JACK BLACK BREWERY – CAPE TOWN

There has been a huge interest in craft beers of late, and being a beer lover I have been caught up in this latest craze. One of my favourite local Cape Town Micro Breweries is Jack Black. I am often at The Bay Restaurant in Constantia where they serve Jack Black Lager – the best.

Sharon somehow picked up that Jack Black Brewery had opened in the Southern Suburbs and you can imagine my excitement when I heard it was just 800m from my office in Elfindale. Not only that, but we discovered that this Friday they were having what is called “Food Truck Friday”.

Taryn dropped me off as I intended to enjoy myself and not have to worry about the drive home! I met two colleagues from work, Kevin and Tim, and we settled in to a few Lagers. I was amazed at how many people I knew there – we sat with my friend Nicky who was having a beer with her Dad, my friend Peter had just arrived from New Zealand and he was there, Craig was at a Spar birthday party and Tracey-Lee who I hadn’t seen in ages. Sharon joined me a bit later. There were lots of other familiar faces too.

It is definitely the in place at the moment and my colleague commented that it looked like a “hipsters” spot – whatever that means! After the lager I moved on to the Cape Pale Ale which was delicious and then tried one of the Butcher Block Pale Ales – also excellent. My colleague Tim enjoyed the Pilsner while Kevin stuck to the Lager. The venue is amazing – we literally sat in the brewery among the huge silver barrels of beer.

The first band was Jimm Harrison Project but we were in the inside section so I didn’t get to hear much of them – too much excitement with all the beer. For R40 you can do the beer tasting which gives you five or six of their different beers to sample. After Sharon arrived we decided to try the food.

It was Food Truck Friday and there were two food caravans serving a variety of delicious food. I opted for the Nachos and Sharon had the pork ribs with chips – both were delicious. Next band up was Stone Jets. I had heard of them but never seen them perform. They are a three piece consisting of Manfred, Given and Johan. They describe their music as African Pop Rock – their songs are catchy and upbeat, perfect for a Friday after work. They played some of their own songs and a few covers while encouraging us to buy their album and help ourselves to Stone Jet stickers – which I did. Really excellent band.

It’s free to get into Jack Black Brewery but advisable to get there early if you want to get a table – the place does get packed. To assist with the high demand for beer they had an extra bar outside but it did get quite difficult to replenish your beer as the crowd swelled. This is definitely the in place in the Southern Suburbs at the moment.

Next Friday there will be a “Kitchen Takeover” when Sushi Box will be presenting Ping Pong – sounds interesting but booking is essential. I shall be there early again.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1362363160445793/

https://www.facebook.com/jackblackbeer/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/stonejets/?fref=ts

KATHRYN SWAIN PLAYS SA BANDSTAND – QUAY FOUR

It’s not often we get down to the V&A Waterfront but we heard that one of my favourite local artists was playing at the SA Band Stand at Quay Four so we decided to venture out of the “Burbs” on a cold rainy day in Cape Town. We also wanted to see the newly released movie “Alison” which was showing at Nu Metro. It is an amazing true life story about a special and brave person from Port Elizabeth. As a motivational speaker, she talks about the ABC of life – Attitude, Belief and Choice. She has also published a book called “I Have Life” – a book worth reading and a “must see” movie.

From there we headed to Quay Four, an amazing pub right on the quay – they advertise live music 365 days of the year. On a Sunday they feature new local talent in what they call SA Band Stand. Kathryn was first up. Sharon and I found a table in “golden circle” and ordered the Baby Calamari – I had the Cajun and Sharon the lemon and garlic – delicious. Kathryn was there with her whole family and despite the cold rainy weather, the pub was full.

Kathryn looked great in a warm winter coat and mauve mini dress. She played a selection of her own songs from her debut album “Little Box of Memories”. My favourite from the album is “Free Falling” and of course “Beautiful Memory” – a song written about her younger sister Emma. As the set progressed, her songs became more upbeat and she finished off with O.O.B. – Out of Bounds. There were a couple of songs I didn’t recognise and these will no doubt be on her soon to be released new album. Kathryn has an incredible voice and interacts with the audience with ease – very special for someone so  young.

As always, it was lovely to watch Kathryn perform and the Quay Four hospitality was great. They have Battle of the Bands every Thursday night too which should be good fun.

https://www.facebook.com/kathswainmusic/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/QuayFour/?fref=ts

SLOWBONE AT BERGVLIET SPORTS CLUB – JULY 2016

Slowbone just happen to be one of my favourite cover bands of all time. Each year we arrange for Slowbone to play at Bergvliet Sports Club to raise much needed funds for our financially struggling hockey club. In the past we have combined the Slowbone evening with our steak evening but this year decided to do something completely different.

I wanted a “Barnyard” vibe and so we sold tables of 8 or 10 and encouraged guests to bring a “picnic” or buy pizza. We asked Wayne from Dominos pizza at the Pick n Pay Centre in Tokai to set up and offered four different pizzas at the very affordable price of R60 – delicious pizza and I wasn’t able to finish mine. We ended up selling 61 pizzas!

Over 140 guests booked and arrived on the night. We had to extend the hall at the club to accommodate 16 tables. We also put in a few circular high tables. Slowbone is a six piece band who describe their genre as rock/blues rock. The band consists of Ron Munroe on drums, Alistair Stansom on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Victor Bergh on bass guitar, Sean Morison on vocals and lead guitar and then the two new additions, brother and sister Steve Strydom on vocals and percussion and Linda Strydom on vocals and keyboards. The siblings bring a whole new dimension to the already amazing and talented band. Alistair said that with the new addition they will be adding more songs to their already amazing repertoire.

If you love the 70s, 80s and some 90s music then this is the band for you. They played Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Chris Rea, Joe Cocker, Cream, The Doors to mention a few. My personal favourite of the evening was an ACDC cover sung by Steve. I could have sworn I was listening to ACDC live! Linda also has an amazing voice and did a brilliant cover of Sinead O’Conner’s song (or should I say Prince?) – Nothing Compares to You!

Bergvliet Sports Club is the ideal venue for a function such as this. The band played from 8pm to midnight and I had to clear away tables to make the dance floor bigger as the evening went on. The drinks are inexpensive and it is the ideal place and event to let your hair down and play that air guitar while “squeeking some takkie”.

We had such a fun evening while raising some much needed funds for our Conberg Hockey Club. Thanks Slowbone and thanks Dominos pizza.

https://www.facebook.com/slowbones/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bergvliet-Sports-Club/263423923715096?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/ConstantiabergHockeyClub/?fref=ts