FIFA World Cup Kickoff Celebration!

FIFA World Cup Kickoff Celebration Concert tickets check!

Boyfriend whom I am guaranteed to have fun with, check!

Warm clothes (jersey, jacket, beanie, gloves, uggs) check!

Cash, check!

Camera (whats a concert blog without pictures?!) check!

Excitement, check check!!

I went home from work to pick up my boyfriend at 12:30 and by 1pm we were on the road, problem was we didn’t know where the park and ride was :( So we had to call a few friends and confirmed that we should be heading to Nasrec and sure enough as soon as we had passed the 14th Avenue offramp we started seeing signs directing us to the Nasrec Park and Ride. This is when it dawned on me once more how big this event was, the star-studded line up, the people who will be attending as well as the number of people that will see the show, wow!! Totally a once in a lifetime experience :)
Once inside the stadium first thing we did was check out that stage and it looked awesome, loved that background with the South African flag on it. The atmosphere at the stadium was contagious and electric, everybody was in such high spirits and excited and there were a few people that were clad in the South African supportive gear as well as Mexican gear!! To break it down I will just rate the concert based on my experience.


MC for the Concert – Bob 2/10, Pabi 7/10
There were two MC’s for the event, it started off with Bob Mabena then later on Pabi Moloi joined him. I don’t want to say Bob was a bad MC because he was comfortable on stage, carried himself well and spoke well too but it was evident to me that he did not prepare for this gig. He started off well by acknowledging how the world never thought South Africa could pull off such an event and that the time had come to prove them wrong. He then went off on a tangent about how black South Africans and white South Africans are so different, picking on the fact that white people cannot dance and black people should teach them rhythm etc. These are facts and it would have been funny had it not been all he talked about for the rest of the evening, I was really disappointed and felt embarrassed for him. He used the platform to highlight how different we are using race which is the most sensitive topic in South Africa instead of celebrating us as people who are healing and using the event to unite us further.
Pabi Moloi on the other hand was awesome, such a sweet, well-spoken and down to earth person. She deserved to be on that stage and really showcased young, South African talent! Kudos girl!!

DJ -T-Bose 2/10, Wandi – 7/10
In between the different music acts T-Bose from Kaya FM was DJing and he started off by playing really good old school music by Bongo Maffin, TKZee, Brenda Fassie etc. and the assumption was that he was taking us on a journey through time…unfortunately this was not the case because his whole play list consisted of ONLY old school music! In his third DJ session he even had the gall to play those r&b slow jams that play on Metro FM on Sundays, yuck!! How could he play such music for a diverse South African and international crowd? I mean really!!I used this opportunity to go and buy some food, I just couldn’t stand there and cringe any longer. What a party killer :(
Luckily for myself and two thirds of the crowd, DJ Wandi came on later and boy was he a breath of fresh air, talk about getting the party started!! I really enjoyed his set and a big thank you to whoever saved us from T-Bose’s limited taste in music.


Food – 3/10
If you are attending any matches during this World cup please ensure that you are well fed before getting there because those prices are just plain ridiculous, daylight robbery! I paid R25 for a wors roll, R15 for a chocolate, R20 for a packet of chips, please note that all this consumption of food was due to the fact that we arrived there at 3pm and left after 11pm.
Honestly if these people wanted to make money they would have reasonably priced their food and relied on repeat purchase because if you’re hungry, you don’t have a choice but to buy from them and if it's cheaper you're more likely to keep going back for more. Instead I just preferred to stay hungry later on in the evening than to go back and buy more, such losers!!

Toilets – 6/10Whenever you go to concerts the ladies line waiting to use the toilets is always 5 times longer than the men’s and it was the same case for this event. The fortunate thing for me was that most of the ladies were not aware that there were more toilets available located in different areas in the stadium and because of this I will not complain, the number of toilets available met expectations, as for being clean, let's not go there!

Park & Ride – 3/10The park and ride TO the stadium was awesome but as for when we left the concert, what a mess!! The buses that were meant to transport people back to their relevant park and ridea areas were there and by the time we got anywhere near one most of them were already full as well but for some reason, they just weren’t moving. This off course led to mad scrambles with people trying to get on to buses that were already full and because it was freezing, patience was very thin all round.
We managed to get on a bus, we were literally hanging on the door and probably sat in there for 45 minutes before we left, I could only imagine when all those buses would make their return trips and the stampede that was awaiting them. Park & Ride after the concert was an epic fail!!

The Concert – 9/10I loved the whole concert from the opening acts right until the fireworks display largely because I was there to enjoy myself :) My highlights were Alicia Keys (she did "too late for mama" justice), Big NUZ’s surprise appearance, K’naan & Shakira’s Waka Waka performance with Freshly Ground. I was jumping up and down, singing along, dancing & screaming, such fun!! The actual concert was well-organised, world-class & entertaining. South Africans sure know how to have a good time and to host a good party! Thank you FIFA (“,)