Hello, it's been a while! (Part 1: South Africa)
Recapping the last couple of weeks. Take a seat and dig in.
Hey cybernauts, sorry to interrupt your almost-the-end-of-the-week groans.
We’ve been so busy with work, and limited by disruptions on our internet service, we’ve gone over a full month without letting you know what’s up in the SF universe. So, we’ve decided to send you a newsletter divided in two, so we can carefully tell you everything that’s been going on.
So, this week, we have the following to share with you:
Post South Africa cooldown
A new tune
Highlights of South Africa
Another trip to South Africa, wishing we could stay a bit longer
So, a couple of weeks back, we went to South Africa for a couple of shows. I’ll say off the bat, the worst thing about travelling there is the travelling itself. The company we decided to go with was terrible at making you feel comfortable, delayed flights, and we had a 5h scale at the Luanda airport, which was a test to our patience.
Eventually we landed in Johannesburg, where Sihle, Allas and Given were waiting for us with cold beer and warm smiles. It was the reception we needed. We then went straight to the hotel in Pretoria, and after we went to dinner, but our bodies were asking for rest, as we would have to be up at 10:00 for soundcheck!
It was the first time we went there with Fred, so it would be a whole new live experience for whoever saw us back in 2017. And, since we had 3 shows in Cape Town in a row, we decided to try and change up the set, for us and for whoever attended, to be hearing something different. Here’s how the shows went:
Pretoria - Halloween PTA
Our first show outside the Cape Town area, and it was a blast. We played at 16:20 and people were vibing to it, dancing and even moshing up in the front. We caught a few surprised faces, which is always what we aim for playing a new town. Furthermore, we finished the show all wet, because it was fucking hot outside, and gasping for air, which we later learned and realized why: the area of PTA/JHB is around 1,750 m above sea level, making the air a lot thinner than what we’re used to.
Wish we could’ve played a little bit later, but it also gave us some freedom to explore the fest and meet its people.
It was also the day of the Rugby World Cup, and South Africa was in the final! We watched the game on the big screen, although we don’t really understand the rules of the game, and boy oh boy, the energy was electric. After the final whistle (SA won!), people were ecstatic, and you could feel that in the air. A great show, paired with a great experience, we’re most thankful!
Setlist:
- Electric Piety
- Zombie
- Oscillations
- Within a Bubble
- A Strange Feeling of Existential Angst
- Programmatic Advertising
- Body Craves Data
- Castle Spell
- Monomania (extended)
Cape Town - The Homecoming Centre, Avalon Theatre
So, we knew beforehand that the people attending the show would be seated, so we tried to adapt our setlist to fit that vibe. Although we are not a calm band, by any means, we have some slower songs that don’t need that much of moving bodies, but need attentive ears. There was one legend that got up and tried to get everyone to move their asses - thanks, mate.
We played with Sold Ash, a local band that I can maybe describe as a mixture of Nick Cave and A Place to Bury Strangers. It was a cool, intense show with some guests, so it was an overall cool night for music.
Setlist:
- Colossus Complex
- Mama Kim
- Charlie Don’t Surf/Post Breakup Stoner medley
- Sonic Escapism I
- Sonic Escapism II
- Sonic Escapism III
- Grieving Tomb
- Sleepy Sun
- Exit Song
- Strategic Planning For Your Garden
Cape Town - The District
A day before the show, we had the opportunity to DJ at SurfaRosa, a bar below the venue. We played some of our recent favs and some Portuguese gems for anyone who wanted to listen to it! It was a fun night, for sure!
This show featured the band Dune Rats, who I’ve come to learn are still going at it and still relatively big - so much that they sold out a couple of shows on their own tour, including this one. Good for them.
You could feel the crowd buzzing before the shows started and after the 2 local bands, it was time for us to take the stage. It was wild and ruckus, sonic mayhem from start to finish, we did our job and went even beyond that, featuring on a song from Sihle’s band Tough Guy. A great show, for great people. Wish you could all be there.
Setlist:
- Electric Piety
- Zombie
- Oscillations
- Within a Bubble
- A Strange Feeling of Existential Angst
- Programmatic Advertising
- Body Craves Data
- Exit Song
- Castle Spell
- Charlie Don’t Surf/Post Breakup Stoner medley
- Monomania (extended)
Cape Town - The Moveable Feast
The last show in Cape Town was craaaazy! We played The Moveable Feast, a (trendy, they told us) small bar/restaurant, and it was packed and sweaty and loud and chaotic. Loved it. It was one of those shows where you feel someone’s breath right on the back of your neck. Crazy.
We played with Black Lung, a local band, and they were ace! Completely ripped it in half.
Setlist:
- Grieving Tomb
- Zombie
- Sleepy Sun
- Oscillations
- A Strange Feeling of Existential Angst
- Forgive Me, Father, For I Have Sinned
- Programmatic Advertising
- Body Craves Data
- Exit Song
- Castle Spell
- Charlie Don’t Surf/Post Breakup Stoner medley
- Monomania (extended)
It was a great close to a run of shows in South Africa, and we do hope to come back soon for a more ambitious run of shows. Love to get crazy down there!
Much love to everyone that came out, that booked us, that hosted us, that partied with us and bought some merch!
And of course, forever thankful for Mark and Suzani for the friendship and love!
A new (old) tune for ya
While on Cape Town, we went into Sonic Nursery and recorded and mixed a couple of songs in a day. One is an original (that’ll come out soon-ish) and the other is a cover of Velvet Underground’s ‘Waiting For The Man’ that we’re making available here for you to listen to!
Recorded and mixed by Ruan Vos at Sonic Nursery, Cape Town, South Africa.
Mastered by Miguel Pinheiro Marques and Clara Araújo at Arda Recorders, Porto, Portugal.
The band chooses its best
The world has asked, and we’ll deliver it: the highlights of this South African run!
Carlos
Best soundcheck: The District. The team just knew what they were doing.
Biggest surprise: Black Cat’s Chew bar. I’m not going into it, it still haunts my dreams.
Biggest letdown: The Cape of Good Hope. As a Portuguese, of course I needed to go there, and it kinda flopped, to be honest. I guess I went in with way too many expectations.
Best breakfast: The hotel breakfast in Pretoria. Never seen so many option of what to eat. God damn, I was full after that meal.
Best dinner: Mark’s ostrich Trinchado. God damn, that was a good meal.
Best show: The District. Immaculate vibes, great show on our end. What’s not to like?
Carolina
Best soundcheck: the moveable feast. It’s funny how DIY shows work differently in Cape Town; they are way more worried about good technical conditions than we were back on our house party/DIY show days. Since this was a show added last minute, we were expecting a quick soundcheck, maybe just mics for the voices and not much more. Instead, Black Lung managed to find a huge PA and they even hired a tech guy! The soundcheck was hilarious, looking back. The guy took forever to set things up and insisted in talking with us via microphone through the monitors even though he was like 2 meters away from us. What should have taken 30 minutes took 2 hours and sure, at the time it was annoying but now is just a great story. The sound guy might have been slow moving, but he was quite a character!
Biggest surprise: weed is basically legal now, and they even have an Uber for weed delivery. That was a pleasant surprise.
Biggest letdown: this is our third time in South Africa, and once again I wasn’t able to go paragliding. I’m sure that I would regret it the minute I would jump off the mountain, but still it’s - bummer to go all the way over there and don’t do anything crazy. At least we went to the beach this time, I absolutely loved going to the sea over there.
Best breakfast: uhh, the breakfast buffet we had in the hotel in Pretoria. They had all kinds of eggs, including a freaking omelette station! I love breakfast and I love eggs, so I could also choose one of the many eggs Benedict I had in Cape Town (go Arnold’s!).
Best dinner: we had A LOT of good food down there, but the Ostrich Trinchado our buddy Mark made for us on the night we got to Cape Town wins this one. The food was absolutely amazing, and the company as well. Couldn’t ask for a better reception.
Best show: the Moveable Feast again. It was packed to the brim and the audience was right in our faces, so it all just fell right.
Fred
Best soundcheck: None. I hate soundchecks, they make me anxious, I'll despise them until my last breath. Period.
Biggest surprise: Everything. It was my first time leaving the Old Continent, so I was a bit overwhelmed all the time and kinda observing everything around me. I'm easily impressed.
Biggest letdown: None. Everything and everyone was super. The electrical blackouts are kinda fucked and hard to understand why are they still a thing but capitalism.
Best Breakfast: Pretoria was sick. Full breakfast hotel on steroids yes
Best dinner: Our great friends Mark and Suzani (miss you guys) hosted us a great dinner at their lovely home. Mark did a Ostrich Trinchado and holy fucking shit sorry mama i don't swear but that Ostrich felt like gold Jesus
Best show: Every single show was memorable. Playing in the Rugby's World Cup Final day and watching the game with fellow South Africans was really touching to witness and to behold the happiness of the people. Avalon Theatre was sick, the sold-out show with Dune Rats was epic top. But the Moveable Feast One was really special. Black Lung was insane (and thanks for setting up the show), shit was packed
That’s all for Part 1, folks!
Thanks for reading this far. Soon goes Part 2!
Have a wonderful week. We love you.
— Sunflowers, the band