Black Whiskey – Singing for a good cause… or two

IF YOU missed the Black Whiskey charity gig at Dee’s Restaurant and Bar on Friday night, August 8, you certainly missed out.
Phillip Taylor, Kelvin Bland and Estiaan Fritze put on a spectacular show for patrons, all in aid of two very worthy charities in Vryheid, namely Vryheid SPCA and Child Welfare Vryheid. The crowd was brilliantly receptive and the turnout to the event was fantastic.

“It was really and truly a huge success. Ten times better than what we actually thought it would be,” says Phillip Taylor, on behalf of the band, “we are really grateful and would like to thank everyone who came out and supported the event and helped us to achieve what we had set out to accomplish.”

Black Whiskey wowed the crowd with covers of popular and well-loved songs from a variety of musical eras, in their own distinctive style, hospitably catering to both younger generations, with more recent hits such as Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ and Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ to name just a few, as well as entertaining the slightly more mature crowd, who appreciate the older classics, with several hits from the always popular Creedence Clearwater Revival, and even Chuck Berry’s ‘My Ding-A-Ling.’

The show began with the band members dressing the part for a gig in aid of the SPCA, by donning animal print jumpsuits. Frontman, Phillip Taylor, impressed the audience with brilliantly entertaining onstage antics, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of popular 90s band, Green Day’s, Billy Joe Armstrong. 

A guitar case was opened and spectators were invited to place donations therein in aid of both charities. As is often the case, Vryheid opened their hearts and their wallets to help, donating generously. Special mention is made of Bruce Mills, from Liberty, the first big sponsor, who donated R1000-00 and challenged others to top this amount. Black Whiskey drummer, Kelvin Bland, obliged by donating R1200-00.

“To everyone who was there supporting us and the charities, those who donated, the list is endless, but we thank you all, you know who you are,” says frontman, Phillip Taylor. “We hope this thank you reaches you. No good deed ever goes unseen.”

The band also thanked Andrew Marchington, from Dee’s, who supplied the venue, and also pledged to donate an undisclosed amount on behalf of Dee’s Restaurant and Bar.
“Playing at Dee’s always feels like home to us,” added Phillip.

After a hugely successful evening of raising much needed funds and playing their hearts out for the plight of children and animals in need of assistance, Black Whiskey managed to raise a whopping R4 120-00, which was divided equally between Vryheid SPCA and Child Welfare Vryheid.

“Thanks to everyone,” said Phillip Taylor, “we hope to see more and more faces at every show we play.”