The Avengers vs More Avengers

Today's Madame & Eve cartoon by Stephen Francis and Rico is one of the best I've seen all year. Not only is it poking fun at South Africa's most prominent politicians, but it also makes light of frustration being caused due to the latest Marvel movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron is being filmed in down town Johannesburg. Several of the streets in the inner CBD have been closed off while Hulk runs amok, causing even worse traffic than normal in the area. Good thing I'm not planning on going near that part of town for quite some time still.

Chevelle live in South Africa

After cancelling their 2011 tour of South Africa, Chevelle have announced that they will be coming to South Africa later this year. Two performance dates have been announced; 31 May in Cape Town, and 02 June in Johannesburg. The chosen venues are on the smaller side, which could mean that the event organisers are worried that Chevelle may not pull a crowd big enough to fill some of the larger concert venues these cities have to offer. Sadly, this means that the event may sell-out quicker than many fans may anticipate, leaving some disappointed at not being able to see Chevelle perform live. However, if tickets do sell, there is always the possibility of additional shows being added to the calendar. Tickets haven't gone on sale just yet.

If I have sufficient funds, and I plan my next visit home carefully, I may just be able to catch both shows...

Corax: Doom/ sludge metal from Johannesburg

Corax was conceived by Brent and Patrick during May 2010, and they have been jamming intermittently since. After two years of writing material, the duo recorded their début, self-titled album in approximately 18 hours during April 2012. 

You can listen to the opening track below, or follow this link to download the entire album for free. While doing so you can read a review of the album across on The Sludgelord.

The Prodigy are coming to South Africa.

The Prodigy are returning to South Africa in November/ December for Synergy Live 2012. They'll be playing in Cape Town on 30 November and Johannesburg on 1 December. Too bad I'll be in Bangkok.

LGBT activists disrupt Gay Parade

This weekend Africa's largest and longest running LGBT event, Joburg Pride took place. Intended as a celebration of all things gay, there is strife among the various factions within the community. 

March organisers and members of the activist group, One in Nine, clashed violently. Initially marchers mistook the folks from One in Nine as members of an anti-gay group, and showed unnecessary hostility towards the protesters.

An incident caught on camera (below) shows members of One in Nine, wearing shirts that read "stop the war on women's bodies," retaliate by pushing and kicking a woman. What a wonderfully hypocritical way of promoting an anti-violence campaign. 

Regardless of what happened to incite this particular altercation, these were the acts caught on camera for all to see. It is sad to see people fighting for the same rights, ultimately fighting one another.

In the City - Jhb

A few months back when it was announced that Bloc Party were going to be playing in Cape Town, I was pretty bleak as it was their only performance announced. After some thought, I figured (hoped) that surely if the 'Powers that Be' were flying an act like Bloc Party to South Africa, they would do so for more than just one gig.

Weeks past. Nothing was mentioned about additional Bloc Party gigs. The smug people in Cape Town with concert tickets got smugger. I seriously started considering making the journey back home just to see Bloc Party. I'd missed them a few years back in Edinburgh, as I only found out about the gig months after tickets had sold out. I didn't want to miss them again.

Mid July, it suddenly happened. A Johannesburg friend posted a picture of tickets with the Bloc Party logo on them. At first I thought they were just bragging about getting RTD tickets, but upon further inspection I noticed that the venue was here in Jozi.

Much excitement!

I followed this up, discovering that a new mini festival, In the City, was organised around the gig, and that tickets were affordable. Instead of waiting to hear who the opening act(s) were, I immediately procured two tickets, and began waiting A) for 5 October 2012, and B) to find out who the mystery opening act(s) were. It was later announced that there would be three local opening acts.

Great news! (Despite not actually knowing who they may be)

Today however, the first of these three acts was revealed to be the Johannesburg based group, Shadowclub.

I haven't seen them perform live just yet, but I have seen two of the members performing in other bands. If the sum truly is greater than its parts, then I doubt these guys will disappoint.

Listen to Shadowclub's music here.