Kim Wild, ZAzone.com, Cape Town, SA, 2.3.2005, Ike Moriz live at the Acoustic Café, Muizenberg

Kim Wild, ZAzone.com, Cape Town, SA, 2.3.2005, Ike Moriz live at the Acoustic Café, Muizenberg

Can one refer to a gig as being romantic? Well, I just did! It was initially the setting with the low lighting and candles ... and then it was the presence of Ike, a single person that held his own on stage.

I must be honest and say that I hadn't heard of Ike until that evening, which is pretty embarrassing considering that I pride myself in knowing what I consider to be a lot of South African bands and artists, especially the very talented, so I don't know how he slipped by me. I'm going to try using the excuse that he has been overseas for the past few years! He does however still say 'Ja' a fair bit which is fantastic to hear and at least we know that he hasn't forgotten his roots; an accent comes across more in his singing than his speech. I have read in numerous places that he sounds like David Bowie and it must be quite annoying to be compared to someone else all the time when you're writing your own original material, even though everyone has their, what you might call, 'musical influences'. He then ironically sang a Bowie cover and I saw what the critics meant! He sounds a lot like him!

I loved every song he played; `Drowning` I had listened to on a website earlier in the day and was thrilled when he sang that second - it’s a great song. I was sorry to see the set come to an end and was sorry to have the cat leave my lap where it had been sitting all evening - Acoustic Café is a truly classic place!

Ike deserves all the international acclaim he gets and will hopefully be more recognised on the local scene as well. I would have to agree with "he’s like Bowie without the glam meets Oasis without the self-importance teamed with UK chart 'alternative' without the boredom."