U2 Gigging and Wakeboarding

  The South African music scene seems to be pumping at the moment… If you are an international artist that is, with Crowded House and 30 seconds to Mars, having made their way to our shores. Then of course there are the up and coming shows:  U2 managed to squeeze in before Neil Diamond, and not to be missed is the famed Bollywood artist Rahat Fateh Ali Kahn. My only question is how come our man Neil has 4 shows one of which is at the hundred thousand seating FBN stadium, but U2, and luminary Ali Kahn only have 2 shows. Maybe it’s just me but it seems a little short sighted, I’m sure Ali could have squeezed in a show at the FNB like everyone else. 

  Trying to get tickets for U2 was pure madness, fortunately we managed squeeze our booking in on Monday morning after the phones were jammed on the weekend. I can’t help feeling a little ripped off considering that what I spent on one of their tickets is more than I have over their entire history as a band, and especially since our seating means we will probably have a great view of the back of Adam Claytons head. I hear the stage rotates, but I’m still not sure where our seats are exactly. Considering the ticket prices many people would feel justified in ripping their CD’s.  Not me. I say  hey they’re millionaires they deserve gold plated toilets, and revolving stages. Rock stars have needs too. I would feel justified in ripping their CD’s however when I consider their whole website pre-booking thing and the unadvertised extra associated charges, that seems a little bit un-rock and roll-like to me.

   Apart from the international acts, our own act has been getting on the road and we have had two gigs, the first at the Cheeky monkey and then we played an event called Ebenezer rock. The Cheeky monkey gig involved playing with well-known South African band Evolver and new up and coming band Black Era. With our good friend dash ’brother of drummer’, Ross’ crowd sourcing abilities we managed to assemble a decent crowd for the Wednesday night event. Of course the fact that there was no entrance fee may have had something to do with. Not that we would want to call our supporters cheep, after all the obscure places they have run the gauntlet to see us at. The Monkey gig had great sound and great lights, which always helps the show from our point of view. With great lighting you are practically blind and a Lipizzaner display could be going on in front of you and you would not know any different …

  Sholto: Hey guys, do we still have an audience?

  Dave:  Uhmmm, well I can’t really see with all this lighting and besides I close my eyes when I sing.

  Francois: There was a weird high pitched sound and a kind of stamping at the end of the last song.

  Dave: Nah that was just Dana, our house-trained American, shouting his approval.

  Sholto:  Sounds like a Lipizzaner display to me.

  Francois:  Either that or the fifth horseman of the Apocalypse just rocked up

  Dave:  A fifth horseman? I though there where only four.

  Francois: Fifth horsemen of the apocalypse, you know: He wields a might sword and upon that sword where write the dreadful words, the words every man interested in a women fears, thw words  “Let’s just be friends.”

  Dave: I sure hope it’s a Lipizzaner show.

 Aside from that  We enjoyed both gigs with the only hiccup being Sholto’s scrap with a mic stand,: probably a stray Lipizzaner.  Mid way through the set his vocal mic, which had been waiting for an opportune moment, snuck up on him during our song Awake and Dreaming and decided to attack him. He bravely fended it off, playing drums and resisting its attempts to entangle him. Given that a similar thing happened again during the Ebenezer rock gig, I think it may well be time for him to invest in a Madonna headphone microphone … hint hint.

  One of the first time attendees of the Monkey gig was Kosie van Heerden, ex-South African wake boarding champion and proprietor of Grande Industries clothing, -- maybe we can get him to sponsor us a t-shirt or three. Anyway He invited me to check out what wakeboarding was about, and since I love snowboarding it seemed like the rock and roll thing to do.  What is wake boarding about you ask? Well, it generally involves been towed behind a boat on something which looks like a wide snowboard. However there are a few subtle differences. Like the fact that I can snowboard for a whole day, but after ten minutes on the wakeboarding, my hamstring muscles were paste and pretty much left be staggering everywhere. I’d have to say my first attempt wasn’t so much a case of wakeboarding as it was being dragged behind a boat with a 5.6 litre chev engine while I did my best to keep upright. I was inspired after watching Kosie doing some insane back flips and jumps. However all I seemed to get good at was becoming an authority on the taste of Hartebeesport dam, which is not cool especially given that Hartebesport dam is pretty damn green these days. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to wakeboard on astro-turf, or if you have aspirations of becoming a human rave stick because you will glow in the dark given the pollution, then this is the dam for you man.

  Wakeboarding and gigging aside the recording of the Album continues and we are almost finished doing all the bands backing vocals. Progress is slow, but steady. Until later cheers.