Sitting on a rock at Oppikoppi watching the sun set behind The Albert Frost Band, who were ripping through a thundering rendition of an old Hendrix number, I met Fredriguez, the six-fingered lead guitarist for The Hellphones. As we bonded over great rock’n’roll and shared drags on his hookah, he mentioned that the band was launching their debut album in a couple of weeks. I was fairly excited, to say the least.
Two weeks later I was one of the first through the door at Sandton’s Blues Room. By the time the band came on for their first of two sets, an all-acoustic affair, the place was packed. Perched on bar stools, the band worked their way through a number of the tracks off their debut album, including my favourite, Amsterdam Bang, which is a dead ringer for an early Elvis Costello song.
The acoustic versions of their songs were interesting, but did not do justice to The Hellphones’s material, because it always sounds best when it’s being rammed down your throat.
A slight bone of contention was the band’s decision to cover a Kings of Leon song. It is obvious that these Southern American rockers heavily influence the band and the song was just too close to the original to be interesting. Once the band returned to the stage and plugged in, though, my faith was restored. They ripped through their repertoire, with bassist Jonzilla being the driving powerhouse behind their sound.
”That bassist plays like he is a lead guitarist,” yelled a friend to me above the din — and I have to agree. When Jonzilla is thumping away on bass, and the twin guitar attack of Fredriguez and Joe Flow are punctuating the vocals of Ten Elliot, it is sheer rock’n’roll authority.
Their debut album, This is How (Sheer), should come with a warning label saying: ”Mothers, hang on to your daughters and lock up your sons.” Because after they lay their hands on this album it will all be downhill. Opener Turn on the Heat is the first of many tracks on the album to take the energy and rawness of the Kings of Leon to fashion some good ol’ blues influenced, dirty rock’n’roll.
While The Hellphones have a lot going for them, the only thing the Blues Room seems to have in its favour is one of the best sound systems in Jo’burg. After what is being described as a ”misunderstanding”, the Blues Room charged those lucky enough to be on the guest list R10 to get in, and the poor unfortunate souls who weren’t paid R50, when it should have been R10. As one dissatisfied customer said, the sign should have read ”R50 couvert charge”.
If this was its only blunder of the night, it would be forgivable. But punters, myself included, were outraged when we took a seat at one of a number of tables available in the venue and were then informed that we would be billed an additional R30 for sitting at a table without eating. As Johnny Rotten once infamously said, ”Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”
Catch The Hellphones live at The Red Door in Pietermaritzburg on September 1, at Burn in Durban on September 2, at Zanzibar in Pretoria on September 9 and at Trailer Park in Melville on September 15