The Very Best at the Lake of Stars

I knew it would be amazing to be so close and yet so far from home, but I could not have expected what was to come in Malawi after 24 hours of traveling from Paris via Addis Ababa to Esau’s hometown of Lilongwe! It was hot and even the airport staff knew about the Lake of Stars festival for which we, The Very Best, were there!

We drove to Esau’s house in the township, met his wife and kids and stayed the night! I felt at home and at ease, the sights and sounds reminding me of my grandparent’s place in the village where kids played in the streets in their dusty rags without a care in the world for materialism. Later that evening, we shot The Very Best’s Julia music video at the local club, with me and Esau singing while Johan – one half of Radioclit and TVB – was filming. When we arrived there was a powercut, but in sheer African style the power came back on in time and the place was rammed!

Driving through Malawi the next day we could see high poverty, but its astonishing the low crime rate, and the warmth of the people! Maybe that’s why they call it the warm heart of Africa. Most of the people we were with the day before wished they could come to Lake of Stars, but felt it was expensive, with that amount of money they could live well for a month!

We touched down at Nkopola Lodge where the festival was held, on Lake Malawi, with palm trees everywhere! It felt like I was on an island in the south Pacific. I did a warm up DJ set at the beach bar and mixed local Malawian tunes. Later that night, TVB was on the main stage rocking the crowd as they danced on the beach sand under an African sky filled with stars so close you could touch them! While on stage with Esau singing Warm Heart of Africa, it felt like the whole festival was epitomised by that moment, a perfect blend of energies - African melodies and harmonies fused with European pop electronica! Malawi, Malawi, Lake of Stars… I won’t forget you!