After Dark Brings Cosy Winter Concerts to the Two Oceans Aquarium

South Africa’s top bands and artists will perform live acoustic sets this winter for the return of Two Oceans Aquarium’s After Dark concert series. This monthly live music event in Cape Town promises an intimate setting and runs in collaboration with Texx and the City. the aquarium plays host, offering unforgettable evenings that bring together the worlds of music and marine life.

The June to September lineup includes Anica Kiana and Faker Streets, Visitors Centre and Carla Franco, Mars Baby and Giuliette Price, and The Dirty Skirts and Wren Hinds Band, all delivering special stripped-down performances.

Music meets marine life for this intimate gathering

The After Dark concert series takes place in an otherworldly, watery setting, lending a blue glow to the atmosphere and welcoming some unlikely audience members. Doors open at 6.30pm giving guests enough time to explore the aquarium before the first act starts at 8pm, and the second act on at 9pm.

The Two Oceans Aquarium’s I&J Ocean Exhibit is home to large rays, mussel crackers, green sea turtles, indigenous fishes, and many more marine animals. Plus the enormous tanks and tunnels create a truly immersive experience.

Tickets are limited, so advance booking is highly essential. A cash bar is available, and food can be purchased before the event and during the interval.

Here are all the upcoming bands and artists for After Dark 2025

Anica Kiana and Faker Streets

Anica Kiana is a South African singer-songwriter who musical career began at an early age, when she began covering songs by other artists and posting it to her social media. In 2019, she was signed to an agency and released her debut single “Chasing” soon after, which garnered massive support from local radio stations and even made it onto the top charts. Shortly after, her career began to kick off after she grabbed the attention of many other local artists, including prolific pop duo, Locnville and one of SA’s most renowned rappers, Nasty C.

Faker Streets is a dynamic duo made up of singer Liam Burger and producer/session drummer David Jones. Formed with the perfect mix of experience and innovation, Faker Streets blends alternative rock, pop, and hip-hop influences to create a sound that captivates diverse audiences. Known for their electrifying stage presence, the band is quickly rising as a standout act in the South African music scene.

Cost: R395pp, tickets available online.

When: 25 June 2025 | doors open 6.30pm | first act 8pm | second act 9pm
Where: Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront

Visitors Centre and Carla Franco

Visitors Centre is a vocal heavy, heady band. The 5 piece lyrical-indie, alt-rock band from Cape Town feels like a group make-out session between the members of The War on Drugs and BCNR in the back-row of your high school theatre. You can expect big vocal arrangements and just the right amount of pastiche – as if the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack was produced by Nigel Godrich. The band is made up of Evan Strauss (Lo-ghost), Shannon Devy (Lo-ghost), Daniel Charles (GAZE), Amy Hoffenberg (Androgenius) and Callum McDonald (Androgenius).

Carla Franco’s love for music started at a young age with her first piano lesson at the age of 7. Carla was born with a hearing impairment, suffers from 20-30% hearing loss and has been wearing hearing aids for many years. Never one to falter in the face of adversity, Carla did now allow this to be a defining factor in her life. After she won Texx and the City’s Band Or Bust competition in 2024, Carla has now entered a new musical chapter with the release of her single “Hot Mess” that’s wracking up on the streams. But Carla’s real strength lies in her expertly-curated live show, that needs to be experienced firsthand.

Cost: R395pp, tickets available online.

When: 30 July 2025 | doors open 6.30pm | first act 8pm | second act 9pm
Where: Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront

Mars Baby and Giuliette Price

Mars Baby is a producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who is at the helm of the new charge of R&B and alternative pop. He’s known for his eclectic blend of genres, including indie pop, rock, and acoustic songwriting, often drawing on influences from the ‘90s and early 2000s. Growing up in CPT, USA and now residing in JHB, the twenty-six year-old’s rhetoric on love, hate and the things that exist in between is uniquely compelling.

Giuliette Price is a rising jazz singer and songwriter who moved to Cape Town from Johannesburg in 2021 and has been steadily making a name for herself in the local music scene since. Giuliette’s style blends traditional jazz with modern influences, allowing her to create a unique and fresh sound, and has become known for her soulful vocals and her original projects.

Cost: R395pp, tickets available online.

When: 27 August 2025 | doors open 6.30pm | first act 8pm | second act 9pm
Where: Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront

The Dirty Skirts and Wren Hinds Band

The Dirty Skirts are an indie rock band from Cape Town who recorded and toured between 2004 and 2012. Their career highlights include being nominated for Best Rock Album SAMA for their album ‘Daddy Don’t Disco’ (2008), and winning Best Alternative Album SAMA (2011) for their album ‘Lost in the Fall’.

Wren Hinds delivers a lush, acoustically driven production which overlaps the boundaries of alternative folk, country, and world music while staying true to his own style as an original singer-songwriter. The harmonic resonance of voice, guitar and harmonica together with a reflective and honest lyrical sensibility, communicates deep profundity bringing meaning and nourishment to an art that has been somewhat neglected in recent times. Alongside his band Jonno Sweetman (drums), Dylan Fine (electric guitar) and Maurice Paliaga (bass), Wren Hinds has crafted a unique set that needs to be experienced in person.

Cost: R395pp, tickets available online.