Touring the world through music
CELEBRATING the diversity of music from around the world, A Rocking World Tour, currently at Rockwood Theatre at Sibaya Casino, promises a wide and varied offering.
Popular music director Shemual Mahabeer said the concept was about taking the audience on a tour around the world through music, “providing you with some interesting facts and performing some popular music of the destinations we travel to”.
He said the show features the songs Mundian To Bach Ke by Panjabi MC and Jai Ho!(You Are My Destiny) by AR Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls.
“The selection was based on the popularity and impact of these songs globally. Mundian To Bach Ke is a bhangra song which featured Jay-Z and sold 10 million copies worldwide. Jai Ho! was part of the soundtrack for the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) version made the song gain even more success. These songs are now part of music pop culture,” he explained.
Mahabeer said India had influenced music around the world for many generations from jazz to rock, to pop and various other music genres.
“It had to be one of the stops in this show. I feel Indian music has allowed the culture of India to contribute to other societies, especially through film.
Many songs have become famous and have even been remixed and re-released by popular artists, like the two songs in this show.
It has also brought with it the influence of Indian dance and clothing.”
Mahabeer is one of Durban’s best and most versatile, professional musicians, music directors and music lecturers.
Being in the music industry for over 15 years, he has shared the stage with many local and international artists including Khaya Mthethwa, Israel Houghton, Byron Cage, Ron Kenoly, Andrew Young, The Arrows, Simphiwe Dana, Trey Songs, Miguel and French Montana. He has performed at various festivals including the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Joy Of Jazz and The Cape Town Jazz Festival.
He said Indian music had always influenced international standards.
“Many artists, musicians, singers went to India to expand on their knowledge of music, art and culture which changed their sound definitively. It is also influencing film production and dance in many different countries. In fact, it is now and will always be an international standard,” said Mahabeer.
A Rocking World Tour starts in Australasia, where some great bands and singers took the world by storm – AC/DC and Midnight Oil and, of course, Kylie Minogue. A stop in Asia taps into the sound of bhangra and Bollywood sounds. The Europe segment features music of Sweden’s Roxette and ABBA, Norway’s a-ha, France’s Gipsy Kings and Daft Punk, Italy’s Eiffel
65, Spain’s Enrique Iglesias, and Germany’s Boney M.
Other music featured includes that of Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana and Bob Marley.
A Rocking World Tour is at Rockwood, Sibaya until November 4, Thursdays to Sundays. Tickets range from R99 to R130 and are available from at
031 161 0000 or www. rockwoodtheatre.co.za latoya.newman@inl.
co.za