Freshlyground (ZA)
From Cape Town
Popularity
Freshlyground has no upcoming shows in the Netherlands right now. Leave your email address and we’ll tell you the moment a date is announced.
Is Freshlyground coming to the Netherlands?
Last show in the Netherlands: July 21, 2026 at Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam.
About
Also known as: Freshly Ground
Few bands can claim they played on one of the most watched videos in YouTube history, but Freshlyground can. The Cape Town afro fusion group co wrote and performed alongside Shakira on "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a song rooted in the Cameroonian Makossa tradition. That music video has racked up over 4.2 billion views. The band's reach goes well beyond that one global moment, though. Their multilingual songs weave together Xhosa, English and other languages over a sound that blends jazz, blues, rock and traditional South African styles. Freshlyground's catalogue stretches back to their 2003 debut Jika Jika, followed by Nomvula, which eventually went double platinum in South Africa off the back of radio hits like "Doo Be Doo" and "I'd Like". Their outspoken side showed up on Radio Africa, where a satirical track about Robert Mugabe got them banned from Zimbabwe for eight years. They performed with Miriam Makeba, Oliver Mtukudzi, Femi Kuti and Stanley Clarke along the way, and after a five year break they announced a comeback in late 2024 with a new lead vocalist.
