Yep the Daisies Rocked Again

Yes, we did go to Rocking the Daisies again this year and it was AWESOME!!!

South African music really ROCKS at the moment. Seriously some of my very favourite music at the moment is home grown. It's really great.

Rocking the Daisies is definitely on my calendar as a must attend event of the year. It was about 10 times bigger than last year, even the though the weather was also a little cold and wet again this year.

This year we went with friends and the kids had an absolute BALL. There was a nice mixed crowd with loads of kiddies and dogs, tons of students, and a few of us 'oldies' ;)

We hardly saw our kids at all. They were gallivanting around and scoring free food, drinks and who knows what from all sorts of people. They were also honing their entrepreneurial skills, by collecting free hand outs (badges etc) on the first night and then selling them to unsuspecting people on the second night. On the third day Quinn discovered he could get a R10 refund from the plastic wine glasses and started scavenging for those. I think I gave him R20 the whole week-end and the rest of the time he fended for himself!

Here's a newspaper review of the RTD event this year....

Rocking the Daisies 2007
By Biénne Huisman

Hip-hop, rock and even crocs with socks were on the bill at the Rocking the Daisies music festival, hosted on a wine estate outside the Western Cape town of Darling at the weekend.

According to festival organizers 5000 people pitched for the party at, Cloof Wine Estate, surrounded by sheep-dotted, rolling hills about a 90 minute drive north of Cape Town.

Crowds were treated to about 30 bands and DJs (mostly from Cape Town) and a typical Cape weather showdown: four seasons crammed into three days.

The mornings were crisp with a light breeze carrying the scent of Spring. During the day, sunny skies saw people stripping down to bikini tops or less and splashing in the farm’s dams. After sunset all hell broke lose, with howling winds and cloud bursts collapsing tents and creating mud baths, but failing to dampen the spirits of late night revelers.

The line-up was impressive for a festival only in its second year.

Highlights included the multi-media hip-hop outfit Max Normal TV on Friday night – featuring Waddy Tudor Jones Junior behind the microphone and his gnome sized wife, Yolandi Visser, on backing vocals. Waddy’s razor sharp rhymes were well complemented by images – including some of nude lads smacking each other’s bums – screened at the back of the stage. The gay soft porn evoked gasps and saw a few people turn their backs and make for the beer tent.

Upcoming rock band, The Beams, featuring singer Paul Maree – the son of DA leader and Cape Town’s mayor Helen Zille – drew loud cheers in the sunset slot on Saturday night. Maree, known for his frantic live performances, did not disappoint: he dashed around the stage, banged on cowbells and vomited three times into a container kept handy. Getting sick on stage is a Maree-trademark and is apparently due to physical exertion. Zille, who is known to brave dodgy clubs to support her son, was not spotted in the crowd.

Rockers The Dirty Skirts drew yelps of approval later that night, with frontman Jeremy De Tolly brandishing a bottle of Tequila and baby pink sneakers on stage.

Female underwear went flying as rock band Taxi Violence took to the planks. Security guards had their hands full pushing people away from the stage as Rian Zietsman’s wailing guitar and George van der Spuy’s husky lyrics whipped fans into a frenzy.

Back at the VIP tent Errol “Bong” Strachan, the bass guitarist of ska band the Rudimentals – which opened for UB40 when it toured in South Africa recently – was seen nearly stepping on his floor length dreadlocks and imbibing drinks. De Tolly soaked up attention garbed in a teddy bear suit while Van Der Spuy and Maree downed shots at the bar.

Organizers claim Rocking the Daisies was South Africa’s first environmentally friendly weekend music bash. Event manager Brian Little told the Sunday Times that trees would be planted to offset the carbon emissions at the fest and that it would be partially run on recycled vegetable oil. Tickets and armbands were made of hemp.

But an olive tree planting ritual at noon on Saturday failed to impress some festival folk, who preferred to contemplate the festival’s “go green” theme between puffs on fat, home rolled joints.

A man wearing orange crocs with striped socks also provided food for thought. As did a guy with two cigarettes shoved through a piercing in his ear.

I believe a third instalment of the event is on the cards for next year. It is much anticipated.

There are image galleries here and here and here and here and here (including some of mine)
And it's been blogged about here and here and there's a video montage here.

Some of the awesome bands, and songs, in the line up this year included:
Dirty Skirts - Under Pressure and Homewrecker <- Loved these guys. The lead singer looks really soft and sweet & uber cool at the same time.
Cassette - Sometimes and Love With the Light On , Beautiful Smile <- Definitely one of my favourite bands after the Parlotones, good sing along songs.
Love Jones - A Little Easier and Kicks <- Awesome band with loads of radio play songs, but I must admit the lead singer scares me a bit.
Max Normal.TV - Don't Give Up and Dassie <- these guys are FREAKS. Totally kitch and corny, but really interesting and clever and well produced and complicated and talented too. Their music is electro-pop and rap mostly. Lots of social commentary and catchy tunes and humour. Very current with parodies etc. I loved their 'Power Point Presentation'. I was actually fascinated with them, especially pint-sized Yolandi, and AWB-Eminem'esque Max-Normal himself. Who stage-dived and was left to crash into the ground. He got back on stage and yelled indignantly 'You didn't catch me! WTF is wrong with you people!?" LOL. Shame!

If you don't mind roughing it a little in a tent, with only port-a-loos, and like a bit of noise and good music and comedy, dust and good fun, you'll love RTD.

** P.S. There is also all-night trance music after the Rocking. Can get a little loud. Every one of the comedians cursed the F'ing Trance DJ on Sunday morning, validly stating 'WTF? We need sleep!!!'