LIVE MUSIC: Maria McCloy
IT must have been a record – a local concert featuring some of South Africa’s hottest acts actually started and finished on time. But then again, maybe the Benson & Hedges Golden Tones bash last Saturday could have waited a little longer to get going: when I walked in at 6pm, an hour after the scheduled time, I was unhappy to find the infinitely funky Skeem (and newcomers O’dameester) already halfway through their act. They came on first because Twins and Sharon Dee were late, and it seemed that about half the crowd was still outside the stadium.
This concert was widely advertised and local artists enjoyed sound, stage and lighting as superior as the Whitney Hustons of this world get when they come here – a welcome change from the dingy clubs and stages with dodgy sound and no change rooms.
Oh, Jo’burg is so violent and blah, blah, but the Johannesburg Stadium on that night felt like a hot summer night over the festive season. The mostly teenage crowd was buzzing and happy – perfectly willing to wave their yellow Benson & Hedges flags from side to side. Never mind that the liquor the vendors outside the stadium were selling had gone to some people’s heads …
Eventually Sharon Dee made it on stage in her red satin suit and velvet top hat. It was great to see a real singer who makes an effort to put on a show, complete with dancers and a band. I was less impressed when she belted out her biggest hit so far – ironically called Local is Lekker – then reeled off five cover versions. Twins don’t have great voices but at least their R’n’B songs are local.
Jam Alley and Generations’ blonde and beautiful Vinolia Mashego was as wild and nutty as ever and as usual could not resist the spotlight.
That’s okay: at least she had some spunk and got the crowd going more than the awful, tacky Golden Tones Dancers. I don’t care if they performed with Tina Turner: shiny palazzo pants with slits and silver tank tops coupled with clichd choreography are not on.
Abashante did their hip-grinding hits Ruffneck Lady, Girls and Romantic Guy. And alhough it’s all been seen before, like Queen showing off her G-string, they did not put a step wrong. Queen’s voice was definitely on form, Arthur did the grind behind one dancer and Vinolia also grabbed Queen and gyrated behind her. The most interesting part of the 999 set was Stitch joining them for a slower-paced reggae- inspired act.
Arthur interacted with the crowd and was full of humour as he performed older hits like Kaffir and Daai Ding and new stuff from Die Poppe Sal Dans. It was also cool to see those 999 boys come on stage and do their baggyass jeans, breakdancing- influenced act even if it was only one song.
Not all young groups are only about pounding beats and a DAT: Twins, Joe Nina and Ntokozo all used a live band. But they also gave the most lacklustre performances. Studio-recorded big hits just didn’t sound as familiar with a live band and failed to get the crowd going.
M’Du, with Mashamplane (boy, can they move, and talk about sexy boys) was electric and showed everybody a thing or two when he performed hits like Hey Kop, Ipompe and Ezibuhlungu Azipheli. This man has his finger on the pulse of what’s going down. I’ve seen him use hip-hop inspired skits between his and Mashamplane’s songs. This weekend he introduced fast-paced jungle break-beats.
As the Ponte Coke sign flashed behind us, the Golden Tones concert came to an end. One person commented that Durban songstress Ntokozo performed last to ensure that people would leave the stadium. Trust me, it worked. The girl was horrifyingly bland and uncharismatic. But either way the crowd had had a brilliant time, proving that, like homegirl Vinolia says, “Local e monate”.
My question for the day was: why does everyone and their mother insist on bringing on a rapper or, even more frequently, someone to do ragga? In the same way that there was a mix of slow music and dance music, when will there be a platform for local hip-hop?