Shadowclub return to District for a night of literal rock ‘n’ roll mayhem – Texx and the City

I cut my journalistic teeth on dirty, sweaty rock ‘n’ roll shows, so the Madman Mayhem line-up was the gig I was the most amped for in May at District. Betty’s Nuklear made the trek from George to christen the night and in between their enthusiastic hair flips and gruff growls, they threw down the gauntlet early on.

Vocalist Chad Abnett perfectly captained this alternative rock ship through a set that included elements of post-grunge, hard rock, and metal, and his compelling persona meant that I didn’t stop watching him. Not once. Their cover of Limp Bizkit’s “Eat You Alive” was also a perfect flex of Chad’s forceful screams, which did get mildly monotonous towards the end of their set.  

Technically, Pretoria-based heavy rock band Crash and the Void, were on point, but the broody energy of their set would’ve been better-suited to opening the night. 

The crowd warmed during their exquisite cover of Royal Blood’s opus “Out Of The Black” before vocalist Marius Schutte broke for a little chit-chat. “Such a fun city man, I love Cape Town. This next song is about violence, which apparently you guys are experts in.” Hektik, but where’s the lie though?

Their new bassist’s first show also went off without a hitch, unlike the band’s constant desire to get us to mosh.   

The Man Motels warmed the stage for Shadowclub and honestly, the punk-rock trio impressed the hell outta me. They’ve always had skills, but something’s changed for the better over the last few years. Playing a set that was largely made up of tracks from their last album OLD WOUNDS, the guys smacked of cohesive chaos, especially on riff-driven track “Choke You Out” and classic punk offering “Fuck You”. 

Not to be outdone by Shortstraw two weeks earlier, Shadowclub prepped a 17-song set for their Cape Town reunion. They also drew a bunch of familiar faces of ex-Joburgers that have relocated to Cape because, well, we might have a high murder rate, but how about that mountain, hey? 

Bluesy opener “Block 16” set a solid tone for the band to slowly get going, and that setlist boasted a good mix of songs from across their three albums. And while Jacques missed a few lyrics here and there, by the time they got to “Witches Soul”, okes were deep in that moshpit.

It’s a bit of a trip to revisit tracks that, 10 years ago, I lived through. I feel ownership over them ever so slightly because they soundtracked a part of a life that was super formative for me, and looking out over a tightly-packed District it seemed like I wasn’t alone.  

See you tomorrow night for the finalé.

All pics courtesy of Laura McCullagh.