Chasing Friday, Autopilot and The Stremes at Stones

Chasing Friday warmed up the stage with a punchy, lively and entertaining act. And it's no wonder too. The okes are stoked to have just finished recording their latest EP. Which I'm told will be available in a month or so, on the net for download. We were treated to songs of their new album as well as some nicely done cover versions. The bands cover of Times like these, by the Foo Fighters, was dedicated to Autopilot, and got the crowd singing along. My favourite Chasing Friday song by far has to be ‘It's Not Like London's Calling You', with its thought provoking lyrics. ‘Take my hand' is also quite a wicked track. It's safe to say, that should you find yourself caught up in the drudgery of mid-week madness you might find some solace in Chasing Friday.
You can find them on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chasingfriday

Next up on stage was Autopilot. The band kicked off with much excitement, a highly amped crowd and a hot entrance from their lead songstress. Unfortunately Autopilot were plagued by a bad sound setup at Stones. Backing vocals were completely shot and main vocals were dimmed out thanks to the bad sound guys at Stones. The band kept er... spirits high by consuming shots of Jagermeister, and feeding some to the crowd as well. All in all, they pulled off a pretty impressive performance despite their sound difficulties. In fact, between all the jumping about I'm fairly certain that the crowd didn't notice anything was amiss. At some stage in their gig, lead guitarist Kevin joined in with drummer Nic and they both launched out into a wicked drumming session. Autopilot have recently completed a music video for their song ‘Bipolar', which you can currently find screened on Mk. I have really got to hear these guys again when they have a nicer sound setup. You can find them on http://www.autopilot.co.za/

‘Summertime and the living is easy. Fish are jumping'... in the Stremes. By fish I mean fans of course. I'm so glad that I stuck around for the main act this time. The Stremes! What a listening pleasure! The 3-piece completely blew my mind. I take my hat off to the front man in the hat; Wayne Pauli for some awesome riffs, tasty licks and killer solos. The bassist, Benjamin Peacefull had bass lines so potent that they would have Flea scratch his head in awe! And not to forget the drummer; Atom Shape who provided some truly mental drumming and beat those drums like it was nobodies' sister! Their sound can best be described as modern day rock ‘n roll with bluesy old school influences. A must have for any mans cd collection. It's so refreshing to find bands that are not afraid to experiment with their sound; for one song the lead and bassist completely swapped roles. ‘Disintegration' is a really killer track. And ‘Mystery girl' is a sweet song reminiscent of earlier ‘Live' songs.
Find them on http://www.myspace.com/thestremes. And you can find me at their next gig.

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