On 22 November last year Johnny Clegg opened this season's Summer Sunset Concerts at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Since then the Gardens have hosted the likes of the Johnny Cooper Orchestra, Zebra and Giraffe, aKING, and many others.
After a day out in the sun watching cricket, we met up with two friends at the packed concert venue in the middle of the botanical gardens. The vibe was happy and relaxed, and even though it was windy elsewhere, the gardens had comparatively little wind. And, as always, Just Jinjer were phenomenal.
A few more concerts remain this season, but the upcoming highlight for us would have to be The Dirty Skirts. They have a super-energetic stage presence (which makes for awesome photos), and it seems that they have an interestingly euphoric effect on the ladies. We have our tickets already; I suggest that if you want to go, you should make sure that you book your tickets fast. :)
Glen
We drove past Kirstenbosch on Sunday from Hout Bay and was totally taken back by the amount of cars and people coming to the concert. The fact that Just Jinger was performing was a sure indication of the huge masses at Kirstenbosch. You guys were lucky to get a good possy. We went to see Arno Carstens a few years back and although we thought we were early enough, we were sitting so far back that we couldn’t see the stage.
The concerts have become so popular to the extent that they have become too popular. So popular that you actually need to get there in the late morning/early afternoon to secure a good spot, not only in terms of parking, but a good spot on the grass too. When we left Kirstenbosch one Sunday at 12pm after a morning picnic, we were totally astounded by the number of people and cars at the gardens already.
We hope to get to the concerts in the future … once Josh is bit older. They have always been one of our highlights of the Cape Town summer.
mjw
I agree. I miss the days when half the fun was getting your ticket early in person if you were really desperate to see the performer (which meant going to the gardens on the Friday at the earliest – there was no web purchasing weeks in advance), otherwise you just stood briefly in the ticket-booth queue on Sunday afternoons, the ticket prices were lower and not tiered, and there were far fewer people (though the concerts were still very well attended and appreciated).
It’s become too commercialised and this is possibly because now mainly “big name” performers with huge followings are featured, with fewer up and coming performers for us to discover.
It’s a good sign that our local music industry is doing well (remember when South African music was considered very uncool and they had to run a whole campaign to change our mindsets?) but, to me, it’s resulted in a loss of a lot of the Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts magic.
Taryn
Hey Paul
I love this picie – it’s stunning – you def have talent :)
Paul
Post authorGlen & MJW, personally, I wish that they’d sell fewer tickets – we’d been out and were only able to get there half an hour before the show and we had to sit way-way back in the parents-with-over-active-and-screaming-kids section. :D
That said, they were quite cool about letting us walk up to the stage to take pics (I have a truck-load of closeup’s that I still need to go through).
MJW – Webtickets simply rock, even though they may increase the price slightly. Trekking to Kirstenbosch just to buy tickets the day/week/month before would be like so not happening. (Which I guess is what made it awesome for you Southerners pre-Web) :D
Taryn, you’re too kind. :)