HATS OFF TO CHEVELLE (LIVE IN JHB- South Africa)

When I heard (through a friend of mine) that Chevelle were on their way to SA,  I thought this it, no gimmicks, no props, just a trio of audio assailants planning a mind blowing, melodic attack. To me this announcement was like what “Belieber’s” felt when they heard Bieber was coming to SA. Seriously!

Johannesburg’s Carnival city played host to Chevelle’s final, sold-out performance in SA.  The opening act was ShadowClub. Arguably not the most appropriate support act for Chevelle., but a great band nonetheless. And they served as an appetizer to the crowd, while they all eagerly anticipated the main course of the night- Chevelle.

Soon enough, the lights dimmed, the bands logo appeared and the crowd roared as techies were making their way to the stage. Every vein in my body began to pulsate. This was actually about to happen. I was about to see one of my favourite international bands live. A band that I started listening to over 10 years ago! At that point I started wondering what Chevelle fans are called. I mean Bieber has his “Beliebers”, Gaga her “Monsters” and Miss Minaj her “Barbs”.  Surely Chevelle fans need one too!

My train of thought was soon punctuated by a sudden echo..”Howzit hanging Joburg!” The sound of those 3 words drove the crowd ballistic as the band’s onslaught began with Sleep Apnea! Throughout the concert, the band had quite a few film- themed audio interludes. These were random quotes from what I assume are the bands favourite films. I’m so sure one of the quotes was, “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?” Hilarious! Nevertheless, the quotes were great and reflected the bands sense of humour. 

These were some of the Johannesburg highlights:

-       Stage banter between Pete (the vocalist) and Dean (the bassist)-  Pete confessed that he ate a lot of fettuccini and might bring it up. Just some memorabilia for those in golden circle.

-       The Brazier- Somehow, at some point, some rather unflattering lingerie made it onto the stage which Sammy (the drummer) had a good look at.

-       The baby banner- A woman in general admission created a banner saying she wants to have the   band members babies. Pete read it out loud and said it would cost her. 10 quid to be exact. But then changed his mind and said he would do it for free.  

-       Pete played unplugged- unintentionally! Yes this happened during their performance of The Red. I’ve posted it below. Have a look. It’s definitely a memorable moment.

-       The sick set list- Unlike most bands who deliberately left out some major hits when they toured SA (Think Linkin’s omission of Crawling, RHCP and Scar Tissue as well as Metallica and The Unforgiven) Chevelle sang all of theirs.  From Vitamin R to Send The Pain below. My personal favourites being Forfeit, Still Running and Pinata.

-    Oh yes, and not forgetting the specially "Made for South Africa" T's!

Overall, their performance was impeccable. Pete’s vocal talent-undeniable. And the concert- unforgettable. All I can say is “Hats off to Chevelle!”

The below video is their performance of The Red live in Jozi.

You probably can hear my inner fan girl emerge through some parts of the song. There’s some shaky cam here and there, but overall the highlight was definitely Pete's reaction to getting unplugged!