52 Weeks

I love it when bands approach me and ask me to attend their gigs - it’s hugely rewarding, and occasionally I even manage to bum a free beer or two off of these suffering artists. (Hell, I should be the one sponsoring the beer, not them). Such was the case with The He-Shes, a brand new shiny act that’s just kick started themselves in Jo’burg. Kevin O’Grady (drums) slipped an email into my inbox and I was only too keen to get to the gig and meet the guys.

I saw their second live gig ever. I couldn’t believe that it was only their second gig when Kevin later told me. The band members portrayed comfort, charm and effortlessness on stage (and off), exhibiting unexpected maturity in their act. I later confirmed there is a good deal of experience for the band members prior to the formation of this band.

The small yet solid crowd was feeding off the band’s good vibe as The He-Shes’ rock-’n-roll-meets-New-York-punk-rock sounds chased their feet into foot-tapping, dancing and hand-clapping.

I must admit there was the occasional bit of irritating sound feedback, something to be expected for a band of this age I suspect, but as the set drifted on this was progressively corrected.

Nick’s voice is really distinctive, and similarly powerful, but he manages to control it well into crafting some solid vocals. I had the words “Tom Waits” stuck in my head throughout their set.

After the conclusion of set the band were sociable, friendly and excited to share a good time with all. I ended up having long chats with both Kevin and (surprisingly) Nick, who has the reputation of being super energetic and rarely gets tied to a conversation.

All in all, some good rocking at the Bohemian. (And I haven’t even said a thing about the spectacular Jim Neversink) (it will come soon)

Juicy musical delight Flickr photos here.

Here in fact is some footage from the exact same gig I attended (ripped off The He-Shes Myspace page). Click through for more vids.
Country Feeling

Quality of sound: 7.6

Rockstar Rating: 8.5

Overall Rating: A promising 8.3 (Don’t let me down boys…)

Why 52Weeks? I’m NOT Dion Chang…

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 3:30 pm and is filed under Gigs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.