On Saturday @StellaTeleur, @LianaKritzinger and I made our way to Emmerentia Dam in Johannesburg for Bastille’s last live show on their January 2014 tour of South Africa. We arrived at the venue around 12 noon. Getting in wasn’t much of a mission and before you could say “Pompei” we were ordering our first beers at the bar.
The whole event ran smoothly and epic sets by Matthew Mole, Beatenberg and Bed on Bricks set the perfect for the main act of the day. Not even the rain could stop the 15,000 strong Johannesburg crowd from waiting for Bastille. It’s a pity that the Bed on Bricks set had to be cut short though. I would have loved to see what they had up their sleeves in the second part of their set, guess I’ll have to check them out at their next gig.
Bastille put on a surprisingly good live show. I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of their music and their musical genre, but I have to admit that they’re friggin’ good at what they do. I was impressed by their stage presence, the way that Dan and the keyboardist moered the crap out of the drums they had on stage and by the way that they interacted with the crowd – they played their biggest headlining festival gig in the world on the day after all.
Highlights of their set include the crowd singing along to most of their songs, Dan Smith walking into the crowd with his grey hoodie on, the band draping their drumkit with a South African flag and Bed on Bricks joining them on stage for “Pompei”. Here are some photos that I took during the Bastille set.
You can check out more photos from the show in Johannesburg on the Henno Kruger Photography page on Facebook. Kudos to the folks at Seed Experiences, Blue Array Productions, Nokia and everyone else involved for organizing such a kick-ass fun day.
What did you think of Bastille’s set in Johannesburg? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here. If you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience and viewing the photos, feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Remember: Sharing is caring.
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