antiMusic.com: The Parlotones - Live Design Review

The Parlotones - Live Design
by Kevin Wierzbicki

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American audiences in general are not yet familiar with the music of the Parlotones but there's a good chance that situation is changing at this very moment. The Parlotones are the biggest pop, non-traditional music playing band in South Africa and in their homeland they may as well be U2---record sales are beyond platinum and as this film shows, their fans know every word to every song and are numerous enough to sell-out the venue where this film was shot, Johannesburg's massive Coca Cola Dome arena. To unfamiliar ears the Parlotones may at first seem non-descript but as Live Design gets to its mid-point the band's own sound comes into focus on songs like the sing-along "Sun Comes Out," the U2-inspired "We Call This Dancing" and "Colourful," a soulful indie-rocker that perfectly sums up the band's My Chemical Romance/the Church mash-up and that exemplifies the kind of music that would give the band a good chance of winning over fans in the States. This DVD/CD package is part of the plan to do just that, as is a special 3D broadcast event coming up on July 16th where the guys take a cue from Green Day with Dragonflies and Astronauts, a "rock theater production" revolving around their greatest hits, all contained in Live Design. The show will be simulcast live in 3D to theaters in South Africa but also on Direct TV's 3D channel in the States so this just might be the year the Parlotones break in North America. It appears that they certainly deserve the opportunity.

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