The Parlotones, Starsailor and Wonderboom – The Barnyard Theatre, Gateway, 27.10.08

There’s nothing quite like going to work on a Monday, knowing that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a gig that night….it tends to make up for all those annoying little things we have to put up with that make giving up the weekend so much harder. Add to this the fact that we had organised our tickets for this gig in July, and you’ll appreciate the fact that it was much anticipated!

Originally Perez were meant to be the opening act for this event, but since Nic has left to join The Parlotones (more on that later), I guess they are no more. I’m strangely less devastated by this news than I was the first time they broke up. Must be all those new songs with only 3 words in the lyrics. Ahem. Anyway. Anyone who knows me will know I was, of course, super keen to hear that they had been replaced by Wonderboom. They were supposed to play at the Barnyard last year but the gig was cancelled so I wasn’t the only person excited about this turn of events. I should, in fairness, point out that it was not in fact the whole of Wonderboom performing on the night - Cito and Danny did their fabulous thing without the crazily talented Martin and Wade. Even though it was more like Wonderboom Lite, it was still a beautiful set. They stayed true to the mellow nature of most gigs at the Barnyard and this really gave the audience the opportunity to appreciate Cito’s soaring vocal skills. From his always haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah to the most exquisite version of Never Ever I’ve ever heard, their performance was spectacular and the crowd couldn’t get enough. Here’s hoping the whole band comes back for another performance soon.

Starsailor is one of those bands that you know you know. And you know you like. But you can’t for the life of you think of how you know them. Of course, as soon as they took to the stage my friend and I were like oooh, we know that song. And the next one. And the next one. They’ve been on the scene since 2000, and have had a series of hits in the UK, so I guess it makes sense that we would recognise their songs. They have an indie vibe with enough of a rock edge to keep them from falling into the melancholy of bands like Keane and are low key enough not to have the annoying swagger of the Oasis types. I thought it was pretty cool that Starsailor took on the role of support act to The Parlotones. It’s certainly likely that far more South Africans know who the latter band is, but still, not many internationals would be prepared to set the ego and the headline slot aside so readily. It is a reciprocal arrangement, as from what I hear, The Parlotones will be supporting Starsailor when they are next in the UK. The crowd certainly loved how much they seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage and every song was met with thunderous applause, especially their epic performance of the hit Four to the Floor. I enjoyed them so much that I wished I’d thought to bring extra cash with to buy some CDs. A truly great band that hasn’t let success or the requirements of the mainstream affect the music they make.

Last up was The Parlotones, without doubt the biggest musical export in SA at the moment, rightly or wrongly. It certainly makes sense to pair them with a band like Starsailor, as their sound is indie to its core, which is what I like about them. Their matching outfits and staccato movements are also the stuff indie kings like Franz Ferdinand are made of – they definitely commit to the genre. I have heard a lot of criticisms of this band, and in truth, when I first heard Here Comes a Man I thought they were exceptionally overrated. But they are more than that rather unfortunate choice of cover. Their other songs are remarkably well written and performed, with lyrics that often manage to be both poignant and catchy. If perhaps they now have something of the well-oiled machine about them, then maybe that is why they are trying to spice things up a bit by including a new member in the band. I must be honest though, Nic seems a bit wasted in this band. For someone of his vocal talent to be reduced to barely audible backing vocals, as well as keyboards and guitar, seems a real shame. Nonetheless, his presence added new depth to their sound. I think the best moment of this set, for me anyway, was when Danny of Wonderboom joined them on stage to play an extra set of drums during my favourite song, Bird in Flight. The Barnyard was virtually sold out, and apparently was for the next night’s show – no mean feat in Durban – and I don’t think there was a person there who wasn’t loving every minute of it. I think perhaps that sometimes, as members of the music loving community, we are so quick to deem a band ‘sold out’ or no longer hip enough, the instant they are not underground and living on peanut butter and jam toast. Yes, we do love our bands edgy, but sometimes we have to recognise that for any band to make it big, a certain slickness of performance is required….and kudos to The Parlotones for being able to deliver performances that get audiences raving across South Africa and abroad.

The only thing that distracted me from the performances was Kahn’s extraordinarily slim fitting pants – my friend and I spent a fair amount of time discussing how exactly one would get everything into such a crotch-huggingly tight pair of jeans (or were they leggings, we can’t be sure). We have no solutions. All I know is that I don’t usually get to see that much detail until at least the third date. Or after a bottle of tequila. Nonetheless, we had fun and all three bands were fantastic enough to merit the 3 months of anticipation!