Thunder Night 2 – Hotter than a Heat Wave!
Written by Ruby Sage
It’s no secret that the last time a heat wave, as mind-melting as the one we are currently experiencing, was way back in the eighteen hundreds somewhere… And just when I thought that there couldn’t possibly be anything hotter than the current weather forecast, Thunder Night 2 happened!
Thunder Night 2 was held at Rumours Lounge JHB on Saturday, 25 November 2023, and is the music event that will – or most definitely should – go down in history as one of THE hottest JHB has seen this year. Twelve Bands, two stages and a whole lot of sick sound drew out like-minded music enthusiasts, who, opting to leave their cool air-conditioned, sun-sheltered homes, put on pants and venture out in support of our local musicians.
Let’s start off with the outside stage, shall we?
First up, braving the heat, and raising the temperature even more, all the way from Pretoria was Tavern Priest – described as a hard-hitting Rock ‘n Roll band with a need to damage eardrums. And with a set as HOT as theirs…who needs perfectly working eardrums anyway?
Now that the stage had been set, next up was one of my all-time favourite bands (I’ve made no secret of my fandom!), Lazarus Johnston from the East Rand. Mixing it up a bit With Ricky on vocals this time round and Lance flaunting ‘it’ in a kilt (for combating the heat, purposes?), as always, these guys played a brilliant set that made for great fun in the sun!
Next up, setting the Local music scene ablaze was TBA (The Blazed Association). And a more authentic band, I have yet to meet. The four-piece band are as cool off stage as they are on and true to form, had the crowd eating from their hand, so to speak, clapping and singing along ( regardless if we knew the lyrics or not!).
‘Out of Krugersdorp’ a group of brothers and friends all looking to satisfy the same itch when it comes to making great music, the band Butch and the Lone Wolf, took the stage. And that is exactly what they did, making great music and leaving the audience happily satisfied by the end of their set.
The last band to rock the outside stage was JHB-based, Days without Incident. Playing classic metal with a power twist, these guys had the crowd rocking out to their super hot set!
Moving along to the Inside Stage:
The inside stage at Rumours Lounge was taken by storm as Ross Coden Band tore up the stage playing their original hard rock set, setting the stage for a promising night ahead.
Hot on their heels and next up saw a 4-piece band hailing from the South of Johannesburg, Lefokolodi. Refusing to be confined to one genre these guys are a force to be reckoned with in the alternative music arena, priding themselves on making rebellious, passionate, and nonsensical music. Fun Fact of the day: Did you know…? Lefokolodi drummer, Yakean Van Vuuren is also the drummer for the band Drumfish!
Next up was session musician, Kenneth Hugh, who can tear up a guitar playing riffs that will leave you thrilled, feeding off his own passion for his music. If ever there was a musician who could not only mesmerize a crowd but leave them inspired to follow their own passion for the art of music themselves, it would be Kenneth Hugh. If you haven’t checked out his website’s ‘about’ page yet, I implore you to do just that – IF you want to be inspired, that is!
To follow was the band, Six Feet Apart, who described themselves as Three piece three-piece-something rock band, ‘made up of a guy, a chick and an old dude at the back’. Well, I don’t know about being an ‘old’ dude, but what I can tell you is that this ‘dude’ knows how to bring a drum set to life! As always, they played a brilliant set which had music lovers on their feet moving to the beat!
Indie-alternative rock trio, 3’s and 7’s, from Johannesburg, were up next, bringing loud, raw, guitar-driven excellence. These guys were on fire playing their catchy, energetic and melodic old-school rock songs! It sounds so good, it should be turned up to 11! (If you know…you know…!)
The Barcode Bandits, a young alternative rock band based in Johannesburg, are no newcomers to the stage. The three-piece whiskey-slinging, rocking-in-your-face kind of band (their words, not mine) have rocked many stages with some of S.A’s top acts like, Francois Van Coke en die Gevaar, The Hellcats and Jack Parow to name a few. As stated in their bio, they certainly did wrap their lips around my soul with their action-packed sound-gasim set!
This night just kept getting better and better and next on the lineup just proves it! Stepping up to the stage was a mind-altering rock experience if I’d ever known one, After Robot. They are not called the pioneers of groove rock, by accident, that’s for sure! Their charismatic performance had the crowd going wild (myself included) Fun Fact 2 of the day, for those who didn’t know, After Robot was nominated by SAMMA for ‘Best Live Performance 2016
But wait…there’s more
As if the day’s lineup hadn’t been intoxicatingly thrilling enough, there was still one more band to play (would my heart handle more excitement?!) Drawing Thunder Night 2 to a close was none other than the well-known and sought-after band, Jasper Dan. Drawing much influence from Southern rock, they bring something different to the South African music scene. They describe themselves as everyday guys playing their own brand of honest music. They are driven by passionate energy which is evident on stage. And I, for one, can attest to this addictive energy as they had me putting the camera down and rocking out to their authentic, undressed emotion of true Rock and Roll. Jasper Dan brought the house down and with a crowd that would not see them go, drew out the excitement shouting, ‘We want more’. And Jasper Dan delivered…again…and again and again…
Another Fun Fact of the Day: Jasper Dan drummer, Jason Eedes is also drummer for Chaos Doctrine – another one of my favourites! (‘I’m starting to see a pattern form….’ she thinks to herself.)
And so Thunder Night 2 at Rumours Lounge JHB drew to a close and dragging my feet, I headed homeward with a ridiculous smile of pure enjoyment plastered to my face, an indication of a day well spent!
Until next time…