Gazelle, Jeremy Loops & Co and Two Minute Puzzle at the Assembly

Saturday 21 may 2011

So Saturday May 21 was supposed to be the rapture, or the end of the world or whatever…obviously it wasn’t, which is a little embarrassing for the Camping Clan but just as well as the 6pm apocalypse would’ve meant missing out on a night of fun at the Assembly with Gazelle, Jeremy Loops & Co and Two Minute Puzzle.

Headliners Gazelle are embarking on a Southern African tour, so the Assembly’s decor matched the whole African kitschness of the band – a violently orange Serengeti sunset was projected onto the screens (later replaced by closeups of a lion and a zebra) and (hideous) crocheted doilies, palm fronds and leopard print fabric all adorned the stage.

For some reason, I keep wanting to call Two Minute Puzzle ‘Two Minute Pizza’…guess it’s because I think of two minute noodles and then get confused with the Zs…anyway, last time I saw them, I really wasn’t very impressed…this time round though they won me over and I found myself smiling and enjoying them much more. Borrowing Stepdog’s drummer [edit: he wasn’t borrowed, he’s joined them ] definitely helped, as did the added keyboard and guest appearances by album/EP collaborators Jeremy Loops, Gazelle’s Xander Ferreira & Inge Beckmann.

Up next were Jeremy Loops and the usual suspects that make up his ‘& Co’: emcee Trak, saxophonist Jamie Faull & guitarist Andre Geldenhuys. They didn’t disappoint and were entertaining as ever.

Gazelle seem to get quite a lot of flak, particularly for their whole colonial/ironic portrayal of Africa…personally I’m rather indifferent about their antics, and think they’re perhaps just a little silly. Still entertaining though – their performance definitely felt more about the visuals than the music and in some ways it was a bit of a visual overload. There were 2 dancers/backup singers, a bongo player, bassist, drummer, DJ, singer, marimba player as well as 2 or 3 other guys who constantly disappeared and reappeared with different costumes, props and instruments – at times it did feel a little like being at some kind of circus…

I’d watched them just once before and that was at Ramfest, where their ensemble cast would’ve felt less claustrophobic on stage (though they had like half the performers that time round)…Still, I enjoy their music, think they’re fun and would say it’s worth seeing them live.