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The calendar page just turned, revealing a new dawn that came packaged as a kind of energy that was spawn when all the clicking and the scrolling, the listening, the entering of competitions, all the Facebook liking and the Twitter following started taking place motivated by all the CTEMF Satellite events in running up to the grand finale on the weekend of the 7th of February. Read further for what our editor Cliff Viljoen and contributor The Lazarusman wrote about #CTEMF2014.
Friday, 7th of February was when the third annual Cape Town Electronic Music Festival kicked off at the Grand Parade, Cape Town with CT based talent behind the hardware, Julz Sanchez spinning the opening track. It’s a fine art opening up any event, let alone an event of this magnitude on African soil, with a respectable list of global top-tier DJ’s on a day that will ultimately lead to heavyweight DJ, HOBO to close the first day of #CTEMF2014. The Nu disco, deep, jazzy sounds of Julez Sanchez got the festival underway setting the bar noticeably high.
Crazy White Boy & Nonku Phiri.
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It wasn’t until about 19:30 / 20:00 on the Friday evening when the gaps on the dancefloor started filling out quite nicely. At this stage on the line-up, it was Crazy White Boy collaborating with vocalist, Nonku Phiri guiding partygoers through the rain that started to ease in. What rain!? It bothered no-one, in fact, it subtly added to the atmosphere, with the most of the crowd welcoming the rain with open arms and smiles aimed at the heavens as CWB dropped one of Ryan Murgatroyd’s (Part Crazy White Boy) class productions, Bantwana’s Piano. If I had to package that very moment and throw it out there as something you would probably relate to, I’d call it a Proudly South African moment in music.
#CTEMF2014 and the rain had arrived. The organisers had paid meticulous attention to detail with the setup of the stage and the visually-pleasing containers situated around the arena. Rain still not a bother. Justin Martin had also just started playing, the time 20:30. While the rain was getting progressively harder, Justin Martin was demonstrating production at its finest, keeping the floor together with his infectious, positive energy and the enormous club tracks he was dropping. There were moments in his set that recalled very fond memories from famous party brand in SA, Kinky Disco a few summers back, the Oudekraal party to be exact...Remember that!? Amazing. Basically what I’m saying is, good vibes all round. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Justin Martin (Dirty Bird)
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From one Dirty Bird to another, J.Phlip was up next, J.Phlip seamlessly took over the reins. With her Acid-House productions, she paid such compliment to the stage setup, which was an awesome amalgamation, a complex technical hybrid of light, sound pyrotechnics and LED screens that offered a visual treatment to equal and elevate with the finely tuned, well tailored audio planes. Internationally respected, local hero Protoculture blew minds with the way his set, and the lighting spotlighted, yet again, the magnitude of this production and its flawless execution. Protoculture masterfully set up for, who, a considerable amount have said to be the highlight of their Friday, HOBO.
#CTEMF2014 by night.
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It was day #2. A sunny Saturday. The looming grey clouds had cleared inviting the partygoers to get down to the Parade from as early as 12 p.m. Hot coffee and foot-long hot dogs were available from the famous food trucks in CT. Bars and Red Bull fridges fully stocked with CTEMF staff rearing to go. Who, by the way, did a phenomenal job in keeping the operation running smoothly with no noticeable issues.
#CTEMF2014
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Day #2’s line-up offered a movement that could have easily been misconstrued as confusing, however, being an electronic music festival that showcases groundbreaking performances across the board of electronic productions, you took each set on, almost separately, although it has to be said that the progression as a whole, over the weekend worked well. Also, fair-play and much respect to the guys we all had our backs faced to for the most of the weekend. The most important crew of the lot. Without these guys, the show, cannot go on. Sterling performance and well done to the team/s responisble for the audio/visuals.
Part of the Production Team.
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The earlier part of the day The Skene Brothers put together a great set that needs mention. It made me reminisce on the class act they put together at Rocking The Daisies a couple years back that sort of felt like it was the beginning of something, not sure if I know what that something is just yet, but that’s what it felt like, it felt like that again. The brothers, donning Skollie T-Shirts pulled it off nicely.
The Skene Brothers.
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Saturday was the day that the co-founder of Def Jam Records, owner of Jazzy Jay Studios that was home to Hip Hop pioneers, A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Hall of Famer The Original Jazzy Jay, was to play what turned out to be an incredibly nostalgic, feel good set. We managed to catch up with Jazzy right after his set where he expressed what a pleasure it was to be a part of the #CTEMF2014.
The Original DJ Jazzy Jay. Legend.
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Sedge Warbler was fantastic followed by Dirty Paraffin who offered audiences the sounds of what could be termed a “neo township movement” which is a mish-mash of Hip Hop, Kwaito and electronic music. Dirty Paraffin’s edge is their lead singer Smiso’s sense of humour, hidden in the catchy verses of each song. This matched with his unique dancing ability is something to behold and the audiences loved every moment, it was truly an outstanding performance.
Sedge Warbler.
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Haezer followed Caspa, Caspa who was Benga’s replacement after he surprisingly created some viral news when he hung-up his headphones the week before the event. Following Haezer was Noisia who closed the second day with a 01:00 set, a very heavy 01:00 set. It was all systems go, the floor was packed, the media tent was buzzing, bars were full-tilt and partygoers both on and off the floor seemed to be completely enthralled in whatever it was that they were doing at that moment in time. THAT disco ball hanging above, reflecting on the events. Noisia still very much there.
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What the space of the Grand Parade offered was, the fact that you could “step-out-of-it” at any given time to take it all in, the giant disco ball, the City Hall building, Table Mountain, the stage, the Red Bull area that overlooked the laser-lit parking lot turned world-class electronic music dancefloor for 3 days, and of course, the people. Noisia was just closing up at that stage, the arena was heaving and the surrounds at the time looked filled with scattered ants scurrying around trying to get every last treat in for the day before coming back for a predominately House line-up on Sunday. #CTEMF2014 was still happening.
It was one space, one setup and one floor that housed various mentalities, ideals, and musical preferences...
The fact that this music festival is able to mix, redirect, adjust perceptions, and even cultures are I believe the keys to CTEMF’s success. You could arrive being completely devoted to Deep-House and walk away, 48 hours later, having converted to jazz and or Dubstep. Well, you know what I mean... One can diversify and expand ones wings; one can explore musical avenues less explored at the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival. Artists need these types of festivals to grow and expand their fan bases. To educate is to empower and #CTEMF2014 managed that for both artists and audiences, flawlessly. The main event just reiterate’s the focus of the workshops in a more practical, aesthetically pleasing form, if you like.
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A supremely well-crafted line-up with the main characters behind the hardware going by the well-known names of Transmicsoul, Sir Vincent, Shimza, HVOB, Portable, Dixon, and Black Coffee were to adjudicate the Sunday.
The earlier artists such as Langa based DJ and promoter Sir Vincent and The Red Bull Music Academy attendee Transmicsoul got Sunday the 9th of February going, setting the standard high for the rest of the day on an already exceptional level of attainment. Sunday also saw a return performance from Portable; a Cape Town born artist who now successfully ploughs his trade in Europe. His performance was a dreamy, tech-filled journey befitting of his status and ability. What was special was the fact that he had brought his entire family to watch the show. Black Coffee also marked his return to the festival with what could have easily been the best set of the weekend; having been on the bill for #CTEMF2013, Black Coffee blurred all memories of his previous visit to CTEMF with a performance of magnum opus proportions. Phenomenal.
Black Coffee (Soulistic Music)
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On a personal level, the time had arrived, CTEMF’s headliner, Dixon the owner of Innervision was to close the Sunday, and the electronic music festival. He arrived as the number one polled DJ for 2013, so expectations were high and as if oblivious to all of this, Dixon elegantly shifted audiences between delight, madness and unprecedented joy. He showed the reason why he curated music for Jazzonava for over a decade. He showed why his label is amongst the best in the world.
Dixon. Educating the crowd.
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The musical journey he took audiences on was a loop in time. It was a trap between the present and the future. Dixon managed to find gaps for everything in his set. We went from soul to progressive to hard basses to African drum beats and even songs with ululation. This wasn’t just a set, it was a classroom and all the students were in attendance for the best lecture of their lives. So 'educational' was his approach, and all were in awe. He described his set as “trancy” which is apt as he seemed to have the audience spell-bound; his set ended too soon but will last long in the chambers of our fondest memories.
Dixon. This man demands respect.
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CTEMF is not so much about the international artists coming to South Africa and local artists sharing the stage with them, it’s about international artists being welcomed into our fold, and sharing a stage with our local artists. The festival is South Africa showing the world how we do things. We may not be on their level but there is decorum and grace in the way we do things. #CTEMF2014 is testament to that.
The longevity of this festival is necessary. Not only for the future of electronic music, but for South African music as a whole. Check out Pulse Radio's photo gallery of the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival.
Can’t wait for #CTEMF2015.