Staff Writer
FOR the past two nights, indie folk rock star Willy Mason serenaded music lovers at a secret soirée in Cape Town.
The location? A living room in Oranjezicht.
Renowned for selling out stadiums and performing in front of thousands of fans, the 29-year-old American singer-songwriter decided to take on a more intimate setting when he performed in front of only 60 people at a house concert in Oranjezicht.
“The audience really had time to bond with him more than if they were among a crowd of thousands of people,” Gerhard Maree, event organiser said yesterday. House concerts, not a new concept, have only just started to take off in South Africa, Maree said.
Maree and his team run City Soirée, a platform which facilitates artists and fans to organise and host events.
City Soirée arranged for the show last night and on Monday evening. “It’s a lot like a house party – you can’t compare it to a large scale concert at all. The time one has with the artist is very exclusive. Sipping your glass of wine or juice, one gets to internalise every second,” Maree said.
Mason and US rock band Rival Sons performed for the first time in South Africa, at the OppiKoppi music festival earlier this month.