The Very Best to open for top UK band
Swedish/Malawian pop group The Very Best take on a fresh challenge when they step out of their comfort zone to open for top UK rock band, Mumford & Sons, during their South African tour next month.
The Very Best is a collaboration between London-based DJ/production duo Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya, a Malaiwan singer.
They are common festival performers in the UK and the US, but they enter the African foray at the back of the Mumford and Sons tour.
Talking to On the Arts on Sunday, Mwamwaya explained that the SA tour presents a new frontier for The Very Best.
“South African is one of the best countries in Africa where the diaspora is higher than any other African nation, so playing there could be the best way of showcasing our music. We’ve been thinking about some African tour and this might be one way of making it happen somehow,” he said.
Mwamwaya noted that opening for Mumford & Sons has always been amazing.
“They are such a big band that, using us as their opener has always put us on the right spot in terms of publicity. We have opened for them at so many big festivals, some being their own festivals called ‘Gentlemen of the Road,’ creating both a good atmosphere for publicising and marketing our music,” he said.
Mumford & Sons are a British rock band from London, formed in 2007.
Mumford & Sons will perform in Cape Town on January 29 at the Grand Parade, will then move on to Durban on February 3 and will perform at the Botanical Gardens. Mumford & Sons’ final leg of their South Africa tour will take place in Pretoria on February 6 at the Monument Amphitheatre.
The band this year released their third album Wilder Mind, which debut at number one in six countries.
The band have won a number of music awards throughout their career, with Sigh No More earning the band the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2011 and six overall Grammy Award nominations.
The band received eight Grammy nominations for Babel and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The band also won the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2013.
The band, arguably one of the most exciting live acts of their generation, broke the South African ticketing records back in September when they announced six shows for 2016 and sold out all 85 000 tickets in minutes.
