Live Review

Johnny Clegg – The Forum, Kentish Town

• 24th Jun 2010

South Africa has been completely engulfed with World Cup fever, and you really don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy witnessing the Rainbow Nation’s euphoria. They’re obviously throwing a massive party over there, and those of us who couldn’t go and experience it for ourselves will always regret it. Or at least for some time to come. And, no, it’s not just me! Judging from the number of people who turned up to this gig wearing Bafana Bafana (“the boys”) shirts, armed with vuvuzelas (aka “those $#&$>! horns”), you could appreciate just how contagious the joy and energy of the South African crowds have been.

And what better way to get a taste of this vibe than with a couple of South Africa’s most popular musicians? Johnny Clegg was, of course, the main attraction, but with internationally acclaimed South African singer/songwriter Arno Carstens as one of the support acts, the majority of the crowd turned up at the venue at 7pm sharp. Carstens used to front a hugely successful band in South Africa, and has enjoyed a dedicated following ever since. He kicked off with the hit Heartbreak Monday, written by Paolo Nutini, off his latest album Wonderful Wild, followed that with Another Universe and Hole Heart and ended with a diehard Nudies fan favourite Blue Eyes.

Trenton and Free Radical, the second support act, may have been fairly unknown before this gig but, listening to the crowd’s response, they managed to make scores of new fans with their reggae/hip hop/electro-infused songs, driven by frontman Trenton Birch’s politically inspired lyrics, and underpinned by an irresistible bassline. Their impossibly catchy tune Mr Mandela was an instant summer festival-type crowd favourite. With band members hailing from South Africa (lyrics), Uganda (drums), Zimbabwe (bass) and Ibiza (guitar), and with influences from all over the world, it would be reckless to try and categorise their music, but it should be very interesting to follow their progress.

Though the support acts were highly enjoyable, the biggest cheers were reserved for the White Zulu. Clegg is currently on his “Spirit is The Journey” tour, celebrating 30 years in the music industry. Fans probably turned up expecting to hear all his greatest hits (which are like unofficial South African anthems), and they must have been pleased because that’s exactly what they got.
Despite a few technical problems at the beginning of the set (which were quickly dealt with, and even more easily forgiven), it wasn’t long before the whole Forum was singing and dancing along to hits like Great Heart, Cruel Crazy Beautiful World, and The Crossing/Osiyeza (which featured in the movie Invictus). The crowd couldn’t quite mimic Clegg’s inspired dance moves – though not for lack of trying (especially at the back of the venue, which was turned into an impromptu tribal dance area). The song Impi, in particular, seems to bring out the gumboots dancer in everyone. Two particularly cheery girls were also running around giving hugs to “anybody who looked like they needed it”.
Clegg’s music is not your typical World Music fare. Yes, it has Zulu influences, but it’s really rock music, with thumping, uplifting beats, and thoughtful lyrics. Clegg was creating a fusion of Western and Zulu music before Paul Simon released Graceland, but to the uninitiated that’s what it would sound like.
Watching Clegg bouncing around the stage for hours, it’s hard to imagine he’s nearing his 60s. Along with backing singers Mandisa Dlanga and Bongani Masuki, he remained energetic right to the very end, when they came back for an lengthy encore including Asimbonanga (written for Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned), Dela and Scatterlings of Africa, which was definitely the emotional highlight of the evening.

“Local is lekker” (nice), goes a popular saying in South Africa. And this was very lekker indeed.

Johnny Clegg plays Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre on 26 and 27 July, and will be touring France in July.