The Parlotones Concert

I’ve been trying to remember what the defining moment was that got me to listen to The Parlotones for the first time. Initially I thought it was a live performance I had been to but in truth it was actually as a result of a documentary I saw on SABC 3 about the band a year earlier.

The documentary was playing in the background while Colette and I did something else but I do remember telling her that almost every song that they played I really enjoyed. Needless to say a few weeks later I bought their third album A World Next Door To Yours and I’ve been a big fan ever since. I even got their Unplugged album for Christmas!

So yesterday the family and I shipped off to the Kirstenbosch Gardens for the Parlotones leg of the Old Mutual Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts.

Watching live bands is a special thing but even more so when you know all their songs so I had a fantastic time. It was Luke and Ben’s first concert and while Ben slept through most of it Luke was banging away at a tin cookie drum in tune to all the songs. You really can’t ask for a better setting than to have a family-orientated concert in a place as beautiful as Kirstenbosch Gardens. People have told me how special it is but until you experience it for yourself you really can’t appreciate it.

My only criticism of the band is that they played too much of their new stuff. They’re currently working on their latest album and they tested four of their new songs yesterday. It’s great to do this, and I’m sure many fans liked this, but I felt that during these times they lost the crowd a little because nobody knew the words. I would have limited the new songs to two and played more of the hits like Rock, Paper, Scissors (seen in the video below) which never got aired at the concert.

Apart from a fantastic concert I have to admit I was also extremely impressed with the whole organisation of the event.

We arrived at around 16:00 (gates opened at 15:30) and I was expecting chaos however this was not the case. Parking and entry into the Gardens was simple and efficient and despite being 75% full at the time we had no problem at all with finding a place and relaxing in the 30 degree heat.

Similarly, when the concert ended we experienced very little problems in getting to our car and traffic was slow but moving freely. The concert was sold out and there were allegedly over 5,000 people at the event and I have to take my hats off to the organisers (whomever you are) – you did a fantastic job.

I can’t wait to go to my next concert at the gardens! If you want to see more pics I took have a look here.