It’s one of the biggest festivals in Johannesburg and this past weekend saw a three-day Superbalist In The City Event. This time, the event expanded into a weekend festival that opened up music genres across electronic and EDM, hip-hop and house, indie rock, beatboxing and rap, featuring no less than 24 artists. Unfortunately I could only attend Sunday’s main event, but here is a short recap of the three major In The City Parties this weekend.
#SxITC2016 Liftoff Party
Across two stages until 4am, the best DJ’s in electronic, techno and house music through the beats and spun the decks for seven hours non-stop. Headlined by Daniel Pearce, better known as Eats Everything, this English producer and DJ tore it up for two hours with his signature techno and house tunes to the joy of club-goers. The line-up also included Eric Volta, Andi Dill, Zolabuddé, 2lani The Warrior, Ricardo da Costa and Keren Onay.
Virgin Mobile Braam Beach Party
Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown was taken over by the most epic beach party Jozi has ever seen! A few tons of sand, palm trees, beach balls, inflatable pools and a volleyball net transformed the city centre into a beach oasis – and what a party it was! From 4pm Melo B got the crowds going, followed by Shekhinah, Julian Gomes and DJ Capital. British DJ and producer Atjazz proved why he is still massively popular 20 years since he started performing as he got the crowd jumping throughout his set. Stilo Magolide didn’t fail to entertain with his catchy beats and love of the crowd. A highlight was when Riky Rick stage-dived into the crowd shirtless. Not once, but twice! p.H and DJ Tira kept the momentum going just before AKA closed the show.
Superbalist In The City Concert
The main event was held at Emmerentia Dam – one of my favourite venues for live music. As expected, the vibe was insane! The event was family friendly (which I loved) and included some of the best food trucks around Jozi at the moment (Sumting Fresh is soooo good!), a beer garden and an epic Lipton Ice Tea station. Sol Gems, Shortstraw and Grassy Spark opened the show with fantastic performances all round.
The first international act to take to the stage was Beardyman. Now, I must admit that I didn’t know much about the artist and I’m sort of glad I never. He blew me away! His bass-filled beatboxing and live-looping skills was unlike anything I’ve seen before. I loved the electronic element in his set and I really enjoyed how interactive he was. This was something spectacular and I can’t wait to see him do his thing again soon.
Shortly after Beadyman left the stage, American rapper Mac Miller took to the stage. Wow. Just wow. He started his set off with his smash hit ‘Cinderella’ and performed hits such as ‘Loud’ and ‘Dang!’. Mac is a fantastic live performer. He really likes to tease the crown and had his fans eating from the palm of his hand. Vocally, Mac smashed it. In an interview backstage after his performance, Mac Miller said he was surprised at how popular and well-known his music was in South Africa – and that he loved the energy of the local crowds. Mac’s set was one of the best rap sets I have seen in a very long time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLWXLsegYCA/?taken-by=warnermusicsa
The festival ended off with an hour and a half of Foster The People. The band, dressed all in white, the band played tracks from their first two albums such as the incredibly popular ‘Pumped Up Kicks’, ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Call It What You Want’. After watching them live, I can see why they have taken the world by storm. Their stage presence is out of this world. Not only does lead singer Mark Foster give an incredible vocal performance, but the rest of the band blew me away with their special instrumental skills. This was the perfect way to end a perfect day. Now, the countdown to In The City 2017 begins!
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