Francois van Coke en Vriende set to be one of the year’s biggest concerts

It’s not easy to put Francois van Coke in a box. A few years ago he was the bad boy of rock, who had worried families reaching for earplugs.

But in 2015, his sins were quickly forgiven when a family-friendly Van Coke emerged with the release of his first single with Karen Zoid, Toe Vind Ek Jou.

Since then he has been surfing the top of the charts in SA and has the chutzpah to headline his own arena shows.

It started last September when Van Coke presented Francois van Coke en Vriende at the Sun Arena in Menlyn, with thousands of fans spending a Saturday with him.

This was followed by a show in Cape Town and a third will be taking place on October 18, back in Menlyn.

Third time’s also the charm, as the third Francois van Coke en Vriende will also serve as the launch of his third solo album Dagdrome in Suburbia.

Last year, the day before the show, I sat with the singer to discuss his success, which has since grown to include him winning the third season of The Voice South Africa.

Success has its thorns, and for Van Coke the narrative is usually that he sold out his swear word-laced act while with Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel for commercial success.

“From the start I wanted to make music and have as many people hear it. Even with Fokofpolisiekar that was the point. And even in Fokof we still have melodies with a pop feeling.

“The idea of selling out in the SA music industry is tough, because you have to be extremely successful to solely live off only making music. At the end of the day I’d rather do as much as possible to make music,” he says.

Gearing up for the show is already hitting all the right notes. At the end of August, Van Coke released his first single off the new album with Spoegwolf.

This Afrikaans dream collaboration is about growing up in the suburbs, and the subtle things it creates later in life.

“Spoegwolf has become a big voice in the Afrikaans music industry over the last few years. I really wanted to do something with them, so I reached out to Danie [du Toit]. According to him Spoegwolf are all Fokofpolisiekar fans, so they were amped for the collaboration.

“We made a deal that if they feature on one of my songs, I will feature on one of their songs on their next album. So, we all win,” says Van Coke.

Francois van Coke en Vriende is set to be one of the year’s biggest arena concerts from a local musician with an impressive lineup, all the visuals and spectacle of a major show and, of course, almost everyone Van Coke collaborated with over the years.

Last year, a few weeks before the show, Van Coke released an extended-play record with upbeat songs, especially for a livelier show.

With a whole album to get excited about, October 18 might just be the biggest day of the year. And you need to act quickly – more than 90% of the tickets have been sold.

• Tickets are R250 – R295
• Get them from Computicket