Knave
21st September 2018
Rumours Rock City, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Review and photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
Story time: my name is Matt. You may have seen my name popping up on Ambient Light from time to time and it’s always been in regards to the photos I have taken. I am a South African and I grew up in the music scene in South Africa where I made a lot of connections that I still hold dear to this day even though I have moved to New Zealand and have made even more amazing connections.
I’m currently here in South Africa on a holiday and thought I’d attend a few shows with the perspective of a Kiwi concert goer so that I could impart on you, the reader, what it would be like experiencing the live music scene SA has to offer.
This is my first time attending a show at Rumours Rock City. I have to admit, this is a beautiful venue. It makes me miss The Kings Arms as it has similar qualities. Outside tables and chairs, similar stage size and audience capacity. It’s in the differences that set it apart from what I have come to expect at a show in New Zealand. Ordering drinks at the bar and then being told “I will bring your drinks to you”, imagine that! Your favourite local band is playing and you feel like a drink so you go to the bar and make your order, walk back to where you were standing and have the drink come to you when it is ready. No standing behind a crowd of people and waiting to be noticed since they have so many bar staff and waiters. Then there are the pool tables within view of the stage, so now you can enjoy a game with your friends while listening to the local talent, brilliant. So far, I’m very impressed and hoping we can have a venue fill the gap The Kings Arms has left.
Before long people start showing up and the first band is ready to play. Hiraeth start off with vast amounts of energy and power as this six piece group open up. With Marty on clean vocals juxtaposed to Gareths screaming, it gives their sound a great tension and release that you get when listening to bands like Killswitch Engage. The front of house starts filling up and more people are moving closer to share in the energy Hiraeth are creating. When it was time to finish up their set, they close out with their debut single, Undying.
Something that caught my attention, Brochella, who are putting on this show have a presenter who comes on before each band to hype up the crowd and do some give aways. What I loved about it was that as a promoter they are bringing out international acts like I See Stars, so when they have a presenter come on, he is giving away tickets to the upcoming I See Stars show. It’s great! I completely forgot about how I used to go to shows (and it was something that happened fairly often) – there would be bands with Tattoo sponsors giving away tattoo vouchers and free merch for example. I’d love to see more New Zealand bands have that level of sponsorship where they can not only promote themselves at shows but those that help them achieve more in the music industry. I also think it’s great that local promoters are bringing out internationals and are able to use local shows to promote shows in the future and have these give aways. It’s certainly something I will miss.
Next up is New Skyline Fire. Unfortunately their vocalist Ray was sick and couldn’t make the show, but from my perspective as someone that has never seen them before or heard their music, it was fantastic. I would have never known they had another vocalist had they not apologised for not being on “full form”, but I did think they were very tight, had great energy and their music got people moving so it was a huge win for me. It does make sense thinking about it now that their set was a bit short, but I would have been happy to keep listening to them even if it instrumental tracks. Big ups to them for making the show one man down, they pulled it off.
To keep the energy going, I Believe In Giants are announced to play next…and Then the 20th Century Fox intro starts playing through the PA. I have to admit, that did make me chuckle, for a punk band, it certainly set the atmosphere for what was about to to unfold. Low hanging guitars, bright hair, jumping around the stage and catchy riffs…this Is my jam! Something I need to point out, both guitarists had their own egorizers. Whether they had made them or bought them, I thought this was a small touch I’d love to see more bands doing. For a punk band, having that extra height for jumping or just standing over the crowd, this was very effective and did make their set stand out. Their set consisted of a few covers from A Day to Remember, P.O.D., Linkin Park and Goo Goo Dolls, obviously making sure the audience was able to sing along. They certainly seem like the kind of band to keep your eye on in the future.
And now, the band everyone has come here to see, a band that was in hibernation for the last 6 years, Knave. At this point in the night, I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the front, everyone who was playing pool or sitting outside has now come in to try get as close as they could to the heavy weights in the South African metal scene. Christopher seemed as though there was never a gap between playing live and his control of the audience evident. People climbing to get close as he leaned over with the microphone to have their chance to sing along to old favourites. It’s as though they had never left us, something warm and familiar feeling you get when you are around something you grew up with. Their performance was top notch, the crowd relentless and overall, it was an amazing evening. I wasn’t able to stay for the last act (Deadline) but if they were anything like the other bands during the evening, they would have kept the energy going. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing some more local bands and seeing how the scene has grown, from what I can see, it looks very promising indeed.
Were you there at Rumours Rock City for this brilliant rock gig? Or have you seen Knave perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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In 2005 I worked at Vagabons as a waitress, Friday nights were metal nights. This is where I have gotten to know and love Knave. After missing out on some shows after that I saw Knave again for the first time in a long time at Doors Nightclub in Edenvale alongside Your Name in Neon and The Narrow. When Knave played “Taunt and Tether” it took my breath away. I remember standing right infront of the speaker so that I could experience the insane feelings the song creates. Since then I watched every single show I could. Seasons Wither, Woodstock (can’t remember if they played at the Youth Festival or Thorn Rose Festival at Tempos), nevertheless I did my utmost best to see them every time. My most memorable experience was at Woodstock when my brother got them to dedicate a song to me, gave me an oversized t-shirt and gave me some jagermeister on stage. Friday night was completely and insanely amazing, far beyond my wildest dreams. Knave is Epic and all I can say is that I feel so sorry for my very cultured and well educated(in local music) kids as they will never be able to experience Knave the way that I did. All that they will ever know is the CD’s that their mom plays in the car. To the band members of Knave: Thank you for leaving us with 2 brilliant albums(eventhough it will never compare to you live) and treasured memories that will last a lifetime.