A Most Peculiar Performance

I had the strangest day on Thursday. I had planned to treat my family to a late afternoon/evening of live music out in Rondebosch. The event was advertised as a picnic-type vibe, and created a mental image of something quite similar to the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts: a big lawn, picnic blankets, food stalls and several relaxed families and friends enjoying the tunes. Unfortunately, what awaited me was not quite so spectacular.

The information given to me hadn’t been completely untrue. There was live music which, from the small amount that I managed to hear before leaving, sounded quite nice. There was also a lawn, the only issue being that it didn’t seem to have been watered in years and that it was big enough to fit maybe twenty seated people at most. There was even a pool, but it looked more like a swamp. Snacks, by which I mean zip lock packets filled with homemade popcorn, were on sale. There were even edibles available! Finally, there were approximately ten scattered individuals laying on their little blankets, eating their homemade popcorn and drinking beers that they must have brought themselves. Don’t get me wrong, for a bunch of mates living in the area, this was probably quite a cool event! For my mother on the other hand, I knew this would not be the case.

So being the diligent daughter that I am, I made my excuses to leave, hopped in the car and told my family to keep driving. Believe me, we didn’t look back. Feeling bad for having dragged everyone out with picnic baskets and blankets on a Thursday afternoon, I decided to make it up to them and took them to a nearby restaurant in Kenilworth. From there, the day only got stranger.

Upon arrival the restaurant appeared to be closed, at which point a random man (not in any way related to the restaurant) took us around to the back entrance insisting that it was in fact open. He called a waitress from inside who asked me for the time, and then once satisfied with my response allowed us to come inside and find ourselves a table. The lights hadn’t been turned on and none of the tables had been set, and once we were seated in the courtyard area, staff began to set our table around us. The staff were very friendly, don’t get me wrong. They were quick and they constantly checked up on us. It was a pity that the food caused both my parents to be sick for the next few days, though.

Focussing back on the music side of things – I think it is super important to correctly advertise gigs and events. If I had known what the event would really be like, I would probably just have chosen different people to join me and would’ve had a good time. It cost me R20 to get in, and although that isn’t necessarily an arm and a leg, if I hadn’t checked the place out before my family arrived we’d have been R100 poorer and left to deal with an incredibly frustrated mother.

I love live music and I love relaxed environments, but I love being properly informed, too. I’ll be watching Bam Bam Brown and Shortstraw perform at Kirstenbosch Gardens on Sunday (with my family), and hopefully this time the expectations are lived up to. I’m sure they will be – the Summer Sunset Concerts never disappoint.

Will I be seeing you there?