Johannesburg - For someone whose job is to read the mood, and then produce the soundtrack to fire it up, the DJ at Saturday’s Soweto Derby was so out of touch it bordered on the embarrassing.
The build-up to matches, especially the high-profiled ones, are a cacophony of noise where DJs do their best to get the supporters in the mood.
A sound system that would wake up the dead is used to achieve this effect, turning stadiums into nightclubs of some sort. Chiefs’ fans tried to break this tradition with a moving rendition of Asambe Nono while both teams were warming up.
Instead of allowing the fans to have their moment, or even complement it by playing their song on the system, the DJ went for something totally different it felt like one was in two words.
Chiefs’ fans were producing the purists’ version of what a stadium experience should sound like, while the DJ was showing what the experience has been bastardised into – in the name of “entertainment”.
The DJ won, filling the stadium with sound that felt like the speakers were in your guts. The supporters didn’t hold a grudge against him, they danced along because if the derby is one thing – it’s a party.
Video: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)
And South Africa’s festive season started in November thanks to the Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup and the generosity that saw a wedding organised on Twitter after a video of a man proposing at KFC went viral.
Forty-four seconds into the match, Chiefs’ party intensified after the generosity of Ntsikelelo Nyauza whose own goal gave Orlando Pirates’ rivals the lead in front of a sold-out crowd.
The Pirates’ captain on the day collapsed onto the pitch, clasped his hands on his head and looked like he wished that the turf would open up and swallow him. His teammates did their best to console him, but their faces were shell-shocked. That shock intensified when Leonardo Castro scored the second goal.
Video: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)
A cheeky fan pranced in front of the media area with a sign that read the three things that rule South Africa: 1. Amakhosi. 2. Amabhokobhoko. 3. Amapiano.
The third was a reference to the music genre that has taken over the country. It’s a funky style of music that has borrowed elements from almost every genre, mixing them up to produce colourful music that is so catchy if statures listened to it long enough, they would also start dancing.
Amakhosi are a lot like amapiano, their game is a mixture of elements that have been borrowed elsewhere. There’s the grit, stubbornness and relentless that comes from their coach Ernst Middendorp’s character. There’s also the hunger to conquer the country which comes from the four trophyless seasons they have had to endure.
The team’s cornerstone is a solid defence and a sharp attack. Add all of that together and you have sweet music.
Kaizer Chiefs player Yagan Sasman battles for the ball with Orlando Pirates player Vincent Pule during their Absa Premiership Soweto derby at FNB Stadium. Photo: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)
Pirates on the other hand are like classical music on a scratched record. They produce brilliant music with their good interplay and movement, but with a porous defence and a misfiring attack it’s hard to hear it amidst the stuttering sound that overshadows everything they do.
Pirates hit the post three times after pulling one back through Vincent Pule. They were all over Amakhosi, and duly equalised from a brilliant strike by Gabadinho Mhango.
The reaction to the Malawian’s goal was deafening, Pirates’ fans finally screaming their lungs out. Mhango cheekily blocked his ears in celebration. He would have needed to block his ears for real when Chiefs scored a late winner.
Vuvuzelas were blasted and Chiefs’ flexed their numerical advantage with noise that dwarfed any sound that came out of this venue on Saturday.