Beneath our Durban skies
City readies itself for Bastille
NOT many cities have songs written about them. Durban, of course, has one – and before October swings round, you best brush up on the lyrics.
One of the UK’s most popular bands, Bastille will play for the first time at the Durban Botanic Gardens in October. The song Durban Skies was written by frontman Dan Smith, as a tribute to his parents’ home town.
“It’s alive, it’s alive, when I see it through your eyes, it’s alive, it’s alive, now I understand your lives when you take me there. You show me the city, I see it through your eyes when you take me there. We drive through the city beneath the Durban skies,” are some of the lyrics.
Smith said the song, released in 2013, was about his parents showing them around their beautiful city.
“The song is about my mom and dad showing me and my sister around Durban when we were kids. I remember them taking us and driving us around the city. It was chucking down with rain that day, and they showed us where they got married, places they used to hang out, and where they went to school,” said Smith, ahead of their eagerly anticipated South African tour.
The band, made famous with their hit single Pompeii, last played in South Africa in 2014, and this time, with the launch of their second album Wild World, they are on a Wild, Wild World Tour and have included Durban on their list.
In 2014, they won the Brit Award for the British Breakthrough Act and recently they won the NME Award for Best Album.
Smith said he was eager to show Durban to his bandmates.
“I love South Africa because my entire family are either from SA or live in SA. It’s also a beautiful country and it is an amazing place. When we got the opportunities to play some shows in SA a few years ago, we were all very excited. I was very excited to show the band and the rest of the guys in our crew that I work with, to show them the country for the first time. None of them had ever been to SA. When we got there, we got to see how well known our music was. We have been looking forward to coming back and performing,” he said.
Smith said they looked forward to performing in front of the Durban crowd, and singing Durban Skies.
“It’s also a nod to my family history and the importance of South Africa in my life and my family’s life. Even though my sister and I are both Londoners, it is the idea of being from South Africa and being South Africans that has been a part of our lives,” he said.
From performing in tiny “gross” pubs in London, to arenas and then festival main stages, Smith said performing outdoors was the best, and looked forward to their gig at the Botanic Gardens.
“There is something really special about playing in a beautiful setting. Being from the UK, we don’t really get to play headline shows outdoors. In a lot of other countries like in America, they have big sheds to perform in, but in the UK it is either inside or you are outside at a festival, so getting to play in warm and beautiful settings is very cool and very exciting for us.
Bastille will play at the Durban Botanic Gardens on Friday, October 6. Tickets are available from www.webtickets. co.za for R495.