There are so many music festivals to choose from and it's sometimes difficult to decide just which one to attend. The easy answer is "If you love music. All of them". Up The Creek on the Breede River in Swellendam is one of those festivals that you just can't miss. Apart from the beautiful setting, Up The Creek has kept it's integrity from inception as a 'local acts only' festival and being sold out for the second year running proves that our home-grown bands are right up there with the internationals. It is also the second longest running music festival in South Africa and This year was it's 25th birthday. There were a few noticeable changes this time around. The main stage sound and lighting was a lot better this year. The river stage was located a little further down river on a sandbank and gone was the covering over the original stage which was now Jeffery's Jam Kombi, an old VW camper van with the stage on the roof. Piet Botha and the Lyzard Kings definitely made this their own. The fee-jam stage near the food court was a favourite and many musicians collaborated in various combinations. Redeye Riaan from Crimson House Blues, Marco from Trenton, Gareth Harvey on baritone sax with Wild Lettuce and Evan Naude on didgeridoos got a standing ovation at the end of their jam. The Hunters stage was well positioned overlooking the river and Stellenbosch based band Manouche were incredible with their blend of Gypsy Jazz. Manouche vocalist Anneli Thandeka Kamfer also wowed the crowd on the free jam stage. Her rendition of Summertime was out of this world. Dave Ferguson is a regular at Up The Creek and did not disappoint with his harmonica loop-hop style.
One of the great things about Up The Creek is that there is no overlap of performances so you can get to watch every act without missing anything. The flow of the acts and genres on the various stages was well thought out and executed flawlessly.
A few highlights included Johannesburg based band Bye Beneco whose style was a more rock version of Cocteau Twins and very esoteric. Nomadic Orchestra are a festival favourite and everybody loves the tuba player for his on-stage antics. Black Cat bones are also a regular feature at the festival and totally owned the main stage, playing the Saturday headline slot. It was nice to see Al Bairre on the main stage this year. Their rendition of Katrina and the Waves' Walking On Sunshine was classic and really got the crowd going. Friday night headline band Taxi Violence was superb and their stage performance was totally dynamic. Indie Pop-Rock band The December Streets who hail from Pretoria claim to create a sound that captures their high energy, fun and soul with an added layer of depth and they did just that. First timers to Up The Creek was Maskandi / Folk act David Jenkins also known as Qadasi (meaning 'white person' in isiZulu). Qadasi is on a quest to revive traditional Zulu Maskandi music and has performed alongside music legends Johnny Clegg and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. A nice addition was Laughter Yoga with Kiki Toga if front of the main stage on Friday and Saturday morning. By the reaction of all the participants this was a winner and a great way to de stress before the day's music entertainment. DJ Squeek had the crowd going in the early hours of Saturday Morning at the Jeffery's Camper Van stage with some cool retro classics.
Saturday saw the rain come in for a few hours. This actually contributed to the atmosphere in the camp as people huddled under the tents, made new friends, watched great up and coming artists and saw some amazing collaborations on the free jam stage. Usually everyone is down at the river stage at this time rendering the main 'band camp' very quiet in comparison. The river was a mass of colourful inflatables again and the annual "everything that floats" competitions were in place with prizes for the best / craziest looking float and the "float with the mostest" which is a challenge to get as many people as possible onto a floating raft or object.
Up The Creek is and promises to remain one of the 'smaller' music events around and promises to remain that way. The organisers have pledged that the festival will remain at its current size. This is good news for the punters as it means that the experience will be comfortable. Speaking of comfort, for those who are not weren't too keen on the full camping experience, The Heart Break Motel was there again where people camped in style, stayed in pre-pitched tents with beds and had the luxury of hot showers and a buffet breakfast.
Up The Creek is and will be a pilgrimage and a salute to South African Music as each year the line up gets better and better setting the bar for local music. For the fans old and new: Once a "Creeker", always a "Creeker".