On the 28th of March I made my way to Sandton Central Park to experience an event that has become one of the must-go-to one day festivals on the Johannesburg live music calendar, Rise & Shine Festival.
Here’s a recap of my Rise & Shine Festival Experience
I hopped onto the Gautrain in Centurion and arrived at the venue around 10 AM, just in time to catch first act of the day, Bye Beneco. Their tranquil tunes was the perfect act to start the festival. Next up were Tidal Waves. They transported the crowd to a happy place with tunes like “Lekker Dans”, “Money” and other old favorites.
Around 12 noon The Plastics played their first ever set at a Rise & Shine Festival and entertained the crowd with legendary tunes like “Stereo Kids”, “Occasional Lies” and “Best Pretenders”. The also threw a well-executed The Cure into the mix, which was met with approval by the growing crowd. After them, BCUC entertained the crowd with their unique blend of sounds.
Durban rockers Gangs of Ballet made their way onto the Rise & Shine Festival stage at 2 PM and gave one of their best performances seen to date. The only thing missing from their set was their hit song “Hello, Sweet World”. Next Tailor made her way onto the stage with Fabian Sing and delivered what could be described as a well-rounded off performance.
The second last act of the day were Johannesburg folk rockers, Naming James. They got the crowd onto their feet and dancing before you could say “Gin” and had them singing along before you could act “Tonic”. These blokes are definitely one of the acts that deserve a little more attention from SA Music fans (and airplay on radio stations) if you ask me.
The last act of the day were Desmond & The Tutu’s. It was the second week in a row that I watched these blokes perform and I must say that I was not disappointed and the crowd were not either. These blokes have become crowd favorites at festivals over the years and I don’t see that changing much in the near future.
Kudos to the Rise & Shine Festival organizers for pulling off one amazing event. The toilets were clean, the bar cues were short and there was enough tasty food to feed the hungry and peckish. I’m looking forward to the next edition of this one day festival and you should be as well.
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