The annual trek to Rocking The Daisies has become a music festival ritual for many and this past weekend was no exception. Held on Cloof Wine Estate in Darling, this year's eco-lifestyle music festival had so much more to offer with a bigger, more comprehensive layout so there were so many more facets to explore. Much attention was given to the general décor, lighting and artistic displays. The variety and quality of activities, food and merchandise stalls had definitely increased from last year making Rocking The Daisies 2014, now in its ninth year, an exceptional experience. With 20,000 punters to cater to, the organisation and production was slick and navigation through the festival grounds was made easier not only with signage and info boards, but with their updated smart app. This feature was great in the way that you could choose your own itinerary from the full line-up and get up to date festival and weather information. A nice touch was that on arrival at the parking areas, there were porters with wheelbarrows to assist with transportation of tents, gear etc to the adjacent camping zones.
There was a noticeable difference in the audience this year as the international line-up appealed more to the younger generation with international acts Crystal Fighters, MGMT and Rudimental topping the bill. This didn't stop the twenty-somethings rocking to Bobz Your Uncle deejaying seventies soul, disco and funk at the Hemp Stage on Sunday afternoon.
Large music festivals usually generate hype around the international acts that they book using them as a main draw card but at Rocking The Daisies 2014 our own home-grown talent more than proved their mettle and were on a par, if not better than their foreign counterparts. MGMT from USA was a bit disappointing. They spoke very little in between songs and their lack of stage presence made their performance quite bland and flat in comparison to most of the local artists. Rudimental from the UK, however, was incredible and worthy of the main headline slot. This award winning electronic act from the UK had the crowd in the palm of their hand right from the start. The atmosphere was buzzing and at one stage they had the whole audience doing a two part sing-along. Rudimental's onstage presence was truly dynamic with solid sound and drum 'n' bass rhythms. UK based Crystal Fighters' stage show was quite theatrical with members wearing Red Indian head-dresses and playing an eclectic mix of folk, electro, punk, techno, dubstep and Spanish pop. You could spot the fans around the festival grounds by the feather head dresses that they wore.
At a festival of this magnitude with eight stages to choose from it's difficult to decide on which acts to see so here are a few highlights: Arno Carstens and Francois Van Coke pulled off an incredible medley of Springbok Nude Girls, Van Coke Cartel and Fokofpoliesiekar songs. This was an amazing collaboration as it encompassed almost three decades of music. They were later joined on stage by rock guitar virtuoso Albert Frost. Al Bairre is a festival favourite and played a great set of their quirky Indie pop style music. Their song "Christmas In July" always gets the crowd going. Das Kapital is hailed as one of the biggest DJ and producers of dance music in South Africa. Having two national radio shows and being well known for his deejaying skills, his set had the Electro Dome packed to capacity.
Some surprise gems were Josh Grierson's band Big Exit who performed an incredible set on the Campsite Stage on Thursday Night setting the scene for the entertainment to follow. The Wanton Bishops from Beirut, Lebanon played a blistering performance and state that their blues-rock revival sound is about seduction and surrender, heart and stomp. They are considered as one of the leading bands in the Middle East. Paige Mac's sultry yet powerful vocals wowed the Hemp Stage on Saturday afternoon. Hailing from Cape Town Paige plays acoustic soul with a folk edge and had the audience enthralled as her voice literally took their breath away. Blynd Tyger (as opposed to def Leppard so you've got to love the name) opened the festival on the main stage. This hard-hitting blues-rock trio from Stellenbosch with influences such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and James Gang transported you right back to the sixties Woodstock era. They are striving to be a modern answer to the sixties power trio revival. Rockabilly band Them Tornados, comprising of Ian Arrow on guitar and vocals, a kilt-attired Matthew Ferguson on upright drums and Simon Perry on upright bass are lauded as one of the most entertaining Rockabilly bands in South Africa. They played some great renditions of Rockabilly standards and have an authentic Rockabilly look and sound. Their version of Stray Cats' "Rock This Town" was classic.
Fresh from their European summer tour, female-fronted dance outfit Goodluck had the Beach Bar tent pumping. Even the extreme heat of the day didn't deter the mass of people energetically dancing to their electronic DJ set.
With a strong eco-friendly theme, Rocking The Daisies focuses on protecting the natural environment and makes the punters aware of this by getting them involved with Go-Green initiatives such as separate bins for on-site recycling of waste, a trash-back program where the festival goers are rewarded by exchanging trash for bar vouchers and car-pooling programmes to name a few.
Rocking The Daisies 2014 was, without a doubt, a feel-good festival with perfect weather in a beautiful setting so next time you pick a daisy and pluck the petals you can utter the words "I love it, I love it lots, I love it, I love it lots!