Music and Theatre

Cape Town definitely has a really cool music scene, and some of my favourite things this semester have revolved around checking out different bands and hearing all of the different sounds Cape Town has to offer.

The weekend before my birthday in October, the 7-9^th was one of Cape Town’s many music festivals, Rocking the Daisies. Held at a giant wine estate, Kloof, about an hours drive outside of Cape Town, the festival had 4 stages and a variety of wonderful acts. Most of the people on my program went, and camped out for two nights. When it got ridiculously hot during the day, everyone hung out around a reservoir near the main stage. At night, the stars came out, and most people congregated in the electronic tent, which featured some of my favourite CT djs.  There is nothing quite like a music festival, and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had here in South Africa. The scenery was gorgeous, everyone was having a wicked great time, and the music was definitely interesting. My favourite main stage act was a native South African band called Civil Twilight. They moved to Nashville a few years ago, but still come home to perform occasionally. I would definitely recommend checking them out. 

the reservoir during the day 

main stage 

electronic tent at night 

can't hang- passed out on the way back 

More recently, one of my favourite clubs, Zula, held a fundraiser against Rhino poaching. I’ll spare everyone the horrific details, but essentially Rhinos are hunted in greater and greater numbers for their horns and are at great risk of disappearing in the wild. The evening had an amazing line up of super popular Cape Town music acts, including Jeremy Loops and the ever talented Blush N Bass. Jeremy has performed at UCT and at Rocking the Daisies as well, and essentially is a one man band, using a loop machine to layer sounds to create entire songs -definitely worth checking out. After his set, a few friends and I acted like completely embarrassing fan girls and had him and his supporting acts sign our EPs and pose for pictures... probably a little embarrassing at the time, but completely worth it. Blush N Bass, are a super hot female DJ duo from CT, the energy during their shows is always amazing, and it’s impossible to keep from dancing. 

with my housemates at Rock for Rhinos 

fangirl status with Jeremy Loops 

Blush N Bass 

Now not quite as music related, I also had the opportunity to go to Madame Zingara’s theatre of Dreams show while here in Cape Town. Essentially a dinner theatre/circus/burlesque evening, it was one of my favourite nights here. The food, which is done by the same parent company as the Bombay Bicycle Club- a favourite Cape Townian restaurant, was fantastic, but the show was what really blew me away. The evening takes place in an original glass walled circus tent, dating from the early 1990s. There were acrobats, contortionists, aerial artists and about every other performance you could have wanted. My favourite was this crazy aerial act that involved a bath tub and live music. Completely impossible to describe, but it was amazing. Besides the tent itself, there is a little village with fortune tellers, caravans and other circus-folk.  Most people attending were dressed in a mix of costumes or nice attire or a masquerade type sensibility. It felt simultaneously like stepping into another time, and something that could only be done now. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos during the show, but check out their website for an idea of what I saw that evening. www.madamezingara.com 

entrance to the tent 

giving out fortunes before the show 

 I am convinced that there is always a subtle buzz in Cape Town. No matter where you go, there is always some sort of street performance, music spilling out of a cafe, or just the sound of bird chirping – or the steel drums being played by students at the elementary school next to your house. While this does not make Cape Town unique, it will definitely be something I miss when I go home. The music here is a mix of different cultures, languages, and styles, much like Cape Town itself.