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COLUMN
 Saturday Night Fever
If you didn’t see the Abdullah Ibrahim Trio USA at the Baxter last
week, you really missed out.
And that is quite a shame, since the venue wasn’t packed out on
opening night. Interestingly, the grandmaster of South African jazz seemed
to take a bit of a backseat, rather showcasing the exceptional talents of
Belden Bullock (bass) George Gray (drums) and Horace Alexander Young on
alto sax and flute. Gray and Young in particular delivered outstanding
performances and I really hope we get to see them on our shores again.
Unfortunately, the incessant ringing of a cell phone spoilt yet another
performance at the Baxter and in this case, it was one with a particularly
loud and irritating ring tone.
Ringing cell phones, however, were the least of our worries at
Hemisphere on Friday night. Instead we had to contend with a very large,
very menacing West African doorman. I firmly stood behind Charlotte and
Brigit as we approached the Demon from the DRC when Brigit struck on the
right solution. My name was declared in a haughty French accent and lo and
behold – it was instantly found on the guest list.
By now I have two barmen who recognise me on sight and getting drinks
is an absolute pleasure. Isn’t it cool what a couple of well-placed
shooters can get you? Hemisphere still appears to be the darling of the
Cape Town nightlife circuit and the dance floor was booming. We left at
2:00am with a serious case of the munchies and after hooking up with Raoul,
headed off to the Beach House Restaurant at the V&A Junction Hotel for
hamburgers and toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches.
Surprisingly enough, I was in a really good nick on Saturday morning.
Such a good nick, in fact, that when a mate from England came around with
his Aussie friend, I didn’t think twice about lunch and grappa shooters at
Primi. Lunch at Primi, however, became a dinner party in Obs, and the
dinner party in Obs became an international drink-off between me and the
Aussie, which culminated in a bottle of red wine and three bottles of
bubbly.
Unsurprisingly, Sunday morning was not kind to me. But when the
emergency call came through for sundowners at Raddison’s I manfully
accepted. What I didn’t expect, or deserve, however, was the laughter and
derisive looks from my so-called closest friends when I ordered orange
juice amidst their cosmopolitans and mojito’s.
For those of you who haven’t been to Radisson's yet, it is one of the
finest locations for sundowners. It has a beautiful view of the ocean,
yacht basin and Waterfront, and a gorgeous rim flow pool where seagulls
frolic and do certain unmentionable things.
Unfortunately the service at Radisson's is probably the worst I’ve
ever experienced. After sitting down it took about 15 min before a waiter
appeared - and they weren’t particularly full. The drinks we ordered took
forever to arrive, and some didn’t arrive at all. The waiter, of course,
was very quick to bring the bill when his shift ended, and even quicker to
collect it after we paid. The interesting part about the bill was it
included drinks we hadn’t ordered, and left out half the drinks we had
ordered. After a brief consultation we decided we had scored on the deal
and left it at that. Our tip, of course, was a grand testimony to the
stinginess of Capetonians.
Your comments, as always, are most welcome.
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