Liefde by die Arena

I have always enjoyed Afrikaans music, perhaps because I attended a bilingual high school, or because I had many Afrikaans friends who exposed me to "their" music or perhaps it was as a result of years of faithfully watching Noot vir Noot.  But, since moving to the Northern suburbs of Cape Town, behind the so-called "boerewors curtain", my love of Afrikaans music has deepened and I find myself exploring a diverse range of artists and genres, resulting in a steady increase of the South African section of my CD collection.

So I jumped at the opportunity to see Laurika Rauch perform, along with Die Heuwels Fantasties, Loki Rothman and Jo Black, at the Liefde by die Arena show at Grand West.  Laurika is an iconic Afrikaans singer and songwriter and I was blown away when I saw her perform at Afrikaans is Groot earlier this year.  It was her name on the lineup that caught my eye but I was also keen to hear the critically acclaimed Loki Rothman, and to check out the other artists about whom I knew very little.

Jo Black, a somewhat intimidating figure at first glance with his thick beard, tattooed arms and deep voice, opened the show.  The poor guy's eardrum had burst on the flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town so he had to be treated by a doctor as soon as he arrived in the Mother City.  Fortunately, the doctor was able to do something that involved something in the ear being "geskeer" ("cut").  Nevertheless, he and his band were a great opening  act, performing songs from Jo's debut album that have a common theme of hope, including Bring die hoop weer terug ("Bring the hope back again") and the song that launched (no pun intended) his career, Skepe ("Ships").

Next up was the guitar virtuoso Loki Rothman who mesmerized the audience with his magical guitar skills - and I use the term magic literally because at several times during his solo performances, I found my jaw dropping in disbelief.  I have no idea how a person's hands and fingers can move so quickly yet so majestically.  Hands down, the highlight from his set was his "one-man-band" version of Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk.  Oh yeah, the man can sing too!

Loki was joined on stage by the legendary Laurika whose voice is so pure you simply have to close your eyes and let it wash over you.  The addition of Loki on percussion took her performance to another level that left me with goosebumps on several occasions.  They performed many of her classic hits, including Stuur Groete Aan Mannetjies Roux ("Send regards to Mannetjies Roux"), Blou ("Blue" - reworked by Loki for her album Die Reis) and Die Nostalgie ("The Nostalgia").  Their set alone was worth the cost of the ticket.

After a thirty minute interval, Die Heuwels Fantasties (an electronic rock band comprising Hunter Kennedy, Pierre Greeff and Fred den Hartog) took to the stage for their set, much to the excitement of the many Afrikaans hipster-wannabes in the audience and to the slight discomfort of some of the older audience members (presumably there primarily to see Laurika), several of whom left a couple of songs in.  I will be honest, prior to getting my ticket for the show, I knew little to nothing about the band but my research piqued my interest...they kind of remind me of The Killers.

Anyway, the band certainly got the rest of the audience in a party mood and, when the lead vocalist invited the audience to get up and dance should they feel the need, a small but enthusiastic group did not need a second invitation and were soon dancing in the aisles.  Good for them I say!  That is what a concert should be - having fun and enjoying the music without worrying about what anyone thinks - and I find this is often lacking from some Cape Town concerts, particularly those at Grand West.  Audiences can be very treurig ("sad").  The band performed some of their earlier hits, such as Leja, Pille vir Kersfees ("Pills for Christmas") and their version of Ballade vir 'n Enkeling ("Ballad for an Individual") as well as songs from their new album, Okay!, including Gebruik My ("Use Me").  Though I was hoping they would perform my favourite song from the album, Sheila, which I stumbled across while researching the group.

The highlight of the show was when all of the artists took to the stage for Klein Tambotieboom, a DHF song that was also recorded by Laurika.  In an interview with News24, Pierre says they were excited when Laurika approached them to record the song:  "It was great news. We are big Laurika fans. She also asked us to do the backing vocals on her version of the song and we thoroughly enjoyed working with her on it. Her interpretation of the song is very special. We love it!" And so do I.  I can't put my finger on it, but there is just something about this song that I love and hearing all of these fantastic musicians performing it live was a special experience that culminated with the festive explosions of confetti canons.