Local & Live ... That's Our Ticket Out Of Here

Read on for your chance to win a R250 voucher... comp closes 5pm Fri Sept 29

We've been lucky enough to catch Arno Carstens play a number of times in our neck of the woods.

We've seen him share the stage (and the customary banter) with the equally talented Ard Mathews, turn it up a notch in the Arno Carstens Trio and also play stripped back, just a man and his guitar.

No matter what the set-up, he never disappoints.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen the revitalised Springbok Nude Girls on their Partypocalypse tour yet - but we're pretty sure we'd ramp up the average age of the crowd when we do :-)

A week ago, we caught Arno solo at Cafe Roux in Noordhoek, Yesteryear's favourite haunt for live music on Cape Town's South Peninsula. He reminded us how lucky we are to see such incredible talent just 10 minutes down the road.

Blessed with a vocal range that many higher profile rock stars would kill for, and an ear for a great tune that has seen him survive the highs and lows of the music biz for more than 30 years, Arno continues to captivate audiences across the country.

Early in his set, Carstens treated us to a trio of Afrikaans songs, including a new single yet to be released, sharing his take on friends that have left SA for foreign shores. Many in the room could easily relate.

He followed that sneak peek, with two tracks from his award winning 2016 Afrikaans album, Die Aandblom 13.

You could have heard a pin drop during the beautiful acoustic ballad Tjoepstil, which Arno said, with tongue firmly in cheek, loosely translates to "shut the f*ck up".

As an ex-pat Aussie, whose shaky command of Afrikaans starts and ends at 'lekker', we had to Google this one - apparently tjoepstil really means 'absolutely silent', so we guess Arno wasn't too far off the mark :-)

Don't know about you guys, but we reckon it often makes the night when you hear the story behind the songs and learn what makes the artist tick. This is where Arno sets himself apart.

Not only is he willing to bare his soul to a bunch of relative strangers, he usually does so with a good dose of humour, complimenting his undoubted musical talent. You leave with a sense that you know the artist just that little bit better than you did before you arrived.

We remember seeing Bryan Ferry at Grand West Casino a couple of years ago, and whilst Ferry's Australian saxophonist Jorja Chalmers stole the show with her incredible solos, Ferry himself barely engaged with the crowd. It felt like a missed opportunity for us to get to know Mr Roxy Music just that little bit better.

Arno doesn't make the same mistake, knowing only too well that sharing his own experiences (good, bad and indifferent) is all part of the show.

And after three decades on stage, he doesn't forget that although he may have played 'Another Universe' a thousand times before, there will always be someone in the crowd that might be hearing it for the very first time. And so he gives it everything, each and every time.

Unlike many bigger names, Carstens isn't a believer in the traditional encore - you know, the one where the artist leaves the stage and waits for the predictable call of "more, more, more", before returning. He just keeps playing.

"One more?", shouted Arno for the 4th or 5th time, as he eventually closed out yet another sold-out show at Cafe Roux with the Nude Girls biggest hit, 'Blue Eyes'.

"Round about, round about, round about now..."

Yep folks, local LIVE music - that's our ticket out of here!

Check out the brilliant line-up of local artists coming to Cafe Roux in Noordhoek soon

Browse our brand new range of South African Artists on vinyl right here

And for your chance to win a R250 voucher from Yesteryear answer the following:

1) at what Noordhoek venue did Yesteryear see Arno play solo recently?

2) what local musician/band would you like to see LIVE that you haven't seen play before?

3) what's the name of the Springbok Nude Girls latest album?

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