Come the appointed night I headed through to Mercury. I didn’t take my camera. This wasn’t going to be one of those nights where I sat around trying to get the right lighting to snap a clear picture to use here. That night I had one purpose: to go completely mental, and nothing would be allowed to hold me back.

First up were newcomers, Dustland Express. With everyone still fairly sober and them being fairly unknown it was the usual Cape Town vibe of everyone standing back watching the guys playing their hearts out without ever joining in. It’s a sad fact that in Cape Town: if you’re not known, no one will be the first to go out there and rock with you. We live in a city where everyone is far too cool to be the first to go out and jam to an unknown band and it’s fucking depressing. People really need to stop giving a fuck and show some appreciation for the music regardless of whether anyone else thinks you look like an ass.

Next up were The Rudimentals – a band with no worries about being unknown. They warmed up the crowd nicely with their infectious ska, playing a tight set as everyone has come to expect from them. My one comment is that they have become more serious over the years, more mature. While this is often regarded as a good thing

I have fond memories of the heady days when a Rudies gig meant circle pits and stage diving. It was a feeling shared and summarised by a friend in a singe phrase, “Play NoTV.” It’s a song they removed from their setlist and those who remember it don’t know why.

When they left the stage the usual band changeover bar rush occurred, but rather than taking the acquired drinks and waiting casually for the next band, everyone picked their spot to keep a decent view of the screens. It was a worthwhile exercise because the video is truly something incredible to behold.

The ‘Sherry Anne’ video took 2 years to make, was filmed on green screen and was animated by the Hogs’ guitarist Amos Keeto. A feat which explains the time taken when you consider the fact that everything in the video other than the people is computer-generated. It is truly a must watch. To make things easier for you I’ve embedded it in the page, a feat which amazes me every time I get it right. I’m completely clueless with this internet thing.

With the introductions and formalities now over the Hogs took to the stage. While some may have noticed that George was wearing trousers rather than shorts, a completely unheard of event, most did not. Because from the first note they played the crowd went mad, although mad is not quite strong enough to describe the chaos which occurred. For the entirety of the set there was at least one person borne aloft after a stage dive.

There were a few failed stage dives too, most notably the chap who chose to attire himself in his birthday suit prior to taking the stage. Unsurprisingly his jump was a failure, with him as moses and the crowd as the Red Sea; no one wants to risk grabbing a handful of sweaty nutsack. When the band finally left the stage after their encore they left behind a sea of battered but euphoric fans.  This was quite possibly the wildest gig I’ve been to since my school days.

Until the next video, which I happen to know is in the pipeline, (You heard it here on The Daily Discharge, unless I’m wrong in which case I’m gonna come back and edit this so you’ll never prove anything) or, closer to now, the next gig, I bid you a battered farewell.

Be there

Hog Hoggidy Hog recently finished production on their video for ‘Sherry Anne’, a process which has apparently taken over 2 years. I heard nothing about it till now but then what do I know, I just go to gigs to hit the mosh pit and see how many bruises I can pick up.

I have no idea what's going on here but I like it anyway.

The release party will be happening at Mercury Live on Friday (2010-05-07) evening, it will feature ‘The Rudimentals’ and new band ‘Dustland Express’. Entry will be 50 bucks and for that you’ll get Dustland Express, The Rudimentals, the video screening and finally The Hogs. With The Rudeboys and The Hogs sharing the stage a collaboration on a few songs is fairly likely and those collaborations are always somehow more entertaining than the sum of their parts, which, given how entertaining both bands are, is an impressive level of entertainment. Seriously people this is one you can’t afford to miss, if you do you’ll be hearing about it for ages to come as you sit stewing in your self loathing. This is not FOMO, it’s COMO (a term I just made up by bastardising Fear of Missing Out to create Certainty of Missing Out.

Take a look at the preview on Youtube to see what they’ve come up with

Looks pretty cool doesn’t it?

If you aren’t some form of shut in hermit I’ll see you there. If you are you can see the video on hoghoggidyhog.com at midnight on the night. Either way, make sure you check it out.

For other details there’s always the Facebook Event which has a few stills from the production to keep your appetite whetted for the rest of the week.

This year Hog Hoggidy Hog’s album, Method to the Madness has been nominated in the ‘Best Alternative Album’ category. You may have realised that we’re big fans of pork rock here at The Discharge. In fact I’m surprised no one has accused us of being paid marketers for them (we’re not, we just love them that much), so hearing this earns a nod of approval from us. We now wait to see if the judges make the correct decision and send the pork-rockers home with a little golden penis (Seriously, who the fuck designed that thing?)

The competition is:

BLK JKS – After Robots
Martin Rocka And The Sickshop – Its A Filthy Song But Someone’s Got To Sing it
Mix N Blend – Look Mom No Hands
The Black Hotels – Films For The Next Century

We wish them the best of luck on the night and urge the judges to make the right decision.

We also want to extend our well wishes to the following nominees:
aKING
Best Duo, Best Rock Album (Against All Odds), Best Album Packaging (Against All Odds)
Goldfish, Although I hate electro jazz I admit they do it damn well and I respect them for it.
MTN record of the year (Fort Knox)
TKZee, and not just cause I went to the same school as Zwai Bala, I do actually like a few of their songs.
Best Kwaaito Album (Coming Home)

Good Luck from The Discharge crew and bring home a few ornaments.

(The awards ceremony will be live on SABC 1 on the 17t April at 20hoo)

This time however they have decided to do things the right way. On Friday Hog Hoggidy Hog, the greatest ska punk band in Cape Town (and perhaps the country), will be joined by Half Price, The drunkest band in Cape Town (And almost certainly the country), and a bunch of gingers, at ROAR where they will be recording their latest attempt at a live album. The usual vibe is to be expected with everyone in attendance going all out for the occasion as well as ROAR rolling out specials normally only available downstairs at Gandalfs such as 3 beers for R10.

If you miss it you’ll be kicking yourself and if you’re there you’ll be able to sit around years from now smugly reminding people when listening to the album that you are actually on that album, one indistinguishable voice among many raised in salute to pork rock, but most certainly on the album. You will essentially be a member of Hog Hoggiddy Hog for a night.

You'll also be this cool.

So bring along your friends, your allstars, your mosh arm and your incoherent shout along voice and prepare to spend the next week whispering all your spoken communications cause this one is gonna be big.

Where: ROAR, above Gandalfs, Lower main road, Obs

When: Friday 12/02/2010

Cover: R30 (fuckall)

Facebook Event

On Friday Night (11th December) Fuzigish, Hog Hoggidy Hog and Captain Stu will be playing a show at Mercury. That’s pretty much all you need to know. If that information isn’t enough to make you cancel the party you were planning on having (in your pants) to pull through, you’re a lost cause anyway.

But because I feel like a shepherd leading his flock, not to the water but to the wine, I’ll point out that Fuzigish are the guys who, along with The Hogs, started the SA ska punk scene. And they don’t visit often. If you miss this, either you or some of them, will probably be dead by them time they visit again. These are the time scales we’re working with. So be there.

See, I'm not lying, they really are coming.

For the Jozi guys, you can cancel your Saturday plans, Brruuuu. Cause both Hogs and Fuzi will be playing at Cool Runnings in Fourways. The Diesel Whores will be coming along for the ride. It’ll be Schweet Bru. For you guys the tour isn’t as important as it is for the mother city because bands from all over the country come to visit you all the time. It’d be nice if you greedy fuckers reciprocated and sent your bands down here more often.

Of course I suspect our Jozi readership is rather minimal. However, If you are from Joburg let us know, if there seems to be a decent readership up there we will start to cater for you guys by letting you know when we’re sending our bands to visit and posting pictures of our awesome weather, beaches, sunsets, models and mountains so you can close your curtains and pretend for a moment that you aren’t living under a cloud of smog/about to be robbed.

Contact is through the comments. It’s the easiest way of handling these things.

They are just a few of the hundreds of images he took over the course of the weekend.  When he could remember which way to hold his camera. Most of these are shown as-shot, with little or no alteration.

This will (hopefully) be part one of a two-part series of images taken by extremely talented friends of mine.  We hope you enjoy them.

If you’d like to see more of Cameron’s art, you can find him at http://cameronrichards.com, or you can visit his page on facebook.

The Hogs Live at Synergy

Our crew was there to see Hogs, if we missed anything else. And despite any incapacitation or hallucinations, we trooped down to the stage to jam to our heroes.  Check out Kyle’s post to get a feel for what the pit was like.

If you weren't there, you can't understand

Being in that crowd, when you know the words and your friends are around you, is what everyone there came for. And we got it for three days solid.

The Rudimentals put on a jamming set.  Which I sadly missed, because it was 40 degrees Celsius and we were all passed out under the gazebo farm. Fortunately one of us was there to capture it.

Fokofpolisiekar were one of the most exciting bands of the weekend. Unfortunately they swapped their set with the band before them, and we got there late.  But at least we saw most of it. Francois seemed to put just about everything into that performance, and the effect on the crowd was awesome to see.

It might seem like we’re romanticising it, but we’re not. It was every bit as cool as it looks and if you missed it, you missed out.

And finally, the shot which I feel pretty much sums it up. Two crazy characters, as happy as you can imagine, streaked with sweat and dirt, popping up in front of the camera just before the shot was taken.  This is exactly how it came out, and if you want to know in an image how Synergy Live 2009 was, here it is.

Instead I provide my thoughts based on the few flashes of memory remaining after the weekend. I’ve taken this long to write this because I was trying to pull together a moderately coherent recollection to give to you, and unfortunately failed.

The weekend began at 9 on Friday morning. The cold goods were removed from the deep freeze and fridge and thrown in the car. A brief stop off was made at Spar to pick up cigs and gum, the fuel financiers were collected and ensconced in their respective seats, and  the road was hit. Excitement filled the car as we tore up the N1, stopping briefly to load 12 Kg’s of ice into the otherwise empty coolerbox.

On arrival we were greeted with a green grassed, mud free field and a murderously hot sun. We checked in through the gate and found the scouting party. Two heavily overloaded trips later and all the supplies and equipment had made it from the car to the campsite. Beers were cracked, cigs were lit and hearty congratulations were exchanged all round. After a brief flurry of activity the tents were up and more beers then consumed.

A campsite. Similar to ours but not it.

We settled in to wait out the afternoon while constantly adjusting the seating to keep the gazebo farm between us and the sun. At some point the evening fell and the first trip to the stage was made. To see… something. From here things become hazy. I’m pretty sure I saw Dirty Skirts and Zebra and Giraffe. I know I saw Flash Republic. At some point there was someone on my shoulders but I have no idea who. Flash Republic finished their set and ashamedly so did I.

The Dirty Skirts - According to time stamps

Upon waking, the first priority was boardies. The second was the river. After that the recollections fade again until someone pointed out that it was time for Hog Hoggidy Hog. Slops were exchanged for proper shoes and the dash to the stage was made. I downed my beer upon arrival in the knowledge that it would simply water the ground were it taken into the pit. Life became a fight to survive the absolute rager of a moshpit. This is what I live for. And this is what the Hogs live to provide. Life was awesome. A Rocking the Daisies hat found it’s way to my head. I assumed it belonged to a friend and took it back to the campsite with me. It didn’t. Score!

Method to the Madness

With the sun making it’s way out of the sky it was time for a last swim to wash off the dust from a day spent in the pursuit of hedonism. Shorts were swapped for jeans, T-shirts were dug out for the first time in the day and inebriation became the overwhelming goal. Once again recollections become a set of brief flashes. A ride on some vile spinning fairground ride activated my upchuck reflex and despite my best efforts a small part of the day’s hearty excess escaped.

The power went out during a set, possibly Prime Circle. It didn’t matter, good humour prevailed and the power was restored. Glowsticks were acquired, activated, broken open and sprayed everywhere. It seems chicks dig the dude spaying glowing goop around, bear that in mind for the future. In the process of spraying all of my sudden group of disciples I sprayed some in someones eyes. Seemed painful for them, avoid doing that. I also, while spraying a girl, hit her in the arm by mistake and cut her with some or other part of the stick. She seemed to take being stabbed with something full of apparently poisonous fluid better than I took having done it. Goldfish ended and a resupply run was made. Then the night became a blur of electro tent shenanigans and wanton abuse of the human liver.

The most evil machine ever made

After awakening on Sunday, a trip was made to watch Captain Stu. The crowd was dead or walking-wounded. A tour up north ending with Saturday night at Synergy seemed to have taken a toll on certain members of the band. The songs were played to a standard only slightly lower than usual, however the on-stage chatter had descended to idiocy. Most of the crowd identified with the bands’ struggles. As the set ended the realisation dawned that perhaps we had exhausted our bodies’ ability to endure abuse and it was time to give up and head home. Better people than us could give the final bands of the day the support they deserved.

"Why the fuck am I awake?"

The overall impression of the event was that it was well organised.The bands were “polished”. The weather was fucking awesome, the food was well priced, as was the merch. The crowd was young and beautiful and the vibe was relaxed. In a comparison with Rocking the Daisies, Synergy comes out as a definite winner.

Perhaps a bit harsh?

I will be there next year. So should you. Till then, there’s always Ramfest.