Suzanne Vega Came to South Africa!

I couldn't believe it when I first found out! The very first time I saw a poster advertise the event, I didn't even think that it was for real, that Suzanne Vega was coming to South Africa! I first heard Luka played on the radio when I was just a little girl. A few years later, I was mesmerised by Tom's Diner (found on one of my dad's mix-tapes) just to find out it was the same artist, Suzanne Vega. I remember rewinding and playing and rewinding and playing Tom's Diner over and over again on my walkman. Many years went past and I met my high school BFF, Katinka, and we were both into the oldies, classic rock, rock, alternative and more. So one day I visited her on their farm and she took me into their parents room where her dad kept his record player and his record collection. We listened to Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and then she put this record on, Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing. Wow, we just lay on the bed listening to this record, it was amazing! Her song writing skills are so… I'm speechless right now. Her songs take me to a far off place in my imagination, it seems like each and every one is an episode I've lived and relived in my mind.

So now, can you imagine how completely surprised I was to here that she would be performing at the Paul Cluver Amphitheatre not far from where we stay?! I bought tickets right away and dragged Dave with me, a week before the show I heard it was sold out, I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have gotten tickets!

 -we have been living in Hermanus for three and a half years now and have never been to this amazing venue! how crazy is that? It is about a 20min drive from our place. The Amphitheatre is situated on the Paul Cluver Wine Estate's land and has recently been rebranded as Hope@Paul Cluver. What an amazing experience! Suzanne Vega was the kick-off of their Summer Festival which run through to Feb. next year. You can pack a picnic basket and they advise you to take warm clothes and blankets. They don't allow alcohol as they supply wine and beer, they also had food available for those who don't like packing their own food. I thought it even more amazing to do the picnic thing-

 -so exited for the show to start, Dave bought us a bottle of Paul Cluver Pinot Noir. Boy, was it delicious! When we got there(two hours before the show was to start) all the seats down the middle had already been taken. Luckily for us we got this "side" seating right at the stage-

 -the supporting artist, Nakhane Touré, a young and up-coming South African musician from Port Elizabeth, was quite something to watch. Unfortunately his sound was a bit on the loud side and as we sat right in front of the speakers we got terrible distortion and couldn't hear the lyrics. Other than that I was rather surprised at his style of music and quite enjoyed his performance. I would like to see him perform again but with better sound-

-the man above right,  Charl van Heyningen, is the man responsible for Suzanne Vega coming to South Africa-

 -and there she was! what an extraordinary woman! she is so talented. She brought guitarist Gerry Leonard with her(standing next to her on stage, above)-

-I don't know what more to say, it was one of the best days of my life! I don't think any words could describe what an amazing experience this was for me! …and Dave said he enjoyed it too:)