Saturn Return Live at Westville Warehouse

Saturn Return Live at Westville Warehouse 

Review Done By: Barry Viljoen

The 15^th of January saw a slow edging towards normalcy for the Durban live music community, with “Saturn Return” returning to the stage at Westville Warehouse.

This was my first outing to the Westville Warehouse; I was pleasantly surprised by an upmarket and trendy venue hosting smaller and lesser-known bands and artists; and serving good food and cocktails. The venue has plenty of entertainment space for patrons seated both inside and outside, as well as pool tables and beer pong. What’s even nicer to hear is how well they take care of artists and the effort they put into making sure that shows are good, for both the artists and patrons.

When the band took to the stage, the crowd was still a little small but soon the venue filled close to capacity; reminding me very much of what gigs used to be like. I believe that this was possibly helped by the fact that their sound was very much influenced by punk bands from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Even their name made me thing immediately of No Doubt’s album “Return of Saturn”, which itself was released in early 2000. It was clear to see that many in the crowd were not just there because of a craving for live music, but because they were fans of the band. The crowd were well versed in their two singles “Witch Bitch” and “High”.

Although the band largely identifies as being female fronted, they would rather be judged on their musical ability as opposed to their sex or gender. They point out that few things have pissed them off as much as people saying that “they are not bad for women.” Hopefully this will be less of an issue in the future and remain limited to some smaller-minded folks on the scene. However, that being said, the band has alluded to this being the driving force and themes for their new material which they are hoping to finish writing and recording soon.

The band has quite a few gigs in the pipeline, as well as new material, which hopefully we will get to listen to in the not too distant future. As opportunities potentially continue to open up, I’m sure that we will be seeing more of them on larger stages across the country. While still a relatively new band, having only finalised their current line-up last year, with fairly recent appearances on the live music scene, this band is already starting to make waves expanding well beyond Westville. We can only wait to see how and where these waves will be resonating to.

Saturn Return comprises Britt on vocals and bass guitar; Carys on rhythm guitar; Mandy on lead guitar and Brandon on drums. Their two singles “Witch Bitch” and “High” are currently available on several streaming platforms. If you’re looking for something edgy with a touch of 90’s nostalgia, give them a spin.