On one of the coldest nights this winter, American band One Republic literally set the stage ablaze with leaping flames and showering lights at the Ticketpro Dome on 19 June.
The Grammy Award-winning five-some, on their South African leg of their worldwide Native Tour, wowed a capacity audience of 18 000 with an unforgettable performance.
Durban group, Gangs of Ballet, opened the show, and delivered a brilliant warm-up which certainly provided the perfect introduction to the eagerly awaited main performance.
And then the lights went down and a white screen shrouded the stage. One Republic played their first song behind the screen in a dramatic light-and -shadow beginning. At the right moment, the screen dropped – revealing the band, leaping flames and showers of light and smoke.
Audiences were stunned and hastened to preen themselves when it was announced that the band’s first-ever concert DVD and footage for a documentary was being shot on that very evening. Ryan Tedder, lead singer and song writer for the band, revealed that choosing the best city was the culmination of an intensive research process. Much to the delight of the crowd, he went on to say that Johannesburg was eventually chosen because it was discovered that the most beautiful people in the world reside here.
The song list for the evening comprised of all their hits, including the top 100 song-of all-time, Apologise to their latest chart-topper, Counting Stars. The cover of George Ezra’s Budapest was also performed and Tedder admitted it was a song that he had wished he had written.
The show ended on a high with another cover – Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World.
Concertgoer, Renatha Roodt, had this to say after the show, “One Republic is awesome, in fact awesome is an understatement!” It was a sentiment she shared with 18 000 other people.
