On Friday evening, Lois and I went to see a band that we have been wanting to watch for a while, The Lentil Collective. They were playing at a small venue in Muizenberg called The Melting Pot. Yes, the Lentles were playing in the pot. Let the jokes begin.

Anyway, they are a rather eclectic band; a mixture of folk and acoustic pop, with a healthy amount of looping and sampling added into the mix. They describe themselves as “folktronica”, which is pretty accurate. But you can decide for yourselves, just go here and download their music (for free). I really enjoyed them, they are just some guys wanting to play some great music and have some fun. Fairly laid-back, fun and original. Really worth listening to.

If you see them playing, head down, you will hear some great music.

The street contains the old Vegas signage which is featured in the old Vegas movies, TV series and music videos (think Elvis, James Bond and U2).

I am sure that you recognise this Cowgirl. And yes I know, in Vegas sex is everywhere.

In the past cars drive down Fremont street, but now it has been pedestrianized.

There are three stages, each paying different music, and they are all free, so grab a Margarita and head on down for some live music and entertainment.This was one of the 80′s pop band.

And here is a 80′s rock band (the theme for the month was 80′s). Situated about 5 miles from the main strip, it is just as busy, but far cheaper, even cheaper than a meal in Cape Town.

There are plenty of celebraties there, including stormtoopers and a suite of Disney characters. I doubt that any are official, but they all will swap a photo for some cash.  2-3 hours is probably long enough to take in the street, but a different experience to the main strip and worth a visit!

You can downoad the song here: Geek Speak Theme

U2 Live in Cape Town

U2 played in Cape Town last night. Lois, myself and approx 61998 other people went to watch them paying at Cape Town Stadium. This was my first time in the stadium, and it was a fantastic venue. Everything just went smoothly. The queues at the bar were short, seats were easy to find; people were behaving and just having a great party. Of course, U2 put on a great show.

U2 in Cape Town, complete with resizable TV screen

There was a “no professional camera” rule, so I figured that my old Canon 350D with a 50mm lens (my nifty-fifty) didn’t really count as a professional camera, so I managed to get in a few nice shots.

U2 Live in Cape Town

I am not U2′s biggest fan, but they have done some great songs over the years, and their gig was amazing! If you look at the stage, you can see that it is actually a 360 degree stage, going around in a complete circle with the audience all around the stage. The TV screen above the stage was also panoramic.

U2 Live in Cape Town

Although it was (of course) a rock concert, it came with a pretty awesome light show as well; using the strange spider-like covering as a backdrop from some pretty stunning lighting.

U2 Live in Cape Town; suppport act Amadou and Mariam

I don’t know if they are going to your city on this tour; but if they are get some tickets. It will be a great show!

U2 playing beneath the spider

This was my fist time in Cape Town Stadium, and although it does not look that huge from the inside, there were over 62000 people inside, it is massive!

U2 Live in Cape Town, 360 degree TV screen

He speaks about downward spiral thinking, and radiating possibility speaking, and leaves us with the challenge of looking for possibility in our thoughts and our actions.

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Ben Zander demonstrating how we progress from beginner to expert using  Mozart’s Sonata in C
(K545 for the nerds)

Ben Zander

Ben Zander showing that we all love classical music (some of us have just not realised it).

This guy was just jammin’ away on his guitar, making up the solos and chords as he played. He was accompanied on the bongo’s by his mate.

On Bongos

They were really good, somehow that had convinced the shop behind them to supply some free power, and they were just playing for whomever walked past, and that is something that I love about Cape Town. There is almost no regulation of street music; you can just play wherever you want. I hope it stays that way. It keeps the city alive.

These Jazz muso’s were busking on the beach by the harbour. They were playing local versions of some old standards.

Self-taken shot of me playing my bass guitar. Her name is (and has been for many years) “Galadriel”, and she is a six-string solid through neck bass with active pre-amp. By the way if you are interested, you can listen to some of the stuff that Lois and I have done over the years here.

(I had to find something to test my new studio lights with :-)

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

John Lennon – Imagine

A wall at Plan et Hollywood, Times Square. It contains a couple of hundred Gibson Guitars, mostly the Les Paul.

This is a fitting memorial to the famous Les Paul, who died on August 13 2009. He created the Gibson Les Paul guitar, which was played by almost every rock band in the world.

He also invented multi-track recording, which of course revolutionised the music industry.