“Are they not letting any more people in?” was the first question I asked the door lady as I finally managed to get to the front of the line outside Joburg’s favourite crusty venue, The Bohemian. I’d arrived at that question with valid reason. Inside was way overcapacity and outside was home to an anxious bunch hovering around the pavement. Surprisingly, they were still letting people in and, when I got near the stage, Blk Jks surfaced above the sea of heads in front of me. These experimental rockers don’t play music, music plays them. They seem like agents through which a musical exorcism is taking place when they are on stage. They are brilliant musicians, but they tend to break into nonsensical improvisation a little too much, the kind of self-indulgence that can become a bit overbearing. It’s cool to be experimental but for me, this time they just seemed inaccessible.
The mighty Shadowclub were up next and proceeded to cause “The Boh” the bar to drop to its knees with their “king-of-cool” blues rock. “This is where we started and we will keep coming back until we die,” blurted Jacques Moolman, Shadowclub’s front-man. I never want to see them play there ever again. Not only because they filled the place to an unbearable level, but because it would be a massive disservice to humanity if they don’t chew and spit out every major festival around the globe and reach a level of stardom that will burn them out within ten years. They are the perfect blend of rock n’ roll integrity and commercial viability, which is particularly rare for a South African band. It’s also rare for a bar to run out of beer, which happened too. Best prepare for when these two bands are in your town.
