It’s a Friday night and everyone is on the lookout for the perfect spot to turn up in Braamfontein. Even with a slight urge to head back home because of the cold breeze, a huge part of me was seriously looking forward to a particular performance at an event called Mama’s Kitchen at the Bannister Hotel. As we made our way across the street from the office to the hotel, we witness the crowd become bigger as we get into the night.

Four bands give performances that got the crowd bobbing heads and screaming out their names. A fuse of electro sounds, jazz and a few throwbacks to the 90’s were what these bands rocked.

Speaking of which – DMDC won the battle of the bands unanimously, the MCs determined which band would win by how loud the crowd screamed. The Soweto natives walked away with a whooping R1000 voucher from Toms music store. One of my favorites bands on the night was New Creations – they were also the organizers of the event – who rocked the stage with a few numbers that drove the crowd nuts.I’d like to be the first to say it, New Creations is a band you need to look out for anxiously.

There was one performance that almost got all the ladies (excluding myself) throw their undies on the stage – The Muffinz.They’re an ensemble that sing their hearts out with grace and elegance on each and every song that they’ve ever made. If you listened closer you’d swear their spirits intertwined with the audience. Reaching a level of serenity which by the way – we met.

From one song to the next, they decided to take us back to the good old days when kwaito used to be majestic. Hits from Brown Dash to TKZee made us reminisce at how simple life used to be. When we used to simply enjoy kwaito without thinking it might die one day (I’m not saying its dead by-the-way, not yet). A night of delightful jams continued as they flabbergasted us with their new offering called “Do what you love”. The highlights Two bands that caught my attention, New Creations and The Muffinz. They were both unbelievably amazing they gave people their money’s worth – and I’m not just saying that because they might be reading this. When a band is able to make people lose just the right amount of their minds, they qualify to be called a rock star.

The Sour

Our night at the Bannister Hotel had a few hiccups – like the bouncer denying us access when we arrived there and not having enough chairs in the venue for people that wanted to chill in between intervals. There was one major hiccup that I think the organizers need to make sure never happened – bad sound. The sound wasn’t impressive, specifically when The Muffinz performed. There was a point where one of the band members couldn’t hear his guitar half of their time on stage. However, shout out to The Muffinz for being pro’s and making things work.

The funniest

So there we were rocking to one of The Muffinz smash hits ‘Ghetto’, having the time of our lives and singing our lungs out (Lord knows how embarrassed I would’ve been if the music suddenly stopped in that very moment). Nevertheless, they got to the end of the song, pulling in the energy of the crowd as we were from them, one band member suddenly says “I swear, I don’t think my guitar was on but I just had to look like I’m rocking it out with the guys”.

That awkward moment when…

• The Muffinz weren’t performing and everyone was at the back of the room, but the minute they get on stage people start piling up right in front of you.
• An audience member’s voice is at peak level, when all of a sudden the music shuts down and we here “man F*** YOU”
• Atomza (the lead singer of The Muffinz) directs a comment at you in a crowd “you’ll be asked to get out…”
• You have to interview more than five people in a band, you have to wait for at least 20 minutes for all of them to arrive at the interview location.
• One of the members of The Muffinz refuses to take a selfie because he wasn’t in the mood.
• A stranger decides to take a video of his experience and starts moving the camera to your direction, right at your face!
• When you’re interviewing someone that gives their all in in their answers, only to realize that the camera guy didn’t press record (All I needed was a smoke bomb to make me disappear instantly).
• A lady in the audience danced so much for the bands that she started being emotional at the end of the show (drink and dance for the right reasons folks).

It was an event that gave bands a platform to shine and showcase their talent. And on that note, New creations gets gold stars from me for showing interest in the growth of music and those that partake in it.

Words @Morwesi_Ndlovu

Photography @IamtheMaz and  @PrettiPiktures

The Bannister Hotel @TheBannister

New creations @NewCreationsSA