This past Easter weekend, we witnessed a much-needed celebration of the local music legends of Cape Town.
The Legends show took place at the Castle of Good Hope and the audience was treated to an amazing line-up of artists, which included Loukmaan Adams, Molly Baron, Neville Nash, Wilfie Aplon, Theo Watt and the legendary Sandra Butler.
The show was set in the historical landmark that is the Castle, and started off with Loukmaan, who gave a stellar performance with his band Groove That.
Loukmaan, who started his amazing career at the tender age of nine in District Six The Musical, is by now a living legend.
He ended off his set with his trademark song Liefling, but before this he paid tribute to two of his mentors, who are both deceased - Zayn Adam and Taliep Petersen.
TRIBUTE: Loukmaan sang Zayn Adams’ hit, Give A Little Love. Photo: IAN LANDSBERG/AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY/ANA
Loukmaan sang Queen of Hearts by Taliep and Give A Little Love by Zayn, and pointed to the heavens at the end.
Next up was Molly Baron and Wilfie Aplon, each rendering a heartfelt performance filled with nostalgia.
INNIE LEGENDS LINE-UP: Molly Baron. Photo: Supplied
It was quite mesmerising to see them live on stage as this does not happen often these days.
They then introduced the evergreen Neville Nash, who still looks great and sounds even more amazing.
For me, however, the star of that set has to be Sandra Butler.
Up until now, I have never heard or seen her performing live.
She was introduced as the sister of Jonathan Butler, but if her performance was anything to go by, she made sure they all knew wie is die tietie at the end of the night.
Aunty Sandra, as she is known to youngsters like me, is the Etta James of South Africa.
She looked as if she stepped out of a ’50s movie.
Her performance was moving, yet flawless. It was so good that it’s still resonating in my mind days later, and will stay with me for a long time.
This is the talent that has to be celebrated and why shows like these are so important to us.
While taking a quick walk around at the event, I spoke to a teacher who was immersed in the moment, and who just could not believe that a show of this calibre was taking place in the Castle nogal.
She said she didn’t know what to expect but hopes that another one is being planned ‘to upgrade’ the castle.
She said the centuries old building needs a modern touch because right now it just brings back bad memories for everyone.
The last performer to take the stage was Theo Watt, who announced that he is no longer part of The Rockets as he is pursuing a solo career.
FLY SOLO: Former Rockets frontman Theo Watt. Photo:Supplied
Many people looked shocked, but Theo proved he has what it takes to go at it alone.
He closed off the show with Wilfie Aplon and they performed the smash hit We’re Going Up.
I felt like a man with a purpose as I left the Castle, that being to create more of these kinds of productions which celebrate the legacy of our legends.
On Sunday, I attended the Faure Kramat Festival which has become one of the biggest Cape Malay gatherings of the year.
It was good to hear the event has grown over the years, and that for the holy night of Rua, which was on Saturday, one of the biggest congregations the Kramat has ever seen gathered to pray at the local mosque.
The people were also entertained by the Cape Malay choirs who sang Nederlands and ghoemaliedjies.
One choir ended off a song with these lyrics: “Come with me and I will show you the city of my birth, no other place to go anywhere on earth, I adore my Cape Town home.”
I could see many people were moved by these words.
The audience was also treated to some stand up comedy by yours truly, followed by a play about the Kramat starring Ghakeem Roman and Nadier “Broertjie” Adams.
With that said, it was one of the best Easter weekends I’ve had in a long time, mostly because I managed to get my hands on some lekker pickled fish.
Ek mean ma, wat is Easter sonder pickled fish and hot cross buns?
We have an amazing city, but we have even more amazing cultures and in Cape Town we respect each other’s religion, and for this reason, I am grateful to be a Capetonian.