Tuesday, March 15, 2011

RAMfest Jo’burg: Good times on a “grassy fucking knoll”

If you felt like moshing last Saturday night RAMfest was the place to be! With pitiful support for the local acts the mosh pit started off slowly with a few scrawny boys pushing each other around during Not My Dog and ended with Funeral for a Friend demanding a Wall of Death on the “grassy fucking knoll”.

Sadly missing the always-awesome Desmond and the Tutus, and luckily just missing Knave which seems to think copying Jared Leto’s tragic swearing tirades on stage is a good idea ("fuck yeah!" would be their reply), the first band I caught following arrival, beer-getting and cursing the heat was Isochronous. A good, chilled start to the day, the band showed their immense talent with a spectacular set of accessible electronic rock overlaid with choir-singer sounding lead Richard‘s enchanting vocals.

Next, I stumbled upon Dance You’re on Fire on a second teeny tiny stage behind the beer tent on hearing their stellar track Boxes of Tigers being belted out. Upbeat and rocking all the way, the band had the couple of people there going mental.

Following a forgettable set by Zebra & Giraffe, Not My Dog reignited my excitement in a big way. The first gig the band has played in years and they were as awesome as I remember them. Hitting the stage hard and playing classics like Ek is verslaaf and Safari Music, Not My Dog were my personal highlight of the day.

Not being a fan, I gave Van Coke Kartel a skip, but made sure I was right up front for Alkaline Trio and Funeral for a Friend. Both bands meant business, bringing it hard and heavy from track one. The sound was a bit dodgy in places but finally a decent-sized crowd had formed – the first of the day. Alkaline Trio warmed the crowd up with their punk rock punchiness but it was Funeral for a Friend that really brought it. Orchestrating a massive mosh pit circle in front of the stage, the band attacked the crowd with colossal energy and huge sounds.

Aching legs and a sudden onslaught of a bad cough are sure signs of an awesome festival and I woke up with both the morning after RAMfest Jo’burg 2011.

2 comments:

  1. Sitting under the blazing sun on that grassy fucking knoll was totally rad! Fok ja bru, fok ja! I can now say that Im officially Matthew Davies-Keyes' biggest fan :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would have luved to have been there but alas! the shoe-strings are tied

    ReplyDelete