Celebrate 20 years of Freedom with Under Madiba Skies
In November 2013, 8 musicians came together to interpret the words of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech in a special performance where many influences and cultures came together on one stage. French band Gran Kino invited Manelis (DBN), Ayanda Nhlangothi (JHB), Jitsvinger (CPT) and Burni Aman (CPT) to share their vision of South Africa today. The group successfully toured France in 2013 with performances at some of the biggest world music festivals the country knows (such as Festival Generic and The Worlstock Festival). For this year a South African visit (September 2014) and a South American tour (November 2014) are part of the plans of Under Madiba Skies. The team is also already working on their tours for 2015. Several songs were born through meetings between the musicians in South Africa and France. Whether from Durban, rapping in Zulu, from Johannesburg singing with a traditional sweetness or from Cape Town rapping in Afrikaans or in English, the vision is mutual: coming together on one stage, different languages, visions and ideas and, above all, an endless artistic richness. The music weaves itself together with traditional song, rock, hip hop and acoustic piano/voice duets and show the image of their performers: colourful and carrying out values of peace and openness to the world. The project is officially endorsed by The Nelson Mandela Foundation as a Mandela tribute. Listen to Brand New below and share your thoughts on the song: http://snd.sc/1g1RLOm ...
John Newman’s Concert Moved to Stand-Alone City Show
John Newman’s international success continues with the UK modern soul sensation’s first highly anticipated tour to South Africa. Always happy to give South Africans great music, presenting partner Virgin Mobile, radio powerhouse 5FM and Seed Experiences have announced that John Newman will now perform live in concert on Thursday 24 April at Joburg’s Town Hall Lane, Newtown. Due to unforeseen global tour rescheduling, the Joburg show set to take place at Sowing the Seeds Music Festival, has been moved to a one-night performance in Joburg. “Working together with John Newman’s management and booking agency to find a solution that best suits everyone especially the fans, John Newman will now perform a day earlier in Joburg. We believe he is perfectly suited to an urban concert experience and along with Virgin Mobile our presenting partner, we look forward to bringing his fans a night to remember,” says Brian Little, Seed Experiences managing director. “True to our brand heritage, Virgin Mobile loves music – it’s in our DNA. That’s why we’re excited to be bringing the latest music to eager fans, by being involved in urban concert events such as the John Newman SA tour. Through our partnership with Seed Experiences we aim to give concert goers a unique Virgin Mobile experience to remember,” says Jason Hair, Virgin Mobile Chief Operating Officer. “Along with our partners Virgin Mobile and 5FM, we can now give our South African fans the opportunity to enjoy one of two great John Newman experiences in Cape Town and Joburg. Fresh from the recent successes of a sold-out Bastille SA tour and the highly praised Olmeca presents Mad Decent Block Party, Seed Experiences continues their momentum by producing a John Newman concert event like no other. Be ready for a sizzling, swinging, roaring music experience; with décor, lighting and production to match. It’s the return of the era of big sound and big style. As one British music review put it: “Hearing John Newman live, you’re truly in the presence of something big. It’s as mesmerising as it is memorable”. The four-time Brit award nominee – including for Best British Male Solo Artist and Best British Single – is best known for his infectious tracks ‘Losing Sleep’, ‘Love Me Again’ and ‘Cheating’. ‘Love Me Again’ has already sold over two million singles worldwide, peaked at no. 1 on iTunes and charts in several countries, and has racked up a whopping one hundred million views on YouTube. This is not a music event you want to miss. So dress the part, get your swing on and prepare to be mesmerised by...
We Are One Colour Festival Brightens Up Cape Town and Joburg.
The celebration of colour kicked off at the Grand Parade in the Mother City on Human Rights Day this past Friday, the 21st of March. Colour-soaked revellers decorated the air with coloured powder and danced in unity to the sounds of Kanan K7 (BRA), The Skenes, Dean FUEL, James Copeland, Tommy Gun, Plagiarhythm, Floyd Lavine, Mike Play and Chicago’s legendary house DJ, Felix Da Housecat. After waiting with much anticipation, Jozi festival-goers headed to the scenic setting of Emmarentia Dam on Saturday for their turn at the colour phenomenon. The audience jumped and bounced to the electric beats from SA’s top DJ’s such as Penthouse, Michael Lesar, Matt Suttner, Mix n Blend, Maoriginal, Vinny Da Vinci and finally to top it all off, the legend himself, Felix Da Housecat. To up the ante at this year’s WE ARE ONE series, Seed Experiences promised fans a bigger, better and louder colour festival with a FAIRY TALE CARNIVAL theme – transforming the previous white dress code into a mystical expression of fantasy and Mardi Gras colour where revellers let their imaginations run wild. Beautiful masks, striking make-up and flamboyant accessories filled both venues while celebrating the explosions of coloured powder every hour on the hour. With close on 100,000 Facebook fans across both Jo’burg and Cape Town pages, the official festival hashtag #WEAREONESA was trending as the excited festival-goers tweeted their messages, party photos and colourful selfies for the world to see. Adding to the extravagant occasion, Place in the Sun Wines as the official wine sponsor, provided the colourful party-goers with a range of their Fairtrade certified wines to enjoy in a cool tasting zone. Another successful WE ARE ONE Colour Festival, proudly brought to you by Seed Experiences, has left Cape Town and Johannesburg fans soaked in colour and once again, establishing itself as the original colour festival of South Africa. Links Facebook: WE ARE ONE Cape Town https://www.facebook.com/CapeTownWEAREONE?ref=hl Facebook: WE ARE ONE Johannesburg https://www.facebook.com/JoburgWEAREONE?ref=hl Twitter: @WEAREONESA http://twitter.com/WeAreOneSA Seed Experiences is the award-winning agency behind South Africa’s top festivals such as Rocking the Daisies, Sowing the Seeds, Vodacom In the City, Bastille SA Tour, Olmeca Presents Mad Decent Block Party and the We Are One Colour Festival. The company also produces 5Gum’s exclusive events as well as the digital industry’s Bookmarks Awards; and will be hosting the Vic Falls Carnival in Zimbabwe this New Year’s Eve. Accolades include: Winner – Climate Change Leadership Award in the Small to Medium Business Category (2009 and 2010); Winner – Eco-Logic Award for Climate Change (2011); Finalist – Eco-Logic Award in Transport (2011); Finalist – Mail and Guardian Future...
10 Reasons To Watch The Movie, iNumber Number.
Thina jumped at the opportunity to go watch the new film, iNumber Number. Upon her return, she was more than convince everyone in the office has to go see it. To help us all understand her reasons – why should we all go watch it – she gives us the 10 reasons why inumber-number i-rokha! 1. It’s WOW!: I don’t dish out compliments all willy-nilly & my vocab is by no means limited, but for some reason if I had to describe my reaction to Inamba Namba in two words, it would be – in the famous words of a former colleague – “JUST WOOOOOW!” 2. You WANT to see it: I’m one of those people who (mostly) watches S.A films out of an ag-shame responsibility to support local art. I think that’s the attitude I had when I walked into the theatre. Imagine my surprise when I found myself having the rollercoaster ride of my life enjoying the action packed film. 3. It’s nothing like I’VE ever seen locally: I don’t claim to have seen every South African film, but I don’t think I’m off the mark when I say a bulk of our productions are based on the struggle, apartheid, the atrocities of the past, sadness & tears. As important as I feel these films are, I also feel that there is more to our country & to our stories. 4. It doesn’t take itself too seriously: The self-deprecation in the script had the crowd in stitches. I can’t reveal what it was about, but all I can say is if you were an avid old-school Backstage fan, you’ll know what I’m on about. 5. You will LOOOVE the cast: Literally, as each cast member appeared, there was hooting & hollering. The enthusiastic First Wednesdays Club crowd at Atlas studios, where the movie premiered, couldn’t contain their excitement. 6. Eye candy for the ladies: The ‘starring’ Sdumo Mtshali … ooooooh … is it appropriate to say ‘he can get it’ on this platform? lol 7. Already has a nod from Universal Studios for a remake in the States: Not that we need American approval, but those Americans ‘have been having it’ (they’ve been doing this for a while), so an acknowledgement from them is a very good look. 8. Vernac all the way: Initially I thought the style of creating movies in local languages was a fad. I’m glad to see that it has endured. Inamba namba reps street languages from all over & the result is an authentic, raw & real script that makes you feel like “maaan! those people are speaking my taal ek se.”...
Soul Superstar Joss Stone to Perform at Carnival City.
Hard to believe in a couple of weeks British Soul singer Joss Stone will be performing her smash hits at Carnival City. Read the full press release below, and get your tickets ready. Multi-platinum selling British soul singer Joss Stone will be performing for one night only at the Carnival City Big Top Arena on Wednesday, 2 April. With six albums and over 14-million in sales worldwide under her belt, Stone has made an impression on fans of soul music. With her latest release The Soul Sessions Volume 2, Joss shows why she is so highly acclaimed in her genre. Her new album has been described as “vocal poise, passion and power with some great songs and an artist at the peak of her powers”. Her childhood musical influences were Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin and she has emulated their soulful style of singing. Joss enjoyed early success when in 2001, at the age of 13, she won the BBC Television talent show Star for a Night and also won Steps to the Stars. In 2003 she signed a recording contract with S-Curve Records and released The Soul Sessions, her multi-platinum debut album which reached the Top Five in the UK Album charts and the Top 40 of the US Billboard 200 chart. To date Joss has won numerous awards including a Grammy and two Brit Awards. Her decade in showbiz has been characterised by her intuitive and freeform approach to music, and by hard-earned experience. In her short young life and already long career, she has performed onstage with the likes of James Brown, Gladys Knight, Solomon Burke, Blondie, Smokey Robinson and Melissa Etheridge amongst others, and has also enjoyed collaborations with Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart. The show begins at 8pm and tickets are available from Computicket between R300 and R680. DATE Wednesday 2 April 2014 TIME 20h00 VENUE Carnival City Big Top Arena TICKETS R300 to R680 each BOOKING Computicket...
A night at Carnival City with Zahara, The Muffinz, The Soil and MI CASA
A huge treat for music lovers with an all-star lineup at Carnival City on Monday 16 December 2013, with mega names like Zahara, The Muffinz, The Soil and Mi Casa. They are such big names that they should need no introduction, but just in case you are one of the few that don’t know. Zahara is a singer-songwriter and poet whose 2011 debut album Loliwe went Double Platinum in 17 days. At last year’s SAMA Awards, she won eight awards including “Best Female Artist” and “Album of the Year”. Her first live DVD The Beginning Live, which relived her 8 and 9 June 2012 concerts at Carnival City, also reached Double Platinum. The Muffinz will rule the world. These five young musicians are great instrumentalists and are great singers too. They will perform songs from their award-winning debut album Have You Heard like Ghetto, Sound Check and Umsebenzi Wendoda as well as some brand new material. The Soil are a four member a capella singing group who blend their voices to deliver a style of music that has been described as Kasi Soul. They perform an eclectic mix of genres like HipHop, AfroPop, AfroSoul and Jazz and their debut album is called The Soil. They aspire to a world full of joy, hope, faith and goodwill. Rounding up this great lineup is Mi Casa. Mi Casa Music is a house band formed in early 2011. Their debut album Mi Casa Music went gold and the band won several SAMAs last year. From it they had the hit singles These Streets, Heavenly Sent and La Vida. Their second album Su Casa and the song Jika have also topped many charts. So get ready for a great evening of musical entertainment in A Night With The Muffinz, The Soil, Zahara and Mi Casa at Carnival City at 19h00 on Monday 16 December. Tickets are From R155 to R250 and booking is at Computicket. DATE Monday 16 December 2013 TIME 19h00 VENUE Big Top Arena, Carnival City TICKETS R155 to R250 BOOKING Computicket Early booking is advised as the show is likely to sell out...
We will be back!
