“We Intend To Cause Havoc” legendary rock band from Zambia
W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend To Cause Havoc) were the biggest rock band in Zambia in the 1970s and spearheaded a new genre dubbed Zamrock, fusing influences that ranged from the Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath and James Brown with traditional African rhythms. At the peak of their popularity, the band often needed police to keep fans at bay while their lead singer Jagari – whose name is an Africanisation of Mick Jagger’s – riled up crowds, dancing manically and stage diving from balconies. Jagari is the charismatic sole surviving original member of the band.
W.I.T.C.H. are finally getting the exposure they deserve with the reissue of their ‘70s albums and a new documentary feature film: “We Intend To Cause Havoc”, which follows the band’s formation, demise, and rediscovery. In 2016 Jagari began a collaboration with Dutch musicians Jacco Gardner and Nic Mauskoviç (successful artists and fans themselves) and as a reformed W.I.T.C.H., headed out on its extremely successful first-ever European Tour in 2017. They repeated that success in North America in 2019. By popular demand, they return to the states again this Fall including this show at The Drake on 10/9. Opening the show is PAINT, who is Pedrum Siadatian; songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles band Allah-Las.
$20 Adv / $25 Door / $15 Student
Doors open at 7pm
W.I.T.C.H. plays The Drake in Amherst on Sunday, October 9th with support PAINT.
Amherst Cinema’s Sound & Vision series presents the W.I.T.C.H. documentary “We Intend To Cause Havoc” on Wednesday, September 7th.
“WITCH is like The Beatles of Zambia” - excerpt from the documentary
PAINT
Having first made his mark as a songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles’ Allah-Las, Pedrum Siadatian has etched out a place of his own with his solo work as PAINT. What started as modest 4-track experiments quickly took on a life of their own as Pedrum began distilling his musical and lyrical inspirations into something both timeless and new. His miniature menagerie of light-psych and proto-punk gems had outgrown their cassette cage and were now ready to be heard. His music has drawn favorable comparisons to Kevin Ayers, Lou Reed and Julian Cope. The production of his newer music has an increased clarity and tonal variety, drawing inspiration from ‘80s/’90s art-rock like The Meat Puppets and The Magnetic Fields. One song is sung in Farsi, a nod to Siadatian’s Iranian heritage. It’s collectively a crate digger’s dream – channeling ‘70s Persian funk melodrama, tropical marimba, even minimalist jazz. Trippy splendor.