12TH AVENUE Album Launch

Posted by Dani Diamond 04 April 2011

Live Concert Reviews

It was Friday night at 9pm when many April fools gathered outside the Mercury Live, Cape Town. 12th Avenue brought masses of loyal followers to the popular live music venue.

A slightly older crowd than the Mercury’s usual intake but far more rocker. There was a lot of leather packed in front of the smoky bars anticipating the release of some heavy rock. Opening guests for the evening were The Undefined. Their sound is like an ambitious mix of Britney Spears and Placebo with some heavier riffs. I can’t say I was momentously blown-away by them but by the end of their set their inspiring energy managed to get the crowd assembled in front of the stage and even singing a lyric or two. Next up was a short interlude courtesy of the plastic-clad Fusion X dancers which was apparently not an April fool joke as so many suspected.  

Then the long awaited moment arrived. All eyes to the front as 12th Avenue stormed the stage launching into the first track of their self-titled album “Walk on Water”. Front-man Mark Haze’s thunderous vocals dominated the evening. The uncontested core of the band, he rocked out powerfully song-after-song. Their performance was met with fervour and the very front row of the audience let loose.

After one or two older and more familiar tracks, 12th Avenue treated us to a myriad of covers taking snippets from Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, Toto, Queen, Bob Marley and even Michael Jackson. Their dedicated fans were happy to sing along, eagerly lapping up anything the band had to offer. After the crowd’s enthusiastic participation the rest of the band seemed to have been set free from their incarceration and joined their vigorous vocalist in a fierce delivery of their new material. Their drummer’s munificent display of vivacity and solid time-keeping were notable. There were some dazzling moments of choreographed interaction by the guitarists but on the whole there was a lack of interaction and zeal, which was agonizingly obvious when directly compared with the driving passion of front-man Mark.

  

There was a sad lack of that miscreant mayhem that comes with a rebellious youthful audience but I have a feeling the band will be all too pleased with the success of the night being that the majority of the audience is earning enough to buy a whole lot of 12th Avenue merchandise. The sweaty, exhausted band members pimped their merch and revelled in the buzz of positive feedback from the stage.

They clearly had a good time up there and were easily and happily coerced into playing an encore after their last song. It was my first exposure to the much loved and talked-about band that has actually been around their local scene for quite a while. 

Overall 12th Avenue is an entertaining live act with formidable vocals and decent musicianship. Mark and Gareth Haze’s energy really pulls the show together and I am interested to see how that will translate onto recordings. Check out their self-titled album “12th Avenue” featuring the tracks ‘Walk on Water’, ‘Wasting Time’, ‘Sally’, ‘Taking My Heart with You’, ‘Lost in Confusion’ and ‘Nightmare’.

Reviewed by: Dani Diamond

Artist: 12th Avenue

Venue: Mercury Live, Cape Town

Date: 1st April 2011

Gig: 12Th Avenue self-titled Album Launch

Official Website: www.12thavenueband.com

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