So – Day 2 and 3 of our weekend in JOZI kept us so busy with interviews, sound checks, shows and beer drinking that we were unable to find the time to sit down and write about what was happening to us. Herewith a short summary of events.
Saturday was basically spent drinking several litres of beer each, doing a live interview / acoustic performance on Catherine Grenfell’s show on 5fm (Thanks again!!) and then, the moment we’d been waiting for, performing at Tanz Cafe for Sheer Music’s Halloween expo. The show went pretty well, we can’t lie. We shared the stage with some really awesome acts: ISO, The Anti Retro Vinyls and Lindiwe Suttle, to name a few, and managed to pull off a great performance, meet up with some overseas industry peeps we’ve been in contact with lately, and party in the traditional fashion way with some new and old friends. Ex Captain Stu trombonist JP even pulled in for a vibe and ya, shit got slightly messy as one will no doubt imagine. We won’t reveal here what we did with our balls and the posters of various contemporary artists but needless to say we got some sweet photos for the scrap book.
Sunday morning was an early one. We had to be in Pretoria for Park Acoustics by 09:30AM to do soundcheck and, as anyone who knows us may attest, waking up early after a Captain Stu party ain’t fun. In true leather-skinned, hard-knuckled and spine-of-steel viking spirit, however, we arranged ourselves into what resembled some faint hint of organisation, got to the Voortrekker monument by 09:50AM or so, and got the sound check done in an orderly fashion. Following this we took full advantage of the relatively cheap Black Label Man Cans and the similarly priced Jack Daniels and got into the swing of things in what was to be a surprisingly amazing event. Our last performance at Park Acoustics was around a year ago and the event has definitely grown in size and stature since then. Loads of party people, secret sauce flowing like water, the seductive smell of cannabis wafting on the breeze, all in an authentic historic location enhanced dramatically by live local music – we were in our element!
Thanks to all the friends who pulled through to the shows (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), thanks to all the people who made the various shows possible (YOU ALSO KNOW WHO YOU ARE) and thanks to everyone who got up to dance, offered us a dop or a smoke, laughed at our jokes, tolerated our weirdnesses etc. etc. We love you and cannot wait to see you again.
As incredibly overdue as this post is we’d like to jump right into it and pretend as if nothing has happened, as if there has not been a large unaccounted for gap in our general band activity, as if we had not spent months sojourning in the lonely and mountainous expanses of inward reflection and meditation instead of drunkenly gigging our arses off as per usual. This, of course, would be somewhat misleading but there’s no way around it, we have news to impart and we might as well get on with it.
It’s been a long while since last we graced Johannesburg with a live performance and seeing as we’d been invited to do this Halloween show at Tanz Cafe, we decided to organise a teeny little weekend mini-tour of Jozi so’s we could play for as many of you peeps as possible.
So – Day 1 was great: we flew up on Friday afternoon on some sweet discounted flights courtesy of Mango and due in no small part to the hustling skills of Willis and our manager Sophie. We popped in at the Soccer City Complex FNB Stadium for a bit of a look-see (looks way better from the inside – the outside looks like a rusted and vandalised pixel art doughnut) and moved on to Rumour’s where we’d be doing the show that night.
The turnout wasn’t amazing but the show was awesome all in all. The other bands Shout Hey! and City Of Heroes were super sick (Come to Cape Town okes! You’ll dig it!) and we felt we played a tight show to a well lubed and appreciative audience. Following this we enjoyed several beverages, a few kindly donated spliffs in the parking lot and some good ol’ times with some good ol’ faces. To those of you that pulled in – thank you, it’s good to be back in the big city!
Tonight – Tanz Cafe! Tomorrow afternoon – Park Acoustics in Pretoria!
It’s been a while since we last posted anything, performed anything, composed anything – shit, it’s been a while, period. But, of course, we’re happy to announce to all of you cute little bunny rabbits that, after a long and beautiful summer that isn’t quite over yet, we are officially back for some more good fun – and we certainly mean some serious business this time round. We have a few things lined up for you, but let’s take an orderly pace and do this one item at a time.
First thing’s first: item 1 – A GIG
Our last live performance was a private affair – the beautiful wedding of a friend or two at a wine farm out in the sticks somewhere. In hindsight, it’s clear to us that most of you were unable to make it, but ya, it went down pretty smooth – especially since we had Peachy Keen opening for us which is always a tasty, tasty treat.
But that was early December 2011, it’s now March 2012 and it’s also about time something was done about the distinct lack of vibe round these parts.
So: you – yes YOU – can expect a real-deal, rough-and-ready live “gig” courtesy of us, your favourite mongrel ska band, on APRIL 21st @ THE BRASS BELL in Kalk Bay. We haven’t played the Bell before, ever, so we’re pretty forken keen – especially since we’ve been getting requests to jol that side of the world for several years now. So there you have it Valley kids – we’ll be sorta in your neighbourhood soon. Get on the ball! Get on our balls! It’s on!
In completely unrelated news – watch this space for interesting developments. We have something we’d like you to get involved in. Just a little heads up…
We had such a rad time over days 4 and 5 of our Lank Kiff Tour that we had very little time or energy to sit around and write about it. Now that we are on our way home, though, we feel it only proper to fill you in on what’s been happening since Friday night. We woke on Saturday morning quite hungover but extremely excited for what was to transpire that afternoon – namely a LIVE performance on 5fm for the Live @ 5 show. This was, obviously, a big deal for us and we made sure we were there as early as possible to get through soundcheck with some time to spare. We thought the show went quite well (although those of you who listened in will have made your own conclusions on that score)… all we can say is that it was super cool and we’re very grateful to all the people who conspired to make it happen. Straight after this, we headed to The Bohemian where we finally played with Shortstraw – a band we’ve been wanting to gig with for ages. Their set was facken awesome and the sizable crowd was jumping around with glee from the very first chord. Next up, Rambling Bones took to the stage and inspired the already overly excited crowd to further paroxysms of ecstatic joy with some classic South African folk punk. By the time we got to perform, the crowd was well oiled and fervently demanding we give them the good time they were looking for. Needless to say, we gave them what we thought they wanted, and it seemed to go down brilliantly! Sweat, skank pits, spilled beer – it seems the Bo still has a bit of party left in it after all!
After a monster party, we headed back to the spot, got into bed and closed our tired little eyes in preparation for another big day. And a big day it certainly was. We left Johannesburg at around 10, got to the Voortrekker Monument just outside Pretoria at around 11, and played a rad show to an appreciative crowd seated on the grass under the shade of a big ass tree, the exact species of which we are, unfortunately, still ignorant. After this we hung around for a bit, waiting for some free Boerie rolls, picked up a whole lotta free shit from a certain clothing brand that was pumping it’s wares full tilt at the event, and then got into an overheated car for another long drive, this time back to Bloemfontein to spend another night with Stefaans, Botha, Marnus and the boys. And the night went wonderfully. A quiet braai involving steaks, wors, braai broodjies, salad, beers and a few White Widows, if you catch our drift.
We couldn’t make it too late though – tour had been long and draining and we were all more than ready to get as much shut eye as possible before the long drive to Cape Town the next day.
Thanks to everybody rad who had anything to do with this, our latest tour. We love all of you very much and can’t wait to do it again! Much respect!
Yesterday was pretty awesome even if we say so ourselves. We spent most of the day lounging around at the Don’s house, drinking beer, talking smack – the usual vibe, and only had to leave the house at around 3 seeing as our show was only about an hour’s drive away. We pulled into Pretoria’s Arcade Empire where we bumpedinto Isochronous in the middle of a band meeting and began drinking more beer. After soundcheck, 3 of us drove down to TuksFM to do another radio interview, found a few warm beers in the waiting room, cooled them up in a kitchen sink and continued the day’s drinking while waiting to go on air. The interview was pretty cool, although the girl interviewingus did say she’d see us at the show – and then DIDN’T see us there – but whatever, we’re not too phased really.
Back at the venue the party was starting to pick up. The December Streets started off the jol and we were happily surprised to see a fucking rad band accomplishing a sweet blend of all sorts of bouncy genres. They’re coming down to Cape Town in a few weeks apparently, playing at The Assembly if memory swerves… you wouldn’t do badly to go check them out.
Next up were our friends, comrades and countrymen No One’s Arc who hail straight outta Nelspruit. These guys are quite literally “The Shit”. A six piece, non-stop, horn sectioned, tighter-than-a-nuns-$%*#, groove fisted love train that sounds like it’s just popped in from paradise to say hello. We’re into them, basically. In a big way. We tried to follow their performance but the task was just too great – our set was cool and went well, but near the end half the crowd was eventually drawn away from the stage by the arrival of a few hundred screaming girls in matric dance dresses – apparently they were having their afterparty or something.
Needless to say we weren’t about to complain – a party proper began it’s inevitable destruction and once we were well wrecked on some Pretoria brandy and some Nelspruit green, we got into the car (we had a designated dave, don’t worry) and began the long drive home.
One last thing though – on said drive home, we began a little impromptu A Cappella jam, recorded it as it was happening and have decided to call it the Zambuk/Illovo Mash Up.
Day 2 on our “lank kiff tour” was a pleasant affair. The drive from Bloem to Jozi isn’t really that bad or that long and we arrived at The Don’s house just after midday, cracked open a few beers and got into a little relaxation before the day’s impending responsibilities. The first of these was a radio interview at Wits University Radio with Smash Afrika, which will be aired on Tuesday evening next week. Smash just happens to be one of the cooler radio faces we’ve met in our time on this good planet. If only because he is the first radio presenter, in our experience, to say he was gonna come to the show that night… and then actually rock up! What a champ! Let that be a warning to every other would be journalist with sugary false promises of good will and support at the ready. We are onto you! But Smash? Well played sir, well played!
Speaking of the show, it actually went pretty bloody well. We played an acoustic set at a lekker little jol called Wolves which happens to be owned by Shane of Desmond & The Tutu’s fame. The place was packed full, well before we were scheduled to begin, and stayed that way until we’d stopped playing. The crowd showed their appreciation with tumultuous applause after each song… and fuck, we couldn’t have asked for more really. Our first time playing at Wolves, first acoustic show in Jozi, first time for meeting some really awesome people – we must say we’re feeling too good about life right about now. We’d also like to thank our fellow traveler KK for cooking up them delicious cheese, ham, tomato, mayo and vibe rolls. Life savers, one and all!
Tonight we hit Arcade Empire in Pretoria to team up with our good chommies No One’s Arc as well as The December Streets for a solid ball kicker of a show. See all you Pretorianites there!
Yesterday – our “first official day on tour” day – was pretty chilled to be honest. We had to leave the House Of Pain at 4AM seeing as we were scheduled to be at soundcheck in Bloemfontein at around 5. Before we left Cape Town, however, we had to meet up with two fellow travelers Jared and KK who are going to be riding with us in convoy for most of the tour. They’re spending a month on the road, driving around experiencing what South African music has to offer and they thought our tour would be a nice addition to their vibe. GO TEAM! The long drive was long and hot and everything it usually is. Our car stinks already, but our spirits are high. We got to the venue – a great farm barn vibe just outside the city (check out the photos) , complete with couches, fires, walls made of empty beer bottles, joint smoking musos and, of course, a relatively decent stage… it seemed we’d arrived just in time! We had a little time to chill, eat, drink etc. but soon enough, soundcheck was on and we had work to do. The two opening bands were rad: solid blues rock with a serious serving of the funk in the form of Bad Feather; and the mad sonic dance that is the Frank Freeman Band. Eventually we got to the stage and despite having to cut our set a song or two short, we got most of the crowd on their feet and stomping away for the rest of the night. After the show we headed back to the Gerber estate (our home away from home in Bloem) and (for the first time after a Bloem show) had a shower and went straight to bed. We’re not getting old – we promise, Lord Gerber himself had an exam today so we had to keep it chilled . But yes – a great start to the tour and we’re amped as all fuck to get on with the rest of it. Jozi, prepare yourselves for an acoustic set at Wolves tonight! Yeeeeehaaaw!
In the excellent spirit of “better late than never” we’d like to inform you, our wonderful fans, that we will be leaving on another short tour tomorrow morning. We’re leaving Cape Town super early in order to make Bloemfontein in time for a mad show and a fat party, then it’s more driving and another four shows over Johannesburg and Pretoria. We’re all awfully excited – and so should you be. Stay in touch for your daily updates on our facebook page and website – www.captainstu.co.za
