Sunday morning. I can’t hear properly and there’s a weird high pitched buzzing noise in my ears. My calf muscles feel like I’ve run the Comrades more times than Bruce Fordyce. One knee is bruised, the other bruised and swollen to approximately twice its size. I have a weird laceration on my upper thigh. Yup, I was at a Springbok Nude Girls gig last night….I’m battered and bruised but I think I might also be in heaven.
The first time I ever saw SNG was probably the first time they played in Durban, at the Rift in about 1995 (we’ll let the fact that I was only 15 at the time go for now). I hated them and walked out. The same applies for the 2nd time I saw them. How I got to the place I am now, where I am not ashamed to admit that I am the most rabid of fans, I’m not really sure, but I think it has something to do with Genie. Add to this mild (hehe) obsession with the Nudies the fact that Burn is my favourite club and I have been lobbying the owner for years to book them, and I’m sure you’ll understand why Saturday night was such a big one for me.
But let me not get ahead of myself. The opening act for the Nudies was Myepic, an awesome band in their own right. It took a little while for the crowd to filter onto the dance floor, as the show got started a lot earlier than I think most people anticipated, but soon enough they had a good audience who seemed to be really enjoying the show. I always feel sorry for bands who play in Durban because the crowd does this weird thing where they leave an empty semi circle in front of the stage and then stand with their arms crossed like someone is forcing them at gunpoint to be there. Apathy, thy name is Durban. Nonetheless, Myepic put on a stellar show, and the frontman’s alternating between writhing insidiously around the stage and focusing intently on his audience was hypnotic. They were so good that I parted with some of my Nudies merch cash to buy their CD. Go and check them out if you get a chance.
Right, back to the Nudies. When I read on some website or other last year that the original line up was getting back together and recording a new album, I think a little bit of my soul that had lain dormant for a while awoke to a joyous noise. Yup, I was pretty damn excited. And when you watch the band, you can see that they are pretty damn excited to be together again too. During the post-break up era of Brendan Jury et al, the only thing really happening on stage was Arno Carstens and Theo Crous, which was fine but it wasn’t the same. On Saturday night, there was an incredible energy between all the band members, and the audience was absolutely feeding off it. They started with Gang Gang, the opening track on the new album Peace Breaker…this song is destined to be a gig anthem on the same scale as Bubblegum on my Boots. It gets into your blood and crushes your bones and the only relief is to jump up and down. The rest of the crowd may have been a bit disappointed that the focus was on the new album, but that’s only to be expected on an album launch tour. I thought it was pretty special that they played all 13 songs off Peace Breaker, as well as about 5 or 6 of their older hits, including the life-altering Genie .
I could go into detail about every song that was played, but I’m sure some of you may have nodded off by now, so I’ll keep it brief. Despite the fact that many of the audience did not know all of the newer material, I don’t think it really mattered to them. They had stood in a queue that snaked all the way down Walls Avenue (presales people presales!) and they were at Burn to see a legendary performance. And that is what the Springbok Nude Girls provided. We were brave enough to stand right in front and the mosh pit invoked by the magic of this band was a maelstrom that sucked us all in and spat us out with many an NRI (Nudies Related Injury). I wear mine like badges of honour, displaying them to every poor sod who will look at my knees. I’d also like to mention that at some point during this maelstrom I headbutted Arno in the foot. Sorry man! My friends thought it was funny though.
All I can say is that I went to bed that night dreaming of Theo the rock god whipping his guitar into submission while Arno crooned, growled and yelled at us in turn, all the while being fed by the crunching percussion of Arno Blumer and Francois Kruger, and the crazy gyrating Adriaan Brand. I missed you guys, thanks for coming back. And for those of you who haven’t drifted off while reading this epic tale….catch the Nudies on their Peace Breaker tour or seriously, you need your head read!
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