American folkstars The Lumineers kicked off their first South African visit with two sold out shows at Kirstenbosch last week. Here are some photos from their Thursday performance – a truly enjoyable night.
Once you’re inside, Kirstenbosch botanical gardens is such a lovely venue, however the concerts there always have a major impact on traffic, and the drive up from town was no fun at all. Further frustrations on Thursday included the power outage resulting in all the ticket offices having to wait for generators to kick in and bring their systems back online, as well as the Lumineers’ extended soundcheck which meant waiting in a super long queue outside the concert area.
Eventually however the gates opened and the masses streamed in. By the time I walked in the hill overlooking the stage was already crammed near to bursting.
I always feel a bit bad for opening acts to internationals – on the one hand it’s a great opportunity to play for a big crowd, but on the other, more often than not no-one’s really there to see you. Majozi seemed like a suitably folky choice and some of their songs started off pleasantly enough but overall they didn’t make much of an impression on me…
I confess I was not expecting to be blown away by the Lumineers, but I really, really enjoyed their performance – fast-paced, slick but endearing and very energetic. Plus at one point they came out into the crowd and performed a song right in the thick of their fans, which I thought was super cool.
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The Lumineers | Kirstenbosch’s upcoming summer concerts | Majozi
Photos up on Facebook over here | Review on Texx and the City
