Ever heard of the South African Invasion? Me neither, but it felt like one Wednesday night at DC9, where South African bigshots Parlotones took the stage with adorable accents and a fresh sound.
Now in South Africa, these guys play to 60,000+ crowds, but that love has not quite leaped the pond yet. If you’ve never been to DC9, I would describe it as a “bar-plus,” as in plus a stage. It’s small, intimate, laid out well, but we’d be on the news if 60,000 people tried to get in. This night, it was more like one hundred and change, with a strong showing of South African expats.
Opening for the Parlotones was a three-piece rock set who go by the name of Prisms. Just one guitar, bass, and drums, these guys deliver a hard-driving rock sound with simple rhythms and guitar flourishes under boyishly-toned singing. They were politely received, as much of the crowd were the aforementioned expats eagerly awaiting their favorite homeland band.
On came the Parlotones, who were matching in black shirts and pants with red ties. Lead man Kahn Morbee sported spider tendril eye liner from both eyes, reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. A standard four-man outfit of drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitar, they have a very polished and practiced energetic rock sound. Morbee has a very strong, unique voice and eye-catching stage presence, even if the stage was about as big as a piano lid. Morbee’s singing and presence were the crux of the experience, which does not discount the rest of the outfit, as they were very good and on point, but Kahn is the rug that ties the room together, to use the parlance of our times.
They played what I assumed were crowd-pleasers, the most memorable being “Life Design,” as the adorable-accented crowd was indeed pleased and verily sung along to lyrics they knew well. It was interesting to see such enthusiasm and familiarity of a band who is playing at a bar-plus, a place that has the feel and size that is meant for local, lesser-known bands. The Parlotones have a sound and an energy that could be readily appreciated by Americans who tend to have a fancy for—you guessed it—adorable accents.
In all, I really liked the band, the show, and the experience of being inside looking in. I’m gonna keep a lookout for these guys who could go from bar-plus shows to talk-shows to arenas to awards shows.
