Multiple Grammy award-winner Usher Raymond has been doing the rounds and his three-stop tour culminates in Soweto.
Everyone knows his three big hits, with names that read like lame cellphone text messages: U Got It Bad, U Remind Me and U Don’t Have to Call. On Sunday you can see what has kept him on the rise since he was a boy singer who won a talent contest in Atlanta in 1994. The gig is happening under the banner the Hansa Festival of Legends. Six new local acts will perform with him: Mo and the Dark Knights from Gauteng, Busi M from the Western Cape, Shoelace from the Eastern Cape, Mapak’shop from the Northern Province, Mo Klaassik from the Free State and Abdus from KwaZulu-Natal. Other big acts for the day include Gang of Instrumentals, Liquideep, Teargas and Zakes Bantwini, with Oskido, Vigilante, Capital and DJ Tira on the decks.
Orlando Stadium, Soweto, on March 10 from 12pm. Tickets range from R200 to R600. Over 18s only. Book at Computicket.
? Kitchener’s Carvery Bar is enjoying a second heyday. The 100-year-old drinking hole attracts a healthy dancing crowd to its regular gigs serviced by local DJs. The website tells us that the venue has a “progressive music policy, without leaving anyone out in the cold. [It] strives to bring the coolest of what’s out there”. This weekend don’t miss the appearance by Kid Fonque, who does his monthly set under the handle 2 Sides of the Beat. The line-up includes DJ, producer and writer QB Smith and award-winner and MTV Base scratch DJ Tha Cutt.
Kitchener’s Carvery, corner of Juta and De Beer streets, Braamfontein, on March 9 from 9pm. Door fee: R40.
? A young Russian pianist takes to the stage on March 10 to play the second concert of the year for the Johannesburg Musical Society. Born into a musical family (both parents are professional musicians and his four sisters all play as well), Alexander Lubyantsev was at the St Petersburg Children’s Music School when he won his first prize. Since then he has won several prizes in prestigious piano competitions, including the Grand Prize at the All-Baltic Young Pianist Competition and the third prize at Moscow’s world-famous Tchaikovsky Competition. For his debut recital in South Africa, Lubyantsev will play sonatas, etudes and nocturnes by Haydn, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Ravel.
Linder Auditorium, St Andrew’s Road, Parktown, on March 10 at 8pm. Book at Computicket. There is no credit-card facility at the box office. Tickets range from R125 to R150. Only R25 for students. Website: jms.org.za.