I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect Women’s Day gift, One Night Only in Cape Town, a day filled with ‘A’ class rock ‘n roll music to be shared with my girl friends. Although I didn’t know any of the bands (except Seether) you can’t go wrong with live shows for a great day out.
As for the production, Ultra Sound did a great job this year. The sound was EXCELLENT at the show. There were no visual shows or big screens but the lighting show did add some rock n roll. I only arrived at the end of Kongos music and unfortunately missed Van Coke Kartel. Kongos had a friendly vibe and the audience seemed to be enjoying their music. Next was Eagles of Death Metal. They were a full on rock n roll band with a charming lead singer. Since the Food Network came to DSTV, I’ve been learning more about American culture and cuisine so it was really great to see a full on Southern American lead singer. They don’t seem to kid around when they talk about southern charm! He was engaging, entertaining, humble, funny and made everyone feel welcome and included. He said, ‘This is one of the best damn gigs I ain’t ever played. I’d hug every single one of you if I could and I will, when I see you later.’
Enter Skikari followed Eagles of Death Metal. I was really interested to see them because all my metal friends like them and so do all my dubstep friends, so I was curious as to see how this would merge. As one friend commented, they are like the Streets – remixed! These guys were FULL of energy. Their music was rock, metal, dubstep and drum n bass mixed up. Although conceptually it sounds like a band that’s jumping on the electronic music band wagon, they actually SOUND great! That’s all that matters. They really put on an excellent show, including crowd surfing, human pyramid building, guitar trashing, electronic beats, live singing, phat bass lines and equipment riding, it was a lot of fun and they totally rocked the show. Seether followed Enter Shikari and were pretty mellow except the audience loved singing along. Headliners Bullets for my Valentine were lovely as well. I didn’t know they were an Iron Maiden styled band with V guitars, long hair and classic guitar riffs but they were pleased to be here and the audience was loving them.
Thanks to Hilltop Productions for ensuring the Oppikoppi headliners played in Cape Town as well. It was a great day out and I definitely think (and wish) Enter Shikari gets booked for Ramfest next year, they were amazing!!!
Grand Arena on the other hand was a bit of a pain in the ass! Their booze selection is poor, the golden circle is way too big, thank God I didn’t waste my money on that! And you can’t walk to Grand Arena – you have to be dropped inside, weird ! BUT they did have some pros too: Great space inside, no need to worry about being squashed. Close smoking section outside. You can buy a parking tickets at the end so you don’t have a to stand in queues. You can walk out of Grand West LO They gave us a free chocolate for Women’s day! 😀
[slideshow]Here’s an over view:
And I had to make an Enter Shikari video only since they were my fav of the day 🙂
