March
2019
The Sleepers, one of my long-time favourites, performed a very special show at Mercury recently to celebrate the decade-long anniversary of A Signal Path.
It was a nostalgic and emotional night, so much so that I struggled a bit to express my feelings in words but tried nevertheless: pictures and musings after the jump.
Is there a word for that intense, often bittersweet nostalgia that so often and so strongly comes from music? Whatever you call it, there was a lot of it going around Cape Town last week.
Still riding the wave of emotions from The Cure the night before I made my way to Mercury to watch The Sleepers, long-time favourites of mine, celebrate the ten year anniversary (almost to the day) of their debut album A Signal Path.
I got there very early – loadshedding meant I could either wait in the dark at home or at Mercury – which meant I spent a lot of time listening to the background music before the show. And wow, was my poor sleep-deprived and time-addled brain confused: local tracks from all around the same era, late 2000s/early 2010s. The Dirty Skirts, Foto na Dans, early Jack Parow… I was suddenly 20 years old again and making my first forays into exploring local live music.
Watching Black Moscow only slightly broke the illusion because I remember them from around that time with a different line-up… Not the fondest of memories to be honest – their current configuration is definitely better and they gave a solid and engaging performance.
My reverie was further interrupted during the change-over as the background music switched to disco hits. Perhaps this was nostalgic for other members of the crowd though, and indeed there were several jokes throughout the night about how many ‘old faces’ had come out.
It was great to see The Sleepers again; the show was beautiful and particularly special as original members were present.
Joining core members Adam Hill (guitar), Steven Jacobson (drums) and Nicolai Roos (guitar) – who flew down from Canada – were original vocalist Simon Tamblyn and previous and current bassists Chris Truter and Calvin de Swardt. Unfortunately not everyone could be there and acknowledgements were given to absent friends Carly Phillips, Jordi Reddy, Richard Harriman and Sean Wienand.
Current vocalist Daniel Botha was also acknowledged and his duties performed by Roos on the haunting “Mine”, the only non-ASP song of the night.
Lining the stage and bar were leftover info/lyric inserts from the original album print run, along with stickers and a free admission flyer for the album launch on March 27th 2009. These were treated by a kind of reverence by everyone, respectfully read but left untouched. Even when the band encouraged people to take the keepsakes home there remained an uncertainty, a reluctance to disturb and most were left on display till the end of the show.
Time travel really is possible through music and the effects are strongest from those songs that appeared in or helped define important times in our lives. They are tied to us forever.
Friday’s show was a chance to revisit and celebrate a shared memory and the result and turnout were great – proof of the importance of both The Sleepers and A Signal Path to so many people.
Reviewed for Texx and the City – original here, photos on Facebook here
