Represent Review & photos: Smirnoff Legends
Reuben “the Matrix” had the time of his life at the Smirnoff Legends event this week as he colourfully tells us, he was chuffed to really get up close with a few of his gurus squeezing in an interview here and there.. Click here for our photoset of the party on Flickr.: “It’s my house!” I repeatedly found myself on the verge of exclaiming these famous house lyrics as the genre’s gallantry Grand Dukes: Joss Fresh, Vinny, Ganyani, Oskido & Christos took to the stage to showcase their eloquent vinyl mastery and reflexive agility behind the turntables! Hazeldene Hall – Parktown was truly the place to be (Wednesday 16 May 2007) for any serious nocturnal party animal. To put it mildly: The roof was ablaze, however no canister was summoned to expunge the scorching flames! There’s just something about being at a VIP event that adds some extra flair to the exclusive modus operandi (you literally get spoilt rotten by all that choice-assorted – royal treatment!): The vibrant atmosphere, unrestricted access to the Legends, well prepared & equally mouth-watering cuisine, extremely vivacious women & well groomed hunks (for the ladies of course!) and so much liquor you could literally call upon around the clock (it’s just too much pampering to ask for at a go!). Alas!, don’t be fooled! All that lavishness is minute when in direct contrast to the artistic craftsmanship of the Legends – No, The Kings of House Music. The Event kicked off with a well-organized reception populated to capacity by beautiful people and presided over by the MC – Greg Maloka. Opening the performers` line-up was the hip and happening Gang of Instrumentals with their afro-rhythm beats (enough to get the guests into a series of dance-floor frenzies). Indeed the good came to us who decided to wait as the standards were elevated by the Men of the hour, the Legends of House Music in physical manifestation: The Forefather of House Music –DJ Ganyani, The Godfather of the Airwaves – DJ Fresh, Grandmasters of the decks – DJ`s Oskido (AKA Oscar wa rona), Vinny Da Vincy and Christos wowed the audience with well-known house tracks and maestro skills. It appeared as if the thumping crowd was unconsciously drenched in melodic aphrodisiac as though heavily intoxicated by the intertwined vinyl repertoires. A young, budding and amazingly talented new star (Black Coffee) was handed the platform by the Legends to dish-out his apprentice sharpened turntable tempo reflexes – Much to the exclamation and reverence of the audience! The evening culminated in the Legends (Kings) being honored for their invaluable and pioneering efforts towards nurturing and constantly setting new trends (re-inventing the wheel) which made...
Represent Review: MoLoRa @ the Market
Sitting in the cosy enclave of the Barney Simon theatre on press night at award-winning writer and director Yael Farber’s play MoLoRa is no mean feat for an amateur. Leaning forward all around you sit wizened thespians cuddled up close to expectant theatre journo’s, whose concentrating faces you recognise from the little photo’s next to their columns. As the lights went down I felt like a bit of a fraud amongst the aficionados, for although I studied Drama and have spent a lot of my life popping in and out of theatres, I ain’t no expert. The subject is “Yael Farber’s acclaimed adaptation of the Oresteia Trilogy by Aeschylus, set in a contemporary South African context.” It’s a complicated story and somewhat unknown tale – we found it to be a challenging play to review… we’ve been struggling to eloquently word what we felt. But review it we must and review it from the POV of the everyday man and citizen journo we must do too. It’s the only way we know how. Firstly, let’s talk about the great things about Molora, starting with the the powerful soundscape provided by a group of animated and delightful older Xhosa musicians (gogo’s!). They are as much a part of the story as the lead characters, providing textured and haunting mood changes and at times a poignant, eery, mystical soundtrack through traditional instruments and an incredible split-tone guttural singing style. Watching and listening to them one is easily transported to a deep-rooted Xhosa gathering in the green hills of the Eastern Cape – their music weaving it’s tribal rhythms through the narrative… Then there’s the set which was minimalist but craftily designed around the story’s needs, with the numerous performers feeling comfortable on a small stage – the clever use of the space and it’s flexibility allowed us the freedom to fill in the gaps with our imagination. Our favourite moment was when the young muscular Oresties swings in slow motion on a handle around the stage, mesmerising… The lighting design was superb, moving from harsh neon glare to deep and intimate warm isolated scenes. The performance was highly energetic and very physical and loud – the part of the daughter, Electra was a gallant effort by Jabulile Tshabalala, who put enormous concentration and her soul into her demanding role. Sandile Matsheni played the smaller role of Orestes, wearing the emotions of his character artfully. The part that we were confused by was that played by Dorothy Anne Gould who appeared to be over-acting and over-playing her character in an almost amateur-theatre style. “Look at how cross and mad I look, listen to how deep my angry voice...
MUST SEE: More Kruger Park Madness
We hope you’ve planned your long weekend in Kruger Park (with your kids If you got some). If not, here’s some more footage shot in Kruger Park that will blow your mind and convince you to go. Regular Representers will have seen our Elephant encounter (see below) but this one takes the ‘buffalo’. Watch till the end you will not believe your eyes – a veritable animal rubgy match. Our favourite moment had to be the return of the buffaloes as one movement one animal. (Remember with YouTube the best thing to do is let the page load and as soon as the video starts playing press pause until the video is fully loaded – you can tell from the red line – then you can watch it without interruption.) [youtube]LU8DDYz68kM[/youtube] Another classic is the multi-accent commentary but our HeroRanger Homeboy “hier’s lekker action here/Listen ou’s you won’t believe there’s a big parra here between lions crocodiles and buffaloes/They just klapped a buffalo/I’m shaking” wins the oscar. Thanks to Ed H for the pointer – click here for the Battle at Kruger video. And here’s our Ele story: So there we were, cruising along the river road between Skukuza and Lower Sabie camps, all thoughts of the city, work and stress way behind us, little did we know we were about to witness a very angry Elephant on the attack. Before we tell you all, I’d like to encourage everyone to visit the Kruger Park. I was born into a family that is bush bef*k, i.e. that more than lurves wildlife, the outdoors and lapping up every moment possible of Africa’s incredible heritage. Kruger Park has been around more than 100 years and is probably one of the most affordable bush experiences in the world. There’s nothing like it – driving around in your car having a laugh, trying to “spot” the big five… a 5am wake up call followed by a greasy breakfast cooked on a skottel at a picnic spot as you watch the sun begin to rise across the sky, a cold beer at a waterhole then a dash back to the campsite to make sure you make it in time before the camp gates close… Evening’s mean it’s time for a braai outside your hut, a walk around the perimeter of the camp looking for hyenas, a frightening midnight dash to the loo…. I have heard some snobby types dismiss Kruger park as “not being as close to nature” as you are in a private reserve because you drive in your own car and stay in big camps in Kruger. Ignore them. In Kruger you are independent, not reliant on expensive game drives to...
UB40 coming on down again!
Do you remember when UB40 performed in Zimbabwe in the 80’s because they couldn’t play in SA and one of the biggest roadtrips in SA concert history happened? Or the UB40 concert in Durban in the 90’s where a fabulous combination of tossed away Durban Poison seeds and post-concert rain resulted in an iridescent green dagga crop taking over the field in Kings Park stadium? Urband leg? I remember sitting playing a scratchy UB40 record on my folks record player listening again and again to revolutionary lyrics like “We fight for our right to be free, we build our own society. (sing our own song lyrics)” . KING (listen) has to be one of my favourite UB40 songs, emotive and powerful. UB40 represents a very specific era and time in my life and evokes rich memories of being young, confident, feisty and full of fight. (Some would say I am just full of other stuff now 🙂 ) The multi-cultural faces of the band seemed exotic and unfathomable for us, at the time, how were they able to do it when South Africans couldn’t even have friends of different races over for supper? Resonating? For hours I stared at their pictures on the covers and watched their borrowed videos taped by a friend from Holland on vhs, mesmerized by their beats… their lyrics were some of the first revolutionary seeds that planted dreams of democracy and equality in my mind, giving me hope that one day our country would change. Heavy I know and I’m showing my age – but it just takes one name or place to trigger the intricate past and today it’s UB40. ‘Nuff Respect Rastas. Thanks for your inspiration and hope. MOVING ON – our TGIT news today is that the legendary UK reggae and dub band will be visiting us again in July. We’ll be there, remembering a time we’d rather forget, but thanking them for showing us the way and giving us hope during a dark and dismal time for those of us who knew that something was very very wrong. 94.7 Highveld Stereo, 94.5 Kfm, East Coast Radio and BIG Concerts are delighted to announce the upcoming tour of one of the world’s most popular bands. Legendary Reggae Ambassadors UB40 will be returning to South Africa this year, for shows in Durban on the 4th, Johannesburg on the 6th and Cape Town on the 10th of July 2007. UB40’s illustrious career, spanning over 25 years, has seen them performing alongside U2, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Madonna, Robbie Williams and The Who, collaborating with top Jamaican Dancehall artists, and playing to millions of fans around the globe. With an...
The Irresistable Facebook
I should have heeded my first Facebook friend’s warning – stop now before it’s too late. I couldn’t, I was hooked already. Which is really ridiculous considering how often I get tagged, invited, myspaced, linked in etc and manage to resist all of them all these years. “I have my whole own blogazine dudes, why would I need Facebook?” Wrong. Facebook is the new Google. (or old some wisened types would mock.) Over the years there have been loads of social networking sites that I have joined: the school one, to find out where those mates live who were never really your mates, the business one – where you have the chance to network with like-minded business contacts and the only person you hear from works in agriculture in Laos, the travel one – that only let’s you know about a travel special when you cant go, the photo-album sharing one that does work, the video sharing that is awesome etc. But somehow Facebook seems to have the right formula – maybe because it combines all of the different ‘genres’ of social networking into one – so you can find school mates, business mates and mates of mates. I think that the voyeuristic side to Facebook is also appealing – sneaking a look at your friend’s mates and finding your ex-boyfriends photo and name – nothing like being able to check him out and see how well he’s aged 🙂 Then the interface is simple, minimalist, user-friendly and easy to use… We have to recommend it. I know I am gushing and it’s old news, but waiting a long time for something often makes it much more big a deal when it eventually happens 😉 So we’re in. Are you? Get onto Facebook if you aren’t already. Wikipedia tells us: Facebook is a social networking website. It was originally developed for college and university students but has since been made available to anyone with an email address. People can select to join one or more participating networks, such as a high school, place of employment, or geographic region. As of February 2007, the website had the largest number of registered users among college-focused sites with over 25 million members worldwide (also from non-collegiate networks).[1] Facebook is the number one site for photos in the United States, ahead of public sites such as Flickr, with over 6 million photos uploaded daily.[2] It is also the sixth most visited site in the United...
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