Synergy live and loud

Ah festivals. Those 3/4 days where you pack your car and drive off to some random venue to listen to music, get drunk and dance the hours away. Synergy 2011 was one of my favourites and when I saw the 2012 venue and line-up, I was sure that this was going to be a big one. And yes, the venue was BIGGGG!!



We arrived after 20h00 on Friday at the gates of Synergy Live where we
were greeted by a bit of chaos. People were standing around a few tents
where they were seemingly waiting for tickets. Some were phoning friends
who were still in the ever-lasting queue, others got a little stressed out over car passes and VIP bar passes. After we received our wrist
bands, I asked a rather tired-looking girl in the media tent, where I could find my photographer's "pass",
she looked at me with a numb expression and said that she knew nothing
about it. Oh well, I thought, let us see where the weekend takes us.



Once inside we parked the car and opened a much needed beer. The early evening beats got us all excited and we made our way to the main stage. Yes, quite a mission, but we got there in the end and it was well worth it. BEAST was up and as usual Inge Beckmann showed everyone how it's done. I am always amazed at the extreme passion she performs, visible in her whole body. And she can bend her voice in all kinds of ways with guitarists Louis Nel and Rian Zitsmann (Taxi Violence) accompanying her. They are good and they will probably always be a favourite at festivals (alongside Inge's other band Lark).






After BEAST I went to the backstage area to find out about the "missing" photographer pass. We were told to wait for the stage manager. Once she made her appearance, she gave us a rather aggressive "no" and walked away. Oh well, I thought and with that we left to go enjoy ourselves and take pictures of the amazing bands.



We walked around the venue for a bit, trying to find our feet (literally), stumbling over some rocks in the dark and fighting through the wind. But fun, yes! All in good spirit. Prodigy was up next for us and we sprinted back to the main stage, jumping over mountains and rivers. We were greeted by a sea of people going crazy with excitement. Yes, they are almost as old as those beautiful mountains, but they certainly got
that party started on Friday evening. I was amazed by Liam Howlett,
Keith Flint and Maxim Reality and the way they got the crowd worked
up. This strange group that my friends used to play when they were
skateboarding, they gave a serious performance, with veins bolting and eyes popping out. Probably a once in a lifetime, so thank you for bringing them to us, Synergy!









On Saturday we woke up to a beautiful sunny day (a bit too much sun after a few hours!). We had a very warm drink at one of the bars and then went to the main stage where Two Minute Puzzle was up. They
gave one of my favourite performances of the weekend. I love their raw
sound and the way they made us dance in the scorching sun with
nothing but a hot Redds to cool us down. Vocalist, Patrick McCay, looked quite frustrated with the "sound problems", but from the front everything seemed fine and the few hiccups here and there were not bothering anyone. This is a band I fell in love
with that Saturday morning and I will keep going to their gigs for as long as
they play in Cape Town.



The rest of Saturday was spent being lazy at the dam and walking around between stages and stalls, mostly on the hunt for fresh, drinking water. We ended up at the Red Bull electronic stage, which looked a bit like the moon (or Namib dessert) with all the dust and rocks on the dance floor. Altough we were in the mood for some dancing, it was way too hot in the Redbull camp and we had to leave. Nothing got us down, though and we eventually ended watching some serious guitar playing. One of the best guitar talents I've seen over the weekend was Philip Malan. Yes, guitar maestro indeed - along with Louwtjie Rothman. The way they
strum those instruments with such passion! You guys are good and deserve
to be in world famous bands. Thumbs up!







 It was also time for some Rudimentals on Saturday. They are one of my all time favourites to play at a festival.
They are the sweethearts of Cape Town's music scene and they know
exactly how to get the crowd on their feet. They set the mood just right
on Saturday with Teboho's voice dancing over the crowd as the sun set behind a perfect landscape.



But it was Jack Parow that really got the party started on Saturday
afternoon with his band. Again it should be said, Louwtjie Rothman was fantastic and
really gave an extreme show. Jack Parow's set was probably the most
entertaining of the weekend, with friends Francois Van Coke and Rufio Vegas who performed with him for a few songs. It is the truth: When Jack Parow's in the house, everyone stands up and listen.



Van Coke Kartel was
up next after Shadowclub. I waited in anticipation for the crowd to get
bigger and start pushing and shoving, but clearly it was not going to be one of those shows. It didn't matter, these guys know what their doing and they do it good. Two guys stood behind us, making comments
about how they don't like Afrikaans music and don't know what the hype
is about. After a few songs these two were jumping and screaming behind
us with huge smiles on their faces. Francois, Wynand, Jedd and Jason: Well done - Some of the best in SA.



Sunday was spent eating all our left-over snacks and buying more, while chilling in the Studio 7 tent watching comedy. The comedians were brilliant and they really helped with that post-party/post-festival depression creeping over us.






As we packed our tent up on Sunday, I thought to myself: I had a brilliant time and yes, there will always be something a bit annoying at a party or festival, but that's part of the experience, right? Yes, sometimes the toilets are far
(but do you really want that right up there in your nose??) or you
loose your group of friends and believe it or not, the wind might blow
sometimes. But that is why it is called an "out door" festival. Look, the
thing is: If you7 cannot survive the elements - STAY HOME. Stop
being a diva and enjoy the music, the scenery and your friends company!



On Monday I read some ridiculous complaints and wondered - Why the hell do you complain about the late night beats and different types of music? It is called a festival for a reason! To bring people together. Diversity, they call it. Something for everyone. I enjoyed the Mainstay beach bar just as much as the Main Stage, I love how it can change the whole atmosphere depending on where you party at the festival!



I agree, the festival had some.... "challenges", but nothing a beer or two can't make right. So Synergy, you've heard this a million times, but here we go again: More shade. Especially at the stages - that Saturday sun killed us! Drinking water - litres and litres of it! Oh and serve that cold please. Maybe move the stages a little closer, so we don't have to walk through bundus to get where we want to be. Light our paths for us, please. I stepped on stones, insects, tents and people. That's about it. The rest was amazing.






So, if there was one thing that impressed me in a major way at Synergy Live, it was the huge amount of passion I saw on stage. THAT made me realise, once again, that we have world class artists in SA. Each and everyone I saw over the 3 days, performed with immense passion and it was evident in their bodies, on their faces and in their voices. Well done all of you!






Thank you Synergy Live for everything and giving us more amazing memories. IT ROCKED.



Contact me: eliinthecity@gmail.com

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