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Die AntwoordRockhal, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg
11th June 2019
Die Antwoord

At the weekend they were on the festival stages of Rock am Ring, Rock im Park and Pinkpop Festival, on Tuesday they were already in the Rockhal in Esch. DIE ANTWOORD turned the Rockhal and its audience into a huge dance floor on that night.

Two freaks who originally satirized the music scene as comedians in the suburbs of Cape Town and suddenly had a lot of success with it: That’s DIE ANTWOORD. Their YouTube videos suddenly had millions of clicks. The story of their characters was suddenly known everywhere. The Zef style, the “redneck music” with half English, half Afrikaans lyrics was well known everywhere. DIE ANTWOORD, which is Watkin Tudor Jones alias Ninja, Anri du Toit alias ¥o-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek/GOD are also known for having “The best music videos in the world”. Their wild and crazy high-energy live shows attract a cult-like following world-wide.

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Music & Performance
The light was dimmed, the mood in the audience was already strangely whipped up, although nothing has happened yet. Here and there the whistling and roaring became louder, which turned into loud screaming as the darkness lay over the crowd. A mysterious intro of throat singing, organ sounds and background noise, all this together gave the impression of a voodoo mass, sounded for the first few minutes. The beginning of the show came like a storm: merciless, brutal and fascinating at the same time. Stage and audience exploded in equal measure. First DJ Hi-Tek came on stage under frenetic cheers. After ‘House of Zef’ as intro the two protagonists finally entered the Rockhal: Ninja, the rapper drawn by spidery prison tattoos, and Yolandi Visser, this exciting Lolita creature with a helium high-pitched voice. The powerful beats of their first song ‘Pitbull Terrier’ didn’t let the audience stand still any more.

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The whole stage was one big screen. Each piece was impressively illustrated, sometimes brightly coloured, sometimes dark black and white, sometimes bathed in glistening bright light, so that the protagonists were sometimes only visible like silhouettes. Many of the Rap songs formed the soundtrack for disturbingly fascinating videos that were clicked millions of times on the net. They were also repeatedly cited during this crazy live performance. And they weren’t always really youth-free. Provocative underground aesthetics at the highest level. It immediately became clear that DIE ANTWOORD know exactly what they were doing. Nothing on this evening seemed to be left to chance. Everything was perfect in an almost disturbing way. Two dancers joined in. At first glance they threw their arms and legs around uncontrollably. On the second it became clear that they were doing this exactly synchronously. Costumes were changed in a matter of seconds.

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While rapper Ninja showed us his gold teeth, mimed the “Bad Boy”, singer Yo-Landi jumped across the stage in oversized hoodie and then in hot pants like a bouncy ball. Their Zef-Style and the proletarian attitude may seem to take some getting used to. But the two energy bundles gave full power from the first opening bass drums to the last rapped line and had no trouble pulling the audience with them. Seldom has a concert been so exuberant during the week, with highlights such as ‘Banana Brain’, ‘Cookie Thumper’ or ‘Baby’s on fire’. Unfortunately, there is one negative point to criticize: The show lasted only one hour, which was very frustrating for the audience, even if the greatest hits were played. Too bad! In 2015 the concert lasted longer. But still, from the first to the last minute, the show of DIE ANTWOORD was a spectacle that could hardly be surpassed in terms of energy, originality and fascination. It was a journey into a world of its own, disturbing and gloomy, you searched for harmony in vain, but at that moment you didn’t need it either.

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The beats, the raps, the singing and the videos on the screen, everything was brutal in a breath-taking way. Anyone who knows them and has never seen them before should definitely do so!

Setlist
01. Pitbull Terrier
02. Fatty Boom Boom
03. Girl I Want 2 Eat U
04. Banana Brain
05. DntTakeMe4aPoes (with G-Boy)
06. Naai is n lekker ding
07. Baita
08. Ugly Boy
09. Cookie Thumper!
10. Gucci Coochie (Ninja verse only)
11. Fat Faded Fuck Face
12. Baby’s on Fire
13. I Fink U Freeky
14. Happy Go Sucky Fucky
15. Never Le Nkemise 2
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16. Enter the Ninja

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.8 / 10

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All Pictures by Elena Arens

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