Local urban consciousness is celebrated while Halloween, despite having no local connection is just another excuse to party.
? “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” The quote is attributed to Lithuanian anarchist Emma Goldman but over the years it has become Party People’s under-riding ethos. With DJ Kenzhero at the helm, the regular event has become the voice of a new urban consciousness.
Since its early days at Roka in Jo’burg, it has gone national with a playlist of tunes whose diasporic existence is a living, breathing bridge not only between countries but also between generations — strong voices from the past fuel realities of the future. Here Fela Kuti, Salif Keita, Bob Marley, Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim share the decks with A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, Pete Rock, Biggie, Tumi and many other more recent instigators of musical thought. Hardly surprising then that Afro-soul jazz siren Simphiwe Dana has taken up an invitation to join the revolution.
Expect an ubuntu-fuelled celebration of African consciousness, charting themes from hope, nostalgia and desire to poverty, exploitation, racism, culture, love and invisibility, when she makes a special appearance at this week’s party with a purpose.
Zula Sound Bar & Restaurant, 98 Long Street, Cape Town, October 28 at 9pm. Entrance is R60. Tel: 021 424 2442. Website: www.zulabar.co.za.
? Cut free from its American roots and displaced to the South African context, Halloween offers yet another excuse to party. These days it’s not just sad Goths, exiled metalheads and the alternative crew who are donning black, everyone is going scary.
Horror gets a new meaning at the Assembly’s Halloween Weekend. Electro deadheads and beat freaks can expect an eclectic bag of tricks and treats when Sedge Warbler, Kennedy, Blush N Bass, Audiophile 021 and Funafuji mash up an attention-deficit disordered array of so-called underground electronic subgenres at Discotheque’s special Halloween Edition on October 28.
The Labia Theatre, Orange Street, Gardens, and the Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street, Cape Town, until November 4. Website: www.shadowrealminc.com/horrorfest