Mi Casa rock Portugal en route to North America

The tour kicked off in mid-July with several successful gigs in the UK, before heading to Holland, Italy and Spain later in the month. The band currently find themselves in Portugal before ending the tour in North America with gigs in Canada and the US.

Before leaving South Africa the band announced on their website: “We are proud to announce our first official International eight-city tour kicking off on July 15th. With 5 years of love and support from our South African family, we are now ready to embark on this exciting global excursion taking South Africa to the world... Traveling from London to Holland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada and the US. We plan to connect with as many industry players and artists in each country we visit, leaving behind a little SA flavour and taking all of you along with us for the ride!”

The band - consisting of producer Mr Duda, trumpeter Mo-T, vocalist J-Something and their backing band - are currently in Portugal for a string of gigs. The country is a home-away-from-home for the band, because J-Something (real name Joao da Fonseca) was born here before moving to Port Alfred in South Africa at the age of seven, later studying in Stellenbosch before settling in Johannesburg.

Speaking after a sold-out gig at Romando Sushi Café in the northern coastal town of Vila Do Conde on Saturday 1 August, the band announced on Facebook: “Last night was beyond magical... Honestly we never dreamt of this... Every city we have been to around the world, every show sold out!”

Next up after Portugal are gigs in Canada and the USA, including at the Habari Africa festival at the Harbour Front Centre in Toronto.

The full list of gigs for Mi Casa’s month-long tour is as follows:

• 16 July: Half Moon, London
• 19 July: Cargo, London
• 24 July: Bird, Holland
• 25 July: Emilia, Italy
• 26 July: Secret event, Spain
• 30 July: Media Capital, Lisbon, Portugal
• 31 July: Lisbon, Portugal
• 1 August: Romando Sushi Café, Vila Do Conde, Portugal
• 2 August: Sensation Club, Algarve, Portugal
• 5 August: Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal
• 7 August: Portuguese Showcase, New York, USA
• 8 August: Waikiki, Costa da Caparica, Portugal
• 9 August: Agua Moments, Vilamoura, Portugal
• 13 August: Mercury Lounge, Ottawa, Canada
• 14 August: Vancouver, Canada (Venue TBA)
• 15 August: Harbour Front Centre, Toronto, Canada
• 16 August: San Francisco, USA (Venue TBA)
• 17 August: San Francisco, USA (Venue TBA)

If the tour's full houses so far are anything to go by, Mi Casa look set to continue their rapid rise representing South African music on the world stage.