Sun City: Harleys, mics and Mechanics

Mike and the Mechanics: Andrew Roachford (left), Mike Rutherford (centre) and Tim Howar.

Mike and the Mechanics: Andrew Roachford (left), Mike Rutherford (centre) and Tim Howar.

Published Jul 31, 2013

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Sun City goes mobile crazy for the weekend of August 16 to 18 with Harley on Safari, the Sun City Cansa Cycle Challenge and Mike and the Mechanics.

Harley on Safari is one of the world’s top international Harley-Davidson events and takes place every five years at Sun City. It is expected to attract more than 800 Harley Davidson riders from around the world. The event celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Harley Owners Group (HOG) and the 110th anniversary of the motorbike company.

To help celebrate the event, Mike and the Mechanics will perform on Saturday night at the Superbowl.

“I prefer playing polo to riding bikes,” confessed Mike Rutherford. “In fact, I don’t know why I gave my band that name as I’m really not a car person at all. The name suggests I’m a petrol-head.”

He did, however, feature on the TV show Top Gear where he made an appearance as the star in a reasonably priced car.

“Jeremy Clarkson is a good friend of mine,” he said. “I had 35 minutes to spare and it was all quite rushed. Jeremy loves Genesis, but (Richard) Hammond hates them and ran away as soon as he saw me.”

“This weekend, we will be doing a few Genesis songs as we have a great catalogue to draw from. We will also be doing a lot of our big hits at the concert. It’s a fun show and there is great energy on stage.”

Rutherford is no stranger to South Africa as the band played Durban and Joburg in 1993. He also has a house in Cape Town.

“It’s beautiful. It’s in Bantry Bay and we come over in our winter. Cape Town is a very active, healthy place.”

The performance at Sun City on Saturday will be followed by one at Carnival City on Sunday.

These are just two of 30 gigs the band have lined up for the next few months.

“Next year we will have been together for 25 years and we are planning a big tour in March,” Rutherford says.

Aside from Harley on Safari and Mike and the Mechanics, Sun City is hosting the annual Lost City Cansa Cycle Challenge.

 

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