/ 24 March 2011

Jo’burg music pick: March 25 2011

One of the benefits of living in the Joburg-Pretoria megalopolis is that you can always be sure that there is something or someone or someplace you don’t know about.

If you would like to, on any given day or week, you can stumble into a world (big or small) that you had no idea existed. One such place is Shiva’s Rock in Lynwood in Pretoria (on Rudericks Street to be a bit more precise). This is a strange bar. It is named after a major Hindu deity, it is below street level making it immune to natural light and its decor is in part made up of huge fake rocks that jut out of the ceiling to create a strikingly unnatural effect. Part of what makes Shiva’s interesting is that it stays open very late and is often the last stop before home for all the young(ish) and partified who live on that side of the world. Musicians and groupies bump up against the regulars who bump up against the two very well dressed couples who are stumbling home from a wedding. Another part of what makes Shiva’s interesting is that it is a favorite haunt of outsider noiseniks the Make Overs who will be performing there along with Sindrones and Eyes Like Mirrors on Saturday March 26.

Shiva’s Rock, Pretoria on March 26. The gig kicks off at 8pm.