With the end of the Cape Town Military Tattoo 2015, I was feeling a tad melancholic at not seeing my favourite bands and musicians again, so when I heard that the SA Navy Band and the Cape Field Artillery Pipes and Drums would be joining hands with the Salvation Army and the ERUB Children’s Choir,…
The Castle of Good Hope opened its doors to several energetic youth groups, who performed together with the military bands – SA Army Band Cape Town, SA Air Force Band, SA Navy Band and SAMHS Band – and two of the pipe bands that have been performing during the Cape Town Military Tattoo – the Cape Field Artillery Pipes & Drums and the SAMHS Pipes & Drums.
The spectators who arrived for the dress rehearsal of the Cape Town Military Tattoo 2013 at the Castle of Good Hope were treated to an absolutely brilliant show. Any problems that had manifested in the run-throughs of the previous two evenings seemed to have been ironed out, and I was blown away by the quality of the performances.
And this was despite the fact that it – thankfully intermittently – drizzled and spat, poured and bucketed with rain, throughout the evening.
Tonight was the second run-through of the entire show, and the levels of excitement – and stress – behind the scenes were running high. The previous night, I had run out of energy, after a long hot day on my feet, and so I had missed the second half of the show. Tonight, I was determined to stay until the end.
After all the bands had had an opportunity to go through their routines in the front arena during the day, it was time for all the different acts to be assembled together into a well-structured programme, with one act flowing nicely into the next.
When the early morning mist curled around the buildings and streetlights of Cape Town, creating a slightly eerie atmosphere, it gave no indication that it would become such a hot Monday. By mid-morning, the heat of the sun had burned off the mist, and a brilliantly blue sky was bringing out the ochre-yellow hues in the walls of the Castle of Good Hope. By midday, everyone was looking for shady spots to shelter from the harsh sun, and glancing hopefully towards the western skyline, where just the hint of a cold front was starting to appear.
Thanks to Glynnis, I now have a photo of myself with Madiba. Well, with a larger-than-life bronze statue of him anyway. The photo was taken at yesterday’s 94th Birthday Celebration for Madiba at the Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. P.S. In case you’re wondering what that bizarre red figure is in…
A very special event took place at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town this morning, the 18th of July 2012, in celebration of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s 94th Birthday. By mid-morning, on an unseasonably summery day in the middle of winter, and after a particularly wet couple of days with torrential downpours, a crowd was starting to…
The fabulous SA Navy Band took to the stage at the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre yesterday, Sunday 18 December 2011, for their final concert of 2011. They couldn’t have asked for better weather: it was a typical summer’s day in Cape Town, with luminous blue skies and not a cloud in sight. Not surprisingly, the Waterfront…
Update: An article I wrote about this event was published on the Reserve Force Division website. Here is the PDF document. On Friday, 11 November 2011, military dignitaries in their regimental uniforms gathered on the premises of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Rondebosch, to pay tribute to the fallen heroes of wars…
On Friday night, 22 July 2011, we attended the SA Naval College’s annual Evening of Music at the town hall in the Strand. The Naval College is based in Gordon’s Bay, which is just around the corner from the Strand. And what a show it was!
“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, Every morning you greet me, Small and White, Clean and Bright, You look happy to meet me. Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, Bloom and grow for ever Edelweiss, Edelweiss, Bless my homeland for ever.” (from The Sound of Music) We were singing this in the car, all the way home…
During the recent school holidays, the boys and girls making up the drill squad of the Western Province School Marching Drill and Exhibition Association (WP SMDEA) were drilled by members of the SA Army Band Cape Town (see previous post) in preparation for the Cape Town Military Tattoo to be held at the Castle of…
We’ve just come back from the City Hall in central Cape Town, where we attended an uplifting spring-time concert to raise funds on behalf of the South African Air Force Association (Cape Town branch) for economically disadvantaged ex-servicemen and women of all races who live in the Cape Town area. The programme brought together the…
Last Friday night, two friends and I attended the Dry Dock Concert at the naval yard in Simon’s Town. This performance by the superlative SA Navy Band was one of the highlights of the Navy Festival, which took place this weekend (05-07 March 2010). We arrived shortly after 19h00, with the concert itself due to…
Grains of Sand 
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