Helen Herimbi
The Partystarters shall govern. That’s the principle with which Castle Lite approached its last campaign: Unlock Extra Cold Live.
The power was put into the hands of the people who have two things in common: a love for music and adult beverages. From 25 artists, the public was asked to pick the seven they wanted to perform in their city. Namely, Joburg, Cape Town and Durban. A whopping 59 523 SMS votes were cast and concerts were curated by the public. The three artists who had the most number of votes are Khuli Chana (at No 1) followed by Roger Goode and Ready D. Over three weekends, Castle Lite painted each city extra cold and Tonight was there for the ride.
CAPE TOWN
Cordoning off a short road just off Long Street for a massive block party is quite cool. But placing a billboard bigger than your eyes can take in on a building on the buzzing street to lead you to the block party is rather impressive.
Capetonians had chosen these artists to perform in their city: DJ Ready D, DJ Wags, Professor, Driemanskap, Teargas, Shugasmakx, The F.Eu DJs and AKA. Ready D played everything from jiggy rap to Dead Prez and also had a dance crew do their thing while he was on the decks.
Teargas were an enjoyable experience, complemented by live keys on Go Away – a nice touch. Driemanskap were the rappers’ rappers in that they did some of their hits while also sprinkling in a cappella punchline-driven rhymes from Ma-B. They also brought on hip hop queen, Kanyi.
It would be easy to think Capetonians weren’t paying attention because they weren’t screaming at every turn – and it’s not because the beautiful ice sculptures made everyone cold – but as soon as an artist reached the mic into the crowd, they sang right back. Unfortunately, the stage was lit in such a way that from the audience’s perspective, the faces on stage looked dark so there was a disconnect with the crowd there.
AKA, who was also the MC for the concerts in all three cities, stole the show. Refreshingly, his bangers were given a live band treatment. He still brought his DJ, Fanatic, to help with the choreography on Jealousy, but what was pleasantly surprising was when he mashed up Tupac’s Hit ’Em Up with his Victory Lap. So mellow. And the sincerity evident in him explaining that he only recently thought of doing this so we should bear with him if he messes up was sweet.
DURBAN
Fact: Durban dances! That’s if the concert held at BLVD in Florida Road that Durbanites curated is anything to go by.
On the line-up was Big Nuz (minus one member), Roger Goode, DJ Tira, Slikour, Naves and Sphectacular, Abdus and a collaboration between rapper Amu and DJ Kenzhero. For a Big Nuz show though, the Durban kwaito outfit didn’t bring it as hard as usual. But Abdus most definitely did.
He interacted with the crowd and even tricked them into saying something naughty. Abdus’ delivery was flawless and he looked like he was enjoying himself.
Unlike Slikour. At one point, Slikour told the crowd he wouldn’t be an honest person if he didn’t tell them they lacked energy. Then he brought fellow Skwatta Kamp member, Shugasmakx, out and the crowd went bos. In Cape Town, Shugasmakx’s surprise guest was Slikour. Anyway, the crowd lapped up Shugasmakx’s Durban segment and maybe it was that Shuga, who performed Uthando noVuyo with Maxhoba, brought a mix of Zulu raps and traditional sounds to the stage.
As far as collaborations go, it would have been nice to hear Kenzhero’s style come out more in the collab between him and Amu. Amu started off with cuts from his Sama-winning The Principal album then worked his way back to include the endearing Since I Met You. Win! Of course, he brought Mr Selwyn (with whom he was a part of Township Frequency) on stage and they asked for permission to “go pop” before launching into some of their most commercial songs. But not before they gave heads a taste of the classic, Attention. The atmosphere at BLVD was a warm one and, surprisingly, most people were dressed in white. Methinks it was a ripple effect of the Castle Lite concerts featuring Drake and Kanye West where concertgoers were asked to wear white.
JOBURG
“Do you guys know David Kramer?” A resounding “NO” is the response. “Okay, f*k it if you don’t know him, he’s a legend and the reason I started making Afrikaans music.” Jack Parow doesn’t care that his hero isn’t well known to the crowd who voted for him to mount the stage in their city. He rocks out anyway and most of the slightly-smaller-than-expected crowd rock out with him. Khuli (who was a surprise act in Durban) was one of the artists voted for by Jozi partystarters to perform at the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein. So was Zakes Bantwini, Pascal and Pearce, Jack Parow, Tuks and a collab between DJs Zinhle and Lulo Café and rappers Kwesta and Ill Skillz.
Trying to get Kwesta and Ill Skillz to collaborate was a weird call and as a result, there was no real collaboration, just one act going on after the other. Jimmy Flexxx (of Ill Skillz), as usual, is the epitome of crowd commander. Over boom bap beats, the audience does whatever he commands and he doesn’t even break a sweat. The crowd was putty in Tuks’ hand, he brought a ’hood flavour that was sorely missed. Bantwini’s performances have become predictable. Hands down, one of the best performances of the night was a collaboration between DJs Lulo Café and Zinhle. You could hear where the vocal house (Lulo) met the tribal house (Zinhle) without them clashing. And what was most welcome was when Lulo brought out Nothende to sing a song they did together which was followed by DJ Zinhle bringing Busiswa out for My Name Is. Khuli brought out fellow Morafe members Kay-G and Towdee for one group song as his finale, but had Kay-G on for most of the show.
Also impressive were the projections on a tall building adjacent to the stage. Again, there were ice sculptures that didn’t melt as quickly as they did in Cape Town because of the Jozi cold front, but it was an Extra Cold Live event after all.