Laura's pics & ramblings | things I see and do…

Swellendam, 9 years later

Posted on: April 28, 2011

16 & 17 April 2011

Last month my mom attended and photographed the FASX Airshow in Swellendam, and last week she went back up to do a photographic slideshow presentation and talk for some of the organisers and people involved. We used to visit Swellendam a lot during school holidays so I was keen to come with and see how the place had changed since 2002…

We stopped at the Worcester One Stop on the way up and met some friendly Swedes (with fantastically stereotypical Swedish names) on 2 pink busses. I have a bit of an obsession with all things Scandinavian (and Swedish in particular) so this random meeting was an instant weekend highlight for me. One day when I have large amounts of excess cash, I’ll seriously consider taking a European tour with the Pink Busses.

We then passed this crazy pumpkin place…

And in Ashton, we saw an awesome old cash register in a butchery and this rocking ~~discotheque~~ discotique…

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Posted in Out & about
Tagged cape town, memories, out in the country, photography, planes, river, south african, swedish, swellendam, weekends

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Wolftown band launch with The Bone Collectors at Mercury Live

Posted on: April 26, 2011

Sat 9 April 2011

The Bone Collectors have a great name – one that made me curious about them as soon as I heard it, plus, their next scheduled gig happened to be a band launch – doubly cool. Wolftown was the ‘new’ band being launched – I later discovered that they were the reincarnation of The Ragdolls, another band (with a cool name) who I never got around to seeing…

Mercury was pretty empty when we arrived, which made the promo girls in their elaborate costumes and the sheriff-types in chaps and spurs stand out even more. I felt underdressed, a feeling which gradually gave way to a sense of being under-tattooed as the venue started filling up.

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Posted in Gigs/Live Music
Tagged band launch, brass, cape town, cowboys, dancers, mercury, music, photography, rock, saxophone, the bone collectors, the ragdolls, weekends, wolftown

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Kidofdoom, Popskarr, Bateleur & Us kids know at the Assembly

Posted on: April 24, 2011

Sat 2 April 2011

I commented a while ago that there’s a bit of a lack of post-punk-type bands in SA, interestingly though there seems to be an increase in post-rock-type bands which I think is pretty exciting. Kidofdoom have a good reputation; I saw them only once previously some years ago and quite enjoyed their self-titled album, so decided to check them out again. I was also really keen to see Bateleur who were also on the four band roster.

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Posted in Gigs/Live Music
Tagged bateleur, bow, cape town, gigs & festivals, kidofdoom, music, photography, popskarr, the assembly, us kids know, weekends

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Desmond & The Tutus, The Plastics & She Man Lion at the Assembly

Posted on: April 13, 2011

Sat 26 March 2011

Their performance at Ramfest made me super keen to see Desmond & The Tutus again; lucky for me they were playing at the Assembly. I found out a little late along the line that they would be supported by the Plastics…this was almost a deal-breaker for me – I’d last seen them once some years ago and wasn’t a fan, but I decided to give them another chance…

Desmond & the tutus at Ramfest 2011

I like pretty much any kind of music (except bigband/swing – Frank Sinatra makes me want to stab people) but have a particular love for the post-punk/post-punk revival sound of bands like Interpol, Editors, Wire and, of course, gloom gods Joy Division. There aren’t really many post-punk-type bands in SA and it’s for this reason I really wanted to like She Man Lion.

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Posted in Gigs/Live Music
Tagged cape town, desmond & the tutus, favourites, gigs & festivals, jumping musicians, music, photography, pop, rock, she man lion, the assembly, the plastics, weekends

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J-Day at the Assembly

Posted on: April 6, 2011

Sat 19 March 2011

Jack Parow was supposed to play at K-Day, but because there were complaints from the ooms and tannies that his zefness would spoil the wholesome family fun of the event, he was dropped from the roster…so he held his own event: ‘J-Day’ at the Assembly, featuring Bittereinder and Sedge Warbler as well as the premiere of his latest video, Byellville.