Plans were always afoot to go to Burn last night, as I had made a promise to flyer for an upcoming gig and to go back on that kind of promise would just not be cricket, but the lure of the City Bowl Mizers made it a lot easier to put my game face on and get out there. This is one of those bands that I keep hearing about, and everything I hear is good, and yet somehow I had never seen them before. How does that happen? Weird.
I arrived a little bit later than planned and the first thing I thought was “wow, this is a great night to flyer!” and then “wow! People really must like this band!” I had to park miles away from the club and the reason for this became evident when I walked onto the dance floor…..it was pumping! The band was already 10 minutes into their set and the crowd was going doolally for them. It’s quite a rare thing to see people crowd surfing only 10 minutes into a set, but this is the reaction inspired by the Mizers. And all I could think as I watched their set unfold was that this band is quintessentially Durban. They marry punk with surf rock and it is a very happy union indeed. It brings to mind sunshine, big waves, and pina coladas on speed. The guys are relaxed on stage and all wearing such big grins that I did think maybe I wanted some of what they were on. It looked good. Then I glanced around and saw that everyone was grinning – the only person I saw without a smile the whole night was a girl who in all honesty looked ready to vom (damn those R3 shooters!) and was being briskly shepherded out by her man. So either the band was handing out their happy pills at the door or it was the music that was creating the buzz. I think my vote is with the latter. Maybe I liked them so much because the vocals have a touch of early Cito about them, maybe it was because they were so at ease with their audience and their music, or maybe it was because one of the guys shouted out that some chick in the back had just eye fucked him, guaranteed to get a laugh out of me. But I think it was because they are really good at what they do, and what they do is play exceptional music while still appearing down to earth enough to connect with the people on the dance floor. I mean, you know people are having a good time when there is a continuous stream of people diving off the stage into the crowd (and actually being caught by those below) – one guy had a unique take on this as he kept twisting his body upside down and doing a little dance with his feet on the ceiling. Move over Lionel Ritchie.
It was definitely a fun gig. And these guys are most definitely worth all the hype that surrounds them. I was watching with a friend, who we will call Jan the DJ slut (not because he is promiscuous but because he plays all my songs for me and I don’t even have to get the girls out), and we kept exclaiming about the brilliance of the performance. We were throwing about bands we thought they should play with….Fuzigish (high praise indeed from Mr Slut), Wonderboom, Martin Rocka…..and the Nude Girls. The highest honour bestowed and it wasn’t even me that said it! A sure sign that this is a band that is going places. More importantly, you know you’ve done something right when someone from the audience jumps up on stage at the end of your show to lead the rest of the crowd in a chant for more! Certainly a band I would make a real effort to watch again, and great evidence that good things are still brewing in the Durban music scene.
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