Van Coke Does it Again

A lot can be said for the progress that Francois van Coke has made personally in his own career, and style of music. But, it’s when you look at the impact that he has had on the South African music scene, that you realise how amazing this guy really is. Francois recently scooped up 5 Ghoema awards for Afrikaans music, 3 of which were for “Toe Vind Ek Jou”, that he did with Karen Zoid.

The impact that he has on the next generation of musicians in SA is also extremely evident, with more and more bands emerging in the Afrikaans Rock genre. One of the new kids that we should most definitely keep an eye on, is Werner Oli4, who was chosen as an opening act at the Aandklas Open Mic Nights, that take place every Sunday (except the first of every month) at Aandklas Hatfield. Another such an act, with probably the deepest voice this side of Narnia, is Nick May, who is also a regular at the Open Mic sessions.

These guys were the perfect choice to get the crowd going on the 28th of May, when Francois did his thing at Aandklas. This show was absolutely mind-blowing, with Nick May setting the tone with Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, and then getting everyone to confess that they got high. Unfortunately, I missed Werner’s set, since I was caught up at a friend’s Bachelor party (congratulations again, Fred), but I have no doubt that he was every bit as amazing.

Francois van Coke’s got a way with a crowd that is near impossible to emulate. When he gets onto a stage, every eye in the venue is on him, and every ear is pitched to hear him perform. Saturday was no different. The rocker gave the crowd exactly what they had been expecting, with a little bit extra, as always. My personal favourite moment was when he did “Toe Vind Ek Jou”, which was very different from the version that we are used to with Karen, but still every bit as impactful.

It was an amazing show, giving a platform for young and upcoming musicians to open for great local artist, after being fairly selected (*cough* jasper dan *cough*) by the guys from Aandklas. I believe that we will soon be just as amped to see Werner, Nick, and all of the other talented kids from the Open Mic Nights performing at shows like this, and possibly festivals like Oppikoppi, but for now, join us on Sunday evenings from 19:00 to celebrate the next generation of South African music.

 

---

Article by Michael King.

Battle for Iron Maiden: The Jasper Dan Dispute

The last few days, the South African metal & rock community has been up in arms about… a silly battle of the bands.

The only problem is, that this battle was not really that silly. At least not the purpose of it. The winner will open for Iron Maiden when they play in South Africa. Now, in principle, I would be all for a properly organised vote-for-the-opening-act type of thing. In this case however, it took the form of a pub-idols style battle of the bands.

Now, without going into any of the opinions, not even mine, I would just like to share with you the bands who were in the final. So you can form your OWN opinion.

New Born Fire

 

De Wallen

 

Deadline

 

 

The Slashdogs

 

 

Man as Machine

 

And ladies and gents, the winners of the night, the best rock/metal band in SA to represent South African music lovers on stage at the Iron Maiden concert… Congratulations on winning this much sought after opportunity:

Jasper Dan

[[EDIT: The above video went private a day after this post was made. I assume something might be wrong with YouTube… Below is another video I could find]]

 

Now, a special message to everyone dissing the winners:
Come on guys, seriously now. Let’s not get a band down. That’s not rock and roll, baby.

I have never had the opportunity to see them live, and I have only heard of them now for the very, first, time. So for all I know, they are really nice guys, hard-working, upcoming musicians.  So let’s play nice.

I said in the beginning that I will not share my opinions, so I will rather ask you to share yours.

Aweh.