MIALive: Fans to relive Bassline Live collabo gig with online stream

The two artists were joined by Msaki, Simmy, Laliboi, Umzulu Phaqa, Just Bheki, Bholoja and Moremo at the Lyric Theatre in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg, on 2 September.

The concert will now be streamed via the Sun-El Musician and Bassline Live Facebook pages on 25 September at 8pm.

Tickets to the physical event sold out weeks before the show, prompting the organisers to stream the concert online. The event will go down in history as one of Bassline’s best shows, the organisers said.

The concert and stream form part of the Music In Africa Foundation’s Music In Africa Live (MIALive) project – a funding initiative for players in the African music industry launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MIALive – supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut – assists music professionals with funding for projects in three grant types: Showcase, Capacity Building and Music Advocacy. The Bassline Live event was also made possible with support from UK artist services company Platoon.

“It was a very strange show for me, as usually I just prepare my set alone and go play alone,” Sun-El Musician said about his collaborative live experience. “With this, there were rehearsals and lots of people to consider. It was challenging but we managed. It really was teamwork. For me it was different because I’d never worked with an orchestra before so they were new to me, but the vocalists are my people, I’ve been in studio with them before. I encouraged them to relax and have fun.”

Pitse echoed Sun-El Musician sentiments: “It stretched me as a creative and a conductor. The style of conducting in pop is way different than what we have in classical music, so I had to stretch myself and dance for the longest time, too.”

“This was a showcase of two worlds coming together ... juxtaposing the two worlds of symphony and house and pop,” she added. Energy never lies and it was time. This was the perfect timing and the musicians on stage were the perfect pairing.”

The event was attended by local musicians Zoë Modiga, Emtee, DJ Kenzhero and Samthing Soweto. It was Sun-El Musician and Pitse’s first collaboration on a project of this nature, which left the audience on their feet for the entirety of the show.