I left my house on a cold Friday night feeling cranky after a long week. The only thing keeping me going was the prospect of seeing The Frog perform for the first time in Jozi. Hot off the heels of their self-titled album, the Italian punk band made a stop over in South Africa for their tour, with the folks at NoiseFix hosting them at the Irish Club for their second show in the country.
I filed in, grabbed a drink, and settled in as Grift took the stage. The Jozi band continues to impress me every time I see them because they keep getting better. Their set was tight and vocalist Zulian Joubert’s infectious energy drives their continuous rise in the hardcore scene.
After another drink and catching up with familiar faces, No Closure was up. The Pretoria band’s power lies in vocalist Estian Smith’s ability to connect with a crowd. They delivered a gritty set. Since their debut earlier this year, the band has set a nice benchmark for how to play around with ways of being subtle and harsh to keep a crowd engaged. It’s high energy, it’s brutal, but it still feels vulnerable in places.
Have you ever seen a dude in a frog costume crowd surfing? It’s one big LOL let me tell you. The Frog came prepared to put on one hell of a show, demonstrating the different between showing up to play a gig, and putting on a well-thought-out, fully crafted performance.
Their music is rough and energetic and it resonates with the times. Angsty anthems like the riff-driven “Come to Fix” and the hard rock anthem “No Way” served as my personal highlights. I got in a little boogey before hanging back to appreciate how technically tight The Frog is. That they stopped over in this country makes sense, some much of what they do fits in with the local scene. And while the show was stellar I do think it lacked a punk band on the line-up.
The increasing frequency of international bands touring South Africa is genuinely exciting, the fact that our scene gets considered for tour stops shows that we’re thriving. And as more international acts visit this year, I hope audiences remain receptive and promoters continue making these shows successful.
NoiseFix’s Steve IIbury told me, “We’re really happy with how The Frog tour went, especially the Joburg and Cape Town shows, where the support for the band was incredible. We’re so grateful to everyone who helped make it a success.”
While the evening delivered raw energy and memorable moments (that crowd-surfing frog costume will live rent-free in my head), it also highlighted the bright future ahead. Here’s to more nights like these.
Photos courtesy of The Urban Playground.
