Our Blog of the day has to go to Gerhard Human for his amazing illustrations, enjoy! Click here for more

A Night at the Arcades!

To be honest I went into this one with absolutely no expectations. I felt just a bit nervous because I had convinced a couple of people that I know to join me in what should be a great show. If Tumi, Zaki, Reason, 37mph  and the rest did not impress, then my scrotum would surely  be found shredded outside of a local butchery…well that’s a slight  exaggeration  but you know what I mean right? With that in mind I went on with a shaky gut feeling that was soon laid to rest as we entered the venue.

The Empire Arcade! The name itself is synonymous with candy floss highs, kaleidoscopic stage lights and crunchy popcorn paved floors, this however was not the reality. With no Metal Slug in sight but a tall buttoned up bouncer in the standard all black attire and beyond him a smoky club with a rainbow of people mingling and drinking Black Label, while anxiously waiting for the performances to begin. There was a slight sense of curiosity and anxiety across the floor as the bass slowly crept in.

Tumi Molekane from Tumi and the Volume was neatly tucked within the crowd and kept his attention focused towards the stage. I followed his attention and from a cloud of smoke emerged Reason, one of the dopest local mc’s I have heard, his flow prepared my canvas and his rhyme schemes and delivery painted a picture of a complete and "album ready mc" who has come a long way since I first saw him perform at Zula bar in Cape town. Backed up by the musically adept 37MPH, doing all sorts of things with his MPC and a surprise appearance by Akio from KOL on the decks it was clear that we’re going to be caught up in a groove like no other, whether you like Reason or not I assure you that his beats would have any hip-hop head breaking into all sorts of dance moves. He performed Songs from his new album Audio 3D and is one of the artists signed to Motif records.

After the audio 3D, we had good enough “reason” to wait with bated breath for the next performance, engineers and Dj’s swiftly removed their equipment from the stage, to clear way for the next performance and that gave me enough time to go back to the bar, get a refill and easily manoeuvre to the front of the crowd to get a closer look. From the smoke appeared Zaki Ibrahim dressed like a black swan with a black feathered top that had raised shoulders, on her right was a fine sister who was so tuned into character that I got lost in her backing vocals. At first I was a little confused by Zaki’s new sound, forgive my ignorance but I honestly expected a sound similar to what we heard on Eclectica In Purple, accompanied by two songs from that very same album, that was not the case. She had Peach from Yesterday’s Pupil engineering her sound and adding all sorts of effects and grungy techno beats that gave life to a new Zaki who complemented the hypnotic sound with her enigmatic voice, and aside from the few problems with feedback from the microphone the veteran black swan soldiered on, delivering a compelling performance!

The night was nearing its end, the stage lights tangled with the smoke creating a bloody haze and from there a dark figure slid from the side lines to the stage, adjusting his microphone so it could complement his seating position, the crowd quietened down to listen to what the word smith had to say. Tumi was backed by the mysterious Peach from Yesterday’s Pupil on the beats. I immediately tuned into their frequency and the two complemented each other well on stage and gave a mind blowing (although short) performance. 

 

Closing the night was this strange fruit by the name Peach van Pletzen who was seemingly the backbone of most of the performances of the night, he was left alone on the stage with his gadgets and an electrical guitar neatly placed right in the centre of the stage. Peach van Pletzen from yesterday’s Pupil is a crazy one man show(vocalist, drummer, guitarist, writer and producer) and some of you may know the multi instrumentalist from Bittereinder, his role as producer for the Van Coke Kartel’s “Skop Skiet en Donner” album or some of the work he has done with Tumi Molekane to name a very few. This man sealed the night with an insane digital explosion of sound demonstrating that he indeed is an instrument himself and all the other gadgets are merely an extension of his true self.

I must say it was a pretty decent show for R40 wouldn’t you agree?

Good Afternoon Kaffeiners!!! Its been a loooong time since we graced your screens with our presence, Im sure your mouths are watering for a full bodied sKAFFtEIN of all that's good for your soul. To make up for our absence we are going to put you on to the following entities that are making waves. Enjoy and remember be a part of something, be a part of Kaffein Online Magazine.

1. Check out Kananji, 24 year old Malawian Born rapper.Now residing in Midrand where he studies and        records. http://www.reverbnation.com/risiiing

2. Metabolism, a sick rapper born in Dimbaza in the Eastern Cape and now residing in CapeTown. http://soundcloud.com/metabolism-sa

3. Ootz drops the Beat Tape : http://soundcloud.com/ootz85/ootz-beat-tape
    Follow on twitter @Ootz85

4. The blog of the week has to go to Trunks and Cast for their awesome work in the fashion world, check out their blog http://trunkscast.blogspot.com/ and also click on the Events tab to find out more about their Fashion Night Out on saturday the 26th of May.
Follow on twitter @TrunksandCast