A behind the 'behind the scenes' look at the recent Steve Doen Beautiful Noise concert.

 

It all started with an idea some years ago when long-time friend, Julius, suggested to Steve that they produce a stadium concert with the songs of Neil Diamond. I do believe that it took a lot of convincing to get Steve to believe that he could pull this off without having to rely on a corporate single sponsor that might try to control the narrative of the show. And then COVID got in the way and put paid to an actual outdoor event where a huge audience could be present. But finally, all the stars aligned and it was a go! Yes there were 'nay-sayers' and those who did not believe that this event would actually take place. But BLIKSEM, were they proved wrong, 

There was one full day of musical rehearsals at a venue in Midrand. A 30-piece symphony orchestra together with a 20-piece on-stage band were brought together to make the music of Neil Diamond come to life in the best possible way.

Getting ready to be tinkled? No, certainly not. When you do Diamond a piano gets played!

Time to make certain that all is in tune. Does anyone tune by ear anymore? Nowadays it seems to all be electronic. Price of progress?

Drumming up support. This is what the audience does 

not get to see.

Hidden in the depths of the pit on either side of the stage, a cellist is often hidden from the view of the audience and this is all that they get to see.

I always wonder if flute players are glad that they chose this particular instrument as it is easy to carry and pack. Unlike a double bass player, that has a lot of weight to carry around.

Without the rigging team high in the sky, the event would NOT have taken place. I am in awe of these seemingly fearless professionals who go where people like me fear to tread. I enjoy terra firma and the firma it is the less the terror. 

The orchestra POV. 

Even the medic on duty was singing along...and why not? I don't think that there is a person in the known world that does not know the songs of Neil Diamond. I have visions of astronauts landing on Mars, opening the hatch and belting out "Sweet Caroline" only to be answered by the Martian inhabitants going" Oh, Oh, Oh"...

Perfect weather for the rehearsal. Steve doen Diamond better than Diamond does Diamond.

Videographer Kobus worked his magic during the rehearsal. The hand and arm belong to Steve.

The event took place in the shadow of the imposing Voortrekker Monument. The amphitheatre venue is one of the largest in South Africa and has seen, and will continue to see some great events. BTW, the next event there will be the Rabbit reunion concert in June 2023.

Although no rain was forecast, the weather department certainly got that wrong. We were all hoping that these would blow over, but we too were proved wrong.

And when the rain came down, which it did in bucket loads, none of the audience moved! Some had come prepared while others used chairs or plastic bags to try to keep dry.

A concerned sound engineer made certain that all his equipment was safe before giving the 'all clear' to proceed.

One of the hardest working members of the audio crew. Were it not for him and his almost invisible team, the audience would have heard nothing and there would have been 50 angry musicians on stage. Not to mention one really annoyed singer.

Time to get the party started! And what a party it turned out to be, despite the deluge.

I had forgotten just how special it is when an orchestra hits that opening note. Goosebumps all round. 

A solo violinist gets the show started...and the audience goes wild.

And out of the darkness steps Steve himself! This jacket was later sold post the concert for R5000.00 and that money was donated to a charity of Steve's choosing.

It was all too much for certain audience members...In this case, Steve's daughter just wanted to be held while her Pappa sang.

One day she will understand just how iconic a figure her father actually is.

And net somer so was dit alles verby. 

There are already talks about Steve Doen Steve in 2024 and ticket sales have already begun. I, like the 20k-strong audience who were at this event, cannot wait.

A big thank you to all those behind-the-scenes people who made this event the success that it was.

I believe that this was the tip of the iceberg and there are even greater things down the road for live concerts in South Africa by our own artists. 

We need to show our home-grown talent how proud we are of them and what they have done for South African music of all genres.

And if you are wondering what part I played in this concert, have a look at this video, done by the very talented Kobus Zietzman. https://youtu.be/JKTs625U0AI

Steve doen...Neil Diamond. Beautiful Noise.

I don't know about YOU dear reader, but my 70 years on this planet have been defined by a series of events over the decades.

Many of them are music related and one is even political, back before I knew the difference between a Democrat and a Republican actually was!

I have chosen some that I believe would also be memories for others of my age...

1] The death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. President of the USA. 22 November, 1963. I remember when the news broke, I hid in my Dad's gown hanging in our bathroom and cried copious tears as I saw JKF as the epitome of a hero. It was only as an adult that I discovered his true nature.

2] Assassination of John Lennon in New York on December 8th, 1980. I was in my car about to head off to work. In June of 1994, I got to stand outside the Dakota Building where he was shot.

3] And bring things up to date, I can add the 29th April, 2023 when I participated in Steve Doen...Beautiful Noise at the Voortrekker Monument. Certainly a night I will never forget!

To see the interview that I had with Steve before the event, use this link: https://youtu.be/vReyEG8mRl8

We started off the event process in Midrand, near Johannesburg where the first band and orchestra rehearsals took place. A 30-piece symphony orchestra was combined with a 20-piece band to make this event unique for a singer like Steve Hofmeyr.

As soon as the musicians sat down, they began to make notes on their music.

Rehearsals HAVE to have snacks of some description...and there were more than enough for both the musicians as well as the crew to enjoy.

Full tummies make for a happy cast and crew. And we certainly were.

Well done and thank you to the caterers who kept the platters filled and who provided a proper sit-down lunch as well.

This percussionist flew in from Europe and came straight from the airport to the rehearsal room and got stuck in.

A day later and we moved from the rehearsal room to the performance venue, which was at the Amphitheatre adjacent to the Voortrekker monument.

This bastion of Afrikaner heritage was the perfect backdrop that combined the music of international superstar Neil Diamond with the talent of iconic South African singer, Steve Hofmeyr,

TV director Warren looked at the stage and perhaps wondered what he had taken on. But he is a seasoned professional and as such this was a relatively simple 18-camera shoot.

According to the company that erected this stage, it is the largest stage that has ever been performed on by a solitary Afrikaans singer.

The image does not really do the size and scale of the monstrosity justice.

With swarms of sound techs, electricians, and riggers it was no surprise to me that there was a safety officer as well as medical personnel in attendance. 

Stairway to heaven? Not quite...however this was the way that the riggers got onto the trusses that hung above the stage floor.

That being said, I did try to get the guitarists in the band to play the song "Stairway to heaven" for me, but not would oblige.

Veronique, one of the backing vocalists, has a moment with my camera.

She did a duet with Steve during the show And her Dad was the bass player in the band, so the family was well represented.

Blowing your own trumpet is hard work.

Caught in the late afternoon sunlight as the final rehearsal was winding down, this subtly lit violin makes a strong statement.

Steve steps into the spotlight at the first rehearsal. For a show of this nature, there was only one rehearsal before performing before a paying audience.

It attests to the professionalism of both Steve as a performer and the musicians that we could achieve this feat with virtually no issues. 

The orchestra was under the most capable baton of conductor J.P de Villiers.

The seats were empty during the rehearsal, but the BIG question was whether they would be full come Saturday.

We need not have been concerned.

Although no rain was forecast, the clouds told a different story.

Staying in contact with family in Johannesburg, we knew that we were in for a downpour. As to when and how hard it would hit Pretoria, we could only wait and watch.

Director Warren and PA Theart getting ready to say "ROLL CAMERAS" at the beginning of the performance on Saturday.

I did mention earlier that from a technical aspect, the show ran like clockwork. What we could not predict was the rain that poured on the venue for about an hour, just before the show was due to start.

Believe it or not, no one moved or left their seats. Audience members either used umbrellas (they came prepared) or utilized empty chairs to protect themselves.

Weather 0, Audience 20000...

Let the show begin! Lights on the sound desk on the side of the stage.

When the orchestra and band stuck up the first chord a 20000-strong gasp could be heard rippling through the audience. 

It was THEN that we KNEW it was going to be a good night. Nope, let me rephrase that. We knew that we were about to be part of an awesome and unique event.

The moment the audience had sat patiently in the rain for. Would you believe that some of them had arrived before miday for a show that was scheduled to start at 7pm!

"Hello Pretoria" shouted Steve and the audience responded with a wall of noise that almost eclipsed the sound system that was on the stage.

I do believe that however nervous he might have been in the days running up to the show, all that vanished once he realized that wet or not, the audience would support and sing along with every song.

And SING they did.

This is what Steve had to contend with at the end of the runway, but did it deter him? Not one bit. He even had to sit in the wet at the end of the stage and lo and behold, one of the audience brought him a towel to sit on.

Steve did say that he was going to shake EVERY had in the audience, he decided that discretion was the better part of valour and spent time with many audience members in the Golden Circle.

"Thank you and goodnight"!

Ticket sales for the next event in April 2024 have already started. And if this concert was anything to go by, the next one will be bigger and more spectacular.

Many thanks to the crew, the producer and his team, all the musicians, the audience, and Steve for making this an event to remember.

And if for some reason you were not there, book your tickets NOW for 2024... 

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and may not be used without permission.

 

Keeping the load shedding at bay with Solco Solar.

Like it or not, we are all affected by the constantly changing load-shedding schedule. I know that when I recently had an early morning appointment, I waited for the electricity to return so that I would not be faced with robots that were not working. Although we might not be able to control the situation outside of our homes, we can make a decision to limit the impact of the incapability of ESKOM to supply the citizens of South Africa with stable power. No matter what any of the CEO's or Ministers say, that institution is broken and will be for a long while. The wheels of Government grind so slowly that I don't believe that any attempt to address the issues has been started.

In 2019 (I so wish that we had installed a system back in 2008) I turned to SOLCO Solar to install a system that would make us less reliant on the grid and more self-sustaining even though we were still reliant on COJ power to keep us 'charged'. The initial consultation and subsequent quotation and finally the installation went off relatively smoothly and their professionalism is what has kept the owner and me in touch ever since. Although there have been many fly-by-night solar companies that have come and gone, SOLCO has been around for more than 3 decades! That must mean that they are doing something right.

This was our first inverter, 5kva, and it was enough...or so we thought. I do believe that solar systems are like tattoos, go large, or go home. Or I suppose, to put it into financial terms, go as big as you can afford without going into debt.

This particular unit together with 9 panels and 4 batteries was enough to run our household comfortably. Except that we were not able to utilize either the oven (we installed a gas hob several years ago) or the geyser (we looked at a solar option, but it was seen as too expensive) during load-shedding. 

Time for an upgrade in 2023!

This 8kva unit was the top of the range as far as a household of our size and usage was concerned. By the time we discussed an upgrade, many homeowners had come to the realization that solar was a must and equipment was becoming as scarce as rocking horse teeth. When SOLCO said that they were out of stock and I would have to wait at least 3 weeks for a container to arrive, I decided to call other installation companies.

But the moment I mentioned 8kva inverters they all gave me the same time frame, so we decided to wait for SOLCO to get stock. Having a history with the company did help as we were at the top of the waiting list. 

These connections almost look like they could be in some sort of space capsule, but they are, in fact, the flexible conduit in which the various cables run.

What looks like a hand-held radio is actually the connection for the Wi-Fi which connects the system to an app that can be used to check the system if we are away from home.

And we also upgraded the battery bank...from 4 to 6, with room for one more should we deem it necessary.

These are not the old-fashioned deep-cycle marine batteries that took up so much space. These are the modern li-ion type, each of which is just a bit bigger than a DVD player.

They last longer and take up MUCH less space.

This is what the entire system looks like after the upgrade.

A clean, neat, and professional installation that comes with a COC( certificate of compliance) that you can present to your insurance company or your real estate agent if you sell.

Going forward, I believe that there will be at least two items that could possibly be deal-breakers when it comes to selling/buying a property;

A solar installation and high-speed fibre.

Now, I can hear you saying, was the upgrade really necessary?

And the simple answer is "Yes it was"! For several reasons...

Firstly, load-shedding, and the stress that entails, no longer affects our house at all. The changeover from COJ power to solar is so smooth that it goes unnoticed.

Secondly, we are able to run the entire household, including both the oven and the geyser using the solar system. We try not to run them concurrently, but we can should we need to do so.

And lastly, but probably the most important reason, is when the unplanned outages kick in post the scheduled load-shedding. These, in our suburb, can last for days and the most annoying is the fact that COJ is never able to give completion times as they are plagued by antiquated equipment and a lack of manpower and spares.

The last post-load-shedding outage lasted for almost 3 days and our system handled it without any issues.

This is a screenshot of the solar app in operation.

In this particular instance, both the grid as well as the panels are feeding into our system. Although no settings can be altered off the app, it is useful for making certain how it is all working.

Who says that an installation cannot be fun?

The final piece of the puzzle in making certain that the system operates at peak efficiency was to go to prepaid electricity.

Now we could have done it alone, but the system is difficult to navigate. Hence us turning to Fasttrack admin cc to help out converting to a prepaid system. It was seamless...except for the fact that COJ decided to do computer software maintenance at exactly the same time we informed them of our change. Getting them to reflect the transition might take longer than expected.

The technicians arrived within two days of Fasttrack putting in a request and the actual control unit installation took about 20 minutes. It took longer to fill out the paperwork. The technicians arrived unexpectedly and luckily I was home to let them onto the property otherwise I might have had to wait for weeks for them to return.

Purchasing electricity can be done in a variety of ways and we have already seen a sharp reduction in the monthly account.

It is still early days, hence I am unable to give an exact cost saving currently.

But, in the long run, this is certainly the route to follow to make certain that it is one less item to tick off a stress-inducing list.

Now for the borehole and backup water storage and we will be ready for the apocalypse, should it occur.

Most importantly, choose the companies that you use on their longevity and NOT on price. Two men with a ladder and a van might offer you systems that are cheaper, but when the time comes for maintenance, they are nowhere to be seen. On that note, many of the instant solar companies are trying to make outdated stock seem as if it is 'top-of-the-range'. Do your homework before signing any contracts to make certain that you are getting the most for your money. 

Caveat emptor...let the buyer beware...a great law doctrine that every homeowner should be conscious of.

 

https://www.solcosolar.co.za/

https://www.fasttrackadmin.co.za/