Aidan Harper
THERE are many great festivals on at this time of year and last weekend’s Synergy Live was no exception. This particular festival is synonymous with combining live band elements with the electronic elements, hence the festival name.
For the last few years Synergy Live has been held at Theewaters-kloof Sports Club on the just outside Villiersdorp with this year seeing it a little more compact in its layout. This was a plus as the obligatory food and merchandise stalls were all within a contained area and you didn’t have to walk for miles to hop between the various stages.
Talking of stages, the main stage line-up format also had a few changes this year. The local live acts were scheduled from around midday up until 9pm, thereafter the electronic acts and DJs took over until the small hours.
Despite the howling wind on Friday afternoon there were already quite a few punters at the main stage. Monark were great and played a solid set, as did festival stalwarts Black Cat Bones, who, as usual, gave it their all and performed a blistering rock and roll set. Black Cat Bones’ version of Motorhead’s Ace Of Spades was phenomenal and set the bar for what was to come.
Shortstraw followed and are always a festival favourite. Next up were the electronic acts in the form of Sibot + Toyota, Desert_Head, Haezer and Grimehouse. Closing off the Friday at the main stage was Das Kapital whose club music revved up the crowd until the early hours.
Each of the other stages had their own themes, like the Beach Bar which hosted chill electronic vibes (and a ton of beach sand). The Era Club Tent was more for the serious ravers and played host to the likes of Rob Toca, Zulu Boy, Yeti and Zolabudde.
The comedy stage emceed by Martin Davis made sure that the smiles were there. All the usual comedy suspects were present including Kurt Langeveld and Angel Campey. After the comedy, DJ Squeek, DJ Vox Libre and DJ Silver Girl jammed some amazing 1960s to 1990s classics and had the tent rocking into the night.
Saturday was a scorcher, so many festival-goers were in the water from early on. The main stage kicked off at noon with a chillout session from Roastin’ Records and a Future Afro set from The City which is a band made up of musicians who have previously performed with quite a few well top South African acts such as Goodluck, The Kiffness, Jimmy Nevis, Jeremy Loops, Card On Spokes and The Rudimentals.
A total gem of an act was Majozi whose is indie-folk has subtle electro influences.
After the first song he explained to the crowd, “Yes, I’m a black guy and people are amazed that I sing like a white guy!” He went on to say that the name of the band has nothing to do with Johannesburg but is actually his surname. Nhlanhla Majozi actually hails from Durban and taught himself to play the guitar as a teen before taking a foundation course in jazz and popular music. He certainly wowed the audience. Majozi is an act to look out for.
Psychedelic indie pop band The Plastics were up next and played tracks from their new album along with other old favourites.
Al Bairre hit the stage running with their brand of classic indie finger pop. Almost nearing the festival veteran phase, Al Bairre is definitely a party band of note and front-man Nic Preen’s onstage antics got the crowd going from the start.
Most of the band are multi-instrumentalists and occasionally swap roles during their set. The band even has it’s own clothing label and a host of quirky music videos that are fast becoming viral on Youtube. Their rendition of Katrina and the Waves’ Walking On Sunshine was spot on and the band bounced along with the audience.
Gangs of Ballet followed with a brilliant set. They don’t claim to fit into any genre but say their music experiments with an eclectic mix of alternative, melodic, arrhythmic, electronic and dance.
Next to hit the stage and fresh from a European tour was Jeremy Loops. He is a firm festival favourite and really knows how to involve an audience as he mixes their singing into his backing loops which he creates on the spot along with guitar, harmonica, vocals and even a rhythm from a kid’s toy.
The multi-talented Mr. Sakitumi (Sean Ou Tim) joined Loops onstage for his performance. Electronic-dub-step band Bittereinde’s performance was somewhat different to their normal style, but went down a treat.
With almost one and a half million likes on their official Facebook page it was plain to see that Canadian band Crystal Castles was the act everyone was waiting for.
Crystal Castles was formed in Ontario by songwriter/producer Ethan Kath. New vocalist Edith Frances’ vocals were incredible and sometimes ethereal and melodic.
Their style has been described as “ferocious, asphyxiating sheets of warped two-dimensional Gameboy glitches and bruising drum bombast that pierces your skull with their sheer shrill force, burrowing deep into the brain like a fever.”
Sunday was a far more chilled vibe with deejays playing into late afternoon.
A nice touch was that the organisers had erected a Bedouin tent in front of the main stage to give punters some respite from the blazing sun.
Judging by the comments on the Synergy Live official Facebook page, a good time was had by all. Synergy Live2015 was a great mix of music genres all brought together in one fantastic festival.