Treading lightly while Rocking the Daisies

I tried to keep myself entertained by encouraging Mr Francis to try out the emo look with some of my eyeliner; he, in turn, put on his biker-face and refused…the killjoy. We waited and I sulked for 45 minutes until we entered the campsite, unlike unfortunate Ruth and co who had to wait two horrendous hours before they saw the light.

Our mini-tent was up within five minutes so we kicked back for a while and indulged in some alcoholic frivolity. On that first night it was bitterly cold to say the least but the atmosphere that was fast building up compensated for it. We went up, after much deliberation, to the backstage area for our first interview with the lads from The Dirty Skirts and they seemed pretty amped to be there. They've been ‘rocking the daisies' ever since its inception, two years back and my oh my, how it has grown in numbers. In 2006 an estimated 1500 people attended, in 2007, the numbers increased to a whopping 5000. This year's record blew even the organisers away with approximately 10,000 visitors gracing the event. Spur of the moment arrangements had to be made to accomodate the massive crowd that blew in on the west coast wind.

My interview with The Dirty Skirts was pretty off the cuff and as I like to put it ‘freestyled' :-) They're a humble bunch with plenty of energy. Apparently, the name Dirty Skirts came to drummer, Markie De in a dream about a collection of sordid skirts he'd piled up… Ok, let's forget the name; what's awesome about this band is their unique symphony. I, for one, have never heard another SA band combine the minutiae of funk, alternate and indie rock with an electro flavour the way they do. Add Jeremy's distinct vocal flamboyance to the mix and you've got yourself a kick-a$$ band. They've come a long way, returning only recently from a rocking UK tour. Cape Town dwellers can check them out this weekend on 10 October at the Assembly in Zonnebloem along with Zebra and Giraffe.

So we shook hands while they unexpectantly tackled one another to the floor…ah the joys of being in a band… We then headed over to check out the ETC Crew. They're Cape Town's hip hop outfit that will have you jumping up and down like you were at a Jay-Z concert. They're the epitome of cool. To hear some of this groups tracks, visit their MySpace profile. This group can kick it all the way up there with the likes of Skwatta Kamp.

We treaded on lightly down to the campsite once again to help Ruth and her crew get their tents up. Us in the cold shivering our behinds off trying to figure out where the entrance to the tent was, combined with me and a handy little wind-up torch must have been quite the sight. We got our act together and finally headed to the mainstage area again to find aKing doing what they do best. I'd never seen this band perform live before but knew they were pretty decent from their radio hits on 5fm - hence my whipping out the plastic to purchase “Dutch Courage” (2008). They're even better live; check out some of their hits on their MySpace profile. Next up was The Dirty Skirts and they were great. Great stage presence, awesome sound…all in all a fantastic band that I would rank up there with the likes of The Killers.

It was becoming unbearbly cold, so we headed toward the camp again to call it a night. I clocked 2-3 hours sleep at most trying to get comfortable on a hard floor while trying desperately, yet in vain to keep warm. The next morning we were up bright and early to a warm, bright sunshiney day…salvation at last! I took a shower; the ablution facilities were suprisingly decent, though they did deteriorate substantially as the weekend progressed (more cleaners in 2009 please). We started off with six available toilets in the VIP campsite and ended up on Sunday morning with only one being usuable. Makes me wonder how the general camp dwellers fared on that front.

We then took a walk to the mainstage area to check out Hot Water. They were their usual lively selves, hopping around the stage playing that African sound that brings thoughts of Johnny Clegg to mind. Captain Jack Sparrow in orange overalls made his way up onto stage and joined in the traditional gumboot dancing that never fails to enertain; what an awfully fun sight to see, the poor shipmate couldn't lift his legs much further than a ruler-length off the ground. I like Hot Water immensely and they seem to have left quite the impression on some seemingly unsusceptible mosh pit head-bangers, who were bitten by the happy music bug. For more on Hot Water, visit their website; be warned, you may be bitten too!