The Black Hotels and Wonderboom – The 88 Lounge, 14.09.07

Back to JHB for more gigs…all I can say is thank god for low cost airlines and Visa. I think the debt counsellors may be after me soon though – I’ll just tell them what I keep telling myself…you only live once! How many times do you get to say that before it is rendered meaningless I wonder? Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing my JHB girls, and definitely to watching this gig. Unfortunately for the bands, Friday night was not only Jewish Sabbath, but also Rosh Hashanah, and since this club is generally frequented by a Jewish crowd, the gig was not that well attended.

This was my first time seeing The Black Hotels and I was really keen to check them out. I have heard pretty good things about them from the JHB girls, and quite like their current single on 5fm. They definitely did not disappoint, and I was well impressed with their tight performance. They did fall prey to my pet hate, looking bored on stage, but it actually works for them. They have a very Brit-pop, indie thing going on, and remind me of bands like The Kaiser Chiefs and Frans Ferdinand, who also have that whole deadpan look while on stage. I enjoyed them and will certainly try and catch them again.

I think by this stage everybody knows how I feel about Wonderboom, the trick is to find new ways in which to say it! There was a time when if I got to see them play once a year, it was a lot, and the excitement that surrounded such gigs was indescribable. Now, not only do I venture up to JHB more frequently than Visa would recommend, they also seem to be spending a lot more time in the KZN region than they used to. Score for me. Because even though now I may get to see them once a month instead of once a year (and sometimes even twice in one weekend), the excitement is still the same. I know I am going to hear songs that I love, and I know that this band will never put on a performance that is anything less than whole-hearted. The crowd may have been small on Friday night but they were dancing and singing along to a band who once again showed us why they have managed to last this long in a music scene that has taken other bands, chewed them up and spat them out. Incredibly talented, incredibly passionate, Wonderboom are what makes SA music great.

We didn’t stick around too long after the show – headaches, tequila overload, the usual stuff – but we had an awesome time, and left secure in the knowledge that when Wonderboom took to the stage at Jo’burg Day the next day, we’d get to have an awesome time all over again.