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Concert reviews Music

Die Antwoord put a revamped Sound Academy to the test

DIE ANTWOORD at Rebel, Sunday, October 16. Rating: NNN


Die Antwoord’s Sunday night extravaganza was the first chance many of us have had to check out the newly revamped Sound Academy, now called Rebel. The sold-out spectacle put all aspects of the sound and lighting systems to the test, and the results were positive.

The venue has never sounded or looked better (though traffic flow in front of the main bar is still a shit-show), and the South African rave-rap duo’s stage design included a long DJ booth that effectively incorporated projections and colours while also allowing those at the very back of the room to see rappers/singers Ninja and Yolandi Visser in action – both performed on top of it frequently.

It was a physical performance, with Ninja, Visser, DJ God, two dancers and the massive crowd moving non-stop for the set’s entirety. About half a dozen songs came from their September-released fourth album, Mount Ninji And Da Nice Time Kid, and the rest largely from 2014’s Donker Mag and 2012’s Tension, though they went back to the beginning of their career for the final song of the encore, Enter The Ninja.

No one should expect political-correctness or much in the way of sophistication at a Die Antwoord gig – sample song title: Fat Faded Fuck Face – and there was a suitably deranged quality to the affair. Ninja glared at us frequently, did a strange intoning thing alone onstage and decorated his head with all the tossed bras and panties. Visser easily kept up, prancing and squeak-rapping and doing that shrilly ascending yipping holler. Meanwhile, the beats pounded, rarely ever shifting tempo or volume. The crowd went most crazy during Happy Go Sucky Fucky, gamely shouting “Fuck your rules! Fuck fuck your rules.” 

There’s wasn’t a chance for a mind-numbing quality to eke in because the main show ended promptly at 10 pm, after barely an hour. Despite all the rebellion on offer at Rebel, the morning workday beckoned.

carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis

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