Day 191, Jo'Burg

Day 191, After a number of recent trips in and around northern Kwazulu-Natal I ventured further afield for my first experience of Johannesburg this weekend. Jozi is not somewhere that I had any particular desire to visit, especially after all the foreign media warnings of murders, gun crime and general ‘badness’ for good, law abiding folk. As it turned out, it was another classic trip with thrills and indulgence, mixed in with a little bit of conscience of course.

I stayed with friends of my friends in a luxurious house complete with perhaps the most extensive collection of vinyl records and rock memorabilia I have ever had the pleasure to peruse. The house was in one of the nicer suburbs in the city, predominantly white, and bore the trademark large fences and patrolling security personnel and of course came complete with a bouncy golden retriever.

I had the opportunity to attend a charity dinner which was being held at the Rand Club, a colonial gentleman’s club established during the diamond and gold rush from which the city was formed. From the exterior it is not more remarkable than any of the other buildings in the Jozi CBD. On the interior however it is old world opulence that was guarded even from women until 10 years ago. The grand staircase is surveyed by busts of prominent members, and the walls are adorned with paintings, newspaper clippings and memorabilia of its colonial and diamond rush heritage.

One of the few attractions in the city I was keen not to miss was the Apartheid Museum, not only a catalogue of the racist regime that dictated but it bore witness to the role of the economic forces, colonialism and the tribal history that have shaped South Africa. Allocating people randomly to different colour groups to enter the museum only served to reinforce the arbitrariness of the apartheid regime.

The main reason for this trip was to however to attend a rock concert, not just a concert but rather what has been dubbed the “greatest show on Earth”, the U2 360^o tour. A genuinely impressive marriage of some of the finest popular music of the last three decades with the cutting edge of innovation, design and technological vision, it stunned the 90,000 strong crowd at the Soccer City stadium. With the band’s history of protest music and activism, there was time for tributes to South African leaders such Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu while hailing the recent release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The support of Mali’s Amadou et Mariam and the trumpet stylings of the iconic Hugh Masakela only served to reinforce this was well worth the trip.

Buzzing with the excitement of being a mere 10 meters away from one of my favourite bands and being a part of 90,000 people all bathing in the same awe inspired feeling was almost a spiritual experience. It is somewhat indescribable how being part of a collective voice singing out of pure unadulterated happiness can make one feel completely insignificant yet at the same time at the centre of the universe.

The only trouble with such indulgent weekends is now I face another week with the realities of work, but as far as escapism goes, I can’t think of any better way of doing it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DigBT_BhbPA