NOTE: Due to personal integrity, I will attempt to write this review without using the word “brutal”.
We arrived at Nameless Pub (fondly known as Shameless in the local scene) in Somerset West just after 20:00, early for most metal heads, but this was a special night. It was the return of Agro to Cape Town. For those of you with memory problems, the last time they were here was in 2009 when they played Metal4Africa’s Summerfest.
First up was hard rock outfit, The Summer Underground. I had never seen them before, but was pleasantly surprised. The songs were catchy, and their lead guitarist reminded me a bit of Slash (Guns ‘n Roses) partly I think because of the Zack Wylde guitar, and partly because I only saw his face twice during the entire set. Their vocalist had an energy that translated well for their genre, and with a voice to match. As I watched, I came to a realisation; they are proof that not every local alternative band are trying to be Fokofpolisiekar or the Parlotones. Good band, catchy sound; in fact the only criticism I can muster is that I couldn’t head bang to them.
Next up were local metal legends, Mind Assault. Cape Towns longest running metal act. If I have to describe their sound, you’ve obviously been living under a rock the past few years. Unfortunately, we did not get the full Mind Assault experience at Nameless. Standing in for Francois “Flapper” Pretorius was Neill (from Moment of Clarity), according to the band, Francois sustained an injury to his right hand and couldn’t play. What he was doing at the time, however, remains a mystery… Neill seemed to hold his own as a stand in, not faltering in the least during the set. They played old head banging classics like “Hoekom?” and “Suffer” as well as some of the newer stuff off of their recently released album Metal Rites, such as “Volksmoord”, which coincidentally was my favourite part of their set, and not only because I got to scream “Ons skree volksmoord!” into the microphone. Their set was impressive and heavy, as always. Real head banging metal!
As our own legends left the stage, they paved the way for the unstoppable Agro.
Agro is one of the longest running metal acts in South Africa. They started bringing the thunder back in the dark ages of 1993; to put things into perspective, this was before Mandela became president, before Nine Inch Nails released The Downward Spiral and before Rammstein even existed. The point being that they’ve been going for damn near for-fucking-ever. Their stage presence, song performance, as well as general awesomeness attest to this.
I’ve never had as much fun during a set; interweaving their own material with tributes to both Ronnie James Dio and Judas Priest, and due to the addition of a violin; some added riverdance style antics from the crowd. If you missed the show, you missed something truly special! Their set had me head banging from start to finish (except for that part where I “river danced”.) They ended their set with a song of brotherhood, of metal, of friends and having a good time: “We Drink Together, and When We Drink, We Drink Together, Not Alone!”
The sound at the venue was impeccable, the drinks reasonably priced and the general vibe was amazing. The only pity was that the turnout wasn’t very strong, but the few of us that were there, had the spirit of hundreds.
Photography by: Nikky Oosthuizen
1 Comment on Gig Review – Battle for True Metal, Nameless Pub
so goddamn pissed I missed this one, at least I caught the boys at ROAR, but dammit, I wanted to riverdance as well.