JUMP Media and
Purple Patch present UK greats- Toploader! Indie Pop Rock at it's finest!
Date: Saturday May 29th 2010
Venue: Karma
Lounge, Camps Bay
Tickets: 100 ZAR from Webtickets, 120 ZAR on the door
Doors open: 6pm onwards
Tickets are available from www.webtickets.co.za and on the door
Strictly Over 21s only
About Toploader:
The first chapter in Toploader's history was extraordinary and helped them to
reach dizzying heights. So, it seems the irrepressible forces of nature have
brought the "Loader" back together again to finish what they started.
Formed in 1997, a bunch of young Eastbourne musicians swiftly rose from the
ranks of the unknown to become one of Britain's biggest selling bands.
"The thing about our home town, Eastbourne is you've got the sea and the
downs and countryside so the chilled factor is quite high," says
singer-keyboardist Joseph Washbourn, "So a lot of the lyrics are kind of
coming from that perspective, either escapism or looking out to somewhere
else.”
Local gigs saw them and their reputation develop at an exponential rate. The
conspicuously curly mopped was the songwriter and the voice. Accomplished as a
keyboardist, having been taught since the age of 7, there was plenty of soul in
his vocal that came to the fore as well and made him the ideal frontman. He
even had a suitable family history; an elder brother who passed his Zeppelin
records Joe’s way and a mum who used to hang out with David Bowie when he was
still a south London saxophonist called David Jones.
Even at their early gigs, they were always a safe bet for festival and stadium
stardom. They had scale and confidence to spare and in 1998 Sony's S2 signed
them without a second thought. Paul Weller saw them play and asked the band to
support him on his 1999 tour, where they sometimes followed Noel Gallagher.
Their limited edition introductory single 'Achilles Heel' came out in May 1999
leading to an early appearance on TFI Friday. They took that momentum and
toured incessantly. Playing at benefit shows in Kosovo alongside Travis and
Stereophonics, blazing through festival shows at Glastonbury and Reading and,
soon enough, grazing the top 40 with their accompanying single 'Let The People
Know'.
Garnering even more converts to their cause, the legendary L.A. producer George
Drakoulias came in to produce the top 20 party anthem 'Dancing In The
Moonlight'. This was the band’s smash hit and remained in the charts for a
month when it came out in February 2000.
A full release for the epic 'Achilles Heel' then went to number 8 confirming
Toploader as crossover stars. They recorded for Top Of The Pops alongside Oasis
and personal favourites The Charlatans. The May release of their debut album
saw reality trumping even their own innate optimism when 'Onka's Big Moka' went
to number 5 and notched up Gold status after just two weeks.
By summer 2000, everyone was singing to their tune. Further gigs with Paul
Weller at The Royal Albert Hall and their own slots at European festivals
(including blissful Glastonbury and T in the Park appearances), all Joseph had
to do was point the microphone at the masses and conduct. Even the half a
million people about to witness Toploader on their 30 day Euro tour with Bon
Jovi (including 2 shows at Wembley Stadium making them the last Brit band to
play before the re-build) couldn't ignore their presence. There was something
special, natural, and meant to be.
The release of their debut album saw their optimism realised when 'Onka's Big
Moka' went to number 5 and notched up Gold status after just two weeks. Their
second album, Magic Hotel followed, hitting number 3 in the UK chart and
providing the band with another huge hit single in ‘Time Of My Life’. They
toured the UK for what seemed like a year!
At the end of 2008, at Dan's stag do, the band met up for the first time in 5
years and found that the desire to play together was still there. A couple of
phone calls and they discovered the demand was still there too. So here we are-
Toploader are back.