We've all seen the MTV or VH1 "Unplugged" concerts; they are usually intimate affairs between musicians and their loyal fans. South Africa’s version of unplugged usually means the band performing sits on bar chairs, or Eskom is load-shedding again. And true to form Zebra & Giraffe’s stripped down/unplugged gig at Noordhoek’s Café Roux didn’t start out quite as unplugged as the poster promised, though I suspect it must be hard for a band with such a full sound to bare it all. Not from the get go anyway.

It took a few songs before they hit the really raw moments like when lead singer Greg Carlin drummed spontaneously on the acoustic guitar during Fight Fight Fight which was then followed by truly stripped down versions of Little Black Book and Bleed Me Out. 

In an interview earlier on in the day Carlin was asked about the best and worst part about an acoustic tour.

"The worst was when a bachelor’s party coincided with one of their gigs down the coast, the bachelor was accessorized with an oversized phallic object that was used for shots. Not really the tone set by their music." Said Carlin.

The best part of this particular performance was that the audience could actually hear the lyrics, something that is more difficult at bigger shows when everyone is jumping up and down. During the opening song, a girl in the front row was already singing along, which was quite impressive considering it was one of the new tracks off the yet unreleased album, Knuckles. 

Apparently there will be a few happy songs on the new album, even though (and I’m paraphrasing here), “it is easier to be angry than be happy and cheesy.” From the tasters they gave in the set list, a happy Zebra & Giraffe is quite sexy. The song Goodbye, which is a twisted little love song, is a good example of this and very far from cheesy. 

It was rather surprising that no encore was planned (Or at least with their original stuff). Instead the lads launched into an acoustic cover of U2’s Can't Help Falling In Love. It was a moment that I almost wished I’d captured on video for future generations of YouTubers to enjoy. But then I would have missed a really amazing live moment that can’t really be captured digitally, or my words for that matter. 

Tickets were quite steep at R120 for a local band, mumbles of “I can see 3 excellent bands for R80 at Mercury” were not completely unfounded. But it’s really worth it to really listen to a band, Zebra & Giraffe in particular of course, every few months. 

An unplugged Zebra & Giraffe has the raw honesty of a staunch Catholic’s confession with the surprise element of a flasher running across a rugby field.  

Article by Jana van Heerden

Credit image:  Ross Garrett