Rocking the Daisies 2013: Friday

Friday 4 October 2013

Last year was my first time at Rocking the Daisies and I was impressed by the size and professionalism of the festival. I’ll be honest, while this year’s Saturday’s internationals totally blew my mind (and expectations), I found the Friday pretty rough. That said, there were still some great moments; Friday highlights for me included The Dirty Skirts’ reunion and the testosterone-drenched Black Cat Bones.

Usually I do festivals with a small group of friends, which makes for loads of fun but also a crowded car and tent, and inevitable frustrations and disputes over who to see, where to find each other and when to leave.

This year circumstances were such that my camping buddies were down to one, which worked out pretty well for us in all areas except setting up our tent…

Jess and I arrived on Friday at around 11am, to a long queue of cars, a full carpark and an even fuller campsite. Eventually we found a spot right at the back and went set up our tent before trip 2 to the car and back.

We were making our way back when we saw a tent, much like ours but without the bulky rain cover, standing in the middle of the no-tent-zone that was the dirt road. We also noticed that the area in which we’d set up camp that was previously abandoned apart from unpitched tents had mushroomed into a small village. A village who’d decided we weren’t welcome.

As we stared in confusion at our relocated tent, two sour-faced blondes sauntered over and attempted to explain their logic while playing with their hair. Apparently they had a “circle” of tents, and we were in it, so they “did us a favour” by moving us out of the circle (and into the road). We opened the tent and gazed in horror at the mangled rain cover they’d stuffed inside. Half listening to their whiny explanations we dumped our heavy camping gear and I nearly dropped my sleeping bag on Alpha blonde who was now, literally, all up in our grills. “We just wanted to make sure that was cool” was their parting shot. Well, how polite of them.

So after dragging and re-securing our tent as out-of-the-road as possible, assuring the safety marshal that we knew we weren’t allowed tents in the road and helping our neighbours with their tent (new neighbours, not circle people) we were finally ready to head down to the actual festival area.

( / rant )

Over at the main stage, Beach Party had a decent crowd and kept them entertained with their usual upbeat energy.

I was sorry to see there was no cover up over the main stage, partly because it seemed a sign that strong wind was inevitable (and it was).

Shortstraw are always fun. I had a good laugh at this video after Oppikoppi so was glad they also treated the Cape Town crowd to their cover of Locnville’s Sun in my pocket.

I’d heard a lot of good things about Gangs of Ballet so was looking forward to seeing them. I confess I don’t remember that much of the music but show-wise, they had that sense of the epic about them – it was a big, sweeping performance.

Goodluck aren’t really to my taste, but they are super polished. Performing at Daisies for the first time as an 11-piece band, there was definitely a lot of energy and excitement on the stage.

I remember hearing the Dirty Skirts for the first time around 2005/6. I’ve always liked them and was sad when they broke up a while back, so, like many, I was really looking forward to seeing them again. It wasn’t the best performance but a bit of rustiness is to be expected after a hiatus.

I hope they’re back for good.

By this stage of the night the temperature had plummeted and an icy wind had picked up. Like many I think, I found myself unprepared for the cold in spite of having a jacket and scarf.

If last year was the festival of the onesie, this year was the festival of the knitted animal beanie – less committal than a full body suit while still whimsical and practical (and for sale at one of the festival’s many trade stands), it was a festival fad I was happy to follow.

Invigorated by the new found warmth on my head, I practically skipped off from the traders’ stalls to see Black Cat Bones. Their reputation as an epic live act precedes them and I had high expectations.

Happily they easily met those expectations, and theirs was the real stand-out performance of the day for me.

They look like a bunch of groomed of cavemen with their long hair and beards, and they ooze a raw rock dirtiness that seems contrary to the intense energy they put into their performance – constantly jumping, running around and egging on the crowd, they were great fun to watch.

Another reunion for the night came from main stage closers Kidofdoom. I stuck around long enough to hear my favourite track of theirs (Space walk, which they dedicated “to all the cowboys out there”) before giving in to the cold and the ache in my legs and heading back to the tent.