IN ALL THEIR GLORY
REUNION tours are always celebrated by music fans as it gives them a chance to relive concerts by their favourite bands. It’s also an opportunity for the younger generation to experience artists enjoyed by their peers first-hand.
It’s infrequent that an iconic band will reunite in its original line-up, so November 7 at the Grand Arena, GrandWest, Goodwood will be an exceptional concert that sees US band +LIVE+ perform in South Africa with its original band members – Ed Kowalczyk (vocals, guitar), Chad Taylor (guitar, backing vocals), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums, percussion), as part of their world reunion tour (+LIVE+ performed their last show in 2009 before disbanding).
The +LIVE+ – The Reunion Tour marks the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Mental Jewellery, which was released on December 31, 1991. Some of the Secret Samadhi album’s lyrics were inspired by Indian philosopher and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Starting out as a trio under the name of ‘First Aid’ in the early 1980s, +LIVE+ is a multi-platinum rock outfit from Pennsylvania, has sold over 22 million albums worldwide and scored two number one albums: Throwing Copper, which sold eight million copies in the US, and Secret Samadhi, which hit number one on the Billboard Top 200 and eventually went double platinum. +LIVE+ have enjoyed a string of noteworthy hit singles in the mid-1990s including I Alone, All Over You, Lakini’s Juice and Lightning Crashes, which stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 10 consecutive weeks.
+LIVE+ is no stranger to the South African stage, having performed twice before as a full band and when their lead singer, Kowalczyk, toured Joburg and Cape Town in 2015 for the Throwing Copper Anniversary Tour where tickets sold out in record time.
Kowalczyk says: “After a pretty long break, it was exciting to find that we all felt, in a sense, like we were starting over again… albeit with this amazing foundation and fan base all over the world that we have established. You could say we took the long road home, but it feels good to be back”.
Kowalczyk adds: “My goal onstage is to always have people leave feeling that they received something very special, an inspired feeling that they can take with them and into their lives. That’s what the artists I love have always done for me and that’s what I have always admired and tried to emulate in my own performances.
“I still believe that music stands alone in its power to communicate ‘spirit’, whatever that might mean, to any given fan. It’s a mystery and it’s something I still find so exciting and challenging at the same time.”
The opening act for +LIVE+ is Cape Town alternative pop rock band The Sweet Resistance. They describe their songs as rhythmic, melodic anthems plumbing the depths of life, love and opportunity.
The Sweet Resistance members are Natasha Meister, from London, Ontario and now residing in Cape Town, on guitar and vocals, Mike Vaughn on bass guitar, keyboard and vocals, Gray Lowndes on guitars and Nick Ornellas on drums.
Since the band’s launch, their debut single, Feel, hit the number 1 spot on national radio and spent over three months on the local Top 30.
The Sweet Resistance was included in the South African band line-up that supported The Pixies Tour here.
Their second single, Captivated, held the number one spot on 5FM’s Top 30 Chart for two consecutive weeks. The Sweet Resistance was also nominated for a 2017 Sama for best rock album.
Vaughn says, “Opening for +LIVE+ for us is massive and as a South African act, when you are afforded the opportunity to open for one of the world’s biggest rock bands to capacity arenas, I guess it’s something you dream of. With so many great South African bands out there, it was wonderful news when we were asked to open for them.
“The band is fronted by the very talented Natasha Meister, who has dedicated herself to write and stretch herself in terms of genres. She was immersed in the blues scene and wanted to tap into the rock and pop genres, so she started listening to bands such as Foo Fighters, Collective Soul, Guns N’ Roses and rock acts of the 1980s and 1990s.
“I even went to see Goo Goo Dolls at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in the UK in the late 1990s”. Vaughn adds: “It was quite an experience for Natasha to go back and listen to those artists, so being in a band with older guys like Nick, Gray and I is quite daunting for her and it’s also been an inspiration for her to be in a band with three older wannabe rockers like us.
“She fell in love with rock to the point where she has her own studio where she sits during the day producing and writing songs. We’ve literally been going only a year and we have been rehearsing hard and are ready to make a powerful impact on our fans. Also, I think 25 000 adoring fans are about to meet Natasha and her band.”
The gig takes place at the Grand Arena, GrandWest on November 7. Tickets cost R495-R795 at www.computicket.com.
Doors open from 7pm. For more about The Sweet Resistance, see www.thesweetresistance.com