Welcome to the live-streaming of the 10th edition of Garden Gig this Friday, 11 April, from The Mills in Newtown, Johannesburg.
It’s a BIG one!

On stage:

• 19:00-20:00 — Garden Gig (resident band)

• 20:00-21:00 — Lerato Ochestral Collective (L.O.C*)  

• 21:00-22:00 — Operation KHataza

The 11th of April was a warm autumn night in Joburg. We made our way to The Mills in Newtown for the 10th edition of Garden Gig. The event, created by musician Thammy Ndlovu, started in his back garden as a humble gathering of friends wanting to watch some live music. Even then, when there were fewer than 20 people in the audience, there was something special about the event and the ever changing Garden Gig Resident Band, something that kept people coming back. And come back they did! The event, now on it’s 10th edition has been held in various locations, some backyards, some not. The most recent location was on the 2nd floor of a high rise building in Jozi. A short walk up a flight of stairs took us to an outside deck which we crossed to enter the wide, fluorescentally litroom where the music was already swirling in the air and the people were eagerly shaking off their weekday stressors.

What makes Garden Gig so particular is it’s focus on curating a live, local and dynamic atmosphere. There was a love of music, particularly live music, in the air. Thammy Ndlovu, also the curator, created a promising lineup of South African talent with Graden Gig Resident Band, Lerato Orchestral Collective (L.O.C*) and Operation Khataza. As we’d come to experience, these bands had more in common than their nationality. There was a certain shared energy, a commitment to expression, a loyalty to South Africa, a deeply grounded joy and a reverence for their roots. These bands fit together and the audience knew it. Sometimes, in the Joburg creative scene, there can be an over reliance on the ‘Instagrammablitiy’ of an event, over the substance at the core. Not so with Graden Gig, this was a music-first event. A solid event core and artists with the same solid substance meant that every other social worry could fall away. People weren’t worrying about looking cool, they were too busy dancing, huge grins on their faces. Or else they were entranced by the real talent every single musician showcased, swaying as they watched.

Garden Gig doesn’t elevate or separate the artist from the crowd either, all physically on the same level, the musicians play to their equals. These small details are what keep the essence of the event the same. Although this edition was held overlooking the Jozi highways, it could’ve been at a friend’s house: there were so many familiar faces. Friends, artists, musicians and regulars. Even the curious strangers were not strangers for long, meeting likeminded people and connecting straight away. There is a magic to live music.

For this edition, that magic was captured and shared online through a livestream. This meant that not only could people from around the country tune in, but that anyone could revisit the effervescent energy of these three bands. The archiving of the explosiveness of Garden Gig is an important one, it gives due importance and credit to the independent alternative jazz scene in Joburg. These bands are shining examples of the talent that this city holds and the spaces which continue to blossom. These shows, and the archival of them are proof that there is a creative energy in this city which refuses to die, musicians who are ready to perform their hearts out and an audience who is always, always ready to dance.