Republica brings Tel Aviv back to the ’90s

By EITAN AROM
Proto-1990s electro-punk band Republica (photo credit: Courtesy)
Proto-1990s electro-punk band Republica
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Proto-1990s electro-punk band Republica will soon exchange its native British rainstorms for one night of Tel Aviv’s December beach weather when they arrive for a show on December 11 at the Barby Club.
The band was born out of the early 1990s electronic scene in London. But vocalist Samantha Sprackling – better known simply as Saffron – traces its roots to “the huge club scene of Detroit and Chicago” in those years.
They became global in the late ‘90s with a couple of well-received albums including the international hit “Ready To Go,” but by 2001 they had run out of steam.
Saffron continued to record music with inventive British rock and punk bands such as the Prodigy. Reborn in 2008 after seven years of hiatus with Saffron and original keyboardist Tim Dorney and guitarist Johnny Glue (born Johnny Male), Republica has regained its status on the comeback trail and decided to include Israel on their 2014 tour itinerary after hearing a glowing report from fellow comeback rocker and friend Gary Numan who performed here earlier this year.
“He said he really enjoyed his stay there and the people were lovely,” Saffron told The Jerusalem Post.
Neither Republica nor Saffron has ever visited Israel, but when Numan showed her pictures of his visit to Jerusalem, she said she liked what she saw.
“We’re honored to have been asked to play in Tel Aviv, but I would love very much if I could visit and sightsee in Jerusalem” and elsewhere in Israel, she said. “I may never get an opportunity to visit there again.”
Tel Aviv-based club promoter Jonathan Lipitz, 31, says he “knew Republica from the moment it began to happen.”
Liptiz’s says his musical tastes formed during the MTV-era nineties, and he made a list of artists from his past that he wanted to bring to Israel.
Working with a pair of DJs called “Big Mouse,” Lipitz began to make his way down the list.
Republica, naturally, was on it.
Big Mouse, which he described as “Brit pop,” will perform before and after Republica.
For their part, Republica seems likely to continue working its way around its global fan-base as they relish the opportunity to spread the ‘90s electro-glow to a new generation of fans.
For more information and tickets visit www.barby.co.il