FIFTEEN-thousand over-excited adults huddle on the ground.
Among them walks the rock goddess in her sequinned cat suit. When she says “drop to the floor”, they drop.
When she says “get up and dance”, they dance.
When she says “hold your hands above your heads so I can walk across the crowd like it’s a pavement”, they do it.
There was only one instance in which the throng in Newtown, Joburg, for Vodacom’s In the City concert dared to disobey Skin, lead singer of Skunk Anansie.
When the band left the stage, they were having none of it.
Encores and whimpers of “we want more” have become standard practice at rock concerts.
It’s a type of pantomime during which the artist pretends to leave while the audience protests half-heartedly. But, Friday night’s audience thundered for more.
Many at Mary Fitzgerald Square remembered the first time the British rock band and their unique black female lead singer Skin graced South Africa’s stage.
It was 1997.
One friend could recall exactly what he wore.
Pink hair, a blue tie-dye shirt, brown-and-orange check pants and leather boots.
He was 13 and at his very first concert.
But others would have been seeing Skunk Anansie for the very first time – they were a younger crowd with tight pants and bare bellies, drawn to the concert by one of the other popular international acts performing, alt-J.
Also hailing from the UK, the band released its first album last year and are the new indie darlings on the international scene.
Swedish rock band The Hives also charmed the audience with their chatter between songs, eccentric outfits and their big hit, Hate to say I told you so. - The Star