But we did so much - from wine and cheese tasting in Franschoek to sundowners and seafood by the sea, as well as catching the perfect Henry Ate reunion gig at the Brass Bell (extending my stay in Cape Town by a day and paying an extra £1,000 on my ticket to Joburg cos Nationwide decided to go bust that weekend!) But it was all worth it!
Pretoria was also wonderful - as well as going up north to Pilanesberg and Sun City for some game viewing and intense sunshine while running round the Valley of the Waves and going down super tubes in the African bush. We even jet skied and para-sailed. What a lot we did!
Then I went to Look and Listen in Pretoria - and after being bitterly dissappointed by the SA rock selection in Musica - I was wonderfully surprised to not only find en-mass variety of up and coming stuff, but also a uber helpful sales assistant who knew his SA stuff and pulled a few off the shelf for me.
So with a suitcase very full of exciting new South African music, I am now returned to the UK and ready to fully embrace the summer season of music ahead!
Some exciting names were recommended - aKING in particular. Plus The Sick Leaves and a female singer songwriter called Andra. Plus I got all the other recent albums that were missing from my collection due to bands not heading this way yet... I buy the albums in anticipation of their arrivals...
South African artists are once again out of hibernation and heading across this way as teh weather cools down south! Like migratory birds with a song to sing, they are flocking to us!
But more on that in due course. Finishing up on my SA reflections - I was ve chuffed to see Josie Field will be opening for James Blunt on his SA tour... and Flat Stanley , who was nominated for a SAMA, has the honour of opening for Counting Crows!
And today, the 14 May - it is only a month away til Seether will be playing at Download - and with much credibility they shall come as they have just snapped up the SAMA award for Best English Rock Album for 'Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces' - an album written following the death of lead singer Shaun Morgan's brother!
Other SAMA highlights around the rock arena include:
- Best female solo artist: Karen Zoid
- Best Duo / Group: Freshlyground
- Album of the year: Freshlyground - Ma'cheri
- Best Adult Contempary Album: Freshlyground
- Best Engineer: Freshlyground
(Yip, that's 4 awards out of 7 nominations for Freshlyground!)
- Best newcomer: Tasha Baxter
- Best global chart DVD: Harris Tweed
- Best instrumental album: Tony Cox
- Best Afrikaans rock album: Kobus! - Swaarmetaal
- Best pop album: Tasha Baxter - Colour of Me
And my favourite category: Best Sokkie album (only in SA!!!) - Kurt Darren... tho ihn fairness, I have never actually listened to Kurt Darren! Bless!
The SAMAs were held at Sun City on Sat 3 May - a few days before we went there. And to our horror - the petrol station and parking lot outside was covered in broken glass where party goers had 'celebrated' on the night!
Well, another year for artists to ride the (valley of the...) wave with their SAMA scoopings! And another year for more artists to work towards earning their spot...
Rock on South Africa,
x
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