Gangs of Ballet hang up their tutus
AFTER seven years, award-winning band Gangs of Ballet are calling it quits. In their Last Tour across South Africa to give fans a final taste of their music, Brad and Josh Klynsmith and Jonathan Rich will perform at RepubliK in Durban North tonight.
Speaking about their final weeks as a band, keyboardist Rich said: “We felt that our season together has been coming to a close. So there’s no drama. Things just come and go and I think it’s about knowing when to move on to different things. We’ve achieved a lot, been through a lot together so it was just a good time to close this chapter.”
Having scooped numerous accolades since 2011, Rich said there had been many highlights over the years. “The band has been such a massive part of our lives. There have been so many personal things and band stuff we’ve gone through.
“All of us have got married. From a band point of view, the first time we heard our song, Breaking the Silence, play on 5FM, I was driving at the time and I smiling from ear-to-ear, and remember thinking, ‘Jono, what are you doing?’ People would be wondering why I’m smiling like a loser.
“Being nominated for a bunch of awards and winning some, with creative work, you never know how it will be received.
“There have been so many highlights like playing with One Republic and Switchfoot, playing at events like Joburg Day with a crowd of 30 000 people. It’s cool because we’re ending off our last show in Joburg.”
They recently released their final and third EP, Form and Function Part 3.
“The rest of the songs the public have never heard before and we’re going to try our best to play a couple of songs.
“It’s going to be the first and last time so its happy and sad in a way.”
Rich said he was going to miss performing to thousands of people, the energy of the crowd and hanging out with the rest of the band members so often.
“The guys are like brothers and together with all our wives, we’re like one family.
“We spend more time with one another than I do with my own family or than I do with my own wife. So things are going to change a bit.”
Asked what to expect from the show in Durban, he said: “There will be new and old tunes. And for our Durban show, our bass player Hardus de Beer will be joining us for older tracks.
“We haven’t played together for four years and the band has evolved since then so it will be cool to go back to some originality. It’s going to be an exciting day.”