Cape Town Nu World Music Festival

It was about a week ago that I found myself dragging my still recovering body to the Cape Town Nu World Festival. Through coughs and sniffs I navigated the area and quickly found that the sickness had left my body as soon as the music had entered it. From the main stage to theDJ/Seated stage; it was two days showcasing the best in World music … and Riky Rick. I had a difficult task for the most part; trying to split my body into many parts to be able to experience everyone. Eventually I needed to decide on a couple of artists and dedicate my full attention towards them.

This had me lapping up every last second of the powerful Simphiwe Dana; flirting with the crowd as she satisfied our nostalgia. Fantasma had me up in the front dancing awkwardly to dirty deconstructed beats. The hipster in me was thrilled when Paul Waxon took to the decks with his box of vinyls. Chairs were moved aside as the crowd turned into an unstoppable dancing force. The festival bled from one night into the other. Day two was just as incredible; if not more. Derek Gripper had everyone’s attention as he effortlessly stroked his guitar. His hand moved up and down the neck in an almost sexual manner; occasionally he would let out sounds when the chords were not enough or maybe they became too much for him to contain.

Tcheka joined him soon after. Hailing from Cape Verde his Portuguese tongue limited his conversational interaction but there was no need to try; his music was weighty as it traversed through the down lights. He played guitar like he was born to do that and little else. The room, now filled to capacity, was taken by the pair on stage. The awe inspiring silence was soon broken by a unanimous applause which welcomed onto stage the energetic Vukazithathe. He played to the crowd with his story telling and charismatic performance. As I bobbed my way out of City Hall I wondered why there were gaps in the crowd. Was it Cape Town’s unmerciful winters that had people slave to their warm beds or the genre of Nu World being niche? Whatever the reason, Cape Town, at large, missed out on some magic.

Written By: Carissa Cupido