Music: Savage Lucy and Cortina Whiplash

It has been a long time since I have been to a rock gig in SA. Partly it's because there aren't many venues in the Jo'burg-Tshwane region that seems to play live rock (with a number of venues having closed down since I moved here), and partly because M doesn't like the one venue (The Bohemian) that regularly features rock bands.

With M away, and needing to kill quite a bit of time before picking up J at the airport at the ungodly hour of 23:30, I decided to go to The Bohemian with just the knowledge that there was some live performances, but no idea who. I only got to see the first two bands since the bands started well after 21:30.

Savage Lucy

The first band, was a three piece (guitar, bass and drums) with no vocalist. It was an amazing set driven by some great musicianship; a medley of styles - the first song had the theme from "in the hall of the mountain king", some had hints of riffs from other well known bands and I think I heard some samba/Latin guitar riffs in the last song.

I was absolutely blown away! There aren't that many bands that just play music, and in the style of Pink Floyd, their songs are quite long exploiting the various instruments (and their effects) to the full.

They have won some awards recently, and this is certainly a band to watch out for in the future.

Cortina Whiplash

They are a 4 piece, all girl, young rock band. After the musical medley that was Savage Lucy, their style was a lot more sedate and a bit more traditional rock. They also had a bit of a "bad girl" attitude, not sure if it was for show or real; but it did feel a bit contrived.

That doesn't mean they were bad. They have a good sound, with very clear vocals. The lyrics were interesting, and they actually have quite a good stage presence. All girl bands are a bit of an attraction on their own; this one has good music to back them up.