The Chiz : new academics

A Kodak Moment or Four

David — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:38:23 GMT

I have not taken photo's at a gig for aeons. So I got a new digital camera last weekend and I thought I'd give it a go. Took a few shots of taxi Violence and The New Academics at the Bohemian Last night...

Clearly, I need to learn some more. Liam Lynch, any tips?

Taxi Violence In Action (complete with new Bass player, Jason)

Taxi's George in Full Cry

More George and a Very Red Louis!

Rian Throttling that Guitar

I'm A Little Teacup...

Joe Penn From The New Academics Emerges from the Lava...

Dave Baudains Does His Best To Play Guitar While Joe Screams In His Ear

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You!

Time For The Rats to Boom

David — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:01:27 GMT

It’s Monday.. you’re hung over, tired and reluctantly back at work. What better way to lift your day than tell you what you can do in and around Gauteng this weekend in the way of live music? Hehehe!
Here it is, a selection of odd-ball gigs for the week.
Enjoy!

Civilised 8.4
Lucky Fonz iii (Holland) and Paul E. Flynn
Date: 24 April, 2008
Venue: The Bohemian, Corner Park and Menton Roads, Richmond, JHB
Telephone: 011 482 1725
Line Up: The One Night Stands and Doris
Time: Doors open at 8pm First band on at 9pm
Cover: R30 (R20 with Student Card)

Clash Of The Titans
Date: Friday 25 April
Venue: Carfax, Gwi Gwi Mrebi Street, Newtown
Line-up: Van Coke Kartel, A King, Reach, Slashdogs, My Epic, Suicide Kings, The
Shadow Club
Time: 20:00
Cover R60.00

Death Valley Blues Band – London Calling’s Birthday
Date: 25 April, 2008
Venue: London Calling, Opdebergen street, Troyeville
Telephone: 011 618 1018
Line Up: The Death Valley Blues Band and others
Time: 9pm
Cover: R30

Lucky Fonz @ Tanz Cafe
Date: 25 April, 2008
Venue: Tanz Café, the River Road Bryanston
Telephone: 011 463 5937
Line Up: Lucky Fonz III and Arno Carstens
Time: 9pm
Cover: R50

8Ball Madness 4th Edition
Date: 26 April, 2008
Venue: Stones Edenvale, Cnr of Modderfontein and van Riebeeck rds, Edenvale Telephone: 011-609 5432
Line Up: Lucky Fonz III, New Academics, Josie Field Duo, The Hellphones and more
Time: Doors open at 8pm
Cover: R40 for Guys and R20 for Girls

Lucky Fonz @ Bassline
Date: 26 April, 2008
Venue: The Bassline, 10 Henry Nxumalo Str. Newtown
Telephone: 011-838 9145
Line Up: Lucky Fonz III and Sarah Bettens and Stealing Love Jones
Time: Doors open at 8pm
Cover: R50

The Oppikoppi “Vmmijdkwmkah,oid’napmwemp?” Not Quite Easter Festival
Date: 25 April, 2008
Venue: Oppikoppi Farm, Northam
Telephone: 012 346 1679
Line Up: Lucky Fonz III, Sarah Bettens and others
Time: 17:00
Cover: R250 for the weekend

Levi’s Sunday Sessions
Date: 27 April, 2008
Venue: The Crazy 88, William Road Norwood
Telephone: 011 728 8417
Line Up: BLQ and Tasha Baxter Time: 7:30pm
Cover: Free

Getting Academic With Penn - The New Academics

David — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:05:08 GMT

The New Academics came from Cape Town and have grown into a pretty well known band during their stay here in Jozi City. They were just nominated in the Alternative section for the SAMA's this year, so i thought it was about time I did an interview with their energetic, wiry and down right crazy Front-man, Joe Penn. What follows is verbatim his replies to me queries. IN other words, its not for the faint hearted!

Read with Joy!

1) So, you guys have just been nominated for a SAMA for your debut album City Of Strange. That’s quite a leap from where you were about two years ago: the least known, well-respected band in the country. What suddenly started to go right for you guys?

I don’t think anything really went right for us overnight, it’s taken a long process of live gigging and continued press exposure to raise our profile to its current level. But releasing City of Strange did help us in a huge way. The combination of the product itself and the associated marketing/promotion have definitely helped to increase our presence in the consciousness of the music consumer. The success of all of the album’s singles on campus and local radio stations, plus the significant airplay given to our Change Up video on MK89, has gone a long way for us. I wouldn’t say that we’re quite up there yet. However, I have noticed that, when I mention the name ‘New Academics’ to random people, they amazingly seem to have heard of us in 95% of situations – even if they don’t know our music. This wasn’t so at the same time last year. Maybe it’s purely because I say it with more conviction now and they feel intimidated into lying to me.

2) Talking of that 1st album, common criticism is that it doesn’t do you justice, and that people are really recommended to see you live before deciding on what you are really like. What were your objectives in recording that 1st album, and were they met?
I do think that the album failed to capture some of our live energy, but we certainly met our objectives with it. At the time of recording, we were really just focussed on getting the songs down as well as possible from a musical and technical standpoint. We had zero budget and recorded everything ourselves, except for the drums – which were tracked brilliantly at Drumlab. It was a long and painful process of constant self-examination, but we really got something out of it that I feel we can be proud of. It’s such a time capsule for us, 14 songs that span a long period in our career and lives. By the time we finished tracking, we had generated enough funds to pass the raw material onto Jon Buckley at Sonovision, who really made the whole project work with his incredibly skilful mixes. I haven’t been able to listen to the album since we released it – because I can’t handle listening to my own voice. However, having finally put it on again the other day, I was actually impressed with it in my own way.

Sure, it doesn’t sound like us live – but it shouldn’t. I think that bands should sound better live than in studio, because the whole live experience is meant to be audio, visual and far more energetic than a studio session. Listening to a band’s album should never be a better experience than watching the live show – and if it is so, then there’s something going wrong, at least that’s my opinion. I can’t really say we had set objectives, other than making as good an album as we could. That’s how we always think, we are purely and entirely focussed on the music itself – without any respect for the machinations and convoluted demographic discriminations of the industry. It’s one of the major shortcomings of New Academics that has impeded our progress thus far and probably always will. We are childishly naïve music dorks. It’s a problem – but that’s who we are.

3) So, now you are busy recording a second album, nice hype with the SAMA nomination and all. What do you aim to do differently this time? How much more of that funk – rock cross over sound can we expect? Or is there going to be an even greater mix-up of sound?
To be honest, I’m not sure what the SAMA nomination actually means to us. We are in a category called ‘alternative’ with four other bands that couldn’t possibly be more different from us if we came from five different continents. Our category should have been named; ‘weird’. I think that’s what it comes down to. It’s great to get some recognition from the industry, and we are intent on raising absolute blood-drenched, alcoholic, drug-fuelled hell at Sun City – which is always a winner in my books. We’ll see what happens with this whole SAMA tangent, but props to everyone who’s supported us so well within and without the parameters of the industry – you know who you are and you rock. Some of you will be drawn into the vortex of destructive casino chaos with us on THAT weekend in May – mooohahahaha!!!

As for the new album, we’ve felt strongly motivated to record music which was largely written over a very short period; from the end of 2007 to the current year. So, the album will be a reflection of our headspace in this current moment – as opposed to a retrospective of the last few years. This really excites me, and I’ve been pushing hard to get it out as fast as possible so that it is as relevant as possible to the middle-class South Africa of this current historically chaotic and politically fraught period in our history as it can be. The lyrics on this album range over a wide range of topics, but there is a definite emphasis on current issues that affect my life. They reflect my simultaneous political disgust and extreme apathy – which I feel is one of the trademarks of middle class English speaking South Africa. We’re English speaking, but we’re not English. We contain and accept all races – anyone who feels that they’re not a (fill your cultural grouping in here). The disposed, without anyone that we can respect out in the political trenches fighting for us. No sense of volk at all, but we have drugs, alcohol, sex, credit cards and chronic depression - which seems to be just about all we need to get by right now.

The album: Technically speaking, we’ve gone straight to Jon Buckley now who is busy tracking the songs and helping us to move things along at a healthily brisk pace – and providing us with some invaluable production. We’re trying to work faster and get a better overall sounding product than last time – without sacrificing anything in terms of the integrity of the actual songs. I’d say that the new material is slightly more dance-oriented, less funky. There’s also less straight rock and more singing – but you’ll have to wait for the final product, won’t you!

4) You guys have also been playing with Gang Of Instrumentals for the last few months, as a live back up band to them, but also as a collaboration. Obviously you are keen to cross more over into the so-called black music market. How is that working for you?
I don’t personally feel that we will ever cross over to the ‘black’ market. Firstly, we are not black and that is a major impediment to any white artist wishing to access the ‘black scene’. The politics of the country remain so racially based, encouraging all people to be ever increasingly aware of racial divides and ultimately keeping the scenes apart, which is ironic. I’m not interested in the ‘black’ market or the ‘white’ market, or even the ‘afrikaans’ market. People are all different, and some aspects of our music may or may not resonate with the individual. The problem with our racially segregated society is that it makes it difficult for bands to access individuals from different ‘scenes’. So, if you’re trapped in the ‘black’ market, you probably won’t get the chance to experience our music and make your own mind up about it.

This is where GI could help us out by exposing us to their fanbase. However, all of the gigs we’ve played with GI thus have been for corporate shows – where ‘blackness’ is part of the marketing strategy, which just entrenches the problem further. There’s been no exposure to a ‘black’ market of any kind. Because it doesn’t really exist. People sit at work and listen to whichever radio station they are unfortunate enough to be subjected to and they either enjoy or hate the music. If you get played on 5FM, for example, you will get exposed to everyone who happens to be listening to that station – black, white, Chinese, Mongolian, whatever. The major media players desperately try to define the population along the lines of race, by constructing their playlists along demographic lines. This is crucial to their advertising revenues, because they can now claim to be speaking to this or that segment of the population and sell airtime to different clients accordingly. But, at the end of the day, we really actually enjoy playing with GI and we have natural respect for their music – albeit very different from ours – and they have certainly exposed us to a larger selection of people through live performance. So, all bullshit aside, it’s a really cool collaboration for us.

5) Your sound has always been a melange of influences. Now that you’ve made it to the dreaded second album where is your head sonically? What are you listening to? What might be influencing your song writing. And importantly, who has always influenced you?
The second album is not remotely dreaded for us, we are very happy to be able to have the privilege of recording more of our music for posterity. The song writing process is a creative and inspirational experience for us – which we enjoy hugely. We’re all listening to very disparate music as usual. Personally, I’ve been listening to a lot of electro and combinations of this with other forms of music, especially jazz. It seems too early to say what the new songs sound like, but they’re definitely quite different from one another and I would struggle to pinpoint them into one or another whole. But I think it all still sounds like us, which is important. I certainly still sound like me, which is unfortunate for our commercial success – but great for my own serial self-flagellation and continued public humiliation.

Life influences us, along with the large amounts of varied music that we consume separately. We definitely don’t poke our noses into each other’s record (cd/mp3) collections too much – it’s sacred and crucial that our music headspaces develop tangentially to one another. We will suggest things that have climbed into our consciousness, but it doesn’t go much further than that. As a lyricist, it’s all about being in my own head – which is the only space that anyone can honestly write from. Whilst writing and refining the lyrics for this album over a very short period at the start of the year, I was stuck in quite a dark place due to the crumbling infrastructure and politics of South Africa. That has influenced my writing and mingles with other personal themes. I have made an effort to couch personal opinions, pains and urges in less metaphor than previously – which makes me feel quite naked, but I look great in the buff (unless I’ve been lied to consistently, which is actually the most likely scenario) – so it’s all good.

At the end of the process I realised that, coming form the standpoint of an ‘artist’ (read sad hack), one of the beautiful things about life in this country is the consistent stimulation from the media, politicians and harsh reality of life which pulls you up out of the materialistic malaise that seems to have crept over much of the music currently emanating out of the first world. When local musicians/song writers copy these trends, it shows a cold, cynical, commercial motivation on their part – not a light and happy naivety. This sort of naivety is impossible in the current political climate of the country – everyone is daily made aware of the realities.

6) New Academics were originally a Cape Town band that moved to JHB seeking fame and fortune. It wasn’t an overnight success story, but the move has worked for you in the end. Do you feel that really has much to do with being in Jozi, or did the band just happen to come of age here?
I think that our personal relationships and confidence have matured here. We’ve accepted who we are and decided to cherish that, as opposed to attempting to subvert it. Plus, we’ve had shitloads of fun. Incredible life experiences that we wouldn’t swop out for anything – despite the occasional hardships that we’ve had to endure in the name of music. We are a tight unit in our own way, but we’ve also learnt to ride through the occasional instabilities that are just part of life. We quite quickly discovered that fame and fortune are not legitimate things to seek and that freed us up immediately to focus on creating, recording and performing the music that we love without bias. I don’t really feel that New Academics was ever a proper band in Cape Town, we had just got going when we packed up our bags and drove up through the Karoo. We did even have a bass player then, and we’re currently on our fourth drummer. It’s a long process before you can truly call yourself a unit.

7) You write a lot of the music and the lyrics to the NA material. Where do you dig up the stories in the songs? I mean some of them are pretty intriguing!
It’s all out of real life experience, tarted up a little in places as fits the imagination – but I try to write as honestly as possible so that I’m putting a little piece of me out there in every song. Some of the songs also reflect the experiences of other band members that I’ve been closely associated with and feel is part of my own story as well. The songs on ‘City of Strange’ are whirlpools of drug references and sexual innuendo that I’m not sure anyone actually gets – which is most likely a sign of bad writing. ‘Snakewoman’, for example, is all about going out and trying desperately to get laid with no success – about being frustrated into an alcoholic stupor by the presence of all that untouchable minge in the room. It’s a song that is frequently misinterpreted as a song of rejected love – but the verses setup the chorus to be much more of a primal mating call than anything else. That comes out of regular experiences that I share with every other man on the planet.

Meredith Frowned, on the other hand is purely derived from my own experiences of having sex in nature – which I still claim not to have shared with any other men on the planet (please print this part in bold type). But I don’t think anyone really listens to the verses, the lyrics are often too dense – which is both a recording and writing issue that I’m working on for the next album. Ultimately, standing on the verge of the new album on which the lyrics might all be pure shite, the ‘City of Strange’ lyrics are still all special to me and a provide me with a cool personal retrospective of the last few years. Hopefully other people have got something out of it too.

8) For a long time, New Academics were a band of promise and under delivery. Since the release of the debut album though, you are up and running nicely. If you were to re-visit the years leading up to where you are now, is there anything you would do differently, and any particular reason why?
I still feel that I am clueless when it comes to the music industry as a whole. I function nicely on a basic organisational level, but I feel that I have failed to do much for my band beyond marshalling the troops around every now and then. What we’ve started doing that has helped a lot is trying to work with people who’s heads are more switched onto the internal structure and requirements of the industry than ours are. People with promotional and business ability who can free us up from some of that. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have worked with some really good guys lately, which has been hugely beneficially to New Academics.

However, I am still struggling to get my head around the whole scene – I feel that the market is so small for what we do that a band is doomed if the members themselves are not clued up on an individual level, so that they can help to push the wagon through the mud. I see many bands who achieve massive things in a short space of time, because they have a natural grasp of how to thrust themselves into the public consciousness and a set of tangible skills with which to achieve this. I remain a complete failure in this regard, but I’m working on it. Without our manager Lorimer, and his excellent colleague at DCPM who pushed us so incredibly well last year, we would probably be absolutely nowhere.

9) The live performance is a signature part of the New Academics reputation. How do you keep the energy levels so high during a show? Is the energy of your band mates important to the overall pacing of your shows?
We honestly just love to play music, it’s that simple. The kick we get out of performing the material live is untouchable and the greatest motivation behind the continued existence of New Academics. This love for music has attracted band members who get the same rush out of it. We feed off one another completely. It’s a circle of energy that makes it impossible for us not to end up rocking out. It’s cheesy to say, but it all comes back to still getting the same joy out music that we have always got and harnessing it within the creative structure of the band. Fuck it, I’m getting all serious here. I’ve had way too much coffee and this has become one of those probing, irritatingly serious interviews in which I bare my soul and pass commentary on all aspects of ‘society’. God, I’m a complete git. The punchline is; ‘we like to rock, motherfucker’. If you don’t like that then you can gently tea-bag my nuts for 15 minutes at a medium pace – see how that makes you feel.

10) You’re not the biggest guy in the scene, yet you have an enormous voice. You also play several instruments. What is the secret here? Are you one of those irritating prodigy types or have you been to loads of music school lesson?
I’ve got something here to show you that’s far more enormous than my voice, but I’m not telling what it is – just put your hand in my pocket…it’s a surprise. I love music, I live music. Ask anyone of the unfortunate females from my various failed relationships and they’ll probably tell you that I’m obsessed. They may tell you various other things, which are either the dinkum truth or complete bullshit – depending on how they make me look. But you’re not getting their numbers off me anyway, so just back the fuck off and go hit on some else’s ex girlfriends, huh?! I’ve played music in one form or another since junior school, with various changes in instrumentation over the years. I always thought that it was some kind of virus that would slough off like dead skin – but thankfully it never has. I only started singing when New Academics started, quite by accident in fact. I like to think I’ve got better at it over the years, but I’m still working on it – I’ll get there eventually, I promise. In the meantime you must bear with me – or just go to the bar and get boozed, nothing’s changed.

11) In the songs on City Of Strange there are a lot of drink and drug references. Are you a committed joller and is this the life you basically lead?
Hey, we all like to party it up every now and then – but my own drinking and drug taking has decreased significantly over the last year and a half. If I’m playing shows, then I’m generally very clean – it’s the off times that can get a little out of hand. As we’ve got busier and busier, I’ve found it necessary to clean myself up in order to survive the pace. I’m not just doing New Academics, I’m in a couple of other projects and I run my own professional jazz band – so I have to be in control of my mind and body to survive. Nowdays I’ve become a binge party-person. I’ll do no drugs and limited alcohol for a couple of months and then snarf a gram of cat, take 2 pills and eat 3 grams of mushrooms in one night (festivals…tsk,tsk). That sort of thing. But drugs are bad, m-kay. It’s true. They’re bad, but occasionally they can be so, so good. Cocaine is the worst drug in the world, I can’t touch it anymore – just talking about it makes me hurt. Okay, it still gets me sometimes – but very, very rarely. Alcohol is one of my least favourite drugs along with weed, which is just a waste of my time. What’s the point of getting lamely, drowsily gaffed. If I’m going to get fucked, I want to get proper-fucked. And the rest of the time I’m as clean as a whistle. People don’t want to talk about these things, but I refuse to lie anymore. It’s all the pretending that allows things to get out of hand.

12) Your personal look has oscillated wildly over the last couple of years to include beards, shaved heads, Mohawks, another weird dalliances. Is this a reflection of your state of mind or your multiple personalities? More succinctly, are you battling to find an image for yourself up front of New Academics?
All my various hair-scapades have been entirely for my own personal entertainment and a salve to the boredom of facing up to the same ugly mug in the mirror every day. One of the problems with New Academics from a commercial point of view is definitely our lack of a defined band image. But we’re all such different people, our one defining feature being that we’re all pretty unremarkable middle-class yobos in our own sad ways. I gave up on having a visual identity quite a long time ago. I have accepted my own middle of the road physical packaging and lack of personal style with as much grace as I can muster and focussed all my attention on performing as well as possible for the live shows. I think that’s what it should be about anyway.

13) Finally, what are YOUR goals for New Academics in 2008? You’ve got your SAMA nomination and are in studio recording an album. What do you want fro all these things for yourself and the band?
We want to produce the best possible album we can from a recording and musically standpoint, and we want to get that album into the hands of as many people as possible so that they can share the experience with us if they feel so inclined. We want the SAMA nomination to result in a rancid, pulsing, pus-spraying, cancerous lesion of a party on the face of the North-West Province. And we want to keep rocking out this year, take the new material around the country before the meteor strikes the Arctic ice-caps and earth explodes into the sun like a blackhead between the fingernails of an over-weight, undersexed high-school vampire-wannabe on her way out on a Saturday night in full goth regalia.

Check out their website on www.newacademics.co.za or just find them on facebook!

Wet Wet Wet

David — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:54:45 GMT

Well, if you're in Jozi, it certainyl is! So I have spotted two nice diverse gigs that will warm you up... they are on the SAME night, Thursday night and represent two very different sounds, check it out!

Civilised 7.3
The “It’s a public holiday tomorrow!!” Party

So, you know the vibe here, cheap booze, cheap pizza, good music. The addition of the Rockford DJ's means that this will be anice dancing party as well though, so think about it!

Date: 20 March, 2008
Venue: The Bohemian, Corner Park and Menton Roads, Richmond, JHB
Telephone: 011 482 1725
Line Up: The Hellphones (acoustic set), The One Night Stands and The Rockford DJs
Time: 9pm
Cover: R30

New Academics and Gang of Instrumentals

These two bands have been playing together a lot lately, but not really at club shows, so this is a nice opportunity for you to sit down and check it out in the relaxed environs of The Blues Room. Their is a definite chemistry between the two bands, so be prepared for dancin'!

Date: 20 March, 2008
Venue: The Bluesroom, Village Walk, Rivonia Rd, Sandton
Telephone: 011 784 5527
Line Up: New Academics and Gang of Instrumentals
Time: 9pm
Cover: R50

It's all About Gauteng!

David — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:46:13 GMT

So, some nice shows to get to for the week... not a huge selection, and there are all up here, sorry everyone else1

New Academics
Date: 4 October 2007
Line Up: New Academics and Menage a trois
Venue: Tings ‘n times, 1066 Arcadia Street Hatfield, PTA
Telephone: 012 430 3176
Cover: R20
Time: 8pm

Civilised: Wendy New
Date: 4 October 2007
Line Up: Wendy New
Venue: The Bohemian, Cnr of Park and Menton Roads, Richmond JHB
Telephone: 011 482 1725
Cover: R30
Time: 8pm

Josie Field (with Simon Van Gend)
Date: 1 October 2007
Venue: Cafe Barcelona, Elardus Park Shopping Centre, Pretoria
Telephone: (012)345-3602
Time: 20h00
Line Up: Josie Field & Simon Van Gend
Cover: R40
See Josie perform songs from her debut album Mercury including the smash hits Every Now & Then and 10 Years.

Josie Field
Date: 5 October 2007
Venue: Thyme Out, 127 Greenway Street: shop 9, Greenside
Telephone: 011 486- 0214
Time: 20h30
Line Up: Josie Field Duo
Cover: R40
See Josie perform songs from her debut album Mercury including the smash hits Every Now & Then and 10 Years.

Plan your Naweek NOW!

David — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:49:36 GMT

Gauteng:
Civilised: Bacchus Nel and the Westdene 3 & Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes
Date: 20 September 2007
Line Up: Bacchus Nel and the Westdene 3
Venue: The Bohemian, Park Rd, Richmond, JHB
Telephone: 011 482 7461
Cover: R30
Time: 20:00

Josie Field
Date: 20 September 2007
Venue: Duncker Club, 64, Duncker street, Berlin, Germany, 10439
Telephone: N/A
Line Up: Josie Field, Lark, Harris Tweed & Cassette
Cover: All shows for Popkomm 2007 at the Duncker is admission free.
Website: www.dunckerclub.de

Josie Field with Saucetone
Date: 22 September 2007
Venue: Back To Basics, Lancaster Street, Westdene
Telephone: 011 726-6857
Time: 20h30
Line Up: Josie Field & Saucetone
Cover: R 40

Josie Field
Date: 23 September 2007
Venue: White Mountain Folk Festival
Contact: www.whitemountain.co.za
Time: Main Stage at 18h30
Line up: Josie Field (and others)
Cover: R 300 @ Computicket

Laurie Levine
Date: 23 September 2007
Venue: White Mountain Folk Festival
Contact: www.whitemountain.co.za
Time: Main Stage at 16h00
Line up: Laurie Levine (& others)
Cover: R 300 @ Computicket

The Hellphones
Date: 21 September 2007
Line Up:
Venue: The Olive Lounge, Olivedale Corner, Olivedale
Line Up: The Hellphones, The Slashdogs, Highway Casino
Telephone: 072 725 7254
Cover: R30
Time: 21:00

Free State
New Academics and Japan &IDate: 22 September 2007
Line Up: Japan & I and New Academics
Venue: The Mystic Boer, Kelner Street, Bloemfontein
Telephone: 051 430 2206
Cover: R30
Time: 2200

Western Cape
GOLDFISH
Rocking the Daisies Music Festival
Date: 28 September 2007
Line Up: New Academics, Goldfish, Taxi Violence, The Dirty Skirts, Tidal Waves and more
Venue: Cloof Wine Estate, Darling
Telephone: tickets and info @ www.rockingthedaisies.com
Cover: R295
Time: 12:00 onwards

New Academics
Rocking the Daisies Music Festival
Date: 29 September 2007
Line Up: New Academics, Goldfish, Taxi Violence, The Dirty Skirts, Tidal Waves and more
Venue: Cloof Wine Estate, Darling
Telephone: tickets and info @ www.rockingthedaisies.com
Cover: R295
Time: 8pm

Germany
Josie Field (with other SA Artists) in Berlin
Date: 20 September 2007
Venue: Duncker Club, Dunckerstr. 64, 10439 Berlin, Germany
Website: www.dunckerclub.de
Time: 21:00Uhr
Line Up: Josie Field (plus Cassette, Harris Tweed & Lark)
Cover: Free

A Real Live Party!

David — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 05:13:32 GMT

It is another one of those weekends where there seems to be an absolute over-abundance of cool live gigs to get to... Spoilt for choice yet again!

*sigh*

What a hard life we lead!

Ashton Nyte & Josie Field - An Intimate Acoustic Experience
Date: 30th March 2007
Venue: Cafe Barcelona, Alardus Park Centre, Barnard Street, Pretoria
Telephone: (012) 345-3602
Email: info@forgottenrevolution.com
Line up: Ashton Nyte & Josie Field
Cover: R50
Starts: 21h00

Dirty Skirts JHB Album Launch party
Date: 30 March
Venue: The 88 Lounge, William Rd, Norwood
Telephone: 011 728 8417
Line-up: The Dirty Skirts
Cover: R60 for non-members
R40 for members (on presentation of 88 Lounge key-ring)
Start Time: 8pm

Masters of the Beat Festival
Date: 31st March
Venue: Rand Show, Nasrec Show grounds
Line-up: Dirty Skirts, Nude Girls, Parlotones, Ready D, Jozi and Obita
Cover: Show entrance
Start Time: 5pm

Dirty Skirts PTA Album Launch party
Date: 31st March
Venue: Tings and Times, Hatfield, PTA
Telephone:
Line-up: The Dirty Skirts
Cover: R20.00
Start Time: 9pm

The Diesel Whores
Date: 31 March
Venue: Back2Basix
Telephone: 011 726 6857
Line-up: Diesel Whores, Jim Neversink
Cover: R 40
Start Time: 9:00 pm

Anything Goes Party
Date: 31 March
Venue: The 88 Lounge, William Rd, Norwood
Telephone: 011 728 8417
Line-up: Shaun Duvet, Ricardo Da Costa, Dean Fuel, Phat Jack, Daddy H
Cover: R60.00 for members
R80.00 for non-members
Start Time: 8pm

New Academics
Date 1 April
Venue: tempo’s, Hans Strydom Avenue, Randburg
Line-up: New Academics, Lonefill Estate, Martin Rocka And The Sickshop
Cover: R50.00
Start Time: 15:00

WC
Rory Eliot
Date: 31 March
Venue: The Farm House, Scarborough
Telephone: 0735875963
Line up: Rory Eliot and The Reason
Cover: R 30
Start Time: 15:00

The Hellphones
Date: 30 March
Venue: Mercury Live, Devilliers Street, District Six
Telephone: 021 426 2106
Line up: The Hellphones, Taxi Violence
Cover: R30.00
Start Time 9pm
Date: 31 March

Venue: Stones Table View
Telephone: 021 556-2756
Line-up: The Hellphones, taxi Violence
Cover: R20
Start time: 9pm

Goldfish
Date: 30 March
Venue: Opium, Dixon Street, Greenpoint
Telephone: 021 421 4501
Line-up: Goldfish with live VJ
Cover: R50
Start Time: 10pm

The Weekend and Beyond!

David — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:42:58 GMT

So, next Wednesday is a pubic holiday, so this weeks gig guide runs all the way out to next Tuesday 20 March... so you can plan how to get wasted when you don't have to go to work on Wednesday 21 march!

Also, of course, there are tonnes of gigs missing. Please be a sport and add them into the comments for the edification of your fellow readers (all 3 of them!)

I can seriously recommend the New Academics album launch on Friday night, DJ Krush on Tuesday night in JHB and The Diesel Whores show in CT on Friday night... but for your taste, there are plenty of others!

Voting closes today for the 2007 Blog awards, so if you haven't voted for The Chiz as the best Music Blog in SA yet, please do! (there is a button in the left hand tool bar)

Otherwise, have a wonderful weekend! Happy St Patrick's Day, enjoy the rugby and the cricket and the weekend shopping! May the Paradise bird of happiness perch on your shoulder and the chicken of depression not shit on your shoes!

New Academics Album Launch
Date: 16 March
Venue: Zanzibar, Hokaai Shopping Centre Fairy Glen,
Corner Selikaats Causeway & Graaff-Reinet Roads,
Telephone: 012 991 3261
Line-up: New Academics
Cover: R60 entrance with album and R20 entrance without album
Start Time: 8pm

Jim Neversink's Indie Hoedown
Date: 16th March 2007
Venue: The Bohemian, Park Road, Richmond
Telephone: (011) 482-1725
Line up: Jim Neversink, The HeShe's (Matthew Fink & Warrick Poultney will spin indie/punk & country tunes before & after)
Cover: R40
Starts: 20h30

The Hellphones
Date: 17 March
Venue: Trotters Pub, Impala Park, Boksburg
Telephone: 082 853 8096
Line-up: The Hellphones, Jim Neversink, Martin and Lou (Cellar Door DJ’s)
Cover: R30.00
Satrt Time: 8pm

Date 18 March
Venue: back to Basix, Off Kingsway, Westdene
Telephone: 011 726 6857
Line-up: The Hellphones, Jim Neversink
Cover: R40.00
Star Time: 17:00

Japan and I
Date: 17 March
Venue: Thrashers Skatepark, Serene Street (off Atterbury rd, Menlyn, Pretoria)
Telephone: 012 348 0669
Line-up: Japan and I, Fuzigish, My Favourite Weapon, Just About Done and Convalescent
Cover: R40.00
Start Time: 14:00

Josie Field & Michael Canfield's Rhythm Section Africa
Date: Saturday 17th March 2007
Venue: Tanz Cafe, River Rd, Greenside
Telephone: (011) 463-5937
Line Up: Josie Field & Michael Canfield's Rhythm Section Africa
Cover: R50
Starts: 20h30

People’s Party
Date: 17 March
Venue: The 88 Lounge, William Rd, Norwood
Telephone: 011 728 8147
Line-up: Aris B, the people’s DJ
Cover: R40 non members
Members FREE
Start Time: 8pm

Fuzigish
Date: 16 March
Venue: Tincups, 44 OR Tambo (old Swartbos) Street, Witbank
Line-up: Fuzigish, LA Cobra
Cover: R40.00
Start Time:

Date: 17 March
Venue: Thrashers Skatepark, Serene Street (off Atterbury rd, Menlyn, Pretoria)
Telephone: 012 348 0669
Line-up: Fuzigish, Japan and I, My Favourite Weapon, Just About Done and Convalescent
Cover: R40.00
Start Time: 14:00

Date: 17 March
Venue: Zanzibar, Hokaai Shopping Centre Fairy Glen,
Corner Celikaats Causeway & Graaff-Reinet Roads,
Telephone: 012 991 3261
Line-up: Fuzigish, My Favourite Weapon
Cover: R40.00
Start Time: 8pm

DJ Krush
Date: 20 March
Venue: Carfax, Gwi Gwi Mrebi Street, Newtown
Telephone: 011 834 9187
Line-up: DJ Krush
Tickets available form
Tokyo star 072-478-2592 or 88 011 728 8417
Pre sales are R100 or R120 at the Door
Start Time: 9pm

Josie Field (solo) & Michael Canfield's Rhythm Section Africa
Date: Tuesday 20th March 2007
Venue: Back To Basix, Lancaster Street (off Kingsway), Westdene
Telephone: (011) 726-6857
Line Up: Josie Field (solo) & Michael Canfield's Rhythm Section Africa
Cover: R40
Starts: 20h30

Josie Field & The Bang - Know Your Rights
Date: Human Rights Day - 21st March 2007
Venue: The 88 Lounge, William Road, Norwood
Telephone: (011) 728-8147
Line Up: Josie Field and guest The Bang
Cover: R40 (R30 for members, students & humans)
Starts: 20h30

Western Cape
The Diesel Whores
Swamp Sex, Monster Movies and Trash Culture
Date: Friday 16 March
Venue:: Mercury Live, Devilliers Street, District 6, Cape Town
Telephone: 021 462 2609
Line-up: Diesel Whores, Three Bored White Guys and Martin Rocka & the Sick Shop
Cover: R30.

Death of Pop
Date: 17 march 2007
Venue: Wynberg Sports Club (Cnr of Racecourse and Wetton Rd Wynberg)
Telephone: adam: 084 805 0177
Line-up: HALFPRICE, A Narrow Escape, Enmity, VOL, 3ct, Decimation Age, Eyekarumba, Doppler Effect, Appleshine, Capt Stu, Hoax, LP Show, Reburn, subdued
Cover: R65
Start Time: 15:00

Rory Eliot
Date: 17th March
Venue: The Pavilion, Cape Town Waterfront
Telephone: 021 419 7661
Line-up: Rory Eliot and Chris Chameleon
Cover: R120
Start time: 20:00

James Stewart
Date: Tuesday 20 March 2007
Venue: The Theatre at Bridgehouse
Address: Bridgehouse School, Franschhoek
Telephone: 072 5066000
Line-up: James Stewart and band
Cover: R100 booking essential
Start Time: 7.30 for 8pm