Aidan Harper
IT’S THAT time of the year again when music lovers start dusting off the tents and start getting ready for the music festival season. Rocking The Daisies pretty much opens the “Rocktober” season. It’s not just a music festival, but an eco, lifestyle and social event to boot. The showcase is being held at Cloof Wine Estate in Darling this weekend until Sunday and is usually sold out before it starts.
Now in its ninth year Rocking The Daisies has definitely come of age proving itself to be one of the top eco-music festivals in the world having won numerous awards. International festivals such as Glastonbury and Lollapalooza have won the coveted Highly Commended Award from A Greener Festival. With strong eco-policies, Rocking The Daisies is the only local music fest to receive this award and has won it twice in a row. Cloof Wine Estate itself is a biodiversity champion.
This year’s staging promises to be even bigger and better than before with a prestigious line up which includes international headliners MGMT. These rockers from the US have had extensive airplay in South Africa with songs such as Kids, Time To Pretend and Electric Feel.
British outfit Rudimental will be playing the main stage and performing a DJ set in the Electronic Dome. British alternative dance band Crystal Fighters set sounds intriguing as they will be using traditional Basque instruments on stage including a rope-tuned snare drum called a danbolin and a Basque pipe whistle called a txistu.
The local line-up is quite diverse and there are quite a few newcomers on the Rocking The Daisies bill this year. The Nu World Beat Club stage plays host to some new up and coming talent such as Los Tacos who are a 10-piece, uptempo Latino fusion band, which sings and raps exclusively in Spanish. For those early birds who want to get a good camping spot, there are a few bands playing the Campsite Stage. Johannesburg band The Moths and Cape Town band Big Exit fronted by Cape Town artist Joshua Grierson are well worth checking out.
Some acts to watch out for include Cape Town Rockabilly band Them Tornados, five-piece musical troupe Mr Cat & the Jackal, indie-folk band Touch Wood, Blues guitarist Dan Patlansky, five-piece instrumental dance band The Nomadic Orchestra and indie rock band Shortstraw, to name a few.
One collaboration which is a must-see is Arno Carstens and Francois Van Koke who will be on stage performing songs from Springbok Nude Girls, Fokof-polisiekar, Van Coke Kartel and Arno’s solo career. Wolftown, a female-fronted four-piece rock band from Cape Town is worth a listen. For those who are more into the electronic genres, The Beach Bar and The Electronic Dome will be featuring acts such as Pascal & Pearce, Das Kapital, Craig De Sousa, Tommy Gun and The Presets.
As usual, many music festivals wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory stand-up comedy element. This year The Lemon Tree Theatre Stage sees the likes of Kagiso Lediga, Bradford Keen and on her fourth year in a row at Rocking The Daisies, comedienne Angel Campey (she assures us she’s better potty trained than before and has an even bigger vocabulary). You can check out the full-line up at www.rockingthedaisies.com
A nice addition to this year’s festivities is the Artfield, where local artists will be displaying their artwork from sculptures to installations. The Daisy Den pamper spot also returns for the women who are not too keen on camping and want to look their festival best. Rocking The Daisies has always been a feel-good festival.
Not only a stomping ground for those die-hard music fans and industry types to form reunions and forge new relationships, but a great starting place for the newbies to be initiated into a great festival experience. The magnitude of Rocking The Daisies means that there is so much to see and do and is revered by some as a mini music getaway. There’s a dam to swim in so take your swimwear and towels… Don’t forget the sunscreen.
Aside from the music and lifestyle elements, the Go-Green practices and policies, which the festival has upheld since the beginning, means that the punters are actively aware of their environment. For example, the festival utilises taps and purifiers so there is a ban on plastic and glass bottled water. Even their generators run on bio-diesel.
“Walking The Daisies” is not for the faint-hearted as 200 hikers start out from Bloubergstrand to walk the two-day 53km distance to the festival. There’s a whole Green Village set up with its own acoustic stage for the even more environ-mentally conscious. The World Wildlife Foundation will also be there again this year.
Rocking The Daises has partnered up with non-profit organisation Bridges For Music, who assist in raising global awareness about local issues through music in developing countries contributing a positive impact in disadvantaged communities. Thibo Tazz vs Deep Aztec, Dilloxclusiv and Dj Fosta are just a few of the artists performing as part of this initiative.
The event has become iconic on the festival calendar. To some it’s a music festival but to most, it’s a pilgrimage. In the words of the organisers… “Play hard, tread lightly”.
l Find out more at www.rocking thedaisies.com to book.