Not just Another Friggin' Tribute Show

After an extended introduction lamenting the plight of the wedding DJ, Malherbe takes us on a journey through the musical experiences that have influenced his life so far. This includes his time as a child listening to Engelbert Humperdink, falling in love with David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust at the age of four, his teenage addiction to Pink Floyd's The Wall, as well as his total indifference for Nickelback, Prime Circle, and other current bands. It's all very personal, but he (mostly) steers clear of rant territory by getting the audience deeply involved in this trip back through time.

Child of the 70s

Given that he's a child of the 1970s, most of the material is geared towards this generation. So if you're old enough to remember when 5FM was called Radio Five, expect plenty of laughs. But if you're too young to have spent your weekends listening to the Springbok Radio Top 30 and dubbing music using TDK90 cassette tapes, a lot of the jokes might go in one ear and out the other.

Still, it's nice to be reminded of when radio presenters actually told you what song they just played (instead of yapping about the Grand Prix) and before instant online access to all the songs you ever wanted made you too busy to enjoy the all the songs you already have. Besides, any show that widens our appreciation of music, whether or not it's from your time or to your tastes, sounds pretty good to me.

Another Friggin' Tribute Show (PG-16) is on at the Kalk Bay Theatre in Cape Town until 3 November. For details and bookings, go to www.kbt.co.za.