What a feast! Full diary for paid subscribers only, but everyone needs to know about this:
BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness). This South African act was my most-anticipated act of the weekend. It exceeded all expectations: this set was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen at Hillside in my 30+ years of attending.
Six people: two on bass drum, one on congas, one monster bass player, three singers. There are no weak links—and no need for any guitars or keys. Frontman Jovi Nkosi brims with positive intensity, a preacher’s fervour of uplift while being simultaneously slightly terrifying.
“This is one of the most punk rock things I’ve ever seen,” said the noted cartoonist standing next to me. Is this what Bad Brains would’ve sounded like if they were from Soweto?
Every time I thought the performance couldn’t get any more intense and joyous, it absolutely did, complete with Zulu high kicks. Right before the end—either when Kgomotso Neo Mokone took an Aretha-esque turn (at one point quoting a Roots song) or Letlhogonolo Atlarelang Maphunye was leading the charge—Nkosi dropped to the floor and started doing pushups. WTF?!
I met him backstage and asked him what’s up with the pushups. “You got to FINISH with the PAIN!” he exclaimed. Joy and pain. Like sunshine and rain.
Sure, I could’ve snapped a picture of the performance, but I’m not at all confident my body would have been able to stay still and get a good shot.
BCUC’s set was so good that, despite it ending at 1.30 p.m. on the Saturday, I felt like I could leave the festival right there and then, fully satisfied. But of course there was more. Much more.
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