The Powerzone Roadshow – Burn, 19.04.08

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a gig at Burn – the club has changed ownership, and for a while there the emphasis seemed to be on metal bands. Luckily for the less hardcore amongst us, the balance is being regained. Saturday was a friend’s birthday party, which started with the rugby at 11:30 (and the less said about dirty cheating Aussie refs the better!!), so needless to say by the time we rolled in to Burn we were somewhat worse for wear. Most of us managed to maintain an upright position though, bolstered by the lure of Perez…except for the birthday boy who was discovered taking a power nap at a table. Bless.

One Sock Thief opened up the night’s events to a rather lacklustre audience. However, their poignant indie sound, rife with haunting keyboard melodies and rich vocals, soon managed to draw the bar flies onto the dance floor. They unfortunately only got to play 5 songs due to time constraints and a late start (something about a roadblock…damn that KZN zero tolerance!), but they were definitely my surprise hit of the evening. They’ve managed to get the blend of grinding guitars and pretty piano just right, and at times there was the slightest scent of Muse in the air. Definitely a band with the potential to go far.

Next up was The Black Hotels, another indie staple on the local scene. What a pity these guys can’t seem to cultivate a stage personality. Their music is fantastic, their technical ability superb. But they look as if they’d rather be watching paint dry than playing in front of a crowd of fans. Bored doesn’t begin to describe it – even a yawn would be some display of emotion that we as the audience could tap into! The first time I watched them, I wrote it off to the whole indie indifference thing on stage. But after a few more shows, I simply can’t keep making excuses for them, as much as I love their music. Move around, crack a comment, do something to give us a hint that being on stage is not equivalent to the Spanish Inquisition torture chambers. Otherwise I may as well just stay at home and listen to the CD.

I recently read a review of Coke Fest which described Crash Car Burn as the best thing happening in the local scene at the moment. What a pity that would be if it were true. Let’s face it, they’re pretty much just Tweak with a new name and new songs (which amazingly enough sound remarkably like Tweak). Don’t get me wrong, I used to love Tweak back in the day…I even own 2 of their CDs. In fairness to me, the first time I saw them at Woodstock 2, they were dressed as possums and jumping off the speaker stacks. It was love at first sight. I am such a sucker for a good stage act. And their songs were fun, in a kind of teenage angsty punk pop way. But the novelty wore off after a while…probably after I let go of my teenage angst (not a good thing to hold onto when you’re in your twenties…). Now, I will grant Crash Car Burn this – their lyrics have matured slightly…they no longer sing about house parties being crashed by the FBI (thank god!). But the sound is still the same, without the fun stage act, and with the exception of Get Away (which I almost like and has been stuck in my head since Saturday night), their songs are virtually indistinguishable from one another. I think I may have nodded off on my feet during their set…but that could have been the wine-sours-jager combination working its charm.

While we’re talking about back in the day, Perez thundered onto the scene in early 2001 and took no hostages as they made a name for themselves in local music. Within a few short months of their first gig at Splashy Fen, they were signed to Powerzone, receiving extensive airplay for their first single Wasted Out, and playing to sold out venues across the country. I’m pretty sure South Africa has not seen a meteoric dash to success like this either before or since. And like a brightly burning flame that cannot sustain itself, by 2003, they were announcing their split. Hordes of fans were crushed – me especially since I was living in Ireland at the time and missed their final tour. I cannot put the magic of those early shows into words. Perez had an indefinable chemistry on stage and a sound that was phenomenal. Their ability to draw on the diverse vocal talents of Matt Wilkinson and Nic Olsen, both on lead guitar and vocals, gave them a sound that was exquisite and unique. Across the country, people were falling in love with their songs. I’m not going to lie…they’re the only band that’s ever come as close to toppling the Springbok Nude Girls from their number one spot in my heart. So when we heard last year that Perez were reforming, there was a collective happy dance. And now I almost wish I hadn’t been around for those heady early years. My expectations of this band are beyond high – I know what they are capable of and I’ve seen their inordinate amount of talent in action many, many times. The talent is still there, there’s no disputing that. And the fans haven’t gone anywhere either, because the dance floor of Burn was groaning with those who had come out to see their Durban boys in action again. But they’ve lost a little of their magic and it breaks my heart to have to say it. If I’d never seen them before, I would think they were amazing. Instead, I am forced to compare their new persona with what came before and it comes up slightly lacking. Nic sings less than he did when they first played, which is a real pity. The almost nasal quality of his voice is the perfect juxtaposition for Matt’s deeper tones and it’s a shame not to use this to their full advantage. Also, Matt no longer plays guitar, leaving their sound less full, less rich. Their new songs lack the lyrical complexity of their early work and in some cases border on monotonous. But that prodigious talent is still there and they hold the audience captive for the full set. If nothing else, you have to stand in awe of four musicians so remarkably gifted. Will I watch them again? Of course. I just need to put my old memories aside and work on building new ones.