THE MORE we South Africans love music, the more parties organisers cook up for us. We have festivals like Splashy Fen, Oppikoppi, Joburg Day and Maftown Heights. Among those varied festivals several genres are played: rock, pop and hip hop, in turn attracting a lot of people.
If you thought that was enough, then you have another thing coming, literally. In 31 days Joburg will celebrate its first I Heart Joburg festival. The show’s line-up will feature international and local artists such as T-Pain, Jessie J, B.O.B, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Jason Derulo and Zebra & Giraffe, among others.
The show is an initiative between 5FM and DStv to give us one of the most anticipated events in Gauteng to date. The inaugural I Heart Joburg festival is set to make a statement by giving audiences 12 hours of non-stop music.
We caught up with Greg Carlin, the lead singer from Zebra & Giraffe, who gave us the lowdown on what to expect from his group on the day.
“We are excited to play on a big stage and mix with international acts on a home stage. We plan to make I Heart Joburg as memorable as possible,” he said.
Carlin promised that there would be new material for their fans and some old classics as well.
“We have got a new album coming up in the next month so we will be playing three new songs and the rest will be our hits from the older music,” he said.
“We do a lot of music genres, but mainly electronic rock beats, so it is mainly upbeat and we are trying to dance as much as we can on stage. As much as our bodies will allow. We try to have as much fun on stage as possible.” explained the rocker.
Although the festival is called I Heart Joburg, Carlin felt that anyone from outside the city could still enjoy themselves and relate to what will be going on.
“The first thing to note is that there will be a diverse line-up so that is usually enough to attract a lot of people from all parts of the world. There are different sounds that will be covered, from pop to rock, so anyone should be able to get something they like,” he said.
Zebra & Giraffe have been around for several years and this is not their first festival, so they have rubbed shoulders and shared stages with some of the people on the I Heart Joburg line-up.
“We played with Panic! At The Disco about four years ago. Then we also did the same with Fall Out Boy when they came here a while back so it will be good to do this again with them. I am interested in seeing what B.O.B and T-Pain have in mind for their performances,” said Carlin.
• The I Heart Joburg festival, September 6 at Ellis Park Stadium from 11am. Tickets: R520 to R1 185 at Computicket.
WIN! WIN! WIN!
Tonight and Stamp Communications are giving away five double tickets to the I ª Joburg festival. To stand a chance to win, simply answer the following question: What is the name of the lead singer in the pop band Zebra & Giraffe? E-mail all your responses, with the subject: “I ª Joburg Competition”, to star@stamp communications.com by August 22.