Unfortunately those unreasonable people known as employers would not give me another half day so I could get to the beach in time to watch all the bands scheduled for this performance, which was a bit of a disappointment since there were some pretty decent bands on the line up. And of course, as luck would have it, the weather was far superior to the previous day’s with only a hint of a breeze. Oh well.
Someone (um that would be me) read the schedule wrong, and so we were expecting to arrive just in time to catch The Finkelsteins, but in fact got there just as 16Stitch were about to take to the stage. I have never been a huge fan of this band, not being one for the whole nu metal movement really. Other gigs I have seen of theirs have left me a bit disappointed. Their songs always start off really strong, and you think something exciting is going to happen….and then the singer opens his mouth and it all falls apart a little bit. The rest of the band are high energy (how do they not get dizzy spinning around like that?!) and play their instruments with skill, but the vocalist has always been a little flat as far as I’m concerned. I was pleasantly surprised this Friday night to see that his vocals had improved – he is still the weak link in the band, but I actually enjoyed them more than I ever have before. And the very young crowd were going crazy for it. Maybe singing well is not always an important criterion for audience enjoyment.
Next up were The Finkelsteins – quite a big genre hop! If you’ve never seen this band before, well then, too late because this was their second to last show, and unless you are planning a visit to Klerksdorp soon (why would you be??) you’ve missed out. I didn’t expect to feel as sad as I did during this show, but I think the loss of this band is going to leave a real hole in the SA scene. They are fun and infectious (and I don’t mean that in an itches and ointments kinda way), and younger crowds just go absolutely mental for them. It’s light hearted punk pop at its best and they are highly entertaining to watch. I will admit that after having watched them many times over the years, the same jokes were beginning to grow a bit wearisome, but they were in top form on Friday night and had everyone laughing out loud and singing along. In fact, I think they may have some mind control thing going on because they are able to get their audience to do pretty much anything they ask. It was a really enjoyable performance and they will be sorely missed.
The final band of the evening was The Parlotones and as always they put on a sterling show. I am really looking forward to the release of their next album in September, as the new songs they played on Friday night were fantastic. This is a band that really can’t do anything wrong (well, aside from the tight pants), and the audience was hooked from start to finish. In fact, I think the Finks have lent them some of their mind control potions because the kids in the crowd were doing the jazz hands/spirit fingers thing right back at Kahn and even he looked a little surprised! There’s nothing more sad than a band who tries to get a crowd to sing along and is met by blank stares and silence – well, nothing could be further from what went on at this show. The crowd was belting out the lyrics at every given opportunity and did not need much encouragement from the band for a sing along. An incredible show was made even more special by the appearance on stage of the boys from the Finks, and I think this is one gig that will live on in many fans’ hearts for a long time.
And that was that for another successful round of concerts at the Mr Price Pro. It’s always a highlight, although I suspect having the first night on a Thursday this year may have decreased attendance slightly. After all, not everyone gets to bail on work to go to gigs…
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