The holiday season in St Francis kicked off with what has now become an annual event, the St Francis Rocks – Concert in the park. Unfortunately the weather didn’t play its part and no doubt kept some folks away from what turned out to be a great afternoon of entertainment. Even though it was a touch windy we should be thankful that the rain held off right up to the end of the performance of the afternoon.
Having arrived just a little late we never caught the first performer but certainly second, ‘Clique Claq’ certainly got the crowd stomping with their energetic performance. The entire group should enter the World Aerobics Championships for they never stopped bouncing for the hour they were on stage. It seems Clique Claq are headed for greater things and will form part of the opening act at the Hugh Masekele concert at the Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth on Friday 18th December.

Jo Brown having fun
What a talented compere we have in Jo Brown! How she keeps up the banter whilst the bands set up is truly a talent and her Manchester sense of humour raises more than a few chuckles. Well done Jo for keeping the show on the go.
Next up were Cape St Francis’ very own ‘Grosvenor Road’. Where else other than maybe the musical hot spots of Memphis or New Orleans would you possibly find a bunch of talented musicians all living in a single road? But in the tiny seaside village of Cape St Francis this is exactly the case and hence the name “Grosvenor Road”. Formed just a few months ago and led by world renowned acoustic guitar maker Marc Maingard their performance was well received by the crowd and in fact came back for a second session to close of the concert.

Mark Maingard of Grosvenor Road

Rob Thompson
‘Well done Sun’ were next up and certainly kept the crowd entertained for in spite of the wind having intensified to almost gale force proportions few left the concert. Up next was probably one of the finest guitarists in South Africa, Rob Thompson. Accompanied by gravel voiced ‘a la Joe Cocker’, Francois Hugo was certainly the highlight of the show with excellent vocals and fantastic guitar playing by Thompson supported by a good drummer and a very accomplished bass player. Bass players often go unnoticed, not on Saturday though. Unfortunately this act had to return to Port Elizabeth for another gig that evening but not before Thompson enthralled the crowd with some guitar magic.
Finally Marc and Grosvenor returned for a final stint that included a few classics including ‘Piano Man’ and a Crosby Stills and Nash number ‘Teach Your Children’. And then came the rain.
But the show was not all about music. The kids had to queue for face painting and the adults for beverages at Legends and the Grill Company. It was decided to also introduce a food market this year and one must feel for our three intrepid caterers, Rose, Lettie and Dee who battled the conditions in the car park before scurrying into the area next to legends where they had some protection. Why they were not designated this area right from the start was an error by the organisers for it at least placed them amongst where beverages were being served as well as close to other service including access to electricity needed to ply their trade. Maybe a lesson for next year?
But a big thanks must go out to John Hammond and his committee comprising Sarah Swanepoel, Jo Brown and Barry Tonkin as well as to all the Sponsors, The Village Superspar, St Francis Bay Residents Association, Harcourts Oyster, Legends, Dune Ridge, The Grill Company, Brooklands Hardware, Balobi’s, Link Pharmacy, St Francis links, Little Venice, The Trattoria and Kouga Print. Let us hope this is continued with St Francis Rocks 4 next year.
Recent Comments