Dear John, Plastics and NLR

Saturday night saw three bands playing at Assembly in what was thought to be the best lineup of the year so far. Expectations were high. And why not? Dear John Love Emma were in the mix offering something new to the typical “indie” parties with Arcade Fireish influences. The Plastics have enjoyed recent success with the media and fans and of course the New Loud Rockets (the veterans on the night) always offer something to converse about at a later time.

Dear John Love Emma enjoyed riding the coattails of the bigger acts to follow playing to a nearly packed out Assembly venue. They certainly got the attention of many attendees and made many new fans. Unfortunately, due to their “opening” status, they only performed a few songs which was sad to say the least. Everyone was really enjoying their show, and then they stopped.

[we are awesome]

Next up were The Plastics whose debut EP I quite enjoyed. This was the first time I had seen them perform, and I was bitterly let down by their show. If I closed my eyes I felt like I was back in Dresden, Germany listening to Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. There was little separating the two, except of course that The Arctic Monkeys are demigods. There was nothing original about the act. Much sadness. Having said that, the band is young, and they have a lot of potential. Let’s hope that as they mature their sound will too, into something original that doesn’t make the front man put on an English accent when he sings.

[Adriaan Louw]

The final act of the evening was the final act of New Loud Rockets as we know them. Unfortunately, due to creative differences (and no doubt more) Philip Erasmus is no longer playing drums for the band. They are now down to 3 stringed instruments and a synth. Anyway, the performance. It was great. John’s energy and stage presence was that of an excited little boy. Sound issues plagued them through their show, some self inflicted, others, out of their control. But they handled it relatively well. Fun times. Brothers Dave and Steve showed off their diversity by starting off the set with each other’s instruments. Dave played a new song on electric guitar while Steve held a quality baseline. On that note, the new songs are awesome and they are going to get around to recording demos. When they do, you will know. I will have them up here for you to download.

John

Jadan

Dave

Steve

Phil [sigh]

[photos by Shaun Swingler]

Twas a good night on the whole. All the best to Phil and his new musical endeavours. He is going to be playing in a band called Thieve. They will be performing for the first time next month. That show will be in Stellenbosch. I will keep you posted.

If you have read this whole post, I am impressed. I could have done three posts with all this information, but that would be lame.

More pics from the night at we are awesome and Shaun Swingler.