The 6th of September dawned (and it couldn’t come soon enough), what was different about this Saturday was that a huge 12 hour festival (something akin to MyCokefest, but for a really good cause-Zimbabwe-raising funds and awareness for it) was about to take place.
I had entered into a competition to win tickets and I actually won! Now knowing your going to a festival is an awesome feeling in itself, but to have won a ticket just made it all the better. I mean I totally saved money and I was going to go anyway.
We had to be there before noon to receive our tickets and at around 11:30 and so we arrived around then. It took place at the Good Hope Center, and although it was still quite early (the festival started at11:30) the place had a buzz about it.
We walked in to the dome like area and time just disappeared (you wouldn’t have known if it were 1 in the afternoon or 1 in the morning). The guy playing his acoustic guitar was Matthew Gair; he started the festival off with a mellow yet brilliant set. His songs were slow (but it was only 11:30) I only caught about half of his set but really enjoyed it as they had a catchy feel to them.
The stadium was still pretty empty, which sucked, as all the people missed out on such amazing music like Coda; they brought a blend of electro-dance meets kwaito (which is a style of music unique to us here in Africa). Their blend of music was also unique as they had an electric violinist and an electric cellist who added a whole new aspect to their music and they got everyone dancing. I mean there was no way you couldn’t move to the beats they were making!
And after such an awesome music experience it was only fitting to have a drink to it, although it had only gone noon, it was pretty late in some other country so therefore it was ok to drink! (The two bars were certainly very handy, the only downside was that you had to buy these ridiculous coupons and the drinks were pretty pricey)
After the drink Failing Forward came on, they were first rock band to perform and boy did they rock! They combined catchy hooks and vocals along with some guitar that was amazing to listen to!
Fast forward a bit (to about 5ish) a band known as Hot Water came on, and not expecting much from them (as I’d never heard of them) I was totally blown away with the music they produced, it was cross-cultural and incorporated aspects of African as well as Folk vibes. Their set seemed to short and left everyone wanting more!
Now Freshlyground are a popular local band (who has a range of catchy melodies and ballads with a South African twist), had the crowd singing along form their first till their last song.
During the brief interludes between bands presenters kept the crowd entertained! They were pretty funny and random but fit right into the Zimfest vibe!
All the while the bands were playing there was this guy who had a Zimbabwean flag which he waved around and some guy got his dancing shoes on and showed his moves to the Rudimentals (who have reggae roots and it shows)! They are a local ska band who have gained a huge following and got the crowds dancing as soon as their first song started.
After a brief interlude that included some awful food and some more drinks the Dirty Skirts were up (another hugely popular local band) they have an electro-dance feel and they fit right into their slot (which was at about 22:00ish). It was my first time hearing them live (and I’ve followed their music for ages) and I wasn’t disappointed, they brought it!
All in all Zimfest ’08 was a massive success instead of a 12 hour concert it went on for 14 hours -not that anyone complained- The bands drew the crowds in and the message about helping Zimbabwe was sent across. Zimfest will be remembered by sneaking backstage at 12:30pm and meeting one of the bands (New Altum) while the crowd of 10 people danced on. The signed t-shirts and free CD’s were perks that were won by chance and added a whole level of enjoyment to the night, oh the bar wasn’t too bad either!
xx
yours in musical madness
Musical Mover & Shaker! 