Woodstock
Riaan Wolmarans Unlike the famous event it is named after, there will be no mud at Woodstock. There also won’t be kwaito or jazz, despite it being billed as “the only known South African festival that incorporates all angles of pop culture”. That aside, the Woodstock Pop Culture Experience will this year present four days jampacked with all kinds of entertainment, from September 22 to September 25. It again takes place at the Heidelberg Kloof Aventura resort outside Johannesburg, where the lawns, swimming pools and shade trees are worlds apart from dry and dusty Oppikoppi.
Festival-goers will be able to choose from artists performing on the multigenre main stage, the punk and hardcore stage, the dance valley and the extreme sports areas, not to mention the large number of food, craft and other stalls plying the crowd with their wares. Some of South Africa’s top acts are playing on the main stage, including Boo! and Brasse vannie Kaap, who recently thrilled overseas audiences at the Belgian Pukkelpop festival. Also appearing live will be the irresistible Durban rockers Jimmy 12″, Valiant Swart, Springbok Nude Girls, the funky Wonderboom, Prophets of da City, Blk Sonshine, Ohm, Nine, Watershed, Sugardrive, the loud and raucous Saron Gas and many more. Past pop-punk-rock favourites Amersham are also reuniting especially for the festival, performing on the main stage on Saturday. Getting down on the punk and hardcore stage will be Ethel My Love, punk oddity Humphrey the Teacup, the feisty and innovative Leek and the Bouncing Uptones, Fuzigish, Never Machine Forever, Lunge, Cry the Grain, Mike Hunt, the explosive Not My Dog, Plum and others, all guaranteed to push the sound levels to way beyond the safety limits. If bouncing up and down in front of a stage is not your thing, wander across to the dance valley, which caters for most types of dance audiences throughout the weekend, kicking off with the Mushroom Mafia’s trance night on Friday, featuring DJs Mikey Dredd, Illuminati and more. Spinning the vinyl with different kinds of house on Saturday night will be deck masters Nelson, Alan Inferno, Clayton A, Dizzy, Speedy and Justin Vee, with local dance act Chromagene also appearing. Sunday brings along hip- hop, mad breakbeats and superb scratching with Kevin, Myles, Bionic, DJ Fokkelnonsens and others going wild with the records. The Technics DJ school will also be operating a dance floor all weekend, where you can hear new and emerging talent. While festivals such as Oppikoppi may offer a wider range of music, Woodstock certainly makes up for that in other areas. When you just can’t take any more drums and guitars, lounge on a beanbag in the cult movie house and watch films like Evil Dead and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or even better, go for the adrenaline rush at the extreme sports areas. Rock wall climbing, speed paintball, professional skating (with the biggest vert ramp in the world), mountain biking, freestyle motocross, BMX dirt jumping, a motorbike dirt trail – no room for wimps, obviously. And there’s even more – the swimming pools, a floating lounge, a cocktail village, bars, beach volleyball and mountain trails. With all these events taking place, you definitely won’t have a minute to spare, so pack your sleeping bag, toothbrush and suntan lotion and celebrate the diversity of South African pop culture. Tickets for Woodstock are R190 at Computicket and Musica outlets or R220 at the gate (kids under 12 free). Tickets for Sunday and Monday only are R90 at the gate (only 2 000 available). More information: Tel: (011) 646 6467 or www.woodstocksa.co.za