Sanelisiwe Twisha is South African musician Moonchild Sanelly. I was promised future ghetto funk. After consuming all the music she recorded, I was excited to experience this live. I wasn’t disappointed.
Before I continue, shout out to the excellent support artist DRIIA (all caps no gaps). Offering some DnB, trip-hop vibes, with sweet vocals. She said she was influenced by the 90’s, as a teenager in the 90’s, I get it.
She said her final song, A Little Life, was about where she is and where she wants to go. It had a great beat and encapsulated an easily distracted and excited crowd. Kudos also to YES bar for their trailblazing policy of supporting the support artists by serving half price drinks until the headline act comes on.
But Moonchild Sanelly, I’m almost speechless. I’d seen enough to think that I knew what to expect, but the energy, artistry, and humanity of her performance was stunning. How someone can give such a fierce performance, and clearly be the warmest most inclusive human, whilst dancing in her socks, is a little beyond me. Wicked beats, excellent booty shaking and dancing by her and her DJ / dancer.
Bringing consenting audience members up on stage for a dance during Big Booty, the evening was a party from the start, gradually progressing to a rave by the end. I want to talk about each song individually because they were all great, but this will become the longest review ever, so I’ll mention my two favs. Falling, which she said she wrote after she was kicked out of home and told to not come back until she was on TV. This song, with a drum backing reminiscent of a heartbeat, felt special, her very genuine and powerfully vulnerable presence was really emotive.
By contrast, another fav was the final song Big Man, with recorded backing vocals from Self Esteem’s Rebecca Taylor. It started as anticipated and then as the lights were turned low and the drop kicked in, progressed to a full club experience, with Sanelisiwe in the middle of a rave pit egging the crowd on. The room was bouncing, it was glorious. I don’t know how any human could experience this without it making their night.
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