Keith Henderson
Although raves have been milked dry by all and sundry out for a quick buck, an Ice party is a different animal altogether. Entertainment moguls Ice are once more stepping up to the plate with the Ice Playstation Fusion Festival on Saturday November 28 at the Nasrec Amphitheatre.
Those who have experienced Ice before know that these are not your normal, run-of-the-mill raves – they don’t call them festivals for nothing. This is exactly what punters will experience at the party.
Ice have effectively merged many different forms of musical culture by featuring various types of entertainment in the same venue. Live music will be fused with electronica at this festival that includes four of South Africa’s premier live acts: Battery 9, The Springbok Nude Girls, Wonderboom and Sugardrive.
The Nude Girls alone haven’t performed in Johannesburg since the Gift of the Nation concert and should pull a massive crowd. The other three bands are huge in their own right and should do the same.
The four dance floors will include a main arena featuring the best of South Africa’s house DJs – Bandit from 5fm, Nasty Nelson from the Flyhouse, Surge and Dizzy from Nexus and Jono.
The Harder Option at Gass will host the Gass Arena. This club is the place to be if you like your thump a lot harder. Ditto for this floor. These are the vinyl junkies who play techno and all things hard and funky. Their motto is: “Strictly no hands in the air anthems”. Gass DJs will be Vicky Edwards, Rob O’K, Stuart H and Alan Inferno. They play it hard and loud.
Club 206 will host a Big Beats and Drum’n’Bass Arena: this’ll be the meeting place for those serious about drum’n’bass and big-beat. The arena will be smacking the bass in a big way with DJs Myles, Da Knott, Blunted Stuntman and Xero. It’ll no doubt be 4:20 all night with these cats – the pace will be fast and furious. The massive legend MC Slingshot will be putting the word out over the skankin’ beat, in the way only he knows how.
The Trance Arena will be the place if you like your beats twisted, tie-dyed and wired up. Mikey Dread, Starspine, Psychedellic Nomad and Samandhi are the authorities on trance and they will no doubt be bending and shaping the trip from start to finish.
On top of all that, there’ll be ambient chill areas, a drum circle and a funky fleamarket selling all manner of mind- altering gear and foodstuffs.
Added to this is live entertainment care of the Back Door Initiative (BDI) – the Gauteng performance group that has fire-eating down to a fine art. Security, it’s claimed, will be tight, so those with worries won’t have to find an alternative form of transport home, once the sun has risen, after the bash.
Ice have a good reputation for organising parties, and this one should be as good as the rest. Tickets are R70 at outlets and Computicket and R90 at the door. Psychedelic grooves all the way.