I will kick off this post with a shameless self-promotion warning…just so that you’re aware!

Last year I became a partner in BeerEx Africa and at one of our brainstorming meetings, one of the team suggested having a live band. The cogs started turning as I remembered a bunch of brewers forming a band a few years back for the Woodstock Winter Beer Fest. What if, for a beer conference in SA, we could get a bunch of musicians from the South African beer industry to perform a one-night-only show?

Mötley Brüe – image by Marla Burger Photography

The first recruit was Carl Nienaber from 400 Brewing Co (best known for the annual Harambe release) and owner of Spinal Tap, a fairly new beer bar in Observatory. Then I approached the multi-talented Charlie Murray from Long Beach Brewery/Charlie’s Garage in Noordhoek. They both leapt at the chance to perform together – Carl on bass, Charlie on lead guitar and lead vocals. 

We needed a drummer and found a great one in Tinus Lottering, head brewer at Woodstock Brewery. And then a Facebook call out for a second guitarist completed the team, when Greg Gillowey from Beer Country messaged to say he’d be keen to join. I had hoped to join the band for a couple of songs (I quote like singing you see) but ended up becoming a permanent part of the band (best thing I’ve done in years). And so Mötley Brüe was formed (name credit to Carl – king of puns both great and terrible).

We kicked off weekly rehearsals at Charlie’s Garage on Sunday mornings and we had such a blast that when BeerEx came and went, we unanimously decided to keep on jamming together. And now we have our second gig, with a few new songs added.

Join us this Sunday at Rock ‘n’ Hops Fest at Woodstock Brewery, where we’ll be forming a set before the main event, Cape Town cover band Rock Steady. There will be beers from four local breweries, including some special releases from Woodstock Brewery (Double Californicator anyone?) and of course the rugby will be showing on the big screen in the evening. Things kick off at noon, with our set starting at 2pm.

Hope to see you there on Sunday – we’d love the support! And follow us on Facebook to find out about future gigs.