This is the big one, the party that defines and embraces the rock spirit. And in that spirit I’m telling you about it last minute. In the current party season the hippies had their Rocking the Daisies with zero environmental impact. Next up Synergy brought things to a more rocking, devil may care level, unfortunately it was still more of an anything goes live music festival than a rock festival and unfortunately somewhat heavily populated with the jockier element of Cape Town partying. They were mostly well-behaved at least
Ramfest however is where things get pure. There will be no Afro ethnic chill music or electro jazz and no inflated ticket price to pay off the environmental impact. Instead there’ll be two music stages separating the metal acts on the alternative stage from the more mainstream acts on the main stage, a third stage will provide electro all night and late into the morning with nightly afterparties meaning that there’s no reason to hit the bed at 4. The music ranges from ska, to punk to metal to electro to finally drum and bass, with international act Pendulum headlining. Thanks to the spread on offer there’ll be something for everyone to enjoy at any time, I myself have taken a look through the lineup to try figure out where I’ll want to be and when (if I don’t find myself in a tent, carnally occupied at the time) and found myself struggling to prioritise.
The alternative stage lineup looks like a who’s who of Cape Town’s metal acts with a few bands from upcountry retracing the steps their forefathers took many years ago during the great trek to return to the Cape of Good Dope. Bands to watch for are Enmity with their unique image and sound, AB turbo, who coincidentally will be releasing their first music video some time soon, and… my pitiful knowledge of the SA metal scene has now been exhausted. Use the comments section if you have any other recommendations.
The main stage lineup on the other hand look like a who’s who of “HolyShitThey’rePlaying?” with bands like Lark pulling themselves back together fo the occasion, Boo! playing again after 6 years of seperation, Red Five Point Star coming down from Slovenia, and finally Pendulum, the band who come to mind immediately after The Prodigy whenever Drum and bass is mentioned, coming down from the UK. This is before I bother mentioning the current Cape Town favourites such as The Dirty Skirts, Fokofpolisiekar, Half Price and Taxi Violence.
In terms of electro I once again find myself out of my depth but seeing as our electro contributor seems to be perpetually absent I’ll just go ahead and recommend Bruce Willis, Haezer, Mix n Blend and Killer Robot based on second hand information. I know enough though, to be around for the homegrown section featuring Niskerone, Counterstrike, Hyphen and SFR.
Other than the music things to look forward to include flushing toilets in buildings and hot showers, a river and a pool to cool off in. Robot and ninja themed afterparties will be held at the electro stage on Friday and Saturday night respectively with a beach party during Saturday day. For those who prefer to feed themselves instead of tucking into the food stalls there will be braai’s so you can have cook your own chops and wors. Bear in mind that only plastic bottles will be allowed into the stage area’s so bring something to decant your beer into or pick a liquor and mix to bring along.
If you haven’t organised your ticket get down to a computicket and grab one. If you have yours already look out for keep lookout for myself and Nick Krige, sadly Jason and Solly couldn’t make it and Norman is too much of a fag. And yes, we do look like our pictures. The official Ramfest website is hell to navigate so rather check the facebook event for more info
All images stolen without permission, please don”t sue me.
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