Henry Ate celebrates 30 years of Just with Gauteng tour

The Gauteng performances take place at The Whirlwind Theatre in Johannesburg on 7 November and Railways Café in Cullinan on 8 November. Thirty years after their debut album became a soundtrack to student life in South Africa, Henry Ate will return to Gauteng. Three concerts will celebrate the music that established the band during the 1990s. Karma Swanepoel and Julian Sun will revisit their 1996 album Slap in the Face during a national anniversary tour. The tour includes performances in Johannesburg, Cullinan and Irene next month. The album included songs such as Just, Hey Mister, Henry and Waves of Salt. It became popular among young South Africans during the country’s early democratic years. Swanepoel said the band’s success had been unexpected. “We were so young and completely unprepared for the music industry,” she said. “We never really set out thinking this was going to be a career.” The pair were performing acoustic sets at Wings Beat Bar when record companies began taking an interest in their music. Their debut album was subsequently recorded with producer Willem Möller. He retained much of the character of their early performances rather than relying on elaborate studio production. “There were no click tracks or elaborate productions,” Swanepoel said. “The songs were allowed to breathe and exist naturally.” Never expected a career One of the band’s biggest hits, Just, almost failed to make the album. Swanepoel said they had effectively completed the recording when they persuaded Möller to let them record one more song. “‘Just’ was an afterthought,” she said. “The album was technically finished and we begged Willem to let us record it.” Sun said the album remained important to listeners because of the memories tied to its songs. “It was the soundtrack to university days, friendships, first loves and adventures,” he said. The Gauteng performances take place at The Whirlwind Theatre in Johannesburg on 7 November and Railways Café in Cullinan on 8 November. The final Gauteng performance is at Railways Café in Irene on 13 November. Tickets are available through the band’s official ticket links.