Music Maaaaaaaaaaaaadness
Hey Kids,
Well, exam period is rolling along nicely with me (Laura) and Allison having written our undergrad Succession exam, and Christina having written Family Law. With only International Law left for Christina and Pollution Control Law left for Allison on the exam front, we're all anxiously counting down the days 'til we're free again! However, despite having to study and write papers, we still managed to fit a whole lotta fun into last week.
It started on Wednesday, when Christina and I went to see what we thought would be a high school talent show by my old camp friend, Marc. (Backtrack: I worked as a camp counsellor at a summer camp 4-5 years ago and there I met Marc Maurel, a guy from South Africa. When I found out I was coming here, I hunted him down and found out he was living in Jo'burg, but was originally from Durban.) He was being flown in by his old high school for this 40 year (or something) anniversary celebration where they asked him to sing a few songs in front of a crowd. I have to admit that when he invited us to go we were totally sceptical. The last time I set foot in a highschool was to use the bathroom. And the time before that, I was in highschool. And a highschool musical event? We all know how those usually go. So you'll be as surprised as we were to hear that it was INCREDIBLE. I mean, the talent was phenomenal. There's really no other word for it. The show was 3 hours long and I would have happily sat there for another 3 hours if there were more acts. Beside the consistently amazing vocalists, there was one dude who could play the violin AND beat-box and another group that sang a song about a Pharaoh getting it on with his Siamese cat (in front of a whole room full of parents! hilarious!).
The next fun musical event came on Saturday, when we went to a show-casing of Durban hip hop artists. The event happens monthly and was organized by a guy in my capoeira class (and probably other people too, but I never really found out). It was held in this old abandoned restaurant that a bunch of people had cleaned up after it got TOTALLY vandalized (like the vandals stole anything and everything containing aluminium vandalized). It made for a really cool space with a stage, the sun streaming through huge windows and an area in which to watch graffitti artists do what they do. The hip hop was rad with a few absolutely amazing MCs. The quarts of beer being sold by 'Mama Jabu' (who also owns the building) for $2 were a nicely added touch.
The week ended with a Sunday show at the Rainbow Cafe. You may remember it from earlier posts, and the video clips on the blog. We got there just in time to share a table with some random dude's sister, wife and kids. Christina, me and our friend Steve barely managed to fit in the booth too, but we made it. And the squeeze was well worth it, because the music was so rad. This one vocalist (see pics) looked like a witch doctor and had enough character to pull it all off. A few hours and two super cheap plates of food later, we headed back home to study (no quarts of beer this time cuz those sent us crashing the day before!). And the studying continues ... but Zimbabwe, here we come!
Lotsa love,
Laura
P.S. Pics of all this can be found in the Red Eye album that's been posted for awhile now.
P.P.S. Just kidding. There is no Red Eye album. I know I could have simply deleted the P.S. and avoided having to explain this, but I'm procrastinating so bear with me. The photos can actually be found in the 'Mega Music Madness' album.
Well, exam period is rolling along nicely with me (Laura) and Allison having written our undergrad Succession exam, and Christina having written Family Law. With only International Law left for Christina and Pollution Control Law left for Allison on the exam front, we're all anxiously counting down the days 'til we're free again! However, despite having to study and write papers, we still managed to fit a whole lotta fun into last week.
It started on Wednesday, when Christina and I went to see what we thought would be a high school talent show by my old camp friend, Marc. (Backtrack: I worked as a camp counsellor at a summer camp 4-5 years ago and there I met Marc Maurel, a guy from South Africa. When I found out I was coming here, I hunted him down and found out he was living in Jo'burg, but was originally from Durban.) He was being flown in by his old high school for this 40 year (or something) anniversary celebration where they asked him to sing a few songs in front of a crowd. I have to admit that when he invited us to go we were totally sceptical. The last time I set foot in a highschool was to use the bathroom. And the time before that, I was in highschool. And a highschool musical event? We all know how those usually go. So you'll be as surprised as we were to hear that it was INCREDIBLE. I mean, the talent was phenomenal. There's really no other word for it. The show was 3 hours long and I would have happily sat there for another 3 hours if there were more acts. Beside the consistently amazing vocalists, there was one dude who could play the violin AND beat-box and another group that sang a song about a Pharaoh getting it on with his Siamese cat (in front of a whole room full of parents! hilarious!).
The next fun musical event came on Saturday, when we went to a show-casing of Durban hip hop artists. The event happens monthly and was organized by a guy in my capoeira class (and probably other people too, but I never really found out). It was held in this old abandoned restaurant that a bunch of people had cleaned up after it got TOTALLY vandalized (like the vandals stole anything and everything containing aluminium vandalized). It made for a really cool space with a stage, the sun streaming through huge windows and an area in which to watch graffitti artists do what they do. The hip hop was rad with a few absolutely amazing MCs. The quarts of beer being sold by 'Mama Jabu' (who also owns the building) for $2 were a nicely added touch.
The week ended with a Sunday show at the Rainbow Cafe. You may remember it from earlier posts, and the video clips on the blog. We got there just in time to share a table with some random dude's sister, wife and kids. Christina, me and our friend Steve barely managed to fit in the booth too, but we made it. And the squeeze was well worth it, because the music was so rad. This one vocalist (see pics) looked like a witch doctor and had enough character to pull it all off. A few hours and two super cheap plates of food later, we headed back home to study (no quarts of beer this time cuz those sent us crashing the day before!). And the studying continues ... but Zimbabwe, here we come!
Lotsa love,
Laura
P.S. Pics of all this can be found in the Red Eye album that's been posted for awhile now.
P.P.S. Just kidding. There is no Red Eye album. I know I could have simply deleted the P.S. and avoided having to explain this, but I'm procrastinating so bear with me. The photos can actually be found in the 'Mega Music Madness' album.
posted by AXL in Africa at
2:16 PM
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