It’s the pursuit of a genuine artist to take their art, which is to say themselves, as far as they possibly can. I mean this in two senses. The first is that an artist who makes art in the hopes to present the world with a reflection of themself, the true self. This is rarely ever achieved at first attempt – although examples in history abound. But for most artists creating art that is truly self-reflective is a life-long pursuit that takes multiple tries.
Secondly, a genuine artist takes their art as far as possible in terms of literal distance. Hitting the road with the band or playing abroad in foreign land are two of the most common fantasies of every would-be Rock N Rolla. It is the mark of the genuine article, the real McCoy of musicians who don’t just see this as something to check off but are driven by the art itself to play to a new audience. It could be on a side of town you’ve never been to or it could be a festival on a different continent.
I have observed one common archetype across various music scenes. I’ll call them the Weekend Rock n Rolla. Someone who invariably is satisfied with playing the same damn stage in the same damn bar every weekend until they become bored. Often the case is that this person, who usually happens to be a man, is led by their self-aggrandisement to believe that they are adored amongst their peers. However, in reality, they are barely tolerated.
Each of the acts that played Daisy Jones Bar last Saturday were genuine in both of the senses I have just outlined. All the players on stage, based on work ethic alone, prove themselves to be pursuing artistic self expression by going further. None of these cats are Weekend Rock n Rollas – they’re working musicians.
Dr Lovefield kicked things off with his signature David Berman-meets-Bill Callahan melancholy and snark. Richard Liefeldt (of Retro Dizzy), real name of the good doctor, was joined by friend and collaborator Desmond Kannemeyer (formerly of Runaway Nuns, now in Holograph, Tough Guy, Retro Dizzy). What I love about Des’s playing is his complete generosity to those with whom he shares the stage. He embellishes each of Lovefield’s songs (such as Famous Moustaches of Former Soviet Generals or that one about the scent of Divorce Papers?) with pickings and wah-wahs that seek not to overpower the vehement emotions that make Liefeldt a gifted songwriter and performer, but give his friend what the songs need to feel fleshed out.
Orah and The Kites have been performing and aside from the combination of twin-visionaries Ntokozo Mzimela (vocals, keys, guitar) and Teagyn Gracey (vocals, saxophone) the band has too many talented players to deliver anything but the kind of performance they have come to be known for. I was quite literally blown away by the arrangements which are something of a fusion of dream pop and psych sounds like french psychedialic group Melody’s Echo Chamber.
Dangerfields delivered their haunting shoegaze psyche affair with Lucas Swart’s vocals sounding particularly polished and the band in spectacular form. It is most of the members of Dangerfields who make-up Lucy Kruger’s backing band, The Lost Boys. For me the highlight of the evening was seeing this latest iteration of the band that is a thing of local legend play.
I recorded a video in which Kruger (formerly of Medicine Boy) shushes the crowd through her sheer intensity as she sways to the wall of reverb that the Lost Boys are summoning. She calmly wipes her face before going to place her fingers in a chord on her guitar and belts out two beautiful notes.
Nicolaas Rossouw suddenly kills the crashing snares and the reverb is brought cut. Lucy’s is the only guitar that sounds in the open space created by the shoegaze-less silence and she sings and plucks the notes to A Stranger’s Chest. The crowd let out a collective sigh which is reiterated by Kruger’s lyrics’ “Now she’s all that she was meant to be/ I’m so afraid of what she’ll think of me/ That I can barely breathe.”
All in all a stellar evening was had and my confidence in Revival Co. grows. They have proven yet again that they know exactly who to award a platform to and those they choose are unsurprisingly the most genuine artists in our country. Revival Co. Forever.
Check out the full gallery here.
