[This RAMfest post and the next was sent to us by the intrepid young RocknRoller, Zack, who is still in high school I might add!]
If you were sitting in the traffic on Friday afternoon, waiting hours just to get onto the N1 then you were probably one of two people: either you were going to spend you time wondering around aimlessly in Century City or you were going to RAMfest.
Once on the road it was easy sailing. Sitting on the back of an open bakkie with some good ol’ rock n roll barely audible over the rush of wind in the face was the perfect way to set the tone for what was to come.
Unfortunately I only arrived at 6 o’clock. I spent another frustrating hour putting up several tents so missed Heldervue and 3rd World Spectator, but was right up there by the main stage for Kidofdoom.
You may question Kidofdoom’s rock n rollness so I am going to refer to an earlier post by Adrian:
“Heart ‘n Soul
Drums ‘n Bass
Good ‘ol Guitar Solo
Beer sippin fans
and a dancefloor to show off your Mojo
these things make it rock n roll.”
My point: when these guys stood up on stage they truly rocked their hearts out and you could feel the soul. They have strong drums that hold everything together and bass to match it. Without a singer two guitars are in the lime light and they pull it off amazingly; it is all so intricate that it is pretty much a perpetual solo. The fans went wild and the stage was packed – everyone with a beer decanted into an energade bottle. The stage was their dancefloor and with the smoke machine and light show they ripped it apart – jumping up and down (Mojo-ing). This makes them rock n roll.
Next on the bill was Johnny Foreigner but they were English so… but they were actually very good. They had an energy about them that just made you want to get up and dance.
Johnny Foreigner
The RAM of RAMfest, for those who do not know, is actually Real Alternative Music (festival) so I was a little surprise to see Dirty Skirts on the line up – a little too prepy. But the Dirty Skirts were their usual punchy, pop-rock selves and people enjoyed.
I caught the last half minutes of New Altum at the metal stage and got completely soaked by some guy in front of me who was catapulting sweat in every direction off his long hair. After moving away I got a bit battered in the mosh. So I went off to recover for Fokof.
Fokofpolisiekar were awesome. They have a great dirty rock sound, although I heard later on, through one of the members of the Sleepers, that Polisiekar had had a problem with sound that night but it all seemed good at the time (the Sleepers were at the time trying to convince the sound-guy from the metal stage to come and sort out their set). The crowd loved the set and they had everyone singing along.
After Fokof it was off to the tent to crash for the night.
What a full Friday.
