Band Or Bust VOL.4 - A resurgence
Article by Evan Cupido
Phorotgraphy by Laura McCullagh
It’s been a while since I’ve immersed myself into “the scene”- a bit of a loose term, if you ask me. An umbrella too, describing any group of individuals belonging to some horrendously specific niche.
But I think this time round it’s rather apt - it described exactly what I was seeing before me, what I was a part of, and what I felt in that moment. It was a place to be. Like the emcees in the naughties spitting nasty bars into the mic - I was in the place to be seen.
What I was a part of that night was the final round of a talent search. A competition welcoming everyone from all of the scenes in the movie that is the creative industry in this city, bringing them together to both partake and witness the musicians competing here in the final round of the fourth year of “Band or Bust”.
Thabo and the Crows
Walking into The House of Machines on any given occasion certainly will put a smile on your dial - it defintiely did for me. Girl, I’ll tell you that I never have a clue as to what awaits on the other side of that narrow bar on Shortmarket Street.
That’s a bit of a fib though, as this time I went in with an expectation, and a bias. Connected to one of the acts on the evening on a level that I’ll unabashedly admit beguiled me to write about, the bias I walked in with was proven when Sivu walked out victorious.
The winner of Band or Bust took myself and the crowd on a journey - not without an honorary mention to the other acts on the evening, demonstrating the diversity of the raw talent the scene sports.
That Friday there was something for everyone, and a special shout out to Thabo and the crows, October Sky and Girls on Film. You were all your own special kind of befok!
Watching an artist walk onto a stage and immediately grab hold of the crowd, before so much as a hum during a mic check leaves their mouth, speaks volumes. This is exactly what I saw on stage when Sivu walked up. Accompanied by a band that could have the whole of Bree Street moving on a Sunday - vendors, visitors, chefs, bartenders, waitrons and even the snobs sipping their Colombar (me) - the group homogenised on stage.
As those first few notes got the crowd moving with a humble, yet stern, command from our victorious vocalist to ‘see everybody dancing!’. They took us on a journey with rhythm, emotion, and seamless edges between the keys and the powerful vocals of our champion, taking me back to what I imagined it felt like to hear a Monique Bingham, Mobi Dixon, Ralf Gum or any other artist connect with any and every Saffa through their sound. I was truly impressed to see someone effortlessly give their all on that stage.
I saw exactly who this person was, who this person is, and what I believe to be a launchpad for an artist that has the capacity to bring back what we’ve lost to the globalisation of the South African artist's sound. I saw a future for many of us up there. A well-deserved victory, I think.
Sivu and NüCLEUS SOUND with the VERVE Team
Thank you to Texx and the City and The House of Machines for providing this platform for the artists in every single leg of this competition, to the sponsors for helping to make this possible, to every single attendee and to VERVE Magazine for giving me the opportunity to give my two cents on the whole thing. I’m stoked to have been invited onboard and you’ll all be hearing from VERVE’s noisiest new member very soon.
