ROCKING THE BLUES THIS SEPTEMBER – FIRMLY PLANT(ED)!

Thirteen years on and still going strong, The Durban International Blues Festival will again take place at The Plant, Station Drive Precinct, Durban following its successful change of venue and capacity turn out last year. Tickets for this two day event, Fri 01 Sep and Sat 02 Sep will go on sale at Computicket shortly.

Born in the 1860’s in the Mississippi Delta, the blues transverses a spectrum of emotions and musical styles and whilst it can express “feelin’ blue”, it can also be a base to raucous dance music and a celebration of success and pleasure.

“When the Festival was staged for the first time in 2005 at Wilson’s Wharf, the intention was to create an event, synonymous with Durban alone and to make Durban the, Blues Capital of South Africa - hopefully the Continent of Africa eventually,” says Festival Director Themi Venturas. “The intention was and still is, to educate music lovers and to encourage their support of this easy listening style and we think that we have achieved this with a steady growth of fans and growing attendance every year,” Venturas concludes.

No single person created the blues as this genre was created and shaped by a number of musicians over time and perhaps this explains why jazz and blues interact with each other in different ways and where tempo is laid back and the melody and themes are often repeated. 

The 2017 Program is shorter than in the past as co-coordinators strive to find the perfect blend of quality and quantity which will also suit the festival goer’s pocket.

Blues is not like a regular musical performance and much like its cousin Jazz- is best suited to smaller, casual and more intimate venues where the audience can interact quite personally with the performers on stage. For this reason, The Plant remains a good choice and looks to be the home for this event for quite some time into the future.

With secure parking around the precinct, food vendors such as Renegade Kitchen and The Roast Co amongst others on site as well as the opportunity to book for dinner before the event at one of the precinct restaurants, a cash bar facility for beers and soft drinks and a few select other drinks, the evening is suitable for the family too.

This year’s line-up includes firm favourites as well as international guest artists, Charlie Love and Dan Patlansky and his band.

THE PROGRAM 

FRI 01 SEP 2017 @ 19H30      (R150)                           SAT 02 SEP @ 19H00 (R 150)

The Smoke and Liquid Band (Jhb)                Cinnamon Blue  (Dbn)   

Black Cat Bones (Jbg)                                 Rusty Red Trio   (Dbn)    

Charlie Love (USA)                                     Gerald Clarke (CT)

                                                                Dan Patlansky (SA/International)

SAT 02 SEP AFTERNOON @ 2 PM – 5 PM (FREE)

Glenwood Village Music will again host the ever popular and well attended FENDER CONCERT which sees a picking of Durban’s finest blues musicians and which is always an exciting program.

Add to this, the excellent musicianship of Callie Housdon Thompson on keys, Andy Turrell on drums and Llewellyn Chetty on bass as they back Charlie Love on Friday night.

• Don’t want to drink and drive- the Uber Shuttle service is available to and from the venue- Book your ride
• Merchandise table on site will carry select tee shirts and artists CD’s – bring a few extra sheckles.
• A cash bar with a selection of SAB beers and ciders , and other choices and food vendors on site
• R100 buys you a raffle ticket for a R15 K Lewitt Custom Designed  and built BASS guitar

For more information and updates – go to www.durbanbluesfestival.co.za  or contact the publicist on 0827479738 during office hours only