The last voice to sound through the R62’s premier rock venue before the national lockdown was that of an understandably worried Michael Canfield.
During the show he trembled as one promoter after the other informed him that he would no longer be performing at the festivals, bars and random stopovers that make up his DNA.
Roll-on seven months and this time round the pastor of rock had a notably less urgent tone to his voice. He was back on home ground, back in the Karoo Saloon and along with wife Nicole Theron, their ministry of music resumed soundly.
In fact, they had returned with new vigour. They had a newfound respect for their duty as soul soothers. They were in heaven and so were the fans.
“My role as a performer is really a ministry (not in the religious sense). My job is to get up there, get out of the way and to allow the music to come through, so that whatever the people need today, they are able to take it and take it away with them,” Michael said as he stepped off stage for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.
Meanwhile, Nicole had observed something interesting during the two sets they played on the outskirts of Barrydale. To her it seemed that this time around the audience had a far greater appreciation for their craft.
She noted that where senses may previously have been overloaded, an almost unknown level of focus and appreciation met them on stage. It was easier to gauge the mood in the room. She was in her element and the fact the the audience had to be restricted in line with Covid regulations, did not matter in the least.
There were tears of joy at both the Saturday evening and Sunday lunch shows they played at the venue.
With his classic American twang, Michael added that he, like all musicians, was not only derived of his only source of income; he was denied the ability to live out his passion.
In his case the adrenaline of performing in front of a live audience started when he was barely six-years-old. Being on stage is all he knows. Being kept away was absolute torture.
“You know when you are really hungry and you are thinking about a great meal, and you go and not only do you get a great meal, but the meal is actually greater than you thought it was going to be? That’s what getting back on stage was for me,”
Michael Canfield
*This food analogy may have been influenced by the delicious grub Nicole and Michael were served at the Saloon (Saloon regulars arguably missed chef Carol as much as they missed the music).
While Michael won’t mind being on the road for years on end (he will gladly remind you that between 1976 and 1985 he constantly toured and was only in one place for maximum of two weeks), Nicole welcomed the initial break in their busy schedules.
She was physically and mentally drained from what seemed like endless touring. She needed a reset, but once she had her Netflix fix and the lockdown was extended, she came to understand just how privileged she was to be living out her dream.
“What the break did for me, is make me realize that the opportunity to be doing this, the absolute sheer unbelievable privilege of what this is, will not be lost on me anymore,” Nicole said.
“I drove here in this space of heart expanding, surreal, marrow deep gratitude for the opportunity to put out the instruments and play the music in a room again – never mind in a room where people were going to respond in this way.”
For the lovers of music, good food and good vibes, the return of Michael Canfield marked the start of great things to come. For Nicole Theron this was the first outing to a music venue where owners Marius Slabber and Janet Brewer have already shown that where there is love for music, there is love for life.
Main photo by Henry Engelbrecht
