Review: Magic Cradle to the Cape Concert led by Zolani Mahola, Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts

It was magic to attend the Cradle to the Cape Concert which opened the 2024/2025 season of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts. The concert was magic. The weather was perfect. The crowd was beautiful. The concert was headlined by the incomparable Zolani Mahola (former lead singer of Freshlyground) and featured a knockout lineup of artists, such as Arno Carstens. The entire ensemble was awesome but watching the interaction between Mahola and Carstens was mind blowing. The sound was excellent and the lighting on stage shifted as we approached dusk. This concert was a partnership between Kirstenbosch and the NIROX Foundation, with sponsorship from Nedbank Private Wealth and Renault. A shout out to the sponsors for making this epic concert happen.

The title of the concert “embodies our mission to nurture artistic expression and foster meaningful connections between South Africa’s cultural and natural heritage,” said Lloyd-Anthony Smith, Concert Producer at the NIROX Foundation. It certainly delivered on its promise with a chilled out and beautiful concert with a fusion filled programme and the magnificent backdrop of the mountain and garden. Mahola delighted her fans with Freshlyground hits, Doo Be Doo and I’d Like.

As some of the lyrics from Doo Be Doo go, with the jibe against polticians:

People have agreed to give their love away
I can’t wait to be there in line!
Politicians have agreed to honour and obey
They’ll come down and listen to what the people say
I can’t wait to be there in line, no no!

Several people mused that Mahola would make a great president and that she puts “the politicians” to shame. Mahola spoke about us heading to the year of 2025. “We are ending this year with many, many feelings, as South Africans, as Africans, as people of the world.  Many of us are scratching our heads. We are asking ourselves – is this humanity? Is this who we are? It is who we are if we decide who we are. Don’t forget – the moment you feel you don’t have a voice- the moment that you think you feel that you can’t action change -in your world then we are all stuffed. Then we might as well give up. South Africans, Africans … wake up.” See video on https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EZthX5q1n/ Words of inspiration, with a call to activism and for all of us to be awake and in the moment. Let us sing to that. More pics from the concert on Sunday, December 8, 2024, here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Av4vYxPNz/

The ethos of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts goes beyond simply staging concerts. There is always a strong sense of community, with the crowd communing in the sublime setting and being grateful for being there, chatting, singing and dancing to the music. Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts are an experience – not simply an event.

A number of people who I chatted to and who were first time summer concert attendees, did not know that there is a no garbage bin policy at the concerts, so I thought I mention that here. Take your garbage away with you and don’t leave anything behind. Mention must also be made, that Webtickets is the official and only ticket seller for the concerts. If you purchase from secondary ticket/on-seller ticket platforms, you may arrive with a ticket which doesn’t scan at the gate never mind over paying. Here is an article I write in September 2022, after receiving complaints from friends from abroad who had bought tickets for the Goldfish concert at five times the advertised price on Webtickets. https://thecaperobyn.co.za/insight-the-perils-of-booking-through-secondary-ticket-platforms/

The 2024/25 Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts season runs until March 30, 2025.

✳ Images TheCapeRobyn/Robyn Cohen, December 8, 2024.