The Grand Arena in GrandWest was packed to the rafters on Saturday evening when the legendary English jazz-funk band Shakatak took to the stage for one night only in celebration of their 40th anniversary.
The band is composed of Jill Saward (lead vocals), Bill Sharpe (keys), Keith Winter (guitar), George Anderson (bass) and Roger Odell (drums), who last performed in the Mother City a decade ago at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, thrilled the audience.
The band raak ‘n bietjie oud but 40 years later they can still pull a crowd, playing all the favourites such as Easier Said than Done, Streetwalkin’, Day by Day and Night Birds that got the crowd on their feet.
The show had the aunties and uncles jazzing and singing along word for word.
Maura Kartus, 53, came all the way from Limpopo and wore her Shakatak T-shirt for the occasion.
“My evening was fantastic, I last saw the band 30 years ago when they came to Johannesburg and I always wanted to see them again. I am a great fan so I decided to travel 12 hours on Friday just to see them,” she said.
“I follow them on social media so I saw that they will be performing in Cape Town. My highlight was meeting the band in person after the show, it is an amazing feeling.”
The MC for the event was Heart FM’s JP Carelse, while vocal powerhouse Vuvu Kumalo warmed up the crowd with some lekker old school nommers.
Sharpe also gave a mooi solo performance, proving that he can still jam it up on the keys, before George Anderson got closer to the fans and moved through the crowd while working his bass guitar.
The popular UK band received a standing ovation with mense chanting “we want more”, and that’s exactly what Shakatak gave them when they performed one more treffer.
After the show, Sharpe told the Daily Voice that the highlight of the event for him “was the whole night”, plus the audience’s amazing energy.
“Every time we play here, it is always one of the best gigs, so the evening was mind-blowing, it was fabulous,” he said.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za