A Piece of Zoe

Justin Bieber live in Cape Town 2013

They came in the masses, they screamed like there was no tomorrow and they really did Believe!

Yesterday evening on the 8th of May 2013, Justin Drew Bieber graced a hyperventalating Cape Town stadium at 21:00.

But this 'Bieber-fever' mayhem began long before the show, with various other fans missing school the day of the concert to go and stand outside the stadium from as early as 6:00 under overcast skies, not to mention mothers of fans camping out the previous night in the hope of having their kids be in the front row.

Holding up signs such as 'I'm the future Mrs Bieber' and 'Come to my matric dance', the audience excitedly awaited the famous pop-star's arrival.
The majority of people in golden circle arrived at around 16:30 to man their fort and secure their place near to the front.

First up was ChianoSky, a local female artist- she sang four songs and was surprisingly talented; she performed well and succeeded in connecting with the audience in her red cheetah-striped leggings and equally unqiue exceedingly long and straight deep red hair.

Next, Locnville.. I may be a tad biased about these two local South Africa twin DJ's and singers as I'm not the biggest fan of their type of music but they definitely do have something and as a duo they are entertaining to watch (and their arms didn't do too much damage either). But never the less, any act prior to Bieber is bound to get minimal attention.

I was lucky enough to be in Golden Circle in the second row- seeing as I had been standing for a deadly 5 hours...at a price...my feet were killing me, I was hungry and I was HOT! To my relief, I was standing with a lot of my friends and so the telling of stories, constant chatting and a little dose of skinnering luckily made the anticipation-filled time pass.

On the main projector there was a large key with an ingraved 'B' on it and when the countdown started on 10 minutes, it's the spot where all star-strucked eyes gravitated... He came on stage seconds after the countdown ended and began the show with 'All Around the World'- a good choice to kick off the show because of its energetic beat! As soon as he started singing, magically my feet felt like they could run a marathon and I was no longer hungry nor hot and I wasn't alone in my magical transition- fans were crying, jumping, fainting, throwing up, holding onto one another... and medics were EVERYWHERE! The special effects were absolutely incredible, the element that impressed me most was an illusion of an underwater tank that he jumped in.

After the first song, he welcomed all his fans and then proceeded to sing some of his older songs such as 'Somebody to love' and 'Eenie Meenie' as well as various new songs from his acoustic album. He finished with 'Boyfriend' and his first hit single, 'Baby'. His show wouldn't have been the same without his exceptional team of dancers and very talented band!

Bieber wore a variety of simple outfits during the two hour show including items such as low rise black jeans (still don't understand that trend), white vest tops, a white suit, a black blazer and the crowd's (and my) personal favourite - no shirt.

I must say, the concert did seem planned down to the last detail but The Biebs is good at what he does so it surprisingly worked. Before singing some of his fan favourites such as 'Never say Never' and 'Believe', he introduced them by making the audience guess they were coming.. for example, before 'Never say Never' he said "I've had this motto my whole life and it's gotten me where I am today".

The only thing I could criticise about the Canadian popstar is his ability to connect with his audience- I personally think he should have talked to the audience more and made us feel like we were unique as an audience as opposed to just one on his tour. Other than that, J-Biebs impressed me- his talent is mind-blowing and he puts on a fucking good show!

The most exciting moment of my night was when I managed to convince my boyfriend to let me go on his shoulders for a few songs and during the song 'One Less Lonely girl' (just before his guest-girl came on stage) he turned to my side of the crowd and amazingly at that moment, I was the only person standing on anyone's shoulders. Whilst singing, he looked STRAIGHT into my eyes for a good 20 seconds. I thought I was dreaming but when everyone surrounding me tapped me on the shoulder and confirmed that he had, I died a little inside and in that brief moment, I experienced a rush of 'Bieber Fever'- that's for sure.

Lastly, a big thank you and well done to 'Big Concerts' for organising the event and in particular for the constant passing down of fresh water and medics for the fainting fans! I thorougly enjoyed the concert and would kill to back any day but I won't lie, I am a lil' excited for Cape Town's traffic to go back to being minimal. 

X Zo