Town was quiet last Thursday night, but that just meant the show at Zula felt especially loud. An eclectic crowd was treated to an equally eclectic line-up of acoustic singer-songwriter Matt Roux, 80s/90s band Skyt Muties, back on the scene and on tour from Joburg and the thunderously headbanging Arc Reactor.
“Do people usually bring their grannies to Zula?” asked Preetya, completely unironically. Clearly we’d picked an odd night for her introduction to the venue – I hadn’t been to Zula in a while, but the last time I was, there weren’t candle-lit tables and a few couches dotted around the place…
The vibe suited opening act, Matt Roux. I confess I didn’t listen to much of his set as I’m generally not a huge fan of acoustic-ness (or John Mayer, whom he covered and mentioned as a big influence) and because I was chatting to the bartender (we’d been in primary school together, so were doing a quick catchup).
Matt Roux’s two ‘duets’ were pretty cool though – he was joined by Arc Reactor’s drummer, Ramone Pickover, on one and Arc Reactor’s guitarist Dax Brown’s other half, Megan MacKay, on another.
I hadn’t heard of Skyt Muties before and knew nothing about them apart from the fun fact that their drummer David Pickover, is the father of the Arc Reactor’s drummer Ramone. Awesome! So cool that they’re touring and playing together.
The band were also joined by guitarist Jason Guile, who I’ve seen in various bands and shows over the years. They were a lot of fun, with quite a 90s sound that had me a little nostalgic even though I was hearing all their songs for the first time.
I’d been curious to see Arc Reactor for a while. Again, I didn’t really know what to expect but suspected there’d be a lot of headbanging. Patryk (the bartender) confirmed my suspicion, he was impressed by their ‘very loud’ soundcheck and said that they really sounded a lot like Korn.
His comment made me laugh when the lead singer emerged, literally wearing his influence on his sleeve, in a Korn T-shirt. I confess I’m not a huge fan of nu-metal etc. but I had a great time watching them – they’re super energetic, very loud and interact well with the crowd. Plus they have hair that a lot of women would envy.
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Arc Reactor | Skyt Muties | Matt Roux
