#wolmer

We were invited to join The Narrow on a six-date tour of South Africa. This is the furthest we’ve travelled abroad and a cursory Google search indicates we’re one of few New Zealand acts to ever tour the country. After 34 hours of flight and transit time, we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of lead singer Hanu De Jong, his band and family. Immediately we felt that Africa is a special and complicated place in ways that would take a lifetime to fully appreciate.

27 September, Wolmer, Pretoria

Wolmer Events Arena is a family-run venue on a block of land owned by a doctor whose four sons play in bands. He created a venue for them near their home: a cinderblock stage, bar and barbecue tables scattered under large canopies; a high security fence around the perimeter. It was dark when we arrived so we couldn’t see beyond the fringe but apparently it was surrounded by bush - the venue a floodlit musical enclave. Our hosts joked that Pretoria is geographically and perhaps culturally the Hamilton of South Africa; if so, it felt akin to playing on a farm somewhere near Morrinsville.

We were greeted warmly by one of the sons who would mix our show and later perform in a pig mask in thrash metal act Boargazm who squealed songs of an invasion of alien-swine. Everyone else we met was equally friendly and we were teased about rugby from the near seven-foot cartoonist and front man of The Drift. There was a real sense of community around this venue—and underground rock/metal generally—that was refreshing to be exposed to. This was punctuated by the inebriated cheer Hanu received when he spoke from the stage that he’d been playing this area for 12 years.

Hanu sang “The Grid” with flair and added growls in the bridge. We had tried this before in Whangarei which ended in cacophony and me dislocating Jester’s fingers. Here he was vouching for us among his people - diehard fans and peers who had followed him since 1995 through the development of the modern scene with the broad influence of his two bands, Not My Dog and The Narrow. As we’ve learnt more about the local industry and the impact of this humble guy, this moment on stage has become really significant to me.

Jester projectile vomited afterwards from exertion and severe jet lag.

-Mathew