Karen Zoid and the Amazing Dismantled Guitar
And now, ladies and gentleman, a guest review from a little cynical friend of mine… thank you Jeff. Try not to be too depressed by this.
I had the pleasure of hitting the Karen Zoid show at Zula bar on Friday the 1August. What a good show.
Now, I never was a big Karen Zoid fan. I didn’t like her recordings – they don’t do her justice in the least. What sold me was her live show, which I caught for the first time at the casino in Bloemfontein (when in Rome…). She’s the most incredible story teller, and hysterically funny. She grabs you and keeps you there. It’s all very impressive.
They brought in their own sound, though, and it wasn’t good, to be honest. Zula’s resident sound man would’ve handled it much better. It was hollow, no mids, just tops and bottoms. A little bit of a let down, because most of the dialogue and banter was lost.
Capetonians amaze me though. The show was very well marketed, in print and on air. I knew about it a month in advance, and you could even – whoa man – book at computicket. But god forbid Capetonians think that far ahead. That’s too…restricting. Like, totally unhealthy to think that far ahead man. .. What? Like, COMMIT and shit?… No dude…. Despite all this marketing, the gig was only 3 quarters full. What a waste.
Possibly the best part of the gig was the opening act, a solo affair by a muso named Andra. She looks and sounds very similar to Linda Perry in her younger days. A raw, grating voice with some seriously edgy lyrical content. Keep an eye on her if you have the chance, she’ll do something significant for this industry.
Anyway, by the by, it was worth the R90 ticket. Good, successful, satisfying night out.
Wasn’t that lovely? It makes me feel rather warm and fuzzy inside…
Tags: andra, Bloemfontein, capetonians, computicket, gig, guitar, karen zoid, music, review, solo, sound, zula sound bar
