On our first night in Los Angeles we found ourselves standing in a line that wound around the block at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater to pick-up will call tickets for a special screening of the new pseudo-documentary about Nick Cave, 20,000 Days on Earth.
Finally, Nick made his appearance. In a change of clothes and looking refreshed he was corralled into the barricaded area with his fans. He proceeded to take photos and chat for a minute with every single person there. While he was taking photos with another fan, we locked eyes and I got a special "hello."
At 9pm on the dot the pulsating opening bass lines of "We Real Cool" started to rumble from the speakers. The riff lengthened well beyond what you hear on record, rhythmically building up the excitement of the crowd until the band finally appeared on stage in a dramatic haze of blue light.
For the better part of two hours we were transformed to a place of color and light far away from the gray and gloom that awaited us outside. We were back in Africa, eyes moist from laughing, hearts full from the beautifying music. After the show I could think of only one thing to say: Tatenda!
A tinny PA squarbles some unintelligible noise in the distance, reminding us that the Sunday market is about to kick off. Outside our hotel, Rachadamnoen Road has been wondrously transformed from a hustling, exhaust-filled road choked with cars, tuk tuks, and scooters to a bustling thoroughfare of market stalls brimming with a vibrant array of tastes, smells, sights, and sounds.
"We could have gone in a different direction (with Jason)," Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman is telling me, using both hands to create a V illustrating two separate paths. "Who knows where things would've taken us."
It’s been one month and I’m just beginning to come down from seeing Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds perform live two nights in a row. A band that gets into my soul like no other, only by being surrounded in the live presence of their music can I begin to understand and appreciate their songs and what the band intended.
"I’ll never forget," says Mark Clayden, recounting his adventures in the Sierra Madres chasing the annual monarch butterfly migration. "At one point during the trip we came across a police roadblock stopping cars and trucks to allow the butterflies to cross the road safely."
The members of Ingonyama hail from Dete, Zimbabwe, which is near Hwange National Park, and have been friends since childhood, having grown up together in an orphanage. They started out performing at lodges near Hwange and also at Victoria Falls and use their talents and sense of humor to help educate school children about problems in the country such as HIV/AIDS and wildlife conservation, and they work closely with youth camps at Painted Dog Conservation near their hometown.
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