The Nomadic Orchestra, Fruits & Veggies and The Bone Collectors at Zula

Friday 22 November 2013

Durbanites Fruits & Veggies are visiting Cape Town at the moment and lived up to all the hype I’d heard about them when they played a great show along with the Nomadic Orchestra and the Bone Collectors at Zula last Friday.

It’s been a while since I last saw the Bone Collectors and I really enjoyed seeing them again. Ken (the band’s avant-percussionist and resident psycho) was particularly entertaining, embellishing his performance repertoire with flame swallowing and angle-grinding…

I’d heard good things about Fruits & Veggies and was really keen to check them out. Things were weird from the moment they started setting up; the drummer came out and did a few stretches, the band members were joined on stage by a strange group of surfer dude-types, and there was a subtle shift in the crowd that was hard to pinpoint until the band later mentioned that there were a lot of Durbanites present and then it all made sense…

It really was an interesting crowd; some memorable characters included a guy slouched against a wall with what looked like a mini accordion under his arm (I kept expecting him to go up on stage at some point but he never did), a girl with a big square box of a bag which seemed to contain only a small camera (which she seemed to use mostly for selfies) and a guy in a Rancid T-shirt with a 6 inch mohawk.

When Fruits & Veggies started playing the diverse crowd made sense – the band are an intriguing mix of genres and sounds and I can see why they’d have a broad appeal. They were super fun to watch with great energy and a wacky sense of humour. Their set was peppered with funny comments and banter, the best being when vocalist Purity said ‘it’s so hot and humid in here…it’s just like Durban!’ and ‘we used to be called Freshlyground…then we moved to Durban and did a lot of drugs”.

She also mentioned that the band’s long-time drummer had left them 5 days prior and their current drummer was playing his first ever gig with them that night. He did an awesome job.

The band’s sound was harder than I was expecting: punchy ska-punk with a South African edge. I really enjoyed them.

There was a bit of a delay as we waited for Nomadic Orchestra‘s drummer Marlon to arrive, but when he did the band wasted no time getting the crowd jumping and sweating again. An apt end to a really enjoyable and energy-packed night.