The BedRock Diary 2009/2010
Thursday 26 August 2010 ~
Back To The Garage!!
 This
occasion was literally about putting the band back into the garage
or, more accurately, carport. And what fun that was too!
Weather-wise it was a sublime day with clear blue skies and
temperatures in the high 20’s. Sure, it was a public holiday and,
coupled with the Namibian schools break, there were never going to
be a lot of folk in attendance but years of gigging have proven time
and time again that, irrespective of the numbers, if the spirit is
right the party will follow!
Bedrock supporters of yore will remember
the fantastic times we all had back in the middle to late 90’s when
we played regular lunchtime gigs at Don Esteban. At that time the
watering hole was run by Fanie Smit, a master organizer and renowned
Oranjemund party animal! When Fanie sold the place we continued to
gig there but, with respect to those who took over from him, the
vibe was never quite the same, good as it was. Fanie, in the
meanwhile, went on to open a lodge just outside the village, as well
as a small “American diner”, called Motores, on the edge of town.
Adjacent to Motores is a car wash.
So, in our search to find another lunchtime gig spot we decided that
something a little bit different was called for. What if we were
able to offer people a lunchtime gig in pleasant surroundings with
reasonably priced food and cold beer on hand, as well the
opportunity to have one’s car washed whilst enjoying the music? It
has just got to be a winner! When we put the idea to Fanie he went
for it straight away. Today was the perfect opportunity to try the
idea out. The result? A great success all ‘round and definitely an
idea to build on during the approaching summer months. A few small
mods will be done to the venue to improve the shade and access and
then it’ll be ready to rock!
 As
we’ve said, we never expected a big turnout but were well pleased
with the couple of dozen folk who did put their faces in, some for
longer than others. The audience participation “episodes” were very
revealing (as usual!). A particular personal highlight (for himself)
was Andre Theron’s rendition of what he calls “his song” ~ Midnight
Special! With well known backing vocalist, harmoniser and
multi-instrumentalist, Doppies Grobbelaar, joining him on the
choruses the result was of such proportions that we could not
adequately describe it in words!! Take it from us ~ it was a
memorable experience! A great time was had by all.
With a steady flow of cold liquid refreshments, coupled with Fanie’s
supreme schnitzel burgers for those who were peckish and what seemed
to be an endless supply of pumpelmussen, the hours just flew by.
More portents of good things to come. We are pleased to report that
three-quarters of the band’s members avoided trooping out to “Op My
Stoep” to continue the after party well into the night. What
sensible rock ‘n rollers!
2009 – 2010…Picking Up The
Pieces…
After the launch of our last CD (“Simplicity”) back in May, 2008, we
suffered a major set-back when we lost two members from the band’s
ranks in Heiko Doedens (lead vocals) and recently recruited Adri
Henning on bass. Their departures were not the result of fall-outs
or anything quite a as dramatic. It was simpler than that ~ they
left town!!
With no prospect of replacing them
easily, those of us who remained decided to work on preparing new
original material until such time as we could return to the live
scene. These transpired to be months of good work as we spent hours
shaping new songs, some of which have developed into the finished
article.
The next thing that happened on the local scene was that SnoBlind,
our brothers-in-arms on the local rock scene, disintegrated due to
the departure of key personnel from their ranks. As in our own case,
these folk were leaving town for other pastures. One who was
remaining, however, was their bass guitarist, Polla Pretorius.
Wasting no time in approaching Polla about joining Bedrock, we were
soon back into practice mode after he’d agreed to join the band.
This meant a bit of reshuffling as Pete moved onto lead guitar and
vocals to make way for Polla on bass.
In the meanwhile, and whilst the band has been off the live
scene, our music has continued to sell steadily. A revelation has
been the popularity of digital downloads with our music being
available through
www.rhythmmusicstore.com and
www.cdbaby.com Thus
far only “So, Where’s The Party?” has been available through the
American company, CD Baby. Even so, downloads from this album are
selling well with the song, “Where’s The Party?”, being our best
seller, followed closely by “Angels”. Both these are Kenny
Ramage-penned compositions. In third place is that vulgar little
tongue-in-cheek rocker, “What Crap Is That?”, written by Pete Shout.
As a result of the success on the downloading front, our other two
albums of originals, “Recovery” and “Simplicity”, are in the process
of being added to our download catalogue.
So, to those of you who have been buying our downloads, Thank
You so much for the support ~ we really appreciate it! We truly hope
that you music collection has been enhanced by the presence of your
own piece of Desert Rock!
Our grateful thanks is also extended to Windhoek’s Radio Kudu for
continuing to give Bedrock music air play. “My Girlfriend”, in
particular, has proven to be a popular radio track (as was intended)
and is often heard. Other songs which Radio Kudu have given plenty
of time to over the years are “Crowd Invasion”, “Mobile Party” and
“Last Round”. So get into Radio Kudu (you can also listen via the
Internet) and support the station that supports local music! Check
this great station out at
www.kudufm.com
Friday 13 August
2010
 After
a break from the live gigging circuit of just over two years we were
very chuffed to get the show back on the road on Friday night. What
was especially enjoyable was the fact that we gigged at one of our
favourite local spots, the Oranjemund Bowling Club. The first time
we played this venue was in July, 1998, which shows how far back
we’ve been associated. Friday night was an appropriate event to mark
our return with great weather, an excellent venue, a pleasing
turn-out and a good vibe. It was great to see the “faces” of so many
long-time supporters present, folk who have been with us right from
the beginning all those years ago. We even had a brand new Bedrock
banner to put on show ~ thanks to Graphic Zone in Windhoek for the
great artwork!
In keeping with our philosophy, our sets included a number of
Bedrock originals, including some previously unheard material penned
during the band’s break “from the road”. The first set included four
songs from our last CD release, “Simplicity” in the form of “Wheel
O’ Hearts”, “Miggie In My Whiskey”, “Moon ‘n Dunes” and “You Don’t
Know”. There were four more in the second set. “My Girlfriend” and
“Tell Your Ma” from “Simplicity”. We also ran through two newies,
the Santana-ish, “Reasons” and a rocker, “On Her Own”. The fourth
set featured “Burnt”, a slow and heavy rocker, and, “Last Round”
from “Recovery”. You never know what to expect when you place new
songs before an audience but they all went down pretty well. This
assumption is based on the fact that no missiles or language of
abuse came our way ~ not even shoes!!
It’s always nice being able to welcome new friends and supporters to
the Bedrock fraternity
and this was the case on Friday. A certain leading member of mine
management (whose name will be protected in view of the fact that
his wife was out of town!), made his vocal debut on “Have You Ever
Seen The Rain?”. It wasn’t a full debut, mind you, as he fled
between the end of the first verse and the chorus but it was a
start! There were others but we’ll pick on them in future diaries…
Jakes Snyman, one of SnoBlind’s vocalists many years ago, did
well in coming up and rolling back the years. It’s always good to
reconnect with members of the music brotherhood, past and present.
Apart from Jakes and Polla, there was a third former member of
SnoBlind in the audience but he was fully committed to developing
his dancing skills and we were unable to distract him!
 As
usual, the Bedrock tradition of the “Party Animal Of The Night”
award was revived and the popular choice of winner was Elmarie
Snyman. Elmarie and Jakes have been Bedrock supporters for many
years and so it was entirely fitting that Elmarie should pick up her
first “PAN” award!
A final word of thanks goes to John and Lyn Long for making the
Bowling Club available to us and for running the bar, which was
extremely hectic at times, so efficiently. Please support your local
clubs which do such an amazing job in keeping the social heartbeat
of this isolated community throbbing.
So, we’re back with a vengeance, folks, and you can expect to see –
and hear – a lot more of
us from here onwards. Our next gig will be a lunchtime scene on
Thursday 26 August 2010 which is a Namibian public holiday. We’ll be
at Fanie Smit’s Motores venue, just off Industrial Road, from about
11:30 that morning so come and join us for brunch, a few ice cold
beers (or whatever your preference is) and, hey, you can even have
your car washed at the same time. How’s that for covering all our
bases!!
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