Once again, my favourite event of the month has arrived – Park Acoustics. There is always a certain excitement surrounding a weekend containing Park Acoustics. And even though we attended Midnight Oil Live in Johannesburg the day before, it did not overshadow our anticipation for the amazing local lineup set to perform at Parks.
The morning kicked off with the duo, Floors. All the way from Cape Town, this was their 5th performance ever! They enchanted the crowd with an indie-electro with a touch of folk sound. Mikhaela Faye, their vocalist’s sweet, soulful vocals eased the crowd into the day.
The Vanilla, another Cape Town based band, then began to pick up the tempo. They describe themselves as a “feel-good pop band”. But there is nothing vanilla about them. Their sound is fresh, yet easily recognisable. The crowd loved their cover of The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There For You” (the theme song to the popular 1990’s TV sitcom Friends). Their Facebook bio reads: “They aim to make you smile, but they definitely make you dance!”, and that is exactly what they did.
Cape Town seemed to invade the Capital City on the day: another band from Cape Town was on the line-up! I’ve loved Early Hours’ sound since they performed at June 2016’s edition of Park Acoustics, and I was beyond ecstatic to see them live again.
We were front and centre for their entire set. Lead vocalist, Jake Bennet, bounced onto the stage like a whirlwind. From the first song up until their last song, the band’s energy radiated into the crowd. The crowd danced and sang along to hits like “Dance Along” to my favourite “Smells Like Summer”. It was clear to see why Early Hours was the first South African band to reach 1 million streams on SoundCloud for a single song.
Even before the main band took to the stage, the crowd began to chant their name. “Heuwels! Heuwels!” I haven’t seen Die Heuwels Fantasties live since August of last year, and I could bare contain myself. The crowd went crazy when Pierre got onto the stage. They sang along to every single song, old and new. We got emotional on “Leja”, rocked out to “Beloofde Land”, and everyone went mad on “Pille vir Pretoria (Kersfees)”. Die Heuwels Fantasties was the perfect end to a great day spent in the sun. But the day was not over just yet…
Some of the crowd made their way to the comedy stage where they were entertained by comedians Glen Bo, Trevor Gumbi, and Werner Cloete. Those who stayed inside the Fort ended their day by listening to the electric duo, Veranda Panda.
Next month’s Park Acoustic’s line-up has already been announced. And with acts like Shortstraw, Crimson House, Native Young, We Are Charlie, The Ceramics, and Missu, it is set to be just as amazing as July’s Park Acoustics has been, so don’t miss out!
Watch this space for regular updates in the Opinion category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
