Blog by Tecla                                               Photo by Inggs

It was so hot on Sunday that I was convinced I’d entered some sort of edenesque version of hell at Kirstenbosch. And snaking in between 12-year-olds with 100 LMGs in my bag to find a good spot to park and appreciate Zebra & Giraffe was a mission and a half. The crux came though when I lit up a cigarette and got treated like one of those 12-year-olds by a khaki-clad man who looked like a retired game ranger.

Needless to say it was rather tough through all this commotion to even acknowledge what was going on onstage but it was somewhere between lead singer Greg mumbling “Barack Obama”, “George Bush” and “Fight! Fight! Fight!” (the name of the track) that I was able to give them my full attention. Now legend has it that Greg is a little bit of a genius when it comes to the bass, the keys and guitar – he plays them all. But stuck behind a microphone, with a guitar strapped around his shoulder, he looked strangely sweaty and uncomfortable. I suppose the heat didn’t help either.

For about half of their set Z&G were a four piece, until bassist Andrew decided to grace us all with his presence after being held up at the airport. He jumped right into the next track, swapping his usual bass for a slide guitar, which he played on his lap - at which point I got into an argument with some random who was convinced it was a lapsteel. Even after Greg announced it was a slide guitar. I think he might know what instruments his band members’ play, reTARD. Moving along... lead guitarist Alan (who is by far the most exciting member to keep your eyes on during a show) also traded in his sexy lime green Fender for a bass, which he plays equally as well, and if it’s even possible, with more gusto.

And then it was crowd pleaser time with tracks like ‘Arm yourself’, ‘Oxymoron’ (my personal Z&G pick) and ‘The Knife’ making the little kiddies jump to keyboardist Rob’s beats like they’d missed their daily dose of Ritalin. To quote Greg “This is awesome. I’d never thought I’d see a mosh pit at Kirstenbosch.” Oh really? Fly down from Joburg next week for Fokof at Kirstenbosch. Then we’ll show you a mosh pit.

This was all followed by a cover of Chris Isaak’s legendary, but oh so cheese-worthy tune, ‘I don’t wanna fall in love’. Greg had a nice little Laudo moment, centre stage on his lonesome and then launched into a track (presumably off ‘Collected Memories’) that I’ve never heard before and it was the first and only time during the gig that I raised an eyebrow and probably said something like ‘Jissus. He’s not that bad,’ while he displayed a vocal range of more than just an octave. Hottt.

So as the sun set, one-by-one sunglasses came off and we got to see exactly how hungover most of the 20-somethings were from the night before. All whilst Z&G wrapped up their lack of onstage antics as drummer Darren threw his drumsticks into the crowd. I saw fear in Inggs’ eyes. Honestly.  And as the pre-pubescent girl who caught one stick sauntered past me, tenderly caressing it, I had a light bulb moment. They might not be my cup of tea, but with a SAMA Award for Best Rock Band under their belt and god know how many copies of ‘Collected Memories’ sold nationwide, Z&G have their commercialized rock facade down to a fine art.

And they sold out Kirstenbosch. High five.

Tecla