However, I am constantly amazed at who comes to watch us perform.

KZN is historically avoided by bigger bands (unless a show is organised by a promoter) because audience numbers aren’t great and so it’s just not financially viable. Last week we experienced some of that as we put together these shows on our own. Our team has grown and now consists of a five-piece band, a sound technician and a multimedia technician, so covering costs is not like promoting your average solo act. But we did, just.

I can tell you it’s always worth putting on an RCB show. We’ve seen a lot of people in this province from different walks of life – different ages, different races – at so many of our shows over the past year, and the joy for us is in seeing people walk out of a show feeling recharged about life.

Tuesday 24 August – Maritzburg Musicians’ Club

Maritzburg’s best-kept secret is hosted at the Red Door, and the most surprising element for me is always the generation who attends – people in their 40s and 50s who love live music.

They’ll venture into the city from their cosy suburban homes on a chilly winter night to support local musicians and bands. Epic.

For us the Red Door has been a familiar haunt, and by now it’s a quick set up, as Jamie’s got everything at his fingertips when it comes to sound – from cables to mics to monitors… it’s a dream.

Our show went well and I’m glad we managed to cheer up Chris Palframan with our CD giveaway.

Wednesday 25 August – Rockafellas

Live on stage at Rockafellas

Rockafellas is a stellar venue in PMB, hosted on the west-side of the Golden Horse Casino overlooking the race track. The owners have been looking to incorporate more live music into the line-up of events, but have found a niche in a dance club night.

In the lift on the way up to the gig.

We were fortunate enough to be given the venue and had to run everything ourselves – from managing entrance at the door, to putting up sound and screens and lighting. The old adage of “if it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger” rings true.

The thing with the RCB is that it’s not like most KZN solo acts where you just pitch up, plug in and play. It’s a five-piece band, a sound engineer and a multimedia technician at the very least. It’s not an average operation as far as independent musicians go, so set up times and general organisation takes more energy and more time.

The crowd, though smaller than expected, was a young crowd – vibrant and joyous, and the evening went off superbly.

Thursday 26 August – St Clements

Live in the outdoor ambiance of the garden restaurant at St Clements.

Durban is fairly untested waters for us, and this was our first time at St Clements. The venue is an outdoor garden setup and is idyllic in its ambiance and décor.

The multimedia aspect of our show worked quite nicely outdoors which was the first time we’d tried it in an open air setting. It’s a dream of mine to perform the show at a venue like the Botanical Gardens, multimedia and all… and first prize would be an evening concert under starry skies. But I digress.

Our audience, while small, was very attentive and appreciative, made up of mostly over 35s. It’s always very rewarding for me whenever people come up to any of us in the band afterwards and offer specific feedback of what they liked, and the show at St Clements was a case in point. It’s nice to win over an audience who owes you nothing and is obviously discerning musically.

Saturday 28 August – Farmer’s Market

Ryan and Rudi go ol' skool.

The idea of a 6am gig is fairly ludicrous for most bands, but we thought that, for one gig this week, we’d go to where the people are, rather than getting the people come to where we are.

And seeing as our vibe is family friendly and we enjoy the outdoors, the farmer’s market seemed like an idyllic spot as we enter into spring 2010.

So Rudi and I set up camp, real old school – completely unplugged (no electricity) – and busked our way through songs old and new. Interest in our music ranged from an intrigued Asian fellow, some grannies stocking up on the fresh produce and even the town crier Peter Southwood. Yup, Maritzburg still has a town crier.

The year has been an epic one so far for the RCB, with the launch of our new album On The Edge, and it’s not over yet.



Related posts:

1. Post-Maritzburg Musicians’ Club
2. A week in Cape Town
3. Show Reviews
4. Musicians’ guide to dealing with audience apathy

The MMC is really growing. Not sure on exact numbers, but it looked like 100 people were through the door, which I’d never thought possible. Local people seem hungry for live music venues and the Tuesday night slot really does fit the bill, being a week-day it’s not too rowdy as a night out, and the tables-and-chairs vibe in front of the stage works well. It was great to see people from all over Maritzburg and the midlands region come to last night’s show – fellow musicians, lecturers and friends I know from varsity days, friends from Grace and from other corners of the city.

Hairy Legged Lentil Eaters front man Brian Bedingfield introduced our performance as a “swan song”, and told the audience “before they become really famous, they’re here for one last time to perform tonight”. Turns out Roberto bribed him into saying that. Some bruin ous…

Last night we introduced five new songs from the upcoming album. The new songs definitely bring a variance in the atmosphere of our set, which I really like. It’s good to have the joyous, the poignant, the quirky and the melancholic all mixed up into one set. Well, I think so anyway.

Another exciting addition was having Rudi on vocals. I hauled him up front for a few numbers with the shaker and backing vocals, which I know people enjoyed. It’s cool when things (like drummers) move around on stage. Diversity. We’re big on diversity. There was even a busked bass solo last night. Not often that happens!

So the preliminary set as the trio worked well. (Sigh of relief.) Our stage-diving keyboardist Jon flies in on Wednesday to join us for the next few shows. So if we can prevent him from messing everything up then we should be all set for our first tour of Cape Town.

Seriously though, it will be good to have Jon and Tam join the mix. You’ll love the new vibe… see you all at Alliance Française in Durban!



Related posts:

1. Musicians’ guide to dealing with audience apathy
2. CD Launch
3. A week of shows in KZN
4. Hexagon Dive after thoughts