{"id":648,"date":"2018-04-11T12:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T12:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stanfordinfo.co.za\/blog\/?p=648"},"modified":"2018-04-11T12:38:52","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T12:38:52","slug":"watershed-rocking-the-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stanfordinfo.co.za\/blog\/watershed-rocking-the-hills\/","title":{"rendered":"Watershed rocking the Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watershed<\/a> started their \u2018short, and very sweet\u2019 April Road Tour on the lawn of the Tasting Room at Stanford Hills Estate<\/a> on Easter Sunday. Easter is traditionally a day spent with family; in my family, we don\u2019t go beyond the garden perimeter which is scoured for chocolate in the early hours, and casually rescanned throughout the day for any escapee eggs. This year, Easter Sunday also fell on April Fools Day. These factors might have made a live performance, in the late afternoon, a fairly hard sell for a live concert. Was it all a joke? We know Sunday concerts work in Kirstenbosch<\/a>, but life slows down when you come to Stanford, even more than it does when you pop out of the city bustle, and into the Mother City\u2019s botanical gardens. And over the Easter long weekend, would anyone make it out of pyjamas by mid-afternoon in Stanford, let alone into a car and up to a wine farm with sugared-up kids?<\/p>\n

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Watershed frontman, Craig Hinds, admitted to being unsure whether a Sunday was going to work in Stanford. But luckily for us, it worked a charm and hoards of people turned up to listen to the dulcet tones of one of South Africa\u2019s favourite acoustic bands that has been weaving magic since 2000. Bedouin tents provided shade as people lolled and lounged on picnic blankets and deckchairs, and kids cavorted on the jumping castle and paddled around the waterlily dam. It couldn\u2019t have looked more idyllic \u2013 a \u2018perfect day, with perfect people,\u2019 Hinds called it. A neighbouring farmer pulled up in a tractor loaded with couches, kids perched on the top of the sturdy swing, and I hastened to spread out my blanky in one of the last remaining central spots. I quickly realised the reason why it was still available was because some early birds had marked out their spots with camping chairs, and were going to partially block my view. But my heart was filled with good vibes and an overriding sense of South African good will \u2013 nothing a gentleman\u2019s Panama hat could obscure.<\/p>\n

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My goodwill faltered when I saw the length of the beer queue, but the peppy team of Stanford Hills barmaids made quick work of it, keeping my good mood intact. And the food trucks handled the crowds with ease, serving tornado-tatoes and other delicious festival-style food.<\/p>\n