THE CAPTAIN’S CONCERT

This Saturday (September 8) marks the day when Maritzburgers come together for a magical concert which will see scores of musicians pooling their talents in a jam-packed line-up to demonstrate their love and respect for one of their own, Barry Meintjes.

Meintjes is a well-loved and highly regarded musician who, after a fall which broke his back in May, is now confined to a wheelchair. In a remarkable show of unity and support, musicians from Durban, Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg are freely giving of their time and talents to give back to this local legend. Spanning a 50 year career in music, Meintjes has most recently been the bassist for the Hairy Legged Lentil Eaters and the Splayed Ferrets. He has also played with musicians from across the globe and has inspired and given of his time and wisdom to many up and coming artists, not only through his music, but also via his recording studio.

Adding to the excitement of the day, a superb Takamine guitar has been donated and will go under the hammer with David Cannon at 20h00. There are also a number of fabulous prizes to scoop for a mere R10 raffle ticket. A limited number of tickets for the up-coming White Mountain Musical Festival which takes place from September 21 to 24 will also be on sale at half price.

The line-up is in itself possibly some sort of record in terms of the number of acts on the day. The order of performances, starting at 12h00 noon sharp are: Ronel Wood and the Russell High Choir; Nicky Grieshaber; Dev Winter; Modern Soundings; Byron Love ; Laid Back; Ruby Gill; Sons of Us and Brigid McNamara & Huyton Watts.

They will be followed by Johnny Zest and Friends; Abbo Hall & Paul de Fleuriot; The Bifocals; Erin Fourie; Ryan Calder Band; Minor Adjustments. The Bandits will perform with Anton Cawthorn-Blazeby.

Further top musicians include Larry Amos; Fiona Tozer; The Cabs; Tommy Lawson; Fugly; Steve Fataar (possibly with Nux Schwartz) and Pan Latino.

Performing after the auction at 20h00 will be The Hairy Legged Lentil Eaters; Jonathan Handley; Phace; Sam Hartman, and Splayed Ferrets.

The concert will take place in the Members Hall at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg. Food and drink will be on sale, there are plenty of chairs and tables and tickets are a snitch at R50 (under 12’s free) Numbers will be limited on the day but tickets are available now in Pietermaritzburg at: Coffeeberry and Marshall Music - Cascades Centre; Scoozis - Haymarket Centre, Hayfields; Big Beat - Parklane Centre; Red Door - Quarry Road (Off Victoria Road) and Bonny Godfrey - RE/MAX Midlands, Peter Kerchhoff (Chapel) Street.