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?
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