Over the weekend I attended the KFC Sessions 2010 finals in Hatfield Square. 4 of the best upcoming bands in the country battled it out for the R10000 cash prize (for 1st place), R5000 cash prize (for 2nd place) and R2500 cash prize (for 3rd place) in the competition.

Here’s my review of the KFC Sessions 2010 finals in Hatfield Square

I strolled into Hatfield Square at about 5 PM on Saturday and directly made my way to OppiSquare for a cold one (still nursing a slight Aandklas hangover from the previous night). Red Light Stereo (from Durban) were the first band to perform. They put on quite an impressive display (despite the fact that Hatfield Square was quite empty at the time). Next up were Demotophobia (a Gauteng-based hard rock band). They were also quite impressive. It soon became clear to me that the standard of the 2010 KFC Sessions was extremely high. The December Streets (a band based in Pretoria) was up next and attracted and entertained the slowly growing crowd with their ska punk styled tunes.

They played quite an impressive cover version of Last Night by The Strokes. It was the turn of Durban-based band The Catlike Thieves next who soon got the crowd going with their impressive fast paced tunes. At some stage the band threw beach balls into the crowd when they played a Beach Boys cover which was quite popular with the crowd. Unfortunately there could only be 1 winner in the competition.

Top honors at the KFC Sessions 2010 Finals went to The December Streets. The 2 Durban-based bands The Catlike Thieves and Red Light Stereo were announced as tied in 2nd place (and both received the same prize money). After this it was time for another cold one, so I made my to Aandklas again.

After a refreshing break I made my way back to the square in time to catch the last few minutes of the Prelude to June set. The bit I saw was not bad at all. Not even the rain could stop people from watching Afrikaans sensation Die Tuindwergies (who were up next) and I must say that they did play quite an entertaining set. The crowd were singing along to some of their songs. Luckily the rain stopped before Valiant Swart stepped onto the stage at about 10 PM to conclude a brilliant showcase of SA music.

Valiant Swart (featuring Albert Frost on guitar) showed the Hatfield Square crowd what the result is of 20 years experience in the South African music industry. I found Valiant’s gig quite entertaining since it was the first time since 2007 that I have seen him perform live. To be honest I was expecting a lot more people at the KFC Session 2010 Finals, but it still was an entertaining experience. After experiencing these bands I think its safe to say that SA Music is alive and well and I’m sure that we will be seeing great things in the future.

Here are 20 photos that I took on Saturday at the KFC Sessions 2010 Finals:

I also snapped this video at Die Tuindwergies performance at the KFC Sessions 2010 Finals:

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