Concert In The Field

Families swarmed over the grass, parents sitting on picnic blankets whilst the kids ran around happily, taking advantage of the beautiful Cape Town weather. A quick walk around the field revealed great organisation, with stands selling everything from doughnuts to ice cream to salads, all manned by ladies wearing "Concert In The Field" T-shirts. DJ Maoriginal was already at work on the decks, keeping the crowd entertained as the anticipation for the bands grew.

Dancing at the barrier

Blues rockers Machineri seemed much happier here than they had at Kirstenbosch a couple of weeks earlier. Front woman Sannie Fox managed to smile at the crowd and interact, soon resulting in a group of young fans dancing at the barrier.

Another 15-minute set by DJ Maoriginal followed (including a song containing some words that should have been censored out, eek) then The Lancaster Band took to the stage. Although this ska-rock band were entertaining, I'm still undecided as to whether a band of 80s' rockers with a front man wearing a T-shirt bearing the legend "pugs, not drugs" was quite the right choice for a concert of mainly schoolchildren. They lost the attention of the young crowd within minutes, but the parents seemed to be enjoying themselves, which I guess was the point.

A big hit with the kids

Larry Joe, on the other hand, was a big hit with the kids. Performing covers of songs by Adele and Bruno Mars, and performing original material reminiscent of Jason Mraz, just about every kid in sight planted themselves firmly in front of the stage and did not budge until he was finished. The good-natured man made a point of telling the children that life is what they choose, a comment that had real resonance from a man I later discovered to be an ex-con. A former drug addict, gang member and robber, Larry Joe served time in prison before turning his life around. His first album, "Crazy Life", was in fact recorded in prison. I've heard of music saving people, but his story really is an inspiration.

The fact that both of aKing's amps gave up a few songs into their set didn't faze the rockers in the slightest, and the problem was fixed in no time. Although they toned down their performance somewhat in comparison to Friday night's show at Trinity, aKing were just as at home in an outdoor setting performing to mums and their young children as they had been performing to a room full of drunken 20-somethings. Aside from their incredible stage performance, aKing's lyrics are definitely something to be admired as works of art: "Daylight waits for no man/You're still young and breathing's easy/ Suck it in" crooned front man Laudo Liebenberg during Safe As Houses, which seems to be the highlight of any aKing show.

Slashing through the air

I had my doubts about the choice of head-banging Afrikaans rockstars Van Coke Kartel for this particular concert, but I was impressed by them nonetheless. Although almost all of their songs were in Afrikaans and pretty much indecipherable to non-native speakers, this band is such a ball of energy and fun, and so downright entertaining to watch that they could be singing anything in any language and no one would care. This was proven by the girl of about eight years old, who clutched the barrier with both hands and sang along to every word of every song. Even if she understood the words, I doubt she understood the meaning, but she was having the time of her life and that's all that mattered.

The Van Coke Kartel guys go absolutely crazy on stage. There was never a second in which they weren't head-banging, jumping, twirling, running, or slashing through the air with their guitars. At one point front man Francois van Coke swung his microphone around so intensely that he nearly caused the tent over the stage to come crashing down. The only English song of the set was a cover of Michael Sembello's Maniac, proving that they are talented in both languages, performed with such vigour that it made me want to jump up on stage and join in.

It was a massively entertaining afternoon and, although primarily a school event, it was appropriate for any fan of good music and a great way to promote a love of live music to the younger crowd.

Article previously published on www.whatsonincapetown.com

Photos by Lauren Granger