That was the first taste of the brilliant 3 Doors Down for me, and quite frankly, they’re still to let me down – 15 years on!
Writing for Rdio.com, Stacia Proefrock has this great write up about the band:
“Hailing from the small town of Escatawpa, Mississippi, 3 Doors Down hit their peak in the early 2000s with a string of post-grunge singles, most notably Kryptonite, When I’m Gone, and the ballad Here Without You. “Kryptonite,” with its minor-key shuffle and references to Superman, was the catalyst for the band’s career, generating an unprecedented buzz at a local radio station – Biloxi’s WCPR – during the band’s independent days. Such support helped make 3 Doors Down a regional favorite, enabling them to draw relatively large crowds to their local live shows and, consequently, extending their popularity beyond the Deep South to internationally famous clubs like New York’s CBGB’s.
The founding members of 3 Doors Down – vocalist/drummer Brad Arnold, guitarist Matt Roberts, and bassist Todd Harrell – were raised in Escatawpa, a cozy town of 8,000 people. Although brought up in religious households, the musicians also felt the call of rock & roll at an early age, eventually forming a rock trio in 1994 to play a friend’s backyard party. As the years progressed, so did the band’s sound, and the group soon added guitarist Chris Henderson and retained a studio drummer so that Arnold could come forward and sing live. After touring the Gulf Coast’s venues, the band made its way to New York, where a showcase at CBGB’s brought 3 Doors Down to the attention of Republic Records. A subsidiary of Universal, Republic Records signed the musicians and issued their major-label debut, The Better Life, in early 2000.
The Better Life became one of the biggest-selling albums of 2000, going platinum four times during its first year of release and spawning several singles. The band furthered its success with 2002’s Away from the Sun, which debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 and, like its predecessor, climbed to multi-platinum status. 3 Doors Down toured steadily throughout 2003 and 2004 in support of Away from the Sun, and issued the live EP Another 700 Miles in November 2003 as a holdover between studio efforts. The group returned with a heavier album, Seventeen Days, in early 2005. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went platinum in its first week of release. A self-titled album, which followed in May 2008, repeated its predecessor’s success when it too debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.
3 Doors Down toured throughout 2009, released a digital-only acoustic holiday album at the end of the year, and began to work on their next album in 2010. With Howard Benson serving as producer, the guys shuttled themselves between L.A. and Tokyo, recording the album in both cities and eventually emerging with 2011’s Time of My Life.”
And now for today’s song, taken off 2002’s Away From The Sun release, here is 3 Doors Down with one of their big heartfelt hits, Here Without You:
(Impossible not to feel something you heartless bastards!)
