Creative Cape Town

photo cropped from an Adriaan Louw original, (c) The Assembly

@ The Assembly, Harrington Street
30^th September 2010

Trees on stage. Why did nobody ever think of doing that in The Assembly before? It’s an inviting cavern of potential creativity, a space to fill, and we’ve filled it with hippies, yuppies, buppies and trippies, with musicians, instruments, spilt drinks and good times. But not with nature. And nature is needed in bare places.

Like Gugulethu and the greater Cape Flats area. Yes, they have some trees, but not enough. Greenpop is populating what they’ve dubbed a Tree-volution – a project to plant 1000 trees in the Cape metropolis – the most under-greened communities in Cape Town.

Greenpop Co-manager, Misha Teasdale, doesn’t let his carbon footprint walk all over him. Previously involved in a project that had Capetonians doodling for charity, he recently flew more than 340 000 km around the world for a project, and had to do something to offset the carbon this emitted. So…Greenpop went the diesel and community spirit had a new friend! Makes you rethink every quick drive to the corner store to get a DVD or milk or bread, doesn’t it? But back to the party, better known as Cool As Folk, which has, while we’ve been talking social development and environmental repatriation, branched out and become a little loopy.

Jeremy Loops, to be exact, a musical newcomer who managed to get experienced musicians like Machineri’s guitarist to jump up on stage and jam with him.  What a jol. The crowd loved it, the energy was palpable. With time, the man will navigate his loop station like a pro, and more than likely introduce the depth and diversity into his compositions that they currently lack. One thing he doesn’t lack is a good attitude, and it has to be said, he’s one of the few musicians who looks like he’s having more fun on stage than the audience is, swimming in dancey folk fusion.

Holiday Murray took the stage the way a baby takes mother’s milk – easily, openly, and happily. Only they’re not babies, not if you listen to thelyrics and the strength of the compositions. People often mistake happy for simple in music, but with the number of instruments they blend together so beautifully, ‘simple’ is applicable only in the band’s easy listening effect. We were well impressed by them, and they were well impressed by Greenpop, and prompted the audience to get involved before She Man Lion took over and gave us their dose of joyful Joy Divisionesque melodies, and Tommy Gun hit a bull’s-eye with his DJ beats.

Learn how to love and let love locally with www.greenpop.org