Noel Gallagher (Oasis guitarist and vocalist if you were wondering) said this on the Oasis Myspace after the Joburg show:
"Sunday, April 12, 2009
Noel's 'Tales From The Middle Of Nowhere' (11/04/09) Category: Music Well that was a bit weird. The Coke-Fest. Not sure what to make of it. Strange crowd. It seemed to be made up of every conceivable type of person imaginable. Very quiet. Some of them unfurled a huge banner that said, "NOEL'S PISS IS THE CURE FOR CANCER"!!??
We were on after Snow Patrol. Gotta say, I was staggered at the amount of gear they have onstage. And it all seemed to be working! We must've sounded like Buddy Holly's backing band by comparison.
Leaving for Cape Town in a bit. Meeting up with the rest of Team Gallagher. They're on board for the rest of this bit of tour. Can't wait.
In a bit.
GD.
PS. That thing about my piss has NOT been proven."
If I hadn’t gone to Coke Fest, I would have been cynical about it. Now that I have been, I am still cynical. I did not get out of bed yesterday thinking I would be at Coke Fest in the afternoon. But I was. This was my experience:
Yesterday, Easter Monday was Cokefest, or as some affectionately named it, Blowfest. What a very disappointing day in the sun. The best parts included meeting people I did not anticipate being there, sneaking into Golden Circle with blue wrist bands made of Bonaqua water bottle jackets (thanks Coca Cola) and eating greasy burgers with my hands and then not being able to wash them.
Ok, so there were also a couple of bands. I arrived for the last Dirty Skirts song. The final South African band followed them, aKing. I didn’t really listen to them. The aKing front man Laudo looks just like Seth Rogen from Knocked Up. (That’s just a freebie).
Panic at the Disco had vocal range. That’s it. Their genre is sickening, and I truly cannot tell the difference between them and Fall Out Boy. I was told I would enjoy them live nonetheless, but I didn’t. I think the organisers realised that we would get out of there before 10pm (due to two bands pulling out) and so they asked them to waffle and tell us about their time in South Africa and dedicate every song to a different person in the crowd or on stage.
Snow Patrol were surprisingly good. They played as it got darker. Lights began to have an affect and sing alongs were joined enthusiastically by a wearying crowd. Girls and small boys went on shoulders and fun was had by all.
At the interval, we made our move. We got our water bottles, folded the labels and bent them around our wrists. As good as could be. Three of us tried, two succeeded. I succeeded. My one friend’s band came off as showed it to the security, so he ran the other way. Hello Golden Circle!
Golden circle was fun. There was one character tripping on something. (I am sure there were many, but there was one making a scene.) He was bleak that we weren’t jumping around and crowd surfing to Oasis. “Come on Cape Town! Come on Cape Town! Come on Cape Town! Are you too cool to clap?” “Make some noise Cape Town!” Blond girls started mocking him. Dialogue ensued:
Blond Girl #1: “Come on Cape Town!”
Tripping guy: “Shut…..it!”
Blond Girl #2: “Shut up man!”
Tripping guy: “Go back to your girls’ school! Whatever girls’ school you are from, go back there. Go back to your girls’ school.”
Blond Girl #3: “What’s wrong with you?”
Tripping guy: “What girls’ school are you from? Hey? HEY?!! Go back there! Just go!!”
That went on for a while. Such a laugh. So, Oasis played some well known songs, some of Noel’s songs were a little foreign to me, but I knew Liam’s pretty well. What’s the story morning Glory?, Wonderwall and a host of timeless tunes. During Wonderwall I realised I lost my phone. I was not stoked about that.
A quick comparison that made a lot of difference: Snow Patrol seem to enjoy playing shows. Being on stage was fun for them. Oasis have been together since 1991. I think they are tired of performing. They look as though they are just going through the motions. I think a lot of people went there for Oasis and came away preferring Snow Patrol.
Let’s hope that the low calorie version that is Coke ZERO Fest does not repeat itself next year. That would be tragic. I didn’t awake this morning with the same, “I am too tired to get out bed” feeling, or the excitement of being able to talk about the rocking bands from last night’s show.
Friday, March 20, 2009
So, it's been a week, but it's still bloggable. Zebra & Giraffe played at Mercury Live last Saturday night. They were there to launch their new dvd/cd, Collected Memories. Gregarontosaurus could be seen fashioning a grey Ladyhawk t, and one of those little hats that are becoming more and more 'in' as time goes on. He played a telecaster, but not his. You should know by now, he had a bunch of music equipment pinched from his car in Joburg a couple of weeks ago. Shame. He did well. Anyway, the band that opened for them were awful, 3rd World Spectator. They played once with Maroon 5. Weird, I would never have given them that much stage. Those were some brave organisers. Anyway, back to Z&G. I haven't seen their dvd. I wonder what it's like? Next time they are in Cape Town, will be for Coke Zero Fest in April. They are playing with one good band and a stack of average bands with good marketing, and then South African bands. Fun.
So, barring Oasis, the South African acts are more exciting for Cokefest than the International ones. What a load of tripe! Now that aKing have joined the bill for the Cape Town leg, I totally want to pay R600. Not. I like them, but please get some decent International acts.
Anyway, here are aKing's tour dates for the next while:
Date: 13 February – Venue: UCT, Cape Town– MTV Campus Invasion
Date: 27 February – Ramfest Venue: Nekkies, Worchester, C.T
Date: 12 March Venue: MFM Rockshow, Stellenbosch
Date: 22 March Venue: Kirstenbosch Gardens, C.T Cover: R50 adults / R30 scholars Other info: Collaboration with Ghetto Sound.
Date: 10 April Venue: MK Kaktus Sessions, KKNK Cover: R50
Date: 17 April Venue: Wilgenhof Carry 6, Stellenbosch
Date: 25 April Venue: Ratanga Junction, C.T
The big one is obviously the Cokefest on 13 April. If you have R600 lying around and are not too sure what to do with it, spend it on seeing them on stage.
Wow. How disappointing. The lineup for Coke Zero Fest has been announced. Check it!
The best band is Oasis. Snow Patrol is ok I guess. But last year's show and lineup was way better! Other International acts include Panic at the Disco and Bullet for my Valentine (who I have never heard of). From what I have been told, Bullet For My Valentine made it onto the bill ahead of Queens of The Stone Age and Swedish rock legends, The Hives. That's ridiculous.Why don't organisers give us what we want? R600 for golden circle last year, but then there was awesome music (mostly). This year there is one maybe two decent acts. And we still have pay 600 for golden circle. They are certainly not living up to last year's standard. After tallying the votes, this is what the organisers reckon we want. How sad.
The local acts so far are The Dirty Skirts (hardly surprising) and Zebra & Giraffe (good work lads). Two more are to be announced.
The dates and venues are The Newmarket Racecourse in Joburg on 10 April 09 and The Ostrich Farm in Cape Town on 13 April 09.
The reason for the delay in this (hopefully) much anticipated post is due to, quite simply, my inability to put into words what this year's Cokefest was like.
It started as any festival starts with the smaller local bands trying to get the crowd amped, while we (the crowd) try to conserve as much energy as possible for this marathon of international music that was to come!
30 Seconds got things going too with Jared Leto proving a crowd favourite with his very lose mouth and overdose of makeup. The actor rose literally as he climbed the scaffolding on one occasion and sang to the masses from about 20 metres up. He had a favourite word which if he used it 30 times, it was conservative. Someone get that man a Thesaurus!
Kaiser Chiefs were fun and lively and got everyone bobbing with the oh so familiar Ruby and I Predict a Riot among others. Front man Ricky Wilson tried to compete with Jared as he scaled about a third of the scaffolding making his attempt look pitiful. I think he was pretty drunk. English man and South African sun, it is the way they are! But they were enjoyed.
Good Charlotte don’t count for me, I left to get food while they played. Not my scene. We were back however, for their last song, Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous. It was a fun sing along, but I was glad when it was over.
In an attempt to get real close to the stage for Muse, one had to stand through over an hour of the band before just before them. Luckily, that wasn’t hard, as it was Chris Cornell (the lead singer from Audioslave and SoundGarden). My gosh! So good. They came on stage, and I had no real expectations. I was just there to push forward. But their first song, Teach me how to Live (old Audioslave song) was so mindblowing. He was loved. And why wouldn’t he be? He has a voice that makes most singers sound like adolescent boys. I was so impressed, especially, because I was a little bleak at the fact that I was going to Cokefest for one band, Muse. But wow, I will see Chris Cornell again any day!
Then, it was time for what all my mates and I had been waiting for, for years. Muse. They did not disappoint. I have watched a few live dvds of Muse performing at various places, but nothing compares remotely with seeing them up close and jumping like no one is watching. They were so amazing, its pretty much all we (my friends and I) have spoken about since Monday. I managed to get within a metre of the front. It was pretty special. Dust was flying from the jocks moshing themselves into a tiz. I think it is safe to say that everyone in the golden circle felt, on Tuesday morning, like they smoked a carton of cigarettes the night before. Throats throbbed, but that was Tuesday. It got so dusty and crazy, that afterwards my one friend thought I was wearing makeup.
I got an interview with MTV. Pretty sweet.
Korn were good I guess, not my scene, but I can appreciate that they are the best at what they do. Unfortunately for them, their momentum kept being broken by sound issues. But those who travelled to see Korn, didn’t mind; so long as their heroes came on again and finished strong.
All in all, Cokefest was a huge success! The organisers could have ordered the lineup of bands a little differently though. They should never have put Kaiser Chiefs just after 30 Seconds to Mars. And, as far as I am concerned Good Charlotte should have opened for the South African bands (thats just because I don't like them). Hopefully they (the organisers) will try better themselves next year and we will see some very special acts like Kings of Leon, The Strokes, The Killers, The Kooks and other exciting bands. And maybe finish the festival with an electro type band so everyone can get their groove on. A band like Hot Chip would have been perfect! It is definitely worth looking at getting some decent South African acts who create some sort of incentive to be at the festival early.
Basically, if you are not coming to My Cokefest you are in the sad minority, and if not sad, then the minority in denial. Check the lineup this year in running order below(for Cape Town). Now, I have no clue who the first two bands are, but I know Prime Circle, and I won't be too sad to miss them.
Shy Guevaras Van Coke Cartel Prime Circle 30 Seconds to Mars Kaiser Chiefs Good Charlotte Chris Cornell Muse Korn Because of South Africa's location on the globe, there are not too many bands keen to make a massive detour to come to our parts. Its not exactly on the way to anything else. We need to take advantage of all the International acts that come our way. Having said that, the only band that really tickles my fancy, is Muse. On hearing that I was going to see Muse, my friend, Stevie (Civil Twilight) said, "My gosh! You're gonna soil your pants for sure." So I am excited. He has seen them once or twice in the States. Basically, it should be a load of fun. As far as tickets go, there aren't any Golden Circle left, but there are still Unreserved standing behind us in the GC.
I love music, and most things that relate to music. I also enjoy writing. So I have decided to create an amalgamation of my interests. Therefore, Smack Talk serves to entertain, create awareness and be an outlet for my interests.
If you have a band and would like to be seen, known and loved, you can email me. richardcoleking[at]gmail[dot]com
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Noel Gallagher (Oasis guitarist and vocalist if you were wondering) said this on the Oasis Myspace after the Joburg show:
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