A few months ago I was introduced to Fiverr, a service where you can either sell or buy something, particularly a service, for $5. The administrators make a buck off every sale and you get to pocket the remaining $4. Simple enough.

The services range from promising more Facebook fans to positively reviewing products to listening to your life story on Skype, the list goes on and on and they range from very normal to very, very bizarre. To date I’ve only used it for small translations for work, but then I found this guy: The young, Canadian Alex Buckingham. He said that he’d write and record a song all about YOU for a mere $5. So I thought “Fuck it, why not?”

With the brief “Have a look at my website and some of my vids to get a sense of what I’m like”, I paid the 5 bucks and this is the fun (auto-tuned) result I got the next day, too awesome. Thanks Al.

Now go and get yours done! Tell him Don sent you.

Ok, this is a little late, but if you don’t know about it, or you don’t have your ticket, get to Computicket now. It’s gonna be killer crazy awesome. Yes. Killer crazy awesome.

We’ll be at the gig in Lonehill this Saturday. Awesome.

Virgin Music is asking bloggers to write reviews on the SA VFest, with the possibility of winning a tour of all the VFests around the world. Awesome.

Check out the details here. I’m seeing an increase in music posts all round.

For those of you who missed out, My Coke Fest was insane this year. Partly because yours truly got to MC throughout the day for both Jo’burg and Cape Town.

Coke also gave Marc Kobrin the opportunity to have the best of the fest. He was invited to the Press Con and was treated like a star so he could enjoy every aspect of the day. We had Carlos follow him throughout the day, he and his girlfriend Roxy had an amazing time. Check out his experience here.

We also filmed the My Coke Fest Superfans again this year, watch their day-by-day video diaries here, as well as see all the live edits that were put up on screen.

What a killer day. If you were there and you didn’t hear me announce it, join the Facebook group and add all your awesome photos.

I can’t begin to describe how awesome Friday night was. The Offspring played in our beautiful country, and it was beautiful. Never before had I gone so mental as I did that night. It was absolutely killer!

The night started off with people rushing to get good positions, and we all waited there for a long time until it all started. Boobs were aplenty, with all girls on boyfriends’ shoulders feeling compelled to flash them off when they saw themselves on the big screens. Hey, we’re not complaining! It was hilarious, whenever you saw a set of knockers on screen the whole crowd would scream “Yeah!”, until one unlucky gal showed off a really-not-so-nice pair to which the crowd went “Ooh…” in a very negative type of way. Shame.

The event started off with young punk band The Finkelstiens playing probably their best set I’ve heard them play. They’ve grasped the concept of “less talking, more playing” and it works. Next up were the back-together-again Springbok Nude Girls that played every track to a tee, and kept the crowds screaming all their old favourite tracks that got them to where they are today.

Then…

Wow.

What a show. Every bit as fucking awesome as what I’d imagined it would be. They intro’d with the intro from the ‘Splinter’ album, which kicked the springs in my legs to high gear, and absolutely owned that audience for the reminder of the set. Intermission was held, and we were entertained by a really, really, really fat dude in a very little Speedo and super-hero cape. It rocked! Like I said, I really can’t describe how amazing it was. To those of you who joined me in one of the best nights of my life, you know how I feel. To those of you who unfortunately missed it. HA! Sorrie fo’ you!

Thanks to Rich…! and ../Ant for supplying us and our partners with a night to remember for a very long time. Also, a big Boo-ya to ../Ant for being a trooper and braving fighting the crowds with me so we could pee before Offspring started. Big up yo’self!

I picked up the first issue of a great new mag at Exclusive Books yesterday, it’s called Make Some Noise.

The mag looks at the heavier side of the music world; punk/hxc/metal etc. and it does this very well. What I like is the balance of local and international content, complete with gig guide, giveaways, reviews and everything else you’d expect from a top-class music mag.

Another point worthy of mention is the awesome design/production that has gone into its creation, and they didn’t save any pennies on shit quality paper either, surprising considering the low cover pice of R20.00.

The only missing feature, currently keeping my loyalty to RockSound safe, is the lack of a cover disk, however apparently it’s just a matter of time.

Oh, and very few rock star cliche pics, which is a good thing. To say the least, my subscription form will be in the mail in a day or two.

Nice work lads, keep making the noise…!

Backlit silhouettes move slowly on stage at The Nile Crocodile while the intro plays out. It ends, and The Slashdogs kick into their set. Chuck Berry meets Motorhead, throw in a bit of Murderdolls and you’ve got a kick-ass rock band with plenty of attitude. Frontman Ryan (ex-Fuzigish) has an amazing amount of energy, moving around like he owns the stage and performing like a rock vocalist should. Guitarist Andy (ex-Leek and the Bouncing Uptones frontman) still has the same on-stage flair, not forgetting his trademark eyebrow-lift. Bassist Liam was sickly, but that didn’t hamper his performance at all. On drums, ATFN’s Paul, who proved that he’s not just good with a git!

Next up, ATFN. I posted about a gig of theirs before, and I won’t hesitate to sing boo-ya praises to them again. Tight is not the word. These guys are phenomenal. From a young punk band four years ago, singing about their teddy bears, to what they are today. A slick progressive-metal-punk band with so much going for them.

Between sets they held a tattoo competition sponsored by Phoenix Tattoos. Basically, the two best looking tattoo’s got a R400 tattoo voucher, and first prize got a bottle of whiskey too. The idea was a little flawed I thought, ‘cos if you have a nice tatt, well done, let someone else have a nice tatt too, so I told Andy that next time they should consider the winner to be ‘tattoo with most potential for growth’. The arm on this image is mine. I tried to sneak in a pen drawing of the Slashdogs logo to try win the prize, but the judges were all over it. Bummer. So I showed them my real one and that’s when I thought of the potential for growth idea.

I believe, without a doubt, that both these bands have international potential. A few years ago young punk bands were popping up all over the place. The ones that have stuck it out have either stuck to their punk rock style of music, or evolved. ATFN have definitely evolved into a rock machine, and I think that newcomers The Slashdogs are hot on their heels. The event was organised and put on by Breath Of Fresh Air. Keep ‘em coming guys!

A very big huge massive boo-ya to Stringbean, Humphrey the Teacup, All This For Nothing and Fuzigish for putting on an amazing show at the Horror Cafe in Newtown on Tuesday night.

Support your local punk bands!

I certainly would be if I was responsible for the horrendous production of your new show Project Fame. What are you thinking? Not only is it a blatant rip-off of the BBC’s far superior Fame Academy, but the standard of production is horrific. As an ex-lampie, I’ll be first in line to help bitch slap the lighting designer/director, and your stage is far too big, where’s the intimacy?. Oh and don’t get me started on the continuity presenters and their insulting jokes. You’re even bringing back the x-factor cliche, I can’t believe it, didn’t that die with Idols two seasons ago? I feel sick, I really do.

Fucking amateurs…!