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Zebra & Giraffe By Zoe Henry It’s one of those perfect Cape Town Saturday nights. The sky is clear and the stars twinkle lovingly from above. Everyone standing in the queue thanks whichever God they pray to that there’s no chance of rain. The queue is wrapping around the block and they’ll be standing there for a while. The air is just warm enough to be able to leave your jacket in the car. Text continues below the image gallery...
Once inside, the thick, smoky air hits you in the face like John Cena with PMS. You squint through the sweaty smog trying desperately to find your friends. Your eyes sting, then burn, then stream. After a few minutes your tear ducts decide it isn’t worth it and they shuffle off their mortal coil. Finally you see your friends. They weren’t savvy like you. They forgot to book their tickets in advance, so they’ve been here since 8pm to ensure entrance and are well on their way to being drunk and disorderly. “Woohooooo!” they holler as you come into their view. Seriously? Has it already reached the “Woohooooo!” stage of the evening? Better get to the bar and catch up. The bar area is worse than Canal Walk on Christmas Eve. People are shouting orders at the bar lady, convinced she’ll hear them above the hoo-ha. They’re wrong. After a long wait and an argument with a girl wearing fairy wings about who was at the bar first, drinks orders are placed. A Jagermeister to take the edge off, a double Jack and lime to help get to where your friends are, and a beer for later. It’s going to be a while before you brave the bar area again. Back with your posse, you shout the breeze while you wait for the band to start. There’s some motion on the stage and suddenly you see the silhouette of Greg Carlin’s perfectly coiffed locks on stage. Bathed in the dim, red light, the band members look like characters out of film noir. But then the band starts up and any vintage image is blasted away and replaced with straight up indie pop rock. Zebra & Giraffe are nice. They are nice guys with decent clothes and hair. If you were going to take a musician home to meet your mom, one of these guys would be the perfect candidate. And they’re good musicians too. They play their instruments with well-rehearsed precision that puts them in a league above many South African indie rock bands. Although Greg’s voice may not have amazing range, he knows what he is capable of, and what he does, he does well. For adult contemporary, radio friendly, easy listening pop rock, Zebra & Giraffe tick all the boxes that need ticking to make their product a quality one. If what you’re looking for from a band is to be able to sing along, then Zebra & Giraffe won’t disappoint. But if you’re they kind of person that needs to be challenged by what they listen to, you may find the Zebra & Giraffe experience a slightly unfulfilling one. Once they’d played their last, come back for an encore, and vacated the stage once more, it was time to party. Introducing The Wedding DJs. Now let me tell you something about The Wedding DJs. They are exactly what they sound like. DJs who play the type of music you hear at weddings. Roxette, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston. If you used to sing it into your hairbrush in front of the mirror, they’ll play it. And you will sing along. And mean it, miming the hairbrush that you thankfully don’t have with you. When your voice is hoarse and your knees are grubby from kneeling on the floor while air guitaring the solo from Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing”, it’s time to go. Hoping and praying that the fact you still know all the lyrics to Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” stays within the confines of this room… “Slam your body down and a zig-a-zig-ah.” |
