Say hello to Bye Beneco as they have been announced as one of the South African acts who will support Ben Howard on his first concerts in the country. The Joburg band will perform in Cape Town tomorrow and Thursday as well as in Joburg on Saturday. They will be joined by another Mzansi act, Farryl Purkiss.
Bye Beneco (pictured, right) are an indie folk band comprising drummer and guitarist, Bergen Nielson; percussionist and vocalist, Jenny Dison; drummer, guitarist and percussionist, Matthew Watson and vocalist and guitarist, Lenny-Dee Doucha.
Speaking on behalf of the band, Doucha says they are “so overwhelmed and excited. We all freaked out when we found out we’d be performing. We were sending each other weird voice notes.”
In the two cities, the band hopes to win over new fans as well as give their core fans a treat.
“First-timers can expect an interesting sound from us,” says Doucha, “and for people who already know us, we have some new songs we want to showcase and have reworked some old songs, too.”
Bye Beneco’s album, Space Elephant, was released last year to critical acclaim. Doucha says: “The response to it has been pretty awesome. It’s always a struggle to get the momentum going, but we have some people overseas who are interested. It’s cool that our album has reached other shores.”
While the group might be making tracks in other territories, there seems to be a general lateness in South Africans catching up with their work. But they’re not the only ones. Some artists have gone as far as to be very vocal about not opening for international acts at concerts as the local acts are never seen as equals.
Doucha shares the sentiment: “Look at Spoek (Mathambo), he’s known here, but his niche is in Europe. Same with us, we struggle but have more interest from people on the other side of the world.” She also thinks the environments aren’t conducive to performances.
“With live music venues, once you have played a circuit, that’s it. You’ve played it. In Cape Town, there’s something happening, but in Joburg, there’s something missing. We lack live music venues that support local acts because if you play at a bar, people would rather come on another night when it’s free than have to pay to watch a band. We need more venues, not just The Dome.”
l See Bye Beneco at Ben Howard’s concert at the GrandWest, Cape Town, tomorrow and Thursday and at Zoo Lake in Joburg on Saturday where they will be joined by Farryl Purkiss. Tickets are available at www.seedtickets.co.za.