The BedRock Diary 2004
Back to Main DiarySaturday 11 December 2004
The Stoep, Bunny Chow & Rock 'n Roll!
What a pleasure to be back at one of our old haunts,
"Op My Stoep". With the good folk of Oranjemund - well, those that
weren't away for the long weekend, trickling in we got into the swing of
things just about 3.00 pm. It was hit, muggy and windless but did
anyone care? No ways! The beer was ice cold, the vibe
wonderfully relaxing, the company excellent and, hey, we were all into
having a good time. With Fanie churning the Bunny Chows out from
that magical pot of his and Party Girl Louise entertaining her farewell
guests, together with the pool hustlers, there was a bit of something
for everyone. We were having such a great time that the sets just
flew by and, before we knew it, 7.00 pm had arrived and it was time to
pack up. What a cool afternoon! Thanks to all of you who
helped make it. We're now off on our seasonal break so do enjoy
the festive season which, we hope, will be one of peace and joy for you
all. For those of you who will be on the roads - druie safely and
get there in one piece!
Tuesday 07 December 2004
Rockin' The Little Theatre Once More!
This was a mid-week corporate gig to
mark a special occasion and we entered the spirit of the event totally,
right from our "Village Of Learning" posters displaying the BEDROCK
STORY (So Far!) to having ourselves a roadie and a lighting and sound
engineer for the night. This type of gig is always a bit different
to the usual pub-type party. These gigs require a lot harder work.
It was great, though, to be back performing in the local intimate
theatre venue, the Little Theatre, and with nearly 100 folk seated the
atmosphere was great. The audience was an intimidating one - all
high up hobnobs of the corporation with quite a few out-of-towners
present but it wasn't long before BEDROCK were winning them over.
This gig was a one setter and, although our preparation hadn't been as
good as it may have been (through no fault of our own), it was a happy
and solid gig. Net result - more BEDROCK "friends" had been found
by the end of the evening. Thanks for the support, folks...and
please come back! Friday 26 November
2004 A 10 Year
Celebration Of Note - The Waitin' Was Well Worth It!
Well, it's taken us quite a time to get up and running
again but the unanimous opinion was that the waitin' was worth it!
And what an occasion to make a come-back - a celebration of BEDROCK's
10th anniversary! For once all the factors played along - great
weather, our favourite venue, plenty of folk to support, a great reason
to party and, best of all, everyone had been paid so there was lots of
money to be parted with! Eagerly the crowd packed into The Don
wondering what the Band In The Sand would be laying on them with their
new band personnel line-up. Plenty of old faces were there with
more than a sprinkling of new ones, too. What, they wondered, was
in store for them after the past successes of RECOVERY and SO, WHERE'S
THE PARTY? Even the many ladies attending a nearby Ladies Dinner
had asked the band to defer their start to allow their arrival.
(Sorry, Ladies, we can do most things but not THAT!). By 20:30 the
braai fires were starting to warm up as Ou Andre got to taking care of
the wors rolls. Elsewhere old friends renewed acquaintances whilst
others claimed their seats under the open skies. But the one
quality that was everywhere was EXCITEMENT! And then the moment
arrived and the new look BEDROCK took centre stage. With Eddie
counting us in we got straight into it blasting off with a Jean Michelle
Jarre standard which really caught their attention. To say that
the keyboard-based sound - after all the years of rip rockin' guitar -
caught them by surprise would be an understatement. This was
BEDROCK like they'd never been heard before. Suddenly the presence
of BEDROCK SUPPORTER shirts blossomed as folk declared their loyalties
and, pretty soon, the "Party Animal" contenders started to make their
presence felt. Up front old BEDROCK pal Ivan You-Know-Who
came forward to do his rendition of "Blueberry Hill" whilst Happy
Birthday was sung on at least three different occasions! Next up
was the first wave of pumpelmussen and, from then onwards, the party
pysche had really taken hold! The band worked their way through 3
1/2 sets of their new material - plus a couple of old standards chucked
in for good measure. The tribute medley to South African music
caught the imagination as folks were transported back in time with songs
like Peanut Butter Conspiracy's "Understanding", the Outlet's "Working
On A Good Thing" and the Square Set's "Silence Is Golden". Throw
in a bit of Bryan Adams ("Back To You"), Bruce Hornsby ("Valley Road"),
REM ("Stand" & "Electrolyte"), the La's ("There She Goes"), Opus ("Live
Is Life") and BERROCK's own "Last Round" and you start to get the
picture! The competition for "Party Animal" was frenetic with two
awards eventually being made - female Party Animal was Ronel Fourie (as
chosen by the BEDROCK rock chicks) and male PA was Charl Coetzee.
Well done you guys - you certainly sweated for it - literally!
To the band's two brand new debutantes - Roxie and Solange...Well Done,
girls...you were both awesome!!
Sunday 07 November 2004 We're
Back - Just In Time To Celebrate Our 10th Anniversary!! It
seems hard to believe that six months to the day have slipped by since our
last diary entry - just goes to show how busy we've all been!
Actually, to relate the precise details for, and reasons behind, our
"quietness" would take an awful lot of space so let's just deal
with it in a nutshell... When axeman
Kenny left Oranjemund for Cape Town's greener pastures the likelihood
existed that he would be returning to our desert town quite
frequently. This prospect encouraged us to think that we could keep
the existing line-up of Bedrock going, being the hugely talented and
professional musicians that we are! Well, our enthusiasm was
short-lived as, after our May gig and a change of jobs for Kenny, it was
clear that any visits that would occur would be few and far between.
Once we'd reached this realization it was clear that we would have to
re-invent the band. It was a major stroke of misfortune, particularly
coming in Bedrock's 10th year of existence but it couldn't be helped.
And so, the search started... Our little
hamlet is awash with aspiring "musicians", however, many are
little more than beginners. Those that are competent are, either, in
bands of their own, prefer playing on their own or are not interested in
being in bands. But we persisted - and this persistence paid off when
a very special talent was unearthed in the charming shape of Rozane Fichardt.
Rozane has been around for a couple of years but had confined her music
skills, largely, to church activities. Having said this, she is a
highly competent pianist who, as luck would have it, was feeling like
"stretching her wings" and trying something new. And that
"something new" came in the shape of BEDROCK. Although
Rozane didn't have a "rock chick" background she is an amazingly
quick learner with a brilliant ear and she's slotted right in as though
she's been into it all her life. She comes with quite a few other
"plus" points, too. For a start, she's a helluva lot better
looking than Eddie and Pete, has a better sense of humour (at least her
quips are funny!) and definitely oozes class. The guys in the band
just can't keep up! All the while we kept
casting about for a guitarist and "proper" vocalist but due blanks
in both areas, despite the energy of our search. Eddie then came up
with another or his extremely rare bright ideas when he suggested in
bringing his Other Half, Solange, in on percussion. We tried it out
and, hey, guess what, it sounded pretty good. And, so, for the first
time in BEDROCK history the girls are not out-numbered!! Welcome
aboard Roxie and Solange - people just don't know what they've got to look
forward to (yet!). So there's the nutshell I promised... We've
been practicing hard and have generated a completely fresh repertoire.
Looking back the change, although disruptive, has probably done us the world
of good forcing us to be a bit more innovative than usual.
There're a number of new originals also on the brew, a few of which will be
foisted on our unsuspecting audiences in the near future. We
are now fully set to "go live" and will be doing so at Don Esteban
in Oranjemund on the night of Friday, 26 November, 2004. It should be
a great weekend in all as, both, Bedrock and Namdeb will be celebrating
their respective 10th anniversaries. We'll be playing from 20:30 -
01:00 that evening. In anticipation of a particularly big night, the
Don's restaurant will be closed to allow us to perform outside in our
favourite spot under the stars. Food will be on sale from the braai
fires and entry will be N$10.00 per head. The usual Bedrock nonsense
will be going on - "Party Animal" awards and suchlike. So,
if you can get there, don't miss it as we rock on towards the end of the
year. We have plenty of dates pencilled in
for next year so watch this space or subscribe to our Newsletter. Meanwhile,
keep Rockin' 'n boppin'!! Friday 07 May 2004 BEDROCK
- The Trio - Rock Rob Into His 50's As
we have previously said, never write a Bedrocker off! Yep, Kennuf is
back with the band for this major event on the Oranjemund social calendar -
the celebration of General Manager, colleague and friend, Rob Smart's
50th. And what a venue - the old diesel powered Power Station in the
centre of Oranjemund. Once hailed, at the height of its existence, as
the southern hemisphere's largest diesel fired power station, the
building had become run-down and dilapidated in recent years after its
decommissioning. Finally something had to be done and so it was, with
the premises being restored to something of a pleasant-to-the-eye edifice in
the heart of our settlement. The "Old Lady", as she is
affectionately known locally, had been chosen as the venue for this big
occasion. I don't think we could ever claim to have played in a larger
indoor venue, that's for sure. In fact, there's probably not a bigger
indoor venue in Namibia! Also brought in for the occasion was fellow
musician and master drummer, Glyn Berridge. Glyn is well known
throughout the region for the Corporate drummer sessions he
facilitates. The challenge he had been handled for this occasion was
to co-ordinate the biggest mass drumming session that had ever been convened
in Oranjemund, if not the country. Rob, too, was going to fulfill a
life-long desire to sing a song with a live band. Things started well
with a rehearsal the night before the big event when, duly lubricated by a
steady stream of ice cold Tafels, we integrated the band with Glyn and Rob's
routines. Duly practiced we steamed into the night itself. Glyn
got proceedings underway by facilitating an extended drumming session
featuring 250 first-time "drummers", each enthusiastically
pounding the skin covered oil drum between their respective legs with heavy
drumsticks. Have you ever heard a noise like that in a huge,
cavernous, extremely acoustically-unfriendly monolithic structure like the
"Old Lady"? I tell you, it was something to behold!
Quite how BEDROCK's "integration" with the drumming season worked,
threading a very rocking version of "Locomotive Breath" through it
all, is anyone's guess - I defy anyone who was involved in the exercise to
provide a balanced perspective on this!! But it was great fun -
and that's what's important. This period of aural insanity was
followed by proper musical order when Dave McMillan took the stage and
settled us all down with a set which sounded like music. Boy, did we
need it by then! Once Dave had done his thing, BEDROCK returned to
restore chaos. We quickly found our groove and the dance floor soon
started to show signs of life. The highlight of the evening was Rob's
participation as lead vocalist on "Have You Ever Seen The
Rain?". Suitably attired by the band in a psuedo Bruce
Springsteen look-a-like guise, Rob immediately took command of centre stage
and blew the audience away with his panache. Well done, Rob - your
performance will be eternally remembered by all who were there. The
beauty about this gig was that we only played two sets - the second set also
removed any lingering doubts about the ugly rumours that have persisted as
to whether the band's members know their words, chords and arrangements
off-by-heart. They don't! There was absolutely no doubt about
this after they'd been robbed of their music stand light for the second set,
being forced to produce a busking performance par excellence in getting
through the set. MESSAGE TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE - DON'T YOU EVER DARE
TO ACCUSE US OF KNOWING OUR MATERIAL OFF PAT AGAIN!!!
Anyway, with our two sets out of the way, we had able time to join the
festivities and party, party, party. In fact, we partied so well that
we were the last to leave the building at a time not that far off
sunrise. So, the show's right back on the road. Watch this space
for continuing developments - better still, subscribe to the BEDROCK
Newsletter to make sure that you don't miss out on a thing. 'Til next
time - BE GOOD! Tuesday 13
March 2004
"Farewell" To
Kennuf
Well, we must definitely plead
guilty to having been a little quiet so far this year - but do not be
deceived...things are not as uneventful as they seem. I guess the
biggest news is that, for work-related reasons, our long-standing lead
guitarist, composer, arranger and Party Animal, Kennuf has decided to take
his leave of our little hamlet. As luck would have it, Kennuf is on
his way to Cape Town to resume a new life in the shadows of Table
Mountain. This, of course, being a three piece, has major implications
for the band, however, we're not going to rush into anything to quickly and
will give things time to settle down after Kennuf's departure. First
things first! And at this time of our lives that "first"
thing needed to be a farewell to one of the band's favourite traditional
haunst, the "Place Of Happiness". As so often happens, we
have been left with no choice other than to play over a holiday weekend when
many local residents are absent. Still, the weather was magnificent
and the turnout for the lunchtime gig spirited. We had it all -
including a one gun salute on the lawn to mark this auspicious occasion -
provided by local entrepreneur and long-time Bedrock supporter, Fanie
Smit. After that we rocked and we rolled and we chilled out in a
fitting tribute to "Plonker" Ramage. Go well, Kenny, Heather
and family - signs are that this will definitely not be your last
association with the band. Let's see what the future
brings! |
