On the 11th of July 2015 something great happened at Arcade Empire: The Grind Radio celebrated The Big Merge with performances by Sutherland, Scarlotte Will, Monkeys in Boots, The Velves, We Are Charlie, Newtown Knife Gang and Shadowclub and the Grind Radio DJ’s were also on the decks, entertaining the party people to the max.
Here’s my review of The Big Merge @ Arcade Empire
I arrived at the venue around 4 PM and was amazed by the early turnout for this show. Sutherland kicked things off with a mellow set, followed by Scarlotte Will (who were a better live act that I expected). The last two acts on the acoustic stage were up and coming Pretoria Blue Grass / Folk / Rock act Monkeys in Boots (who has already played awesome sets at Otterlake Easter Festival and STRAB festival this year) and The Velves (Jacques Moolman’s side project featuring Leighton Powell from Naming James on drums).
The first act on the main stage were Pretoria Indie rockers, We Are Charlie. These three boytjie have been making waves in the SA Music Scene over the last year and it will be interesting to see what they get up to in the near future.
The second act on the Main stage for The Big Merge were Joburg rockers Newtown Knife Gang. It has been a while since I’ve seen these okes play and I have to say that I pretty impressed with their set. It was great hearing some of their new tunes and I’m also curious to see and hear what they get up to later in 2015.
The last act of the evening were Shadowclub. These Joburg rockers have been around for more than 5 years and they are definitely one of my favorite acts to watch live. I was blown away by their set and I really hope that they release a new album in the near future.
Thanks to the Grind Radio DJ’s the Arcade Empire faithful partied like it was 1999 after the bands stopped playing and I am told that things only started to cool down after 3 AM, so I’m assuming that it was a great after party.
It was great getting a taste of the brand new The Grind Radio studio and I’m looking forward to doing cool shows and enjoying live music at Gauteng’s premier live music venue in the near future. Things can only get bigger from here on.
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