Johannesburg International Motor Show
It was another bright, sunny day when my partner and I ventured to the Joburg motor show at the Nasrec exhibition centre in Soweto. Cars are not really my thing, but I was keen to check it out and broaden my knowledge on all that is awesome. And the show really was awesome. There were several halls full of interesting displays discussing all things motor related. The highlight, of course, was the sports and concept cars that the major car manufacturers bring in. I am not going to go into the mechanics and specs of the cars, but I will share my thoughts on the really interesting displays:
Asimo the Honda Robot
Can anyone say "Cylon"... Honda has made a full on robot that serves your drinks, does minor cleaning functions, runs, speaks, climb stairs understands and can speak. Hectic stuff. Apparently, you programme your furniture layout into Asimo and your name and Asimo can respond to your (minor) requests on his own. I watched Asimo get a drink, navigate a living room and speak and respond to the host. This was incredible. My hours of science fiction viewing makes me inherently suspicious of humanoid robots. Asimo seems harmless enough... for now.
BMW concept car: apparently this is set for production! Will be amazing to see it on the roads.
Chevrolet Miray: a Korean design that looks like the love child between the Batmobile and the Silver surfer's board. By far, my favourite.
McLaren 2011: ooh yeah! the McLaren made up for the dearth of Ferrari's and other super cars around. There was only one Lambourgini and one Porsche. I am keeping my eyes peeled for this one as I know it is on sale in Jhb.
Kings of Leon
The Kings, came, rocked and conquered. I again went along to the FNB stadium to accompany my 17 year old cousin to the KOL show. Before last month, I hadn't heard a single Kings songs but quickly acquainted myself to their repertoire. My favourite thing about this concert was how chilled it was. At both Coldplay and U2 there were massive ques to drive into the park and ride areas alone. I think by the time the Kings came along, the organisers knew the deal and got their ducks in a row for a more efficient handling of logistics. There were hardly any queus for buses, drinks, foods and t-shirts. There was a bit of a hippie vibe (should have worn a Slayer t-shirt) but I suppose that is expected with the laid back bluesy music that the Kings play. I bought myself a cool half serpent half rooster Kings t-shirt and Grant had a blast with the short beer ques and awesome boere wors rolls (I had chips being a non-red meat eater, and was impressed that there was veggie food unlike my 3 previous outings to the stadium). The FNB concert vibe is a bit overwhelming at first. It is a bit of a mission to get there and there are always thousands of people. But like I said, this time round things were super-efficient. Even though the concert was sold out, I think some people stayed at home for fear of getting drenched (thunderstorms fore casted). But the Gods smiled on us, and we remained warm and dry. It really was a lovely night for a concert.
The three opening acts (Black Hotels, Shadow Club and Die Heuwels Fantasties) were pretty good. I liked the Shadow Club the best. They had a really Jhb rock sound. My partner thought all they needed was a trumpet and they could be the Springbok Nude Girls (so if you are a Nudegirls fan, here is a bad to listen to). I think the singer's mike was turned off for the first song, but they rocked on anyway! The Black Hotels were okay, they were a bit forgettable. Die Heuwels sounded cool, but I always have to try a little harder with Afrikaans bands as it is not my first language. I do love Fokofpolisiecar, tho! I hope they have some shows around here.
Back to the Kings! I thought they played a really good set and I really enjoyed their performance. That being said, I am a casual observer and not a fan. I spoke to my friends who were fans and they felt that the stadium vibe didn't suit the Kings and that their performance was a bit lacklustre. The band didn't chat that much to the audience and focused on playing their songs. I think the fans I know would have preferred if the band made more of a connection with the audience. However, I didn't mind. The concert was more about the music than throwing a good "show". There were two screens and bubbles and smoke etc but I think the Kings are more musicians than performers. What they lacked in showmanship they made up by playing allot of their songs and focusing on the music. I appreciated and enjoyed that. I also really liked the venue. We were in the nosebleed seats and still had a pretty good view of the bad. The calabash shape and design lets everyone have a decent view. Check it out.
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