Category: music

Saturday Evening 101

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I’ve spent so long drinking red wine and watching VH1’s Final Countdown: One Hit Wonders that it seems that I have left no time at all for a blog post. Bugger.

The top three (as chosen by VH1) were:

3. Tasmin Archer’s 1992 hit Sleeping Satellite – she blames you for the moonlit sky. And the dream that died. Steady on, love.
2. Deep Blue Something with Breakfast At Tiffany’s – in which a ginger bloke tries to convince a chick that because they both like a film from the early 1960’s, he’s a good bet to go on a second date with, despite his hair. Ja right.
1. Never Met A Girl Like You Before by Edwyn Collins. I hate this song.

What were they thinking?

I also uploaded my 2,500th item onto my flickr photostream – some surprisingly remarkable trolleys at Canal Walk – a big shopping mall in Cape Town:

Surprisingly remarkable not just because of their number and structural conformity, but because they are all still where they should be and aren’t being pushed along the N1 with some bergie’s life in them.

And now I have to go and prepare for tomorrow morning’s school outing to the beach by train.
More on that little adventure tomorrow. Possibly.

Zebra & Giraffe will support The Killers

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And you heard it where first?

Z&G broke the news on their Facebook page this morning:

SA’s hottest new rock act Zebra & Giraffe have been chosen by The KILLERS to be the support act on their South African tour, which commences with two nights at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg (Thursday 3rd December and Friday 4th December 2009) and then moves to Cape Town with one performance on Sunday 6th December at Val De Vie Wine and Polo Estate, in the scenic Paarl/Franschhoek Valley.

But sometime last month, someone had already got the scoop and tweeted it loud and clear:

1:49 PM Oct 31st
Have you heard? @zebraandgiraffe opening for #TheKillers SA gigs…

Yep. That would have been little old me.

So – next time you want the news first on the biggest events of the year, you know where to come, right? Lest we forget, we were the first to tell you that The Killers were coming, as well.

Aside from blowing my own trumpet (and let’s not beat around the bush here, if you could blow your own trumpet, you would), this has just added to my already mounting anticipation of a great concert. I like Zebra & Giraffe – and they have proven Winelands experience with their amazing performance at CokeZeroFest at Lourensford:

Widely tipped to be the next “big” SA band, they blew me away with their New Order vs The Cure, mildly melancholic electronica. It amazes me that there are some bands that are still able to find a niche in the music market which no-one has previously exploited. While others are producing decent, enjoyable but somewhat “samey” tracks, Z&G are novel, refreshing and exciting. And eminently listenable. The performance was tight and professional, the audience interaction not too full-on, but enough to let us know they knew we were there. Very impressive and definitely the best SA band of the day.

So, roll on December 6th. Just 30 sleeps away – or if, like me, you have small children – probably nearer 15.

This is it

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I have been waiting for the perfect time to share this little bit of video footage with the 6000 miles… reading public.

And this is it. Because today marks the release of the Michael Jackson documentary and this is my bit of Michael Jackson tribute.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m no fan of MJ and I am more than ready for the whole thing to go away now. Which of course it won’t.
So, if you can’t beat them, join them and show the world your love of Michael. Sham on!

Which brings me to this video. Please allow me to set the scene:
It was filmed in Trafalgar Square, London UK on Sunday 5th July 2009 – 10 days after Michael popped some propofol and shortly thereafter, his clogs. A group of (mainly) middle-aged women had got together and were self-consciously dancing around a CD player which was quietly knocking out MJ hits.
Rarely have I seen a group so uncomfortable in their own skins. This was clearly the first IRL meet-up of an MJ internet forum. No-one knew anyone else and all present seemed to be disappointed with the turnout, the company, the organisation, the venue and the weather.

Until the forum loony turns up. Dressed in white crocs, cream opaque tights under white fishnets, blue polka dot shorts, a dark Union Jack top and a floppy hat, she (at least, I think it was a she) promptly demonstrated how MJ would have done things if he’d been a MJ forum loony.


MJ never did it like this

Note how the others in the group aren’t quite sure how to react. Two of them attempt to turn the loony dance into some sort of  Thriller move. It doesn’t work and they give up and try to ignore the loony.
In the end, it turned into two tributes – one with some middle-aged women shuffling around a cd player and one with a loony prancing all over Trafalgar Square. 

Just how MJ would have wanted it. But with less small children.

Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts 2009/10

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Summer’s here and with it the promise of lazy Sunday afternoons enjoying the Old Mutual Summer Sunset Concerts at Kirstenbosch.

Kicking off on 22nd November with South African legend, Johnny Clegg, the concerts run through to the end of March (and, I guess, the end of summer) with Watershed signing off for the season on the 28th.

The full line up:

2009 

22 November – Johnny Clegg
06 December – Jesse Clegg 
13 December – Jonny Cooper Orchestra
27 December – Ashtray Electric and Pretty Blue Guns
 

2010

03 January – A Fist Full of Diamonds with Josie Fields, Faryll Purkiss and Dan Patlansky
10 January – Freshlyground
17 January – Zebra & Giraffe
24 January – Fokofpolisiekar

07 February – aKING
21 February – Just Jinjer
28 February – Prime Circle

07 March – Goldfish
14 March – The Dirty Skirts
21 March – The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra
28 March – Watershed

Tickets for the first concert cost R95 for adults (yep – that’s what I thought too!) and are available from Kirstenbosch ticket office (021) 761 2866 or via http://www.webtickets.co.za/.

As usual, Kirstenbosch will be the place to be to rock out those Sunday afternoons (with the exception of 21st March, perhaps).

EDIT: While cross-checking details for the above piece (we’re damn thorough here at 6000 Towers), I saw this on the sanbi.org website:

cr

Is that a promise?? I hope so.

7 weeks

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It’s just seven weeks until The Killers play “Cape Town” and that might explain why my whole family was dancing around the new study to the dulcet sounds of Brandon Flowers this evening before bathtime. We were both Human and Dancer, before you ask.

But it’s the brilliant cover they did of Dire Straits’ Romeo & Juliet that I’ve decided to share with you this evening. This was an amazing song to begin with and they have more than done it justice.
I know that the band are regular readers of this blog (who isn’t?), so guys, please can you play this one just as the sun is setting over the Franschhoek mountains, please?

This may or may not mark the beginning of a regular Killers-related Sunday blog post feature leading up the the concert.