By Dani

I set out on Wednesday evening with photographer Gavin Collins in tow, to catch two energetic dance-driving bands on stage at Zula Bar in Long Street, Cape Town.  It was the much anticipated launch of MacGyver Knife’s new album, Sewing Legend.

Supporting act, She Man Lion rocked up and rocked out. Two words: Superior Synth! Their 80s inspired dance beats could only be likened to a modern, male-fronted Yazoo with double the synth and double the style. Impressive hyper-speed drumming kept things upbeat and happening in a real techno-party fashion right through their set. Psycho-dancing enriched with disco lighting and solid tempo merged to form an electric hurricane on-stage.

Camps Bay in Cape Town is always a-buzz with exclusive events, cocktail parties and all-round partying. There are a number of top-class, chic establishments along the main road overlooking the ocean where young fashionables tend to spend a good portion of their time. The stretch of road right along the beachfront is where Cape Town’s trendy love to be seen so you won’t find shabby looking people here. If you want to fit in dress up and sip on one of the colourful summer cocktails.

St Yves is one such club, situated along Camps Bay’s “Golden Mile”. The décor is beach-chic and gives visitors the feeling of being on a million-dollar yacht. Of course the breathtaking view helps to create that sense of summer fun and flightiness as you sit “on deck” and soak up the sun’s rays.

There’s nothing like a bit of friendly competition among friends and when it comes to Action Cricket it’s the best kind. Getting together a couple of teams to take one another on at Claremont’s Action Cricket facility at Stadium on Main was a great success.

The boys organised their teams and the girls sat on the sideline to support. I was impressed though that a number of the other courts were full of girls playing netball. They cater to all your action cricket, netball and soccer needs.

Saturday night at The Assembly in Cape Town was set to be a big event with some talented local bands on the bill and two popular DJs to finish off the night. I arrived just after She Man Lion began their set. They recently enlisted the help of a new lead singer, Pete O’ Donoghue, who was to supposedly help them develop a new sound. I’ve heard them a couple of times before and save one or two songs couldn’t really tell if there was much of a difference. I really enjoy their tracks though and theirs has been an impressive rise so far. The band began in 2006 and won the Redbull Radar competition in 2009. Since then they haven’t looked back.

It’s another busy month in sunny South Africa and all around the country locals and visitors can enjoy a medley of entertainment options. Here are a few things happening around the country to help you decide what to do with your spare time.

Cape Town:

The incredible Circque du Soleil is in town and blowing the mind of many a Cape Tonian. It started on 23 March and only runs until 3 April so if you’re thinking about checking this show out you better hurry. It’s an exemplary showcase of the amazing talent and hard work that goes into circus-inspired performance. Tickets cost between R272 and R476 per person and the show is being performed at the Grand Arena, Grand West Casino. Call 021 422 3500 for more information or email Big Concerts on info@bigconcerts.co.za.

Infiltrating IDOLS

‘Singing pop is not selling out, not doing music is selling out’

So I decided to audition for Idols. Not Pop Idols… that would be the classier, original, money-fueled version. No. I entered Idols SA from the gorgeous and talent-laden mother-city, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Anyway, it started as an adventure on a whim. Dani heads off at 4 in the morning in a tiny rokkie and my (security-blanket) cowboy boots only to find a place in a queue behind the REALLY keen hundreds that had the idea before me.

The Toffie Pop Culture Festival and Design Conference begins today and will see hundreds of avid designers and illustrators flocking to the decadently-decorated Cape Town City Hall for their fix of doodles, designs and unbelievable talent.

Over the next three days the festival offers its visitors some intensive workshops, 16 conference speakers, 24 inspiring table exhibitions, a fashion show, conversation, an interactive exhibition, more than 30 You, Me & Everyone We Know market vendors, a first-time collaboration between some hot local acts, great food and drinks stalls and even a few boxing matches. Visitors will also get to watch Spanish graffiti artists BoaMistura painting live, amble though five exhibition rooms, watch one short film and two award-winners from the Norient Musik Film Festival in Switzerland and basically just receive an inspiration overload.

River Dance: As a child I used to sit and watch my grandparent’s VHS of Michael Flatley’s feet whiz by as he stepped and jumped to the music of River Dance. I loved to imagine myself as one of the beautiful and petite dancers, twirling and tapping and curtsying with such grace. Finally I got the chance to see the show live at the Grand Arena, Grand West Casino and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed.

Traditional Irish dancing has been a pastime for centuries and over the years has evolved into what we know today. As part of their South Africa tour, the River Dance cast and crew weighed anchor in Cape Town and will continue to wow its audience until 27 February.

I recently went to see a play written by Duncan Buwalda called Dream, Brother. It was staged at the Intimate Theatre at Hiddingh Campus in Cape Town, and was quite an impressive performance. It was a story perfect for such a small setting, as it involves the intricate day-to-day lives of accessible characters.

The play was directed by Tara Louise Notcutt and is an intimate look at four seemingly unconnected characters whose lives are unexpectedly and somewhat tragically intertwined.

A painter (woman) meets a writer (man) at a book reading and the first half of the play follows their magical tale as they fall in love with one another. They go for coffee together, recite poems to one another and basically find companionship together. The progression of their relationship is light, happy and carefree but is interrupted by the telling of another love story; that of a psychologist and his veterinary wife.

If you’re a book lover and you live in Cape Town you’ve probably been to the Cape Town Book Fair at least once. I know I have and it was an awesome (in the true sense of the word) experience. I find that just walking into a book shop merits some degree of awe, so you can imagine the sensory overload of walking into an enormous Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) hall and seeing it packed full of epic tomes, novels, factual books, dictionaries, atlases, kids’ books, short stories and every other form of the written word conceivable. Unfortunately for bibliophiles in the Mother City, the book fair has been cancelled this year and we have to somehow deal with the news that it might only become a bi-annual affair from 2012 on.