ZA Zone, 2005 Music Awards, 29.3.2006

 ZA Zone, 2005 Music Awards, 29.3.2006

At the end of 2004 zaZone.com posted a questionnaire which would allow the general public to vote for their favourite artists, bands and venues.

2005 saw quite a substantial shift in SA music - bands that were fairly big in 2004 got bigger, unknown bands started getting more exposure and, sadly, some big bands, such as Kelvin Declined and Soulja just seemed to disappear, as if making way for the new talent. Speaking of which, many bands released their debut albums - Scarlet Box, Undersound, Chris Chameleon in his solo career, The SlashDogs, The Doppler Effect, f...Etc and Soul Riot, to name but a few. zaZone.com also received hordes of EPs, including those of Aces High, Sub Rosa and Autopilot. You know what that means, don`t you? It means that those bands are likely to release full-length albums soon, which is always good news! 

We also saw the loss of several artists, including Chas Smit (who was with Plush) who was voted as the best guitarist for 2005 by zaZone.com. Plush also received best band award on the back of fierce voting in the `Best band` category.

zaZone.com grew astronomically during 2005 and topped 12000 unique visitors in the month of November 2005 - let`s hope that this growth can be sustained! Another big step in SA music came with the launch of MK89, providing an awesome platform for bands to receive exposure. 2006 is geared to be a great year in the SA music scene... Sadly, however (as reported last year), SA music is still struggling to find exposure on our local and international airwaves. Workload, unfortunately, has also put a lot of pressure on Nik and Tony (zaZone.com editors) and zaZone.com`s become a `back seat` hobby, yet manages to still perform very well. (If you`d like to help zaZone.com please contact Nik or Tony.)

Now, without much further ado, we present the 2005 zaZone.com Awards!

Category: Best drummer

5. Doyle (Epicure) 4. Mark Chandler (Verismo) 3. Mike Horne (Hog Hoggidy Hog) 2. Artur Pereira (VOL) 1. Gareth Haze (12th Avenue)

Category: Best guitarist

5. Reverend Wright (The SlashDogs) 4. Johnny De Ridder (Fokofpolisiekar) 3. Albert Frost (Albert Frost) 2. Bjorn Faree (12th Avenue) 1. Chas Smit (Plush)

Category: Best bassist

5. Will (Tonight We Die) 4. Schalk Van Der Merwe (Bed On Bricks) 3. Helen Wescott (Wicked City) 2. Frik du Preez (Sub-Rosa)1. Angelo Thomas (12th Avenue)

Category: Best vocalist

5. Ike Moriz (Ike Moriz) 4. Zolani Mahola (Freshly Ground) 3. Craig (Syphon Echo) 2. Arno Carstens (Arno Carstens) 1. Andrew Mac (Flat Stanley)

Category: Best album/EP

5. Hello Goodbye Boys (Arno Castens) 4. Taxi Violence EP 3. A Few Blinding Views (Plush) 2. Aces High EP (Aces High) 1. Crazy (12th Avenue)

Category: Best band

5. The Narrow4. FokOfPolisieKar 3. Taxi Violence 2. VOL 1. Plush

Category: Best Venue

5. Burn 4. back2basix 3. Blues room 2. Independent Armchair Theatre 1. Mercury Live and Lounge